Citizen Kane is a second-rate film. I’m only joking
of course, but actually sort of serious.
For the first time in 50 years, Welles’ celebrated masterpiece has been
knocked out of its familiar standing as the “Greatest Film of All Time” in
Sight & Sound’s decennial poll. The defeat came by
way of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1958 thriller Vertigo which surpassed Kane by a mere
34 votes.
Statistically speaking and with a hint of hindsight, it seemed only a matter of
time for Vertigo to someday take the top spot. Slowly and steadily the film has made its way upwards in
the BFI poll since its inclusion as the seventh best film of all time back in the 1982. In 1992, Vertigo was fourth and 10 years
later it would move up to number two right behind Citizen Kane. This year of
course, we see that's the other way around.
