MovieChat Forums > Les enfants du paradis (1946) Discussion > It didn't even make IMDb's top 250!

It didn't even make IMDb's top 250!

posted 17 years ago by lildark
19 replies | jump to latest

It's a total shock to me. One could think, it's a French movie, French movies don't have such a wide audience outside French speaking countries hence blah blah blah. BUT - BUT - BUT - AMELIE POULAIN COMES 42nd! (all caps alert: I'm really upset). It's not that I positively hate Amélie Poulain, it's a nice little movie, just... 42nd, WTF people??? And Le Scaphandre et le Papillon, 199th? La Belle et la Bête, 190th - OK, this one is justified, Josette Day is irritating as hell but it's still a great movie.

... no *beep*... Amélie Poulain???

[Edit: now that I've read a few threads, I get it slightly better. And I'm somewhat relieved other people feel like me.

... no *beep*... Pirate of the Caribbean???]

[–] Doctor_Fu_Manchu 17 years ago

lol I completely agree with you.

"This is Fu Manchu. Once again the world is at my mercy."

[–] mac_alain 16 years ago

One reason - and this will happen more and more as time goes on and more films appear on the scene - it's an old film. That doesn't stop it from being in my top five though.

[–] btbsite 16 years ago

The General by Buster Keaton and M by Fritz Lang made it among the list so age can't be the main criteria, perhaps the mass appeal is not as big as by Movies like the shawshank Redemption or the Godfather, but this Movie got an 8.0 by 6500 votes and that is quite an achievment.

Besides it's got 95% at Rottentomatoes, so it is appreciated

http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/m/children_of_paradise/

[–] mac_alain 16 years ago

. . . so age can't be the main criteria...

Not the main criteria, I agree.

[–] PuddinTaine 12 years ago

There are tons of old movies in the Top 250. The reason this film isn't in it is because it has too few votes. The Top 250 is a reflection of a lot of good opinions on films. So if a film has a 9.9 rating with only 2,000 votes, it being in the Top 250 would not be as accurate a reflection of what society considers to be good movies. If Children of Paradise maintained its rating but had more votes, it would be in the Top 250.

[–] Alphonse_van_Worden 16 years ago

It just shows what a bunch of morons are voting on the IMDB. The Shawshank Redemtption # 1 and Les Enfants du Paradis not even considered worthy of being # 249!!!

Anyway it's old and it's French. So that's why. It's definitely not the fault of the movie. It's one of the greatest ever and if I were forced to play the silly game of naming the best ever this one would be one of the most worthy candidates.

[–] sanjuniban 16 years ago

Agreed.

The reason that it isn't ranked among the top movies on IMDB is partially due to its age, but more than that, it's the result of the vast majority of IMDB users having 15 second attention spans and being spoon fed a steady diet of Hollywood blockbusters.

If you want to see a "real" movie ranking list, I'd suggest the BFI Sight & Sound Critics (and Directors) Poll(s). The list is put together every 10 years, with the last poll being conducted in 2002. You'd be happy to know that Les Enfants du Paradis tied for 27th with the following films: Barry Lyndon, Metropolis, Some Like it Hot, Wild Strawberries, Man with a Movie Camera, Ugetsu Monogatari (one of my all-time favorites) and Ivan Grozny(Ivan the Terrible).

Les Enfants du Paradis is indeed a classic, and those who know film are well aware of this. It's legacy is secured, fret not.

[–] Tydrix 16 years ago

I love Amélie Poulain, but you must understand something very important. The IMDB top list is meaningless.

[–] multiplepov-1 16 years ago

I wouldn't say it's meaningless (the movies in the bottom 50 are bad; the movies in the top 50 are good--even if not necessarily the best of all time by all measures). The IMDB top list just doesn't quite mean what it purports to mean--due to sampling errors, unequal populations, bias, and other statistical design errors and flaws I don't remember enough about to list.

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"I've always resisted the notion that knowledge ruined paradise." Prof. Xavier

[–] dbdumonteil 16 years ago

In every poll which has been made in my native FRance among the critics,LEDP has always made first place."Amelie' never showed up(neither did Leon,fortunately)

[–] TheFrenchBastard 14 years ago

To my surprise and delight, when I ask any american i meet in any circles, LEDP always comes up as the answer to "Whats your favorite foreign movie ever?"
Just so to put a cherry on Monsieur Dumonteil's cake. A la votre!

[–] classicjunkie 12 years ago

It would probably be in the Top 250 if the minimum votes required weren't as high (25,000). Btw, another great old French movie that currently isn't in the Top 250 for the same reasons is Le salaire de la peur (1953), which has a rating of 8.3 and is only about 4,000 votes short of meeting the minimum vote mark for inclusion.

[–] jeroenberndsen1 10 years ago

The amount of minimum votes (25.000) results in the more 'popular' movies being in the top 250 list instead of the highest rated, because of a lack of votes. The positive thing is that many of these movies, in years to come, will re-enter the list. Some won't. And I dread the day IMDB might raise the minimum again in the future.

To be frank, for 'advanced' film lovers, the IMDb top 250 is not that relevant. I'd recommend lists like Sight & Sound or TSPDT.
STILL, I almost completed the list, only Guardians of The Galaxy remaining. Telling that a movie like that is the last one of the list that I have to see.

I'll see you at the movies

[–] elylawilliams 10 years ago

I saw the original as a teenager and can tell you there are not many films that will stay in your memory all these years! This, and La Belle et la Bete were required viewing by film "fans" way back then and should be now. I have never seen a modern DVD of the film except on e-bay but perhaps SBS might start a revival of the best French movies of all time... Lyla Williams

[–] CCRider01 10 years ago

It was on the IMDB Top 250, but that was before:

1. The trend of upvoting more modern, ie popular films, really kicked into high gear. This also corresponds with the increased number of fanboys / fangirls that inhabit this website.

2. IMDB tweaked their special sauce to greater take into account popularity, with regards to their ranking methodology. Google has done something similar with regard to website rankings with its organic search results.

Popularity has become a greater factor, when it comes to accessing and rating the relative merits of films.

[–] pan-10 9 years ago

"Re: It didn't even make IMDb's top 250!" I couldn't care less what those sub-humans voted for. This film is number one.

[–] Satan2016 (26197) 4 years ago

No, they simply require 25K votes, excluding accounts will little activity. It's up to 50K votes this year, removing many classic films.