Sight & Sound

"Sight & Sound" (ISSN|0037-4806) is a British monthly film magazine published by the British Film Institute (BFI). "The Independent" newspaper has described it as "highbrow but accessible".

"Sight & Sound" was first published in 1932 and in 1934 management of the magazine was handed to the nascent BFI, which still publishes the magazine today. "Sight & Sound" was published quarterly for most of its history until the early 1990s, apart from a brief run as a monthly publication in the early 1950s, but in 1991 it merged with another BFI publication, the "Monthly Film Bulletin", and started to appear monthly.

The journal was edited by Gavin Lambert from 1949 to 1955. From 1956 to 1990 it was edited by Penelope Houston, and then in its relaunched form by Philip Dodd. It is currently edited by Nick James.

"Sight & Sound" has a more highbrow reputation than other film magazines. It says it reviews all film releases each month, including those with a narrow art house release, as opposed to the more mainstream focus of its competitors. "Sight and Sound" also currently features a full cast and crew credit list for each reviewed film.

Every decade, "Sight & Sound" asks an international group of film professionals to vote for their greatest film of all time. The "Sight & Sound" accolade has come to be regarded as one of the most important of the "greatest ever film" lists. Roger Ebert described it as "by far the most respected of the countless polls of great movies--the only one most serious movie people take seriously." [cite web | title='Citizen Kane' fave film of movie elite | publisher=rogerebert.com | url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20020811/COMMENTARY/88010305|accessdate=2008-01-01 ] The first poll, in 1952, was topped by "The Bicycle Thief". The five subsequent polls (1962-2002) have been won by "Citizen Kane".

"Sight & Sound" has in the past been the subject of criticism, notably from Raymond Durgnat, who often accused it of elitism, puritanism and upper-middle-class snobbery, although he did write for it in the 1950s, and again in the 1990s.

"Sight & Sound"'s Top Films of the Year 2005

:01. "Brokeback Mountain :02. "A History of Violence :03. "La niña santa (The Holy Girl):04. "2046:05. "Mysterious Skin :06. "Le conseguenze dell'amore (The Consequences of Love):07. "The Descent :08. "Moolaadé:09. "Sud pralad (Tropical Malady):10. "De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté (The Beat That My Heart Skipped):11. "Gegen die Wand (Head-On):12. "Hauru no ugoku shiro (Howl's Moving Castle):13. "Last Days:14. "Solntse (The Sun)

"Sight & Sound"'s Top Films of the Year 2006

:01. "Hidden :02. "Volver :03. "The Departed:04. "The Queen:05. "Red Road :06. "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada:07. "İklimler (Climates) :08. "The New World:09. "United 93:10. "Pan's Labyrinth

"Sight & Sound"'s Top Films of the Year 2007

:01. "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days:02. "Inland Empire:03. "Zodiac:04. "I'm Not There:04. "The Lives of Others:06. "Silent Light:07. "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford:07. "Syndromes and a Century:07. "No Country for Old Men:07. "Eastern Promises

"Sight & Sound"'s All Time Greatest Films (Past 25 years) UK Critics' Poll

:01. "Apocalypse Now" (1979):02. "Raging Bull" (1980):03. "Fanny and Alexander" (1982):04. "Goodfellas" (1990):05. "Blue Velvet" (1986):06. "Do the Right Thing" (1989):07. "Blade Runner" (1982):08. "Chungking Express" (1994):09. "Distant Voices, Still Lives" (1988):10. "Once Upon a Time in America" (1984) (tie):10. "" (1999) (tie)

Source: [https://secure.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/feature/63/"Sight & Sound"]

References

Further reading

*Pam Cook and Philip Dodd (eds): "Women and Film. A Sight and Sound Reader", London: Scarlet Press, 1994, 287 p.
*Jacqueline Louviot: "Le regard de "Sight and Sound" sur le cinéma britannique des années 50 et 60" (What "Sight and Sound" Saw: "Sight and Sound" on British Cinema during the Fifties and Sixties), French doctoral thesis, University of Strasbourg II, 1997, 980 p.
*David Wilson (ed): "Sight and Sound. A Fiftieth Anniversary Selection", London: Faber and Faber in association with BFI Publishing, 1982, 327 p.

External links

* [http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/ Official website]