Review: A PROPHET

Jacques Audiard has built a career of some repute over the past ten years or so. Both READ MY LIPS and THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED were critically acclaimed and small commercial successes. A PROPHET is, without doubt, the crowning achievement of his career.

A crime epic, A PROPHET is scintillating cinema. The story of a young Muslim’s transition from nervous new inmate, to mafia boss in a French prison, this is thrilling, thoughtful and powerful stuff from the first frame to the last.
It’s an inventively directed film, to boot. Audiard plays with the conventions of the prison movie, in the process making A PROPHET the best prison movie in living memory, and possibly, of all. It also isn’t dwarfed by comparisons to some of the great crime movies.

As Malik, Tahar Rahim gives an astounding performance. It’s full of menace and poise. He plays Malik as a man constantly learning from and adapting to his surroundings. This is most commonly essayed by the scenes in which Malik is visited by his first murder victim’s ghost. He’s unable to let it go, and in accepting the guilt and pain he becomes stronger and more prepared to do what it takes to escape from his current situation (if not his prison).

2009 wasn’t a great year for film, but 2010 is shaping up to be much better, with this and STILL WALKING released in the last two weeks, PRECIOUS: BASED ON THE NOVEL PUSH BY SAPPHIRE out next week and THE CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH (maybe the best film I’ve seen in three years) released in April. Great cinema is happening now, and I heartily recommend that you use A PROPHET as the starting point.

Review: UP IN THE AIR

UP IN THE AIR is the latest evidence of George Clooney’s claim to be thought of as the pre-eminent male movie star of his generation. He may not be big box-office in the same way as Will Smith, or an out and out awards magnet, he’s won one Academy Award, for his supporting performance in SYRIANA. He may well win a second for his performance as Ryan Bingham in Jason Reitman’s third film as director – a dramedy about a redundancy consultant living life on the road, or more accurately, up in the air.

Bingham’s job security is threatened (ironically, given the job he does), when a young Harvard graduate (played by THE TWILIGHT SAGA’S Anna Kendrick) comes up with a way of doing his job from a single location, robbing him of the thing he enjoys most about his life, the constant travel replacing any semblance of a home life – exactly the way he wants it.

There are obvious problems with the set-up. We’re supposed to empathise with the glamorous movie star playing a man who travels a lot firing people, rather than the people getting the elbow? Well, I doubt that the film will be able to survive that for much of the audience, but even those who take against it for that reason, would have to admit that it is very slick work, as were JUNO and THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, Reitman’s previous films.

Stylishly shot, and making everything of Clooney’s performance, it’s an impressive, if superficial film. Clooney has amassed a fine body of work over the past thirteen years or so, and his performance here is terrific. He’s very well supported; both by Kendrick and Vera Farmiga, who plays the female counterpoint to his jetsetting lifestyle, but it’s his film. In fact, it’s impossible to imagine anyone else being able to play the part.

Review: The Road

THE ROAD is one of my favourite books. Written by Cormac McCarthy, whose similarly brilliant novel, NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN was turned into an exceptional, Oscar™ winning film by the Coen brothers, and directed by John Hillcoat, whose last film was an austere, impressive Aussie western, THE PROPOSITION, the stars were aligned for a film that should have dominated what has turned out to be a relatively weak awards season.

Unfortunately, domination is off the cards. It’s not that THE ROAD is anything other than a very good film, just that it doesn’t do enough to become a proposition (sorry) in its own right. So weighed down is it by the impact of the book, and so reluctant to do anything more than be a completely faithful adaptation, that it never actually gets completely off the ground.

Despite the reservations, objectively, THE ROAD has very little wrong with it. Viggo Mortensen is exceptional as ‘The Man’, who has decided in a post-apocalyptic America, that he must take his son to the coast, where the sea can protect them from one side, against the ravaging hordes of cannibals and killers patrolling the countryside. Hillcoat’s photography is starkly stylish, and the script is largely faithful to the source material.

It’s entirely possible that my own lack of distance from the source material is responsible for my (relative) lack of engagement with Hillcoat’s film. I doubt, however, that it’s a reaction that will be limited to me. If you’ve never read the book, I would recommend the film without hesitation. If you have, I would expect that you love it, and would advise lowering expectations before going in.

2009 in Review: The Best Films... Number 1

THE CLASS
Directed by Laurent Cantet

I’ve said before that 2009 wasn’t a brilliant year for cinema. There’s a fantastic top 5, and then the films from 14-6 are very close to each other. The standout number 1, though, was THE CLASS, Laurent Cantet’s film adaptation of Francois Begaudeau’s novel. Begaudeau plays the character based on himself, Francois Marin, a teacher in an inner-city Paris school.

Cantet’s film throws Begaudeau into a classroom with a group of non-professional actors, and films the results. The film is scripted, but feels alive due to the authentic dynamic between teacher and students. The plot focuses on Marin’s struggles with a number of students, including Souleymane, a teenager of Malian descent, who has been threatened (by his father) with his return to Africa if he is excluded from his school.

Certainly Begaudeau and Cantet are interested in the multi-cultured nature of inner-city French schools. The racial tensions are always present in the film, but never allowed to unbalance it. Rather what the film seems to be about is the nature of what it takes to be a teacher. As human beings we are encouraged to admit our fallibility, and the importance of questioning a system. A good teacher gets this across to their students – it’s one of the most important lessons in life. How then, should such a teacher balance that with the pedagogical nature of the education system?

This is the question at the heart of the film, and it’s one that Cantet and Begaudeau never presume to be able to know how to answer. It presents far from a rosy picture of what a teacher’s life is, yet still gives an insight into the moments of joy that reaching previously ‘difficult’ students can bring. It’s an affirming and powerful film, a testament to honesty and faith in people over systems. It’s also the best film of the year.

2009 in Review: The Best Films... Number 2

THE HURT LOCKER
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

It turned out to be quite a tough choice between the number one and two films on this list. It’s absolutely no disgrace to THE HURT LOCKER that it came in second. This is our first truly great feature film made about the war in Iraq. It’s telling that it’s not an examination of the political manoeuvring that led us into an unpopular/illegal war. In fact, the politics of the situation do not matter one bit. Nor do the feelings of those people back home, this is a film solely concerned with the war. It’s an out and out thriller. From the very first scene onwards, there’s barely a moment to relax. By avoiding the sermonising tone of other films about the same subject, THE HURT LOCKER can afford the time to allow us to get to know the characters we’re following. This process is aided by terrific performances from the three leads: Brian Geraghty, Antony Mackie and, particularly, Jeremy Renner in what should be an Oscar nominated performance. And, while we’re talking about Oscars, there’s little doubt in my mind that THE HURT LOCKER should win Best Picture at the ceremony on March 7^th, nor that the Academy should give Kathryn Bigelow the Best Director award, and, thus make her the first woman to receive the honour. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that this is overly awards-conscious fare, though. It’s not, this is the best action film of the year, and damn close to being the best film.

2009 in Review: The Best Films... Number 3

THE WHITE RIBBON
Directed by Michael Haneke

Michael Haneke is not a filmmaker with whom I have a great affinity. I have been left cold and distinctly unimpressed by every film of his I have seen. Every film of his up until THE WHITE RIBBON, anyway, as this is an unimpeachable masterpiece. Set in a small German village in 1913, THE WHITE RIBBON is a coruscating, and devastating look at how a community can begin to fall apart, even when nobody seems to understand why. Absent of most of Haneke’s usual directorial leitmotifs, THE WHITE RIBBON is comfortably his best film, and far more troubling than the amateur theatrics of FUNNY GAMES or the bourgeois guilt of HIDDEN ever managed to be. The austerity of the black and white photography fits in perfectly with the puritan morals being picked apart by Haneke. It’s also hard not to equate the small brood of eerie, blonde, repressed children with the Aryan ideal that would become prominent in German society right around the time that they would reach adulthood.

2009 in Review: The Best Films... Number 4

SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK
Directed by Charlie Kaufman

The best tribute that I can give to Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut is that I know someone who slept through the film, and claimed to have woken up extremely (and inexplicably) sad. Kaufman’s the sort of writer who can get into your head, and with SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK, he proves that he’s no slouch as a director either. His control of mood and tone, even as the story spirals out of control suggests that his earlier scripts, for Adaptation or Being John Malkovich (which fall apart somewhat towards the end) would have been better served had he helmed, rather than Spike Jonze. Philip Seymour Hoffman gives a towering performance as frustrated playwright Caden Cotard, and he’s more than ably supported by Catherine Keener, Tom Noonan, Michelle Williams, Samantha Morton, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis and Emily Watson. It’s a beguiling, bewildering and beautiful film, powerful and fragile almost in the same frame, and one well worth investigating.

2009 in Review: The Best Films... Number 5

UP
Directed by Pete Docter

Another year, another Pixar masterpiece. UP sits firmly for me in the top half of the Pixar table. A moving (exceedingly so) and exciting adventure story, it’s almost impossible to believe that people doubted the commerciality of the film pre-release. Indeed some commentators were claiming that it could be the studio’s biggest failure, due to the lack of merchandising opportunities of a film where the main characters were a young, overweight Korean boy and a 70-something year-old man. Of course, the true reason for Pixar’s success hasn’t been that the toys are good, but that the scripts are, and UP is no exception. It works equally well for younger audiences as it does for adults, and passes off the neat trick of being exciting to both audiences in the same way. The film is a rare one, it has true, universal appeal.

2009 in Review: The Best Films... Number 6

WENDY AND LUCY
Directed by Kelly Reichardt

Kelly Reichardt’s last film was OLD JOY, a small and intimate film about two thirty-something friends who have drifted apart but go on a trip together. It’s a fantastic movie, and one I would thoroughly recommend. Her follow-up is, if anything, even stronger, and continues with one theme from her previous film. Both films concern themselves with an almost invisible area of American society, the kind of wandering slacker, a near-underclass with no money and seemingly little chance of a way out of their situation. In WENDY AND LUCY, Michelle Williams gives a magnificent performance as Wendy, a young girl travelling with only her faithful dog for company. It’s a poetic and brilliant film, shot in a similar fashion to the early films of David Gordon Green (GEORGE WASHINGTON, ALL THE REAL GIRLS) who had a similar focus in his early work. It’s a quietly sensational piece of work, anchored by Williams’ brilliant central turn.

2009 in Review: The Best Films... Number 7

BRIGHT STAR
Directed by Jane Campion

Jane Campion’s previous films have either irritated me or completely passed me by, so it was with some surprise that I was so completely bowled over by BRIGHT STAR, the story of the love between John Keats and Fanny Brawne that inspired some of the former’s greatest poetry. In the two lead roles, Ben Whishaw and Abbie Cornish excel, Cornish, in particular, is at her very best here. There is genuine romantic chemistry between them, which is exacerbated by Campion’s painterly skill with the camera. With a film so unashamedly about beauty, and beautiful things; you have a right to expect gorgeousness to permeate every frame. It is to Campion’s immense credit that not only does she surpass any such expectations; she doesn’t neglect the simple beauty and pathos of her story, or of the work of her inspiration. Whishaw reads a Keats poem over the end credits, and the effect is crushing.

2009 in Review: The Best Films... Number 8

A SERIOUS MAN
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

Yes, this was a much smaller film than we may have become accustomed to from America’s most famous filmmaking brothers (NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and BURN AFTER READING) are their two most successful films of all time, after all. Yes, it was very Jewish, and yes it was brilliant, in a more Coen-esque fashion than either of their two more lionised recent hits. Michael Stuhlbarg (a near unknown) is brilliant in the titular role, as a man whose life is becoming unstuck – his wife is leaving him, for a mutual friend, one of his students is offering him a bribe, he can’t connect to his kids and his ailing brother is causing him stress. In typically playful style, the brothers take us through our Serious Man’s trials and tribulations, and the accumulation of weight upon his shoulders. It feels like an older, more restrained BARTON FINK, which is a compliment of the highest order. It’s likely to be regarded as a minor classic in the not too distant future.

2009 in Review: The Best Films... Number 9

AN EDUCATION
Directed by Lone Scherfig

Among other things, in the near future, AN EDUCATION will be remembered as the film that brought the luminous Carey Mulligan to the public eye. Her performance, as a precocious teenaged girl in Scherfig’s adaptation of Lynn Barber’s memoir is simply perfect. It’s a flawless piece of work made more impressive by the calibre of her cast-mates, from Alfred Molina (equally good as her father) to Peter Sarsgaard, Rosamund Pike, Emma Thompson and Olivia Williams. Nick Hornby’s script pulls off the neat trick of being perceptive and tight, and even more impressively, mould Barber’s character into likeability. The period is beautifully evoked by Scherfig, whose direction is elegant and restrained throughout. It’s not likely to stick in your mind for years, but is a thoroughly well made and entertaining film, and one with a knockout central performance.

2009 in Review: The Best Films... Number 10

CHE
Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Those annoyed by folding two films into one should look away now. Separately, THE ARGENTINE and GUERRILLA are strong points on Steven Soderbergh’s CV. Together, they become his most ambitious, exceptional film (although not his best – that is OUT OF SIGHT). The two films tell two stories from the life of Che Guevara, a man whose image is one of the most famous in the modern world. The first is of the Cuban revolution, and Guevara’s infamous role in it. It’s an exciting and stylish war movie, shot with customary elegance and style. The second tells the (much) less told story of an attempted coup in Bolivia, in which Guevara was also involved, taking place some time after the successful Cuban campaign. The juxtaposition between the two is handled adroitly. They feel like vastly different films, but uniting them is a superb central performance by Benicio Del Toro, who humanises an icon with seeming ease.

2009 in Review: Part Two. The Best Films...

50) WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
Directed by Spike Jonze

Yeah, I was disappointed by the film. It doesn’t work in the way that I wanted it to. However, the strength of the trailer alone (the best trailer of the decade?) merits it a place on this list.

49) ROLE MODELS
Directed by David Wain

It was a decent year for comedy, and Role Models got the year off to a good start. Extra kudos for giving Paul Rudd an all-too-rare starring role.

48) CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS
Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller

Pixar have clearly dominated American animation for years, but this is the best non-Pixar animation in years. It’s very, very funny.

47) I LOVE YOU MAN
Directed by John Hamburg

Just pips Role Models by virtue of casting the great Jason Segel (Freaks and Geeks rules) and the lovely Rashida (daughter of Quincy) Jones from Parks and Recreation.

46) RELIGULOUS
Directed by Larry Charles

Funny and irreverent. Larry Charles, who directed Borat, made a better film this year than his former colleague, Sacha Baron Cohen.

45) BROKEN EMBRACES
Directed by Pedro Almodovar

Average Almodovar is still better than so much else released in a cinematic year. This is heaps of fun, and features another knockout turn by Penelope Cruz, who was even better here than in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

44) KISSES
Directed by Lance Daly

Gorgeous black and white Irish indie, about a couple of pre-teen runaways in Dublin. Funny, sweet and scary, this is further proof of a burgeoning Irish film industry.

43) FROST/NIXON
Directed by Ron Howard

Seems so long ago (although in fairness, it’s been 18 months or so since I saw it), but this is an impressive and occasionally thrilling piece of work, with a tremendous performance by Frank Langella.

42) PUBLIC ENEMIES
Directed by Michael Mann

One of the year’s biggest disappointments for me, a big Michael Mann fan, but still an impressive film. I’ve just bought the blu ray, can’t wait to give it a second go.

41) RACHEL GETTING MARRIED
Directed by Jonathan Demme

Demme hadn’t made a film for ages before last year’s brilliant Jimmy Carter documentary. This should be the world’s most annoying film. That it isn’t is down to a brilliant performance by Anne Hathaway.

40) PONTYPOOL
Directed by Bruce McDonald

Impressive and stylish low-budget zombie movie, with a wonderful performance by Stephen McHattie as a DJ caught up in an unbelievable turn of events. A future cult classic, and really highly recommended.

39) ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD
Directed by Werner Herzog

Herzog can seemingly do no wrong at present, and this documentary, while lacking the genius of Grizzly Man is one of the year’s best non-fiction films.

38) THIRST
Directed by Park-Chan Wook

The year’s second best vampire movie (although, in full disclosure: I haven’t seen Twilight). Park is a brilliant director, and this is as stylish as his best work, although the story lacks the power of the Vengeance trilogy.

37) FUNNY PEOPLE
Directed by Judd Apatow

So close to being a third consecutive stone-cold classic for Apatow, this had more good stuff in it than any other comedy this year, but the occasional misfire pulls it back.

36) DEPARTURES
Directed by Yojiro Takita

Winner of last year’s Best Film in a Foreign Language Oscar, where it defeated Waltz with Bashir. While it shouldn’t have done, it’s an affecting, gracious and emotionally involving film.

35) REVOLUTIONARY ROAD
Directed by Sam Mendes

I’m not a massive Mendes fan, but this was his best film to date. It’s based on one of the greatest books of all time, and boasts knockout performances from Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Not an easy watch, however.

34) FROZEN RIVER
Directed by Courtney Hunt

Melissa Leo won a richly-deserved Oscar nomination for a stunning turn that is the heart and soul of Courtney Hunt’s film.

33) THE INFORMANT!
Directed by Steven Soderbergh

Soderbergh had a wonderful year, and this was a delight from start to finish. Matt Damon is superb as a man involved in the corporate criminal culture in the US.

32) FANTASTIC MR FOX
Directed by Wes Anderson

Another of the year’s disappointments, although it’s hard to see how Anderson could have improved upon this. It looks magnificent, but couldn’t possibly have lived up to the filmmaker’s best work.

31) AVATAR
Directed by James Cameron

It will be interesting to see how history regards James Cameron’s 3D marvel. At its best, it’s the best big movie of the year.

30) IL DIVO
Directed by Paolo Sorrentino

Sorrentino’s a great filmmaker, but Il Divo has faded from my memory somewhat since I saw it. Toni Servillo’s performance is extraordinary, and a rewatch may have moved the film higher up this list.

29) BETTER THINGS
Directed by Duane Hopkins

Sensational, but downbeat debut from British director Duane Hopkins about the effects of drugs on a small Cotswolds community. It’s a massive downer, but seriously impressive stuff.

28) FISH TANK
Directed by Andrea Arnold

Katie Jarvis steals the show in her debut performance as a disaffected teenaged girl in Andrea Arnold’s excellent follow-up to the brilliant RED ROAD. Good support too from Michael Fassbender.

27) IN THE LOOP
Directed by Armando Ianucci

A really good year for British cinema, 2009, and IN THE LOOP is further evidence of that. Not quite as brilliant as THE THICK OF IT, the TV show that spawned the film, but hilarious all the same.

26) THREE MONKEYS
Directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Ceylan is one of Europe’s best filmmakers, with films like DISTANT and CLIMATES among the decade’s best. THREE MONKEYS is just a hair below that quality, but is a terrific piece of work.

25) MOON
Directed by Duncan Jones

I would argue that Sam Rockwell gave the year’s best performance in Duncan Jones’ (the son of David Bowie) directorial debut. MOON is by no means a perfect film, but fits neatly with two of the obvious trends of the year, 2009 was an excellent year for British cinema, as noted in the previous post, but also an excellent year for science fiction. Many compared it to the work of Kubrick, I think it’s more like a cross between SOLARIS and DARK CITY.

24) MILK
Directed by Gus Van Sant

Sean Penn won the Oscar for his portrayal of openly gay US politician Harvey Milk in Gus Van Sant’s least weird film since GOOD WILL HUNTING. It’s a terrific movie, with great performances from James Franco and Josh Brolin in support, while Penn is superb. Only some annoying directorial tricks stop this from ranking higher on this list. It’s hard now to believe that many thought that Penn should have been beaten to the award by Mickey Rourke.

23) ANVIL: THE STORY OF ANVIL
Directed by Sacha Gervasi

Brilliant film this, one where you’re not entirely sure for much of the duration how seriously you’re supposed to take it. There’s definitely more than one moment when you feel like this story simply can’t be true. But true it is, and Anvil, an unsuccessful heavy metal band are among the year’s most engaging screen stories. By turns, this is funny, moving and brilliant.

22) SUGAR
Directed by Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden

HALF NELSON, the debut film from co-directors Fleck and Boden, suggested a coupling of great promise, promise that has been fulfilled by their follow-up: SUGAR. SUGAR is a quiet and brilliant film about a young Dominican baseball player who is moved to the US by the major league franchise that has signed him, and has to cope in a new country. It’s sympathetic, heartfelt filmmaking, which surpasses their debut.

21) THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD
Directed by Ji-Woon Kim

Kim has had a great decade (A BITTERSWEET LIFE is a highlight), and he ends it with his most entertaining film to date. THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD is a Korean spaghetti Western, which is convinced of nothing other than it’s own insatiable need to entertain. It doesn’t make massive amounts of sense, but, quite frankly, what does that matter?

20) INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS
Directed by Quentin Tarantino

A bravura piece of work, by one of Hollywood’s most interesting filmmakers. I reviewed it here, and my memory hasn’t diminished it at all. There are flaws aplenty (Eli Roth, the Basterds are the least interesting characters in the movie, it’s too long), but the opening scene alone is worth anything that could have followed it. Worth commending two outstanding performances as well, from Christopher Waltz (who will win an Oscar) and Melanie Laurent, who, sadly, won’t.

19) TOKYO SONATA
Directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa

Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s (no relation) film is an odd, charming and captivating film about family, obligation and recrimination. It’s also very funny, occasionally shocking and quite beautiful. It’s been a good year for Japanese drama, although the best Japanese film I saw last year (STILL WALKING) isn’t out in the UK for a couple of weeks. As such, TOKYO SONATA is the best Japanese film of the year.

18) SHIFTY
Directed by Eran Creevy

Eran Creevy’s film is one of the best British films of the year, and further evidence that the British film industry is in rude health. Daniel Mays and Riz Ahmed play former friends who have drifted apart, but are reunited for one day. Ahmed is a small-time drug dealer, and Mays accompanies him on his rounds. That may sound like the sort of hackneyed start to a British crime thriller that we all came to hate in the aftermath of Guy Ritchie’s early films, but this has much more in common with the films of Shane Meadows.

17) ADVENTURELAND
Directed by Greg Mottola

In a world where (500) DAYS OF SUMMER can take money, and be regarded as vastly more than it is, the sense of injustice isn’t helped when a film like ADVENTURELAND (in every single way it’s superior) disappears from cinema screens almost immediately. It’s a superb film, with great work from the cast, Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart are great as the leads, but the support from Bill Hader, Ryan Reynolds and the goddess that is Kristen Wiig is flawless. This is sad, funny and emotionally raw. It’s as good an evocation of teenaged life as Hollywood has produced in years.

16) STAR TREK
Directed by JJ Abrams

I suppose that at this stage of the list you could quite easily think that this is a list aimed only at people who don’t watch popular films. Only AVATAR and INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, so far, have taken more than £10m at the UK box office. However, STAR TREK is the best blockbuster of the year. Funny, exciting and so, so much fun, this isn’t like the STAR TREK films that I grew up on. I’m fairly sure that in my old house the VHS tape of THE MOTION PICTURE that my dad showed me twenty odd years ago still hasn’t finished. This, though, is terrific, and very highly recommended to those, like me, who have no affinity with the franchise.

15) THE HANGOVER
Directed by Todd Phillips

And now the hits keep on coming. I reviewed this here, and since then the film has become even more of a sensation; it’s the highest grossing R rated comedy of all time in the USA, which is even more remarkable because it’s a film where the most famous face belonged to Bradley Cooper (aside from Mike Tyson’s that is). What The Hangover is, is a smartly written, brilliantly played comedy that adroitly follow the lesson that you should leave your audience laughing. Chances are, anyone who you’ve spoken to about the film has told you how much they loved the end credits? Still any film that sends some love the way of the ‘nard dog is ok by me, and I don’t think I had a better time in the cinema all year.

14) AWAY WE GO
Directed by Sam Mendes

Ok, so Revolutionary Road’s reign as my favourite Mendes film lasted for, approximately, six months. AWAY WE GO is the least theatrical of Mendes’ film work, and as such, the most alive. It’s a funny and moving film, with really appealing lead performances by the great John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph, while the likes of Paul Schneider (also brilliant this year in BRIGHT STAR), Jeff Daniels, Allison Janney, Catherine O’Hara and, especially, Melanie Lynskey, give great support. It’s a little indie-by-numbers, but the best indie-by-numbers film of the year.

13) A CHRISTMAS TALE
Directed by Arnaud Desplechin

Desplechin is one of the best filmmakers in Europe. That much is obvious when comparing just his last two features, KINGS AND QUEEN, which is far from the finished article but is so brave, and assured, that it beggars belief, and this, A CHRISTMAS TALE, which is incredibly close to being a masterpiece. A rewatch might have pushed this higher in the list, but even without it stands out as being one of the best films of the year, and one of the best films about family, of the decade. It stands comparison with Olivier Assayas’ SUMMER HOURS or Abdel Kechiche’s COUSCOUS. There are terrific performances as well from Catherine Deneuve, Mathieu Amalric, Melvil Poupaud and Anne Consigny. Quite simply, it’s brilliant.

12) THE COVE
Directed by Louis Psihoyos

Unquestionably the year’s most required viewing. This is a horrifying documentary about the way that whales are systematically butchered in a small fishing community in coastal Japan. The film is set up in such a way that it documents these terrible actions, and the efforts of a small group of activists who attempt to highlight the problem, and put as many obstacles as possible in the fishermen’s way. It’s a brave and brilliant film, never weighed down by the seriousness and harrowing nature of its subject. It’s grisly, but absolutely essential viewing.

11) LET THE RIGHT ONE IN
Directed by Tomas Alfredsson

And, now, we come to the year’s best vampire movie. Stylish, atmospheric and truly unsettling, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN is a sumptuous and brilliant film. It truly understands, and elucidates what it means to be an outcast at a young age, with seemingly your whole future mapped out in front of you. The best Swedish film since Lukas Moodysson’s brilliant SHOW ME LOVE, LET THE RIGHT ONE IN has already been fast-tracked for a remake (due out later this year). You owe it to yourself, however, to see the original, and it is a true original, first.