La Regle du jeu (1939)

Jean Renoir's 1939 social satire about the French bourgeoisie was initially banned by the French government as demoralising and commercially cut after hostile audience reactions, before being reconstructed in 1959 and recognised as a supreme masterwork. It ranked #1 in the Sight & Sound poll for two consecutive decades (1962 and 1972) before being displaced by Citizen Kane. The film's ensemble staging and fluid camera movement directly influenced Robert Altman's career and the French New Wave.