Citizen Kane replaced by Vertigo as greatest film

‘Citizen Kane’ is no longer the ‘greatest film ever made’ - it’s now ‘Vertigo’.

The Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece topped Sight and Sound’s new ‘Greatest Film’ poll, which is held every decade and chosen by critics.

[Related story: Critics sent death threats over Dark Knight Rises review]
[Related story: Samuel L. Jackson's Twitter fury over bad review]

'Citizen Kane' had been in the number one position since the inaugural top 10 in 1962, but has finally been deposed.

'Vertigo' is a psychological thriller that sees James Stewart's private dick hired to investigate Kim Novak's mysterious blonde. The rise to the top spot “is testament to how Hitchcock’s reputation has steadily increased over time,” according to the magazine.

846 critics voted in this year’s poll, making it the most wide-ranging and respected yardstick of critical opinion in the world.

Nonetheless, familiar accusations of elitism will once again be levelled at the list. Three silent films have been picked (‘Sunrise: a Song of Two Humans’, ‘Man with a Movie Camera’ and ‘The Passion of Joan of Arc’), while ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ - released in 1968 - is the most recent movie included.

356 film-makers also voted for their own list, among them Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen. They chose Ozu’s domestic classic ‘Tokyo Story’ as their best film. Both lists are below.

The Critics’ Top Ten Greatest Films of All Time

1. Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958)
2. Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941)
3. Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953)
4. La Règle du jeu (Renoir, 1939)
5. Sunrise: a Song of Two Humans (Murnau, 1927)
6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968)
7. The Searchers (Ford, 1956)
8. Man with a Movie Camera (Dziga Vertov, 1929)
9. The Passion of Joan of Arc (Dreyer, 1927)
10. 8 ½ (Fellini, 1963)

The Directors’ Top Ten Greatest Films of All Time

1. Tokyo Story (Ozu, 1953)
=2 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick, 1968)
=2 Citizen Kane (Welles, 1941)
4. 8 ½ (Fellini, 1963)
5. Taxi Driver (Scorsese, 1976)
6. Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979)
=7 The Godfather (Coppola, 1972)
=7 Vertigo (Hitchcock, 1958)
9. Mirror (Tarkovsky, 1974)
10. Bicycle Thieves (De Sica, 1948)