FilmGourmand's Mission
...or Who needs him and what he wants, this FilmGourmand.
In childhood, adolescence, and much of my adult life, like most of my peers who were born and raised in the Soviet Union, I could not choose which films to watch. There were two sources of film production for moviegoers: cinemas and television. And both sources belonged to the state. And both were guided by rigid ideological dogmas. Therefore, we can say that there was a strict principle in relation to cinema: eat what they give. A kind of outlet, at least for me, in those years was the Moscow International Film Festival with its competitive and out-of-competition screenings and the weeks of Italian, French and other foreign cinema held in Moscow from time to time. During these events, I literally "came off", swallowing up to 5-6 films per day.
The beginning of perestroika in the USSR, which coincided with a technological breakthrough in the form of the appearance of video players and VHS, significantly expanded the choice of film products. There were video salons, cable TV, and video players in homes. As a result of the policy of glasnost, a stream of the most diverse film production literally poured into the country, and I, like many others, literally plunged into this stream. From time to time, however, recognizing the correctness of one American culturologist who said that after the collapse of ideological barriers, the Russians wanted to join the achievements of Western culture, but, as always, they got everything mixed up: instead of plumbing, they connected to the sewer.
And quite a lot of opportunities for choosing what to watch appeared in connection with the development of the Internet and digital technologies. By this time, my collection of films on VHS, DVD and other media numbered several thousand.
Naturally, the question arose, which, probably, sooner or later every true movie lover faces: what to leave, and what to either throw away or take to the garage. Well, and at the same time with this question - what is worthy to replenish the collection. Naturally, I began to study all kinds of lists and ratings of films. I studied a lot of ratings, both foreign and domestic. But, since over the long years of film-watching I nevertheless learned to more or less understand the cinema, I pretty soon came to the conclusion that none of the existing ratings is 100 percent perfect. And if so, then it is quite possible to make your own rating. In addition, the thought came to mind that you can become a real film enthusiast only when you enrich your memory with the knowledge of all those film masterpieces that have been created by mankind. It remains only to compile a list or rating of these film masterpieces.
To compile such a rating, I formed a system of criteria, the totality of which I called the Ranking Methodology. Perhaps, in this my desire to "believe harmony with algebra" the fact that I never and in no way came into contact with either film production, or film criticism, or even journalism. In short, I am a simple ordinary moviegoer. But with experience measured in several decades. That is why the Methodology reflects the opinion of the ordinary moviegoer, that is, the one for whom the movie is being made. This Methodology will be described in more detail in the next publication.
So, on the basis of the Film Ranking Methodology, a list was compiled that includes several thousand films from all countries and peoples included in my collection. The top of this list was called the "Golden Thousand". And then the thought came that I was hardly unique in my approaches and claims to cinema, that I was hardly the only such picky or gourmet in relation to cinema, which means that it would be a sin not to share the results of research and development with other film lovers. Aspiring, as mentioned above, to enrich their memory with the knowledge of all those film masterpieces that have been created by mankind. With those who, under the existing conditions, do not agree to be content with the principle of "eat what they give." In my opinion, in the current conditions of the widest choice, it is stupid to be satisfied with what is pouring on us from TV screens and cinemas, both online and offline, this is simply demonstrating the laziness of thought. Okay, during the Soviet regime there was no choice. But today such passivity is already something bordering on dementia.
In the process of compiling a list of film masterpieces of all countries and peoples, I discovered that, firstly, very, very many residents of our country, like me, were once deprived of the opportunity to get acquainted with the best works of world cinema, primarily from -for the existence of the so-called "Iron Curtain". And by the way, the matter is not only and not so much in the "Iron Curtain".
For example, a few years ago, during one of the ice shows on television, I heard from the mouth of one of our outstanding figure skater, Olympic champion and multiple winner of other championships, that he had no idea about the existence of such a film as Life is Beautiful by Roberto Benigni. That only thanks to the fact that his mentor instructed to prepare a performance to the music from this film, he was honored to watch this film masterpiece.
And one of my classmates, who never misses a single theatrical premiere or concert at the Philharmonic, as it turned out, literally until recently had no idea about such a film as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest ... by Milos Forman. In short, to my surprise, I discovered serious gaps in knowledge about the best works of cinema even among, let's say, an advanced creative audience. And this, not to mention the fact that I have many times had the opportunity to make sure that many young moviegoers, freely orientated in the mass film production of recent years, have very vague ideas about the film masterpieces of the 50s and 60s, and even more so, 30 -40s of the XX century.
In fairness, it should be noted that, while communicating at my main place of work with experts from foreign countries, primarily Western Europe and the USA, I found that they are often completely unaware of Russian-language, and not only Russian-language, film masterpieces.
Someone may say: "Well, what's wrong? Someone, for various reasons, had a chance to watch some films, someone else. And vice versa, someone did not have a chance to watch some films, someone else. Fate! " May be so. But it seems to me that the differences described above are very significant. Let me explain. It so happened that I had the opportunity to observe little children born in different countries. And I noticed that they, children, even without knowing how to speak their native language, very quickly find a common language with each other. But adults, even knowing several foreign languages, often do not understand each other. And this misunderstanding is fraught with very serious and negative consequences.
Having wondered what leads to the fact that people who are able to quite easily understand each other in childhood lose this ability when growing up, one can easily get the answer: information. Residents of different countries are in different information fields, and this leads to the formation of different concepts, traditions, norms of behavior, etc., etc. In short, a mentality. Cinema is one of the components of this information field. Acquaintance with the best films created in different countries and in different years will help at least slightly bring residents of different countries closer to mutual understanding.
After the Golden Thousand of the greatest films of all countries and peoples was formed on the basis of the above Methodology of ranking, the lists of the best films of different years (Years & Movies) and the best films of different countries (Countries & Movies) derived from it were almost automatically formed. But besides this, on the basis of the Golden Thousand and using certain criteria, two more lists (or ratings) were compiled: the 100 greatest film directors and the list of the 100 most beautiful and sexiest Actresses in world cinema.
I hope that the results of research in the form of the Golden Thousand and bases derived from it will help someone fill in the gaps in knowledge about the best works of world cinema, help someone navigate the ocean of world film production, and help someone better understand the inhabitants of other countries. I also hope that these results will cause someone to share their comments, to object in some way. And someone, perhaps, will offer alternative options.