Wednesday, September 19, 2007

FILM MUSINGS: REEL REVIEWS 2007 AT A GLANCE


(This article appeared in the 2007 World Poll of Senses of Cinema.)

2007 was an ordinary year for film viewing and criticism for me, though there were a good number of movies that impressed my æsthetic standards (considering the 236 films that I have seen until 2 January 2008). As always, I shunned big budget Hollywood films, including The Bourne Ultimatum (Paul Greengrass, 2007) and the latest Harry Potter), in favour of arthouse, foreign-language releases. There were some movies that I saw during embassy-sponsored film festivals while a big number were seen on DVD.

Here are the 10 best films that I have seen from January 2007 to 2 January 2008:

Jazireh ahani (pictured, above) (Iron Island, Mohammad Rasoulof, 2005)
This little seen gem by Mohammad Rasoulof is a thematically urgent movie about dictatorship and traditional politics set in a rundown ship. It proves that Iranian cinema isn’t passé after all, despite the booming critical reception for Romanian films in various film festivals.

Offside (Jafar Panahi, 2006)

Jafar Panahi’s latest feature is a blatant critique of gender insensitivity in his home country set during the World Cup qualifying match. The theme may not be new, but Panahi’s gift for well timed humour and drama makes this message movie accessible to everyone.

Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)

The plot and setting of German filmmaker Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s critically hailed, Academy Award-winning film resembles mid-1970s American political suspense films like The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974) and The Parallax View (Alan J. Pakula, 1974. The script was braced with well-timed suspense, the plot was unpredictable, and the tone and mood was created and sustained as events unfolded with dramatic tension.

Ren xiao yao (Unknown Pleasures, Jia Zhang-ke, 2002)

Juvenile apathy amidst the changing times in working-class China is the theme of Jia’s critically adored 2002 feature.

The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941)
John Huston’s classic whodunit masterpiece set the tone for the film noir genre. Easily 2007’s Best Classic Film for me.

Journal d’un cure de campagne (Diary of a Country Priest, Robert Bresson, 1951)
Robert Bresson’s masterpiece is an emotionally rich, dramatically tense character study that gave justice to Georges Bernanos’ novel.

Iklimler (Climates, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, 2006)
Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan cemented his status as a critics’ favourite and a disciple of Michelangelo Antonioni with this Cannes Filmfest 2006 FIPRESCI Prize winner. The narrative recalls the late Italian director’s trilogy of L’Avventura (1960), La Notte (1961), and L’Eclisse (1962), while the dramatic and narrative techniques are purely Antonioni, however handed masterfully.

Insiang (Lino Brocka, 1976)
It was in the late 1970s that Philippine cinema reached its third Golden Age, and the late filmmaker first gained immense critical traction and festival exposure with this well acted critique of poverty stricken urban life.

Tony Takitani (Jun Ichikawa, 2004)
Japanese filmmaker Ichikawa’s festival favourite is a masterpiece of cinematic invention without being showy, pretentious, facile, or haughty.

No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007)
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Cormac McCarthy’s novel was brought to life in this genre bending, dramatically pungent film from the movie industry’s masters of cinematic invention. The plot structure and pacing may be wayward at times, but the assured direction and strong performances by Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin make up for such flaws (however obvious).

Best Contemporary Film – Jazireh ahani (Iron Island, Mohammad Rasoulof, 2005)

Best Classic Film – The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, USA)

Most Moving Performances

Male Actor – Ulrich Muhe, Das Leben der Anderen
Female Actors – Julie Christie, Away from Her (Sarah Polley, 2006) and Mona Lisa, Insiang

Outstanding Technical Achievements

Best Direction of a film – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Das Leben der Anderen

Best Writing of a film – Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, Das Leben der Anderen and Jia Zhang-ke, Ren xiao yao (tied)

The next ten best
Gwoemul (The Host, Joon-ho Bong, 2006)
Il Conformista (The Conformist, Bernardo Bertolucci, 1970)
Meng ying tong nian (Electric Shadows, Xiao Jiang, 2004)
Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (Ashutosh Gowariker, 2001)
Hei yan quan (I Don’t Want To Sleep Alone, Tsai Ming-liang, 2006)
La Tourneuse de pages (The Page Turner, Denis Dercourt, 2006)
Zwartboek (Black Book, Paul Verhoeven, 2006)
Les Diaboliques (Diabolique, Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1955)
Kamyu nante shiranai (Who’s Camus Anyway?, Mitsuo Yanagimachi, 2005)
Be with Me (Eric Khoo, 2005)

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE, (January 2008 releases that did not make the deadline but are worthy of recognition)
4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Cristian Mungiu, 2007)
Michael Clayton (Tony Gilroy, 2007)

OVERRATED FILMS
Coeurs (Private Fears in Public Places, Alain Resnais, 2006)
Juno (Jason Reitman, 2007)
La Môme (La Vie en Rose, Olivier Dahan, 2007)
Sang sattawat (Syndromes and a Century, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2006)
There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007)

DISAPPOINTMENTS (Considering the critical traction, box-office receipts, film festival(s) reception, and advanced word of mouth)
Atonement (Joe Wright, 2007)
Klass (The Class, Ilmar Raag, 2007)
Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg, 2007)
L’homme de sa vie (The Man of My Life, Zabou Breitman, 2006)
Jiang cheng xia ri (Luxury Car, Wang Chao, 2006)

No comments: