Versus AFI: 10 Top 10 – Epics

Without a doubt, The American Film Institute has the gift for generating opinions among fans and film aficionados. If you’re unaware, the AFI is a non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts back in the 60s. One of its main charters is the preservation of American film legacy. That, and running its own graduate film school located here in Los Angeles (which has developed a number of notable graduates in the form of filmmakers like Terrence Mallick, David Lynch, Darren Aronofsky, Bill Duke and others). They also give out the AFI Life Achievement Award annually. Notable stuff, indeed.

However, if there’s one thing that has created a niche for them, literally put them onto the air waves and into moviegoers heads (in good and bad ways), it is their fairly recent propensity to create lists. The organization stirred talk around various water-coolers (which has since migrated to the web) when they decided to document their celebration of cinema’s centennial via a series of TV specials. Each time, the AFI went about to give importance to a set of motion pictures based on criteria and judgments their groups of ‘experts’ determined, which they then publicized on television. I still find this ironic since the TV medium traditionally represented film’s competition (and still does). No matter. As they put it,

“Each special honors a different aspect of excellence in American film.”

Needless to say, each of these has also generated their own discussion, if not downright vehement disagreement among the movie-going public, on what film truly deserved a Top 10, or 100… whatever, placement on the various categories the AFI centered on, beginning back in 1998. Unquestionably, this was their prime purpose — to get people talking about film. So be it. As I’ve done in various forums since they started this fight conversation, I decided to do a series on AFI’s Top 10s (out of their 100s lists) for 2012, the purpose of which is to compare their picks with a moviegoer (me) per each of their indexes.

Naturally, I’m fully aware that readers’ mileage may vary (indeed, we know they will) when it comes to these selections. Fair enough. Either way, it’s going to be painful as picking one above the other always is. You’re invited to add your own or disagree all you want in the comments or your blog site (all I ask is that you leave a link so we, the readers, can peruse). I’ll kick this off by taking on their 10 Top 10, which examines “America’s 10 Greatest Films in 10 Classic Genres“. Whew. So glad I decided to start small .

Epic

AFI defines “epic” as a genre of large-scale films set in a cinematic interpretation of the past.

1. Lawrence of Arabia
2. Ben-Hur
3. Schindler’s List
4. Gone With The Wind
5. Spartacus
6. Titanic
7. All Quiet on the Western Front
8. Saving Private Ryan
9. Reds
10. The Ten Commandments

Read more