London:
Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 thriller Vertigo knocked off Orson Welles 1941 drama Citizen Kane for the first time in 50 years to claim the top spot in the prestigious BFI Sight and Sound poll of 50 greatest films of all time.
Considered Alfred Hitchcock's most mysterious film, the James Stewart and Kim Novak starrer clinched the top post with 191 votes while Citizen Kane, which has been the favourite till now, came second with 157 votes in the poll, which has been carried out every 10 years since 1952.
Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story was third ahead of Jean Renoir's La Regle Du Jeu.Other films in the top 10 include Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and John Ford's classic 1956 western The Searchers about a civil war veteran hunting for his niece after she is snatched in a raid.
The 1929 film Man With A Movie Camera, 1927's The Passion Of Joan Of Arc and Federico Fellini's 8 rounded off the top ten list.
The 846 critics, programmers, academics and distributors have voted in the poll.
"This result reflects changes in the culture of film criticism. The new cinephilia seems to be not so much about films that strive to be great art, such as Citizen Kane, and that use cinema's entire arsenal of effects to make a grand statement, but more about works that have personal meaning to the critic. Vertigo is the ultimate critics' film because it is a dreamlike film about people who are not sure who they are but who are busy reconstructing themselves and each other to fit a kind of cinema ideal of the ideal soulmate," said Sight And Sound editor Nick James.
Considered Alfred Hitchcock's most mysterious film, the James Stewart and Kim Novak starrer clinched the top post with 191 votes while Citizen Kane, which has been the favourite till now, came second with 157 votes in the poll, which has been carried out every 10 years since 1952.
Japanese filmmaker Yasujiro Ozu's Tokyo Story was third ahead of Jean Renoir's La Regle Du Jeu.Other films in the top 10 include Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey and John Ford's classic 1956 western The Searchers about a civil war veteran hunting for his niece after she is snatched in a raid.
The 1929 film Man With A Movie Camera, 1927's The Passion Of Joan Of Arc and Federico Fellini's 8 rounded off the top ten list.
The 846 critics, programmers, academics and distributors have voted in the poll.
"This result reflects changes in the culture of film criticism. The new cinephilia seems to be not so much about films that strive to be great art, such as Citizen Kane, and that use cinema's entire arsenal of effects to make a grand statement, but more about works that have personal meaning to the critic. Vertigo is the ultimate critics' film because it is a dreamlike film about people who are not sure who they are but who are busy reconstructing themselves and each other to fit a kind of cinema ideal of the ideal soulmate," said Sight And Sound editor Nick James.
