Getting into the swing of things, I have noticed my fellow colleagues are posting their best, worst and other assortments of lists. I will keep mine straight and to the point, and have chosen ten films I have seen this year, that have for different reasons had a profound impact on myself personally and/or the way I view cinema as a medium and as an art. I hope you enjoy the list and more to the point hope you see these films, to see what I am raving about!
Number 10: Enter The Void
Gaspar Noe's seminal, (both literally in terms of semen and relating to his work) Enter The Void is an epic mind fuck. It is the simple story of two siblings, one of them dies in Tokyo right near the beginning of the film and then... his body freely floats through the neon nightmare, delving in and out of his past and climaxing (literally) to his potential future; it is incest in the most subtle way and is nearly impossible to explain, perhaps reincarnation is the best word. After his death he watches over his sister as her life continues in a downward spiral, as do the lives of his friends. The intensity and repetition of his floating journey create an unthinkable scenario; a meditative nightmare in which there is seemingly no end and no beginning.
Number 9: I Am Love
I Am Love is an Italian film about the extremely rich Recchi family and the subtle politics that play out between them, particularly Emma Recchi (Tilda Swinton), a Russian that married into the family. She is unhappy and quickly falls for another man while the family business much to her sons dismay faces troubles. It is not this layered story that makes I Am Love worthy of the top ten however, it is the pulsating urgent score from master John Adams as the most gorgeous and luscious visuals pervade the senses, particularly the scene where Emma and the man she is cheating with make love outside, the camera pans and zooms and focuses on their body parts, explicit but serene, it matches this with extreme close ups of flowers and fauna. Later the score is more alive than ever, and the title of the film is realized as in the last moments of I Am Love, Emma makes a decision that overrides all movie logic and it is a joy to behold. I Am Love is a multi textural work of art.
Number 8: Amer
Amer is an urgent experimental horror film that pays homage to Giallo. The camera takes on a life of its own and cinematography becomes king and really the only focal point of Amer, that traces a woman from childhood to adulthood and the auspicious events that happened in her younger years that follow her back to where everything began. The end is a shocking and ultra violent twist, but the journey to get there is loaded with a bizarre eroticism that perfumes every scene. How can something be so disturbing and yet beautiful at the same time? Watch Amer to find out.
Number 7: A Single Man
A Single Man is a beautifully sincere film that surpasses sex and gender to deliver a grand message that love is always out there no matter the circumstances. Colin Firth in his best performance so far plays George, a gay college professor in the 60's in America. Of course he hides this fact in public and at his work place and through the lens the era is bought to life with extreme precision from fashion designer-turned-director Tom Ford. George has lost his lover some years ago and the daily grind proves too much for him and he has finally given in, preparing his final day on Earth as he plans to end it all. He visits friends, has a few choice encounters and remembers what he has lost. Is this enough to convince him to live? The results may surprise you.
Number 6: Neon Genesis Evangelion 2.0 You (Cannot) Advance
Neon Genesis is a complex anime. In its conception its creator Hideki Anno was clinically insane. Many years after the series and shocking movies comes the rebuild, the first chapter come and gone and viewed with contempt; yes it was pretty but it did little but rehash the series and the events with an unnecessary focus on the fighting of the robots. Enter 2.0, a title I looked at initially with disdain, then I saw it. Needless to say it is quite simply better than the series. The changes in character, situation and plot are an extremely welcome change for long time fans and new comers alike. This was a genuine unexpected treat that puts the mythos of the brilliant series in a new light, oh and its pretty.
Number 5: I Saw The Devil
I Saw the Devil disturbed and shocked me. This today in cinema is rare, I thought I was desensitized to everything (sans The Human Centipede of course) but the blackness and brutality and vacuum of hopelessness that pervaded every inch of the screen during the entire duration of this film convinced me otherwise. The plot follows a serial killer that murders a policeman's wife, and that mans quest to hunt the killer down, torture him then let him go, only to rinse and repeat. There are many problems with this idea, particularly the slew of innocents and guilty in his wake but also the devastating repercussions. In fact no one and nothing is safe. This is truly no holds barred cinema that is not afraid to go where normal genre does not. A cheap trick? No, far beyond that.
Number 4: The Social Network
A film about Facebook? No, a film about communication. Could this not be more important in this day and age and who better to helm it than contemporary master David Fincher. He proved with Fight Club and Zodiac that clinical black drama can work, and work so very well. I remember watching Zodiac and wishing it would not end, to get drawn so deep into a fascinating story and deeply affecting characters was a treat. I read about Fincher's directing style, to get actors to look and act tired he would simply rehearse the scene over and over until they were genuinely tired. Second best is not good enough, this principle he applied with full force to The Social Network, and as a result the feeling that I received from Zodiac resurfaced again. This masterful work could only get better thanks to the biting screenplay from Aaron Sorkin.
Number 3: Animal Kingdom
The general public in Australia is reluctant to see an Australian film. This is a sad fact and something that should be rectified as there has been a huge amount of releases that have been worthy contenders to the more popular Hollywood counterparts. Animal Kingdom of course destroys all notions of an Australian film. Yes it is set in my town of Melbourne, yes it has some brilliant Australian talent and is very much an Australian story, but the tropes of an Australian film are nowhere to be found. Essentially Animal Kingdom is a crime film about a bank robbing family and the ever controlling matriarch that leads it and the newcomer that gets caught up in everything. The film is in fact very hard to fault; it is its own animal, a savage beast that leaves its indelible mark on anyone that views it.
Number 2: Black Swan
Natalie Portman is barely recognizable as the coddled, damaged perfectionist Nina Sayers in this intense portrayal of a ballerina in the overly stressful world of ballet. The film is essentially a slow burner that has masterful performances from both her and her autocratic instructor Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) as he craftily manipulates her to become the black swan as she already has the white swan's routine down pat. In doing so he stretches her beyond her limits and slowly but surely the world around her falls apart and it is how that makes this movie so memorable. The use of mirrors and other subtle effects bring Nina's madness into full view and is reminiscent of the imagined horrors that befell many of the protagonists in Aronofsky's Requiem For a Dream. The final half-hour is a beautifully tragic crescendo that sees Nina come full circle, the modified theme of Swan Lake blares loudly as her transformation takes place and it is enough to take your breath away. This is perfect cinema.
Number 1: Inception
Damn you Nolan you genius bastard you have done it again. His last release The Dark Knight topped my list for that year, and try as I might to reorganize my top 3 I found it almost impossible to not have Inception sitting right at the top. Many people use many words to describe their cinema experience, but do they really mean what they say? I can honestly tell you I was floored by Inception; the visuals, the convolved analysis of dreams that somehow made sense and all those layers, while still touching on a deeply personal story of loss, and incorporating grief in the most original way possible. Inception took the viewer to mind blowing action pieces, clever infiltration scenarios and to the edge of dreams and imagination itself.
