Some other films from this decade - underseen ones - that'll probably end up on my list:
Morvern Callar would have been tricky to pull off... trying to gain audience empathy for a character who steals her suicide-case boyfriend's unpublished novel and passes it off as her own is a feat in itself (both for the director and the actress) but Ramsay slips so easily into the mind of someone whose entire world has just been turned upside-down. Every scene and every line reflects this... it is really quite an astonishing film.
Marie Antoinette is an incredibly overlooked/underrated picture, and one that I feel history will validate. Full of symbolic and metaphorical subtext, beautifully directed/shot/acted and pretty much the opposite of 'shallow', it manages to riff on pop culture, history and its actors' own star personas without ever once being coy, self-conscious or in-your-face.
Late Marriage is a very well-done 'forbidden love' story set in a Georgian neighbourhood in Tel Aviv. It has a candor about sex that really blindsided me (especially coming from a Middle Eastern film) and the film itself is so rich in complex and ambiguous emotion and it is so unflinchingly honest that the end result is actually quite frightening and disturbing... but in a good way.
The Day I Became a Woman is the first feature by Mohsen Makhmalbaf's wife Marzieh. The film is a triptych of sorts, detailing three different stages of womanhood - childhood, adulthood and old age (although as far as I can tell the lead characters of each segment are not the same woman). Together, the segments work beautifully, but they can stand on their own as well. The first seems to be the one that the director has the least enthusiasm for, although it is still a nice piece. The third is wryly funny and quite moving. But the second is an absolute masterpiece and would win my award for best short film of the decade had it been released separately. It is utterly simple in story, idea and execution but also utterly, utterly breathtaking.
La Captive is an adaptation of the Proust novel by Chantal Akerman. I've never read any Proust, so I can't appreciate the film on that level, but from a pure 'filmmaking' standpoint it is completely entrancing. It's definitely on the slow side, and I'd say that Sylvie Testud (fantastic actress though she is) is miscast, but the film is full of unexpectedly enchanting moments that will just leave you dumbstruck with their beauty and mystery (a long drive down a boulevard lined with prostitutes plying their wares is particularly memorable).
Respiro is an Italian film that is, on the surface, about a wife and mother living on a Mediterranean island who feels trapped (with good reason), but on a more symbolic level it really is a statement about the way all women are treated in Italy today - the entire "Madonna or Whore" idea is key here. Great acting all around - especially by the kids - and a beautifully ambiguous ending (which I found actually quite ominous). It is very well-done and is even more impressive for being a directorial debut.
Series 7: The Contenders is very smart, very manipulative and very entertaining. It reaches a level of meta that is almost unbearable, but it manages to keep its balance when directing it was obviously a tightrope walk... Great acting, too - standouts for me were Brooke Smith and the very interesting Angelina Phillips, but all the cast were fantastic.
Suzhou River, after reflecting on it, strikes me as a little bit empty, but it is definitely well-done and a sign of tremendous promise for its director. Stylish and 'cool' without ever feeling like its playing into its audience's pretentions, its a breeze to watch, well-acted, -shot and -cut, and an interesting update of the "Vertigo" plot.
Take My Eyes is perhaps the best 'mainstream' romantic drama I've seen this decade. Iciar Bollain shows an impressive restraint with her direction, wisely keeping it simple so that her collection of amazing actors (Luis Tosar, Laia Marull, Candela Pena etc) and her own near-perfect script can shine. I've never seen domestic abuse tackled with such honesty as it has been here, and what is refreshing is that such a film from a female director does not demonize the husband character or turn the picture into a typical, Lifetime-esque "battered woman finds new lease on life after leaving hubby" yarn. The character of the husband is actually the most complex, empathetic and interesting in the film (although all the characters, even the minor ones, are incredibly well-written and well-acted) and never once do I feel that Bollain is judging him. Incredibly honest and perceptive about relationships and gender dynamics as well, it justifiably swept the Goyas and is my pick for the best Spanish film of the decade.
It's Easier for a Camel... is a crazy melange of different tones, moods and themes that, according to the laws of logic (and physics) shouldn't work at all, yet somehow does. Valeria Bruni Tedeschi shines both as directrice and actress here, and the film is very funny, very moving, very heartfelt and defiantly un-sappy as an ode to family. Shows great promise for her and is really great (although strangely indefinable).
The Libertine is one of the most 'down-to-earth' (yet most enjoyable and entertaining) period films I've seen lately, in that it almost perfectly captures the atmosphere of those times in such a sensitive way that it seems like you're there smelling/seeing/tasting/hearing the surroundings. Great ensemble acting, too (Depp, Morton, Malkovich, and [wow!] Rosamund Pike). This kind of film has definite limits but this is fantastic within those limits.
A Gentle Breeze in the Village is Yamashita's follow-up to
Linda Linda Linda, and is a bit more stylized and 'conventional' than that film, but no less moving and memorable. Full of warm, human, nostalgic moments that you'll remember even if the film strikes you as fluff while watching it. I don't think it carries as much depth as
Linda Linda Linda - it all seems a bit glossier - but the film has a ton of heart, the ending (the
blackboard scene is just perfect
) is lovely, the lead performance by Kaho is spot-on and as far as contemporary coming-of-age stories go this is pretty great.
Maelstrom is an incredibly stylized film with impressive texture and a very, very good lead performance by Marie-Josee Croze, who throws herself into the role with frightening abandon. The 'quirks' might turn off some viewers, but I thought it was a really interesting piece of morbid pop-art.
Mademoiselle is a really touching, simple and beautiful romantic dramedy that has a lot going on under the surface of its calm exterior (just look at that final scene - it says so much while saying so little). Bonnaire is luminous... just a lovely film.
Murderous Maids succeeds really on the strength of its writing and astonishing performances. The director Jean-Pierre Denis has a rather clinical eye for composition and execution, but it really works here because it makes way for the two amazing actresses at the film's core - Sylvie Testud (omgwtf good) and Julie-Marie Parmentier (perceptive and haunting) - to do their stuff. A really accomplished chamber piece that doesn't "insist upon itself" and relays its horrific true story in a way that doesn't ever threaten to manipulate.
Spun is hilarious and incredibly entertaining, and I think is a superior "drug addiction" film to
Requiem for a Dream, because it manages to be a "don't take drugs film" while retaining a sense of levity and never once venturing into "emo" territory"... that wasn't very artfully put, but it is totally true. The rapid-fire editing is a bit distracting in the first 10 minutes but when it settles into it it really, really works.
Rana's Wedding is an interesting, unique movie that utilizes tension and suspense in some really original ways. It's by the director of
Paradise Now and is similarly intense, but in a vastly different way.
Australia is a camp masterpiece. Of course it can't transcend the boundaries that this genre has fixed upon itself, but its perfectly tongue-in-cheek, completely over-the-top, incredibly funny, incredibly entertaining and incredibly well-done (old-Hollywood style racism aside). This is coming from someone who hates all of Luhrmann's other films (with a passion!).
And Dorris Dorrie's
Cherry Blossoms won't end up on my list (I think it is a bit too confused about what it wants to be, and it needs cutting in certain places) but it is a really heartfelt film with some, frankly, amazing scenes of really astounding grace and beauty (the lead characters final moments, for one - don't worry, this isn't really a spoiler). I don't think it is a great film, but it has some amazing moments and I urge y'all to rent it.
I've already talked about my swapsies,
The Brown Bunny,
Cache,
2 Days in Paris,
Something Like Happiness,
Irreversible,
Innocence,
Goodbye, Dragon Inn and
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, and a lot of the rest of my list is made up of films that a lot of you will already have seen, so I guess I'll finish up this post!
