As the calendar year draws to a close, Dominic O’Key takes an alternative look at this year’s best films
Before I begin this list I must admit a handful of things: I have not yet seen Amour. I have not yet seen The Master. I haven’t even seen the final instalment of Twilight. I have been living in Berlin, where dubbing culture has stunted any chances of going to the cinema. Forgive me my sins.
10. The Kid with a Bike (Le Gamin au vélo, France)
Two of the best French films released this year concern lost boys. In Aki Kaurismäki’s charming comedy Le Havre, a tweenage African immigrant arrives via shipping container on the shores of France. An aeging shoeshiner pities him, welcoming him into his home, away from the searching immigration authorities. Our second lost boy comes courtesy of the Dardenne brothers’ The Kid with a Bike, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. This naturalistic coming of age drama focuses on Cyril, a troubled yet hard-as-nails foster child who longs for stability in his life. It’s part fairy tale, part neorealist drama (enforced by evocations to The Bicycle Thieves), and is a sweet, unforgettable story.
9. Nostalgia for the Light (Nostalgia de la Luz, France and Chile)
Director Patricio Guzmán is known for his deeply political documentaries about Chilean history. His stunning new film picks up where he left off, unearthing two strangely-linked chapters of the country’s recent past. Set in Chile’s Atacama Desert, the documentary compares the lives of modern astronomers with those who were widowed due to the Pinochet regime. It argues that both groups are searching for their own answers within infinity. The scientists look to the stars and the widows to the desert itself, the believed burial place for thousands of political prisoners. Critics have labelled it a definitive, filmic study on mankind and a treatise on life and death, balancing the micro and the macro of the universe. But strip away the pretension and underneath is still an unbelievably engaging film.
8. The Turin Horse (A torinói ló, Hungary)
The self-proclaimed last film of Hungarian director Béla Tarr’s is flawed but brilliant. Depicting the “heaviness of human existence” (Tarr’s words), it focuses on a man, his daughter and their stubborn, dying horse. In my opinion this is one the darkest, most unforgiving films ever to hit the silver screen. It’s about the death of the world and the void beyond. It’s about the literal end of everything. Days go by in the haunted, desolate setting, and the characters do little more than munch their way through steaming-hot potatoes. Few words are spoken. Without question, this year’s finest straight-up horror is The Cabin in the Woods, but there is something so menacing, so horrifying about The Turin Horse. I recommend watching the opening five minutes as a taster for the auteur’s directorial style. Be warned, this is bleak.
7. Shame (UK)
Michael Fassbender gives a fine performance in the centre of Steve McQueen’s character study of a sex addict. Living a lonely life and working for a corporate firm, Fassbender has everything and nothing, feeding his impulses with prostitutes and hardcore pornography. However his quiet, calculated existence is threatened when his unstable sister (Carey Mulligan) shows up. The film’s unflinching exposure of flesh – as well as deep emotional trauma – is vulgar and gorgeous, and it’s always necessary, portraying a snapshot of a life under wraps. Yet even so, some of the greatest moments are its simpler forays – McQueen’s direction is at its best when Fassbender pulls on the layers, jogging off into the still-bustling neon of New York City night.
6. The Descendants (USA)
Alexander Payne’s quiet family drama is half comedy, half tragedy, about a stressful few months in the life of a well-to-do father. George Clooney plays Matt King, a descendant of a rich landowning family looking to sell up. When his wife is involved in a jet ski accident, King is forced to re-examine his entire life. Payne’s direction makes a point of situating the film within a real Hawaii, so don’t expect to find any idyllic, picture-postcard surf-vibes. It’s rainy, windy and just as turbulent as King’s relationship with his teenage daughters. The Descendants is a great example of a popular drama getting it right; a subtle cocktail of morality, beauty and the enduring love of a family. For me, these are George Clooney’s finest two hours on our screens.
5. This Is Not a Film (In film nist, Iran)
This documentary, or anti-documentary, was shot on an iPhone and smuggled to the Cannes Film Festival inside of a cake. Why? – because its director isn’t allowed to make films. Jafar Panahi (The White Balloon and Crimson Gold) is a respected Iranian director as well as a democracy activist. In 2010 he was sentenced to six years house arrest and a 20 year ban on film-making. This minimalist anti-film is an angry and funny reply to his “punishment”. Panahi sits in a chair, sipping tea, discussing politics whilst his pesky pet iguana crawls over his shoulders. But it’s far from boring; it’s a brave and resilient protest for freedom, fuelled by artistic passion.
4. The Raid (Serbuan maut, Indonesia)
There is very little to The Raid. A special police squad enter a Jakarta tower block occupied by a druglord and his guards. Their job is to bring him out, dead or alive. Slowly but surely, like a video game, they work their way upwards. It’s stunning to watch; an unapologetic and frenetic action-fest that evokes Die Hard and Old Boy. Relentless in its approach and unforgiving in its execution, the near-total absence of backstory can be simply forgotten. It’s harder hitting than Haywire and doesn’t rely on cheap gags (I’m looking at you, Expendables 2) to help win over its audience. The martial arts are so good that it’s like watching a prolonged dance routine, but with frequent deaths.
3. Moonrise Kingdom (USA)
2012 has seen some thoroughly enjoyable American comedies. Friends With Kids, Safety Not Guaranteed, The Muppets, and 21 Jump Street were all well worth the entrance fee, and Woody Allen’s To Rome with Love really wasn’t half as bad as some critics made out. However my favourite comedy of this year is the latest Wes Anderson outing, Moonrise Kingdom. Set on a remote New England island that’s about to be swept up in a violent storm, two twelve-year-olds embark on romantic getaway – much to the annoyance of their parents. The cast boasts some top names (including Anderson regulars Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman), a top soundtrack and some top whimsy.
2. A Royal Affair (En kongelig affære, Denmark)
Filled to the brim with beauty, warmth, a gripping plot and extravagant costumes, this elegant drama depicts the birth of a forward-thinking nation. Denmark’s then mentally ill incumbent king, Christian VII, becomes the mouthpiece for his physician’s progressive reforms. Yet an affair between the physician and his wife threatens to destabilise the entire country. The acting is superb, the script doesn’t hold back, and it could easily leave you in tears as it’s drawn to a conclusion. Love them or hate them, period dramas are definitely en vogue. But move aside Downton Abbey, be gone Upstairs, Downstairs – A Royal Affair is up there with Amadeus; it’s historical drama of the highest order.
1. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da, Turkey)
A car rolls along the sparse Anatolian hills of Turkey. Every so often it stops, and out get a group of policemen with a handcuffed man. They look round the area, kick the dust, and return to the car. They’re searching for a corpse. A corpse of someone they suspect the drunken, handcuffed man has killed. He can’t remember where the body is, so they just keep driving. This is, pretty much, the entire opening hour of Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, a film which is startlingly epic. But this isn’t a chase movie and it’s not about the lost body. The characters, claustrophobically stuck inside the roaming police car, are at first anonymous and mysterious, but become the real narrative force behind the film. We learn about their hopes, their fears, and their families, as well as the bureaucratic corruption inherent within their police force. The plot builds and their stories interlink, twisting and turning your thoughts. If anything, this film could be enjoyed solely for its mesmerising cinematography. But it’s also so much more. It’s got a biting, dark humour and a transfixing way of story-telling.
