Syndromes and a Century tops TIFF's decade list

Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Syndromes and a Century has been named the best film of the decade in a critics poll by the Toronto International Film Festival Cinematheque.

The movie that was censored in Thailand continues to be hailed by critics worldwide.

In fact, three of Apichatpong's films are on the list. His 2004 Cannes Jury Prize-winning drama Tropical Malady is at No. 6, and 2003's Cannes Un Certain Regard winner Blissfully Yours is at No. 13.

The rankings are based on a poll of more than 60 film experts -- curators, historians, archivists and programmers. Films that got the same number of votes are tied in the same ranking.

Apichatpong shares space with such names as Jia Zhang-ke, Wong Kar Wai, Jean Luc-Godard, David Cronenberg and Gus Van Sant on a list the Globe and Mail calls "either the best examples of film art of the decade or a cinema snob's top cocktail-party namedroppers." Here it is:

1. Syndromes and a Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand) - 53 votes
2. Platform (Jia Zhang-ke, Hong Kong, China/China/Japan/France) - 49 votes
3. Still Life (Jia Zhang-ke, China) - 48 votes
4. Beau travail (Claire Denis, France) - 46 votes
5. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong, China) - 43 votes
6. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, France/Thailand/Germany/Italy) - 38 votes
7. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Cristi Puiu, Romania) and Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr, Hungary) - 35 votes
8. Éloge de l'amour (Jean-Luc Godard, Switzerland/ France) - 34 votes
9. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, Romania) - 33 votes
10. Silent Light (Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/France/Netherlands) - 32 votes
11. Russian Ark (Alexander Sokurov, Russia/Germany) - 31 votes
12. The New World (Terrence Malick, USA) - 30 votes
13. Blissfully Yours (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, France/Thailand) - 29 votes
14. Le Fils (Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France) - 27 votes
15. Colossal Youth (Pedro Costa, Portugal/France/Switzerland) - 25 votes
16. Les Glaneurs et la glaneuse (Agnès Varda, France), In Vanda's Room (Pedro Costa, Portugal/Germany/Italy/Switzerland) and Songs from the Second Floor (Roy Andersson, Sweden/Denmark/Norway) - 24 votes
17. Caché (Michael Haneke, France/Austria/Germany/Italy), A History of Violence (David Cronenberg, USA), Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, France/USA) and Three Times (Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan) - 23 votes
18. Rois et reine (Arnaud Desplechin, France) - 21 votes
19. Elephant (Gus Van Sant, USA) - 20 votes
20. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, Spain) - 19 votes
21. The Wind Will Carry Us (Abbas Kiarostami, Iran/France) and YI YI (A One and a Two) (Edward Yang, Taiwan/Japan) - 18 votes
22. Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, Spain) - 17 votes
23. L'Enfant (Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France), The Heart of the WorldI Don't Want to Sleep Alone (Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan/France/Austria) and Star Spangled to Death (Ken Jacobs, USA) - 16 votes
24. The World (Jia Zhang-ke, China/Japan/France) - 14 votes
25. Café Lumière (Hou Hsiao-hsien, Japan), The Headless Woman (Lucrecia Martel, Argentina/Spain/France/Italy), L'Intrus (Claire Denis, France), Millennium Mambo (Hou Hsiao-hsien, Taiwan/France), My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin, Canada), Saraband (Ingmar Bergman, Sweden), Spirited Away (Hiyao Miyazaki, Japan) and I'm Not There (Todd Haynes, USA) - 13 votes
26. Gerry (Gus Van Sant, USA) - 12 votes
27. Distant (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey), Dogville (Lars von Trier, Denmark/Sweden/UK/France/Germany) and The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, USA) - 11 votes
28. Alexandra (Alexander Sokurov, Russia/France) and demonlover (Olivier Assayas, France) - 9 votes
29. Atanarjuat, The Fast Runner (Zacharias Kunuk, Canada) and Goodbye, Dragon Inn (Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan) - 8 votes
30. Longing (Valeska Grisebach, Germany), Secret Sunshine (Lee Chang-dong, South Korea), Vai e Vem (João César Monteiro, Portugal) and Far From Heaven (Todd Haynes, USA/France) - 7 votes

(Via CBC, IndieWire)