Lists
- ranked 9 in BFI 100
- ranked 41 in Paul Schrader's Film Canon
- ranked 63 in Chicago Tribune 100 Best Films of the Century
- ranked 122 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (August 2005)
- ranked 136 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (March 2006)
- ranked 140 in They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? 1000 Greatest Films (December 2006)
- ranked 149 in Empire 500 Greatest Movies (2008)
- one of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
- one of The New York Times Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made
The gorgeous ballet set-pieces are worth the price of admission in their own right, but the larger film never reaches the intensity of its microcosmic play-within-a-play. It's perfectly crafted, but ultimately unconvincing -- more like theatrical histrionics than tragic ineluctability.