After we tentatively settled on an initial batch of around 1,300 titles, we proceeded to go through the list again (and again, and again, and again) with the dualand conflictingaim of reducing the overall number while still achieving sufficient coverage of the mediums various periods, national cinemas, genres, movements, traditions, and notable auteurs. With respect to the latter, we took the notion of an auteur in the loosest possible sense to include not only directors (Woody Allen,
Ingmar Bergman, John Cassavetes, Federico Fellini, Jean-Luc Godard, Abbas Kiarostami, Satyajit Ray, among others), but also actors (Humphrey Bogart, Marlene Dietrich, Toshiro Mifune), producers (David O. Selznick, Sam Spiegel, Irving Thalberg), screenwriters (Ernest Lehman, Preston Sturges, Cesare Zavattini), cinematographers (Gregg Toland, Gordon Willis, Freddie Young), composers (Bernard Herrmann, Ennio Morricone, Nino Rota), and others.
We were also mindful of not giving automatic preferencefree passes, as it wereto self-consciously quality productions or high cinematic art (historical epics, Shakespeare adaptations, Russian formalist experiments) at the expense of ignoring the so-called low genres (slapstick comedy, 1930s gangster films, blaxploitation cinema), or even movies that are of somewhat questionable aesthetic merit (Pink Flamingos, Saturday Night Fever, The Blair Witch Project), wholeheartedly populist appeal (Top Gun, Rain Man, Big, E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial), or dubious ideological or ethical value (The Birth of a Nation, Freaks, Triumph of the Will, Salò or The 120 Days of Sodom). Instead we endeavored to adjudge each of our candidate selections on their own terms, which meant first figuring out as best we could just what the terms in question consisted ofnot always an easy or obvious task, as in the case of Pink Flamingos, whose infamous tagline read, An exercise in poor tasteand then coming up with ways of separating the wheat from the chaff (even when the difference between the two might seem so slight as to be indiscernible or irrelevant).
Whats that old saying, something along the lines of Even if you could have filet mignon every single day, once in a while youre bound to crave a hamburger. The point here is, even if your filmgoing preferences lie heavily on the side of acknowledged world classics (Citizen Kane, Rashomon, Raging Bull, Battleship Potemkin) or the treasures of European art cinema (LAvventura, Hiroshima Mon Amour, Last Tango in Paris), there is sure to come a time when you long to see a movie with a wholly different agenda, whether its a Hollywood blockbuster (Jurassic Park, The Empire Strikes Back, Titanic), an underground oddity (Scorpio Rising, Flaming Creatures, Hold Me While Im Naked), or a cult curiosity piece (El Topo, Seconds, Slacker, Mondo Cane, Tetsuo). As we envisioned it, our main task was to make sure that whatever your cinematic tastesin general, or on those days when you feel like trying something newthis book would be a menu where every dish is a winner.
Finally, after making the last agonizing cuts that were required to bring the list down to a mere 1001, the remaining step was for us to tweak the results based on the feedback and suggestions offered by our esteemed group of contributors, whose collective experience, expertise, and passion for watching, discussing, and writing about motion pictures has ensured that, while no list of all-time-greatest anythings can possibly be perfect (whatever that means) or utterly uncontroversial (and wouldnt that be dull?), the one you have before you is, to be sure, as good as it gets. But it isnt just the list itself that makes this book so special: It is also the specially commissioned entries that accompany each of the 1001 movies included on that listconcise, thoughtful, stimulating essays that seamlessly combine important plot details, insightful commentary, cultural and historical context, and a fair share of trivia besides. (George Lucas was originally set to direct Apocalypse Now? Who knew?) Dont be fooled by the ease with which these essays are digested. There is a definite skillone might even say an artto writing a profound, engaging piece of only 500 words on a film like Casablanca, The Searchers, or The Rules of the Game, much less 350 words on Boogie Nights, Cries and Whispers, or The Night of the Hunter, or (gasp!) 200 words on Marketa Lazarova, The Pianist, or Cleo from 5 to 7. Somehow, with great aplomb, these authors have managed to pull it off, and brilliantly.
As for my own experience working on this book, I can only say that the pain of having to cross several personal favorites off the list was more than made up for by the pleasures of admiring the resulting medley, of reading so many wonderful film entries by so many wonderful writers on film, and of finding out so much about the history, traditions, and secret treasures of the cinema that I never knew before. Even if you have already seen all 1001 movies discussed and paid tribute to in these pages (congratulations, though I seriously doubt it), Im sure you will benefit tremendously from reading about them