Armand to the rescue.
These are my favorite films, not the ones I consider the best. But that's a faulty proposition too, since both are subjective qualifications, one personal, one proposing some measure of objectivity. For instance, Andrei is almost certainly a better film than Stalker, and yet, I like Stalker more. It's more to my taste. It's topics, it's make, it's style, all resonate with me deeply. But, I can't deny every second of Andrei is a sequence of masterstrokes. My knowledge and comprehension of cinema promotes this understanding, but it's MY knowledge and comprehension. So should I compartmentalize what my education and understanding leads me to believe are the ten best films to have ever been put to celluloid, or should I allow that education, along with taste, be the prime indicator on my list?
That said, as I described above, I do believe Inception to be a marvelous piece of work. By any kind of an 'objective' scale I could invent, which I couldn't, it would certainly be in the top 75. When I say "objective' I usually mean well reasoned, or, not the usual it made me feel A.) B.) C.) and D.) so it must be great. Not all opinions are argued equally.
Also, Armand, Kurosawa does more in the ten minute opening of Ikiru than most filmmakers do in their entire career. But, I'm surprised you don't think Seven Samurai has much to say on social hierarchy/mobility, honor, responsibility, social chaos, and an overall dogma of proper action. Despite it's Western make, what's beneath the surface is as, if not more, Japanese than anything in Ozu's filmography.
-Vader
These are my favorite films, not the ones I consider the best. But that's a faulty proposition too, since both are subjective qualifications, one personal, one proposing some measure of objectivity. For instance, Andrei is almost certainly a better film than Stalker, and yet, I like Stalker more. It's more to my taste. It's topics, it's make, it's style, all resonate with me deeply. But, I can't deny every second of Andrei is a sequence of masterstrokes. My knowledge and comprehension of cinema promotes this understanding, but it's MY knowledge and comprehension. So should I compartmentalize what my education and understanding leads me to believe are the ten best films to have ever been put to celluloid, or should I allow that education, along with taste, be the prime indicator on my list?
That said, as I described above, I do believe Inception to be a marvelous piece of work. By any kind of an 'objective' scale I could invent, which I couldn't, it would certainly be in the top 75. When I say "objective' I usually mean well reasoned, or, not the usual it made me feel A.) B.) C.) and D.) so it must be great. Not all opinions are argued equally.
Also, Armand, Kurosawa does more in the ten minute opening of Ikiru than most filmmakers do in their entire career. But, I'm surprised you don't think Seven Samurai has much to say on social hierarchy/mobility, honor, responsibility, social chaos, and an overall dogma of proper action. Despite it's Western make, what's beneath the surface is as, if not more, Japanese than anything in Ozu's filmography.
-Vader
