Earlier today, I praised the Evening Standard Awards for drawing people’s attention to forms and flavors of contemporary British film beyond the dressy heritage cinema that so many associate with the country.
This morning, London’s Time Out magazine posted a fascinating feature that does much the same for the past: a wide-ranging list of the 100 Best British Films of all time, compiled from the individual Top Tens of 150 industry figures, including directors, actors and critics.
When I was invited to participate in the poll — check out my list here — I anticipated a familiar list of chestnuts to emerge from the project. But while the final Top 100 leans heavily (and necessarily) on the canon, there are some surprises in the mix, including such recent titles as “Fish Tank” and “Hunger.” That Powell and Pressburger have two titles in the top 10 won’t raise any eyebrows, but that Nicolas Roeg managed the same feat is rather less predictable.
