First Class

For the last several years, I have been following this wonderful list of 1000 Greatest Films. It is updated every year, and hence is a dynamic list. Currently it includes movies from year 1895 to 2012. They represent about forty countries and range from a one-minute short to a 900-min epic.

Eleven Indian films feature in the list, four Hindi ('Mother India', 'Pyaasa', 'Kaagaz Ke Phool' and 'Sholay') and seven Bengali ('The Apu Trilogy', 'Jalsaghar', 'Charulata', 'Meghe Dhaka Tara' and 'Subarnarekha').

I reached the 250 mark (a quarter of the list) in November 2010.
Exactly one year later, I reached the 333 mark (a third of the list), in November 2011.
I hit 400, my next landmark, in February 2013.
And reached mid-way, the score of 500, in August 2014.

It took me almost four years to reach the 600 mark. Last July, with Michael Haneke's 'Code Unknown' I reached this score. I have watched hundreds of movies in these four years, but not too many among the most acclaimed ones. This is something I intend to correct soon.

My score today is 617 and I hope to watch fifty more movies from this list to reach the next landmark of 667. Finishing two-thirds of the list can be considered an achievement as a film-buff, finally, as the endless greatness of cinema continues to humble and delight us.