1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die-PART 2

Elephant Gus Van Sant, 2003 U.S. (Fine Line Features) 81m Color Gus Van Sant’s career has run the gamut, from indie features to Oscar Producer Dany Wolf Screenplay Gus Van winners. After the critical drubbing of his shot-for-shot remake of Psycho Sant Photography Harris Savides Cast Alex (1998) and the creative nadir of Finding Forrester (2000), Van Sant chose a radical new minimalist direction. Following Gerry (2002), he found the Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson, Elias perfect balance between subject and style in Elephant. McConnel, Jordan Taylor, Carrie Finklea, Nicole George, Brittany Mountain, Alicia How do you convey the horror that unfolded at the Columbine High Miles, Kristen Hicks, Benny Dixon Cannes School on April 20, 1999? Van Sant’s film eschews realism; at least, it Film Festival Gus Van Sant (Palme d’Or, refuses a blow-by-blow account of what happened. He also steers clear of specifics by suggesting the setting could be anywhere. The film is director, Cinema Prize of the French glacial in detailing the banality of a normal school day. In one sequence, National Education System) we follow a student from the playing fields and into a class, to the strains of Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.” It is beautiful yet unsettling. 2003 Van Sant’s camera maintains an emotional distance. Then the killers arrive and the tone shifts toward terror, accentuated by the directorial style. There is no simple answer for their actions, but we are given a sense of how they reached their decision. It makes Elephant one of the key American films of the last decade—a coruscating appraisal of the numbing effect of modern life upon a younger generation. IHS G.B. (Lafayette Films) 89m Color Aileen Wuornos: The Life and Death of a Producer Jo Human Photography Joan Serial Killer Nick Broomfield & Joan Churchill, 2003 Churchill Music Robert Lane Cast Aileen A project that began ten years earlier with Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of Wuornos, Nick Broomfield a Serial Killer (1993), Broomfield and Churchill’s follow-up is a powerful and profound statement against the death penalty, and raises disturbing questions about executing the mentally incapacitated. Broomfield’s first film focused on Aileen Wuornos, a prostitute charged with murdering seven of her clients (despite strong evidence to suggest that she acted in self-defense in at least one of the cases). After Aileen was coerced into entering a plea of no-contest by Arlene Pralle (a born-again Christian and her adoptive mother) and Steve Glazer (an inexperienced lawyer in charge of her defense), multiple death sentences soon followed. Having kept in touch with Wuornos in the intervening years, Broomfield found himself subpoenaed to appear at Aileen’s final appeal. Announcing that she had in fact killed all the men in cold blood, Aileen was sped toward her execution. Broomfield’s resulting film examines her wretched childhood, which was filled with unrelenting abuse and violence that continued into her years as a hitchhiking prostitute. In an unguarded moment Aileen admits that she acted in self-defense, but wishes to die to escape the tortuous conditions imposed by Death Row. A resolutely non-sensationalist work, Aileen Wuornos calls to account the travesties of the American justice system and provides a sympathetic insight into a deeply troubled soul. JWo 899

2003 South Korea (Egg Films, Show East) 120m Oldeuboi Park Chan-wook, 2003 Color Language Korean Producer Dong-ju Oldboy Kim, Seung-yong Lim Screenplay Jo-yun Hwang, Chun-hyeong Lim, Joon-hyung Mysticism, poetry, school days, and a futuristic bedroom are only some Lim, Chan-wook Park, Garon Tsuchiya of the wonders found in Oldboy. A thriller that hinges on oedipal taboos Photography Jeong-hun Jeong and blind destiny, hypnotism, and fate, this breakthrough film—part Music Yeong-wook Jo, Antonio Vivaldi action, part drama, part psychological thriller—has introduced Korean cinema to more viewers than any other film. The story is more direct and Cast Min-sik Choi, Ji-tae Yu, Hye-jeong Kang, compelling than director Park Chan-wook’s popular previous film, Dae-han Ji, Dal-su Oh, Byeong-ok Kim, Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), and features an explosive beginning. A man is imprisoned for fifteen years without an explanation. Upon Seung-Shin Lee, Jin-seo Yun, Dae-yeon Lee, escape, he must find his kidnapper in only five days. Kwang-rok Oh, Tae-kyung Oh Cannes Film This violent, elegiac masterpiece is based on a Japanese manga cartoon Festival Chan-wook Park (Grand Prize; by Garon Tsuchiya. Actor Min-sik Choi, who performed his own stunts, Golden Palm nomination) trained rigorously for his role as hapless kidnap victim Dae-su, a man who tries to escape his windowless prison by ingeniously digging through a “It’s a movie that you skyscraper wall into thin air but is released before he can try his tunnel. feel you’re not so much Once free, he vows revenge, Monte Cristo–style, against the kidnapper watching on screen as who has effectively robbed him of his daughter, his wife, and his life. Now having beamed directly a ragged fighting machine who resembles a Korean Charles Bronson in a fright wig, Dae-su is befriended by a beautiful sushi chef (Hye-jeong into your skull from Kang) whom he engages by eating a live squid and then passing out on some malign, alien the counter. Such is the knockdown, drag-out style of Oldboy. However complex the tale, it is underpinned by a logic that unfolds clearly, easily planet of horror.” incorporating the film’s various flashbacks. Progressing at a pace that sometimes leaves one breathless but also leaves room for thought, Oldboy’s Peter Bradshaw, choreographed fight scenes are both innovative and surprising—and all The Guardian, 2004 of the violence serves the plot. Despite its brutality, it is ultimately a black comedy that deftly rolls elements of mob thriller and vengeance mystery into one. After winning the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2004, the director stunned the audience by thanking the cast and crew, then thanking the four squid who gave up their lives for the vivid sushi bar scene. KK i The final scenes of the movie (with snow and footsteps) were filmed in New Zealand. 900

Good Bye Lenin! Wolfgang Becker, 2003 Germany (X-Filme Creative Pool, Although it seems like ancient history—the collapse of the Berlin Wall, 2003 WDR, Arte) 121m BW / Color East and West Germans thronging the streets, and those hilarious Trabants heralding the reunification of Germany—it all happened Language German Producer Stefan in only 1989. This coming together of two nations brought many things Arndt, Marcos Kantis, Manuela Stehr to the German people, but Wolfgang Becker’s Good Bye Lenin! showed Screenplay Wolfgang Becker, Bernd that among the pain, angst, and unemployment there was also a lot Lichtenberg Photography Martin Kukula of humor. Good Bye Lenin! is set in East Germany, just before the Wall Music Yann Tiersen Cast Daniel Brühl, came down. Katrin Saß, Chulpan Khamatova, Maria Simon, Florian Lukas, Alexander Beyer, Alex (Daniel Brühl) is a personable young man whose mother (Katrin Burghart Klaußner, Michael Gwisdek, Saß) is a politically active fighter for the East German socialist future. Christine Schorn, Jürgen Holtz, Jochen Stern, When she sees Alex arrested at a riot, she collapses and goes into a coma, Stefan Walz, Eberhard Kirchberg, Hans-Uwe which lasts right through until the early days of reunification. Alex is Bauer, Nico Ledermueller, Jelena Kratz told by his mother’s doctor that any shock could kill her, and he reasons Berlin Film Festival Wolfgang Becker that the end of communism and the disappearance of the German Democratic Republic might count as just such a fatal surprise. Alex (Blue Angel) decides on a simple plan—he will re-create the old East Germany for his mother. In a touching and funny series of moments, Alex manages to “A remarkable film convince his bedridden mother that the old order has survived. Pioneer that makes you laugh Scouts visit her to sing socialist anthems. Alex becomes an expert at and leaves you thinking. sourcing vile and now-unavailable East German foodstuffs, and, in one It’s the work of people of the film’s highlights, actually re-creates her favorite news programs. who have a great sense Good Bye Lenin! also manages levels of poignancy. It doesn’t for of humour.” one moment suggest that East Germany was a nice place to live, but it does show what has been lost in the new capitalist wave, as socialist ideals vanish and are replaced by hard cash and commerce. As the film progresses, a different, equally edgy reunification takes place as Alex’s father—once an escapee from the East, now just another German— appears again, and we see that Alex’s obsession with protecting his mother from reality is in some ways a way of protecting himself from other, less comfortable realities. KK Philip French, The Observer, 2003 i The building in the “Coca Cola news bulletin” was also used by Billy Wilder for One, Two, Three (1961).

Osama Siddiq Barmak, 2003 Afghanistan (Hubert Bals Fund, NHK, A chilling account of life for a young girl under the Taliban’s rule in Barmak Film) 83m Color Language Dari / Afghanistan, Osama features a cast of local non-actors and was shot in Pushto Producer Siddiq Barmak, Julia Fraser, Kabul shortly after the arrival of American and allied troops in June 2002. Julie LeBrocquay, Makoto Ueda Screenplay A family of women whose men have all been killed in conflicts decide to dress up a young girl as a boy, in order for her to make a living. Only the Siddiq Barmak Photography Ebrahim milkman who employs her and the girl’s friend, who names her Osama, Ghafori Music Mohammad Reza Darvishi know her real identity. Things become difficult when all young boys are Cast Marina Golbahari, Arif Herati, Zubaida recruited for military training. Part of their routine involves learning how Sahar, Mohamad Nader Khadjeh, Mohamad to conduct ablutions. Osama’s teacher becomes suspicious of her reserve, Haref Harati Cannes Film Festival Siddiq which is her undoing. Though escaping execution, her hellish fate is arguably worse, imposed by an oppressive, violently misogynistic regime. Barmak (AFCAE Award, Cannes Junior Award) One of the first films to be made in Afghanistan following the fall of the Taliban, Osama is an important and disturbing work. The film’s end 2004 is a damning indictment of a society in which women were subjugated to a brutalized form of domestic slavery. The rights and wrongs over the response of America and its supporters to the September 11, 2001 attacks are still being debated, but, as this film shows, there is no doubt that the Taliban should have been removed from power. IHS Gegen die Wand Fatih Akin, 2004 Head-On Germany / Turkey (Bavaria Film It has been called, a little crudely, the “nuts in love” genre: two mentally International, Corazón International, disabled, drug-addicted, or alcoholic people whose sudden, explosive Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), Panfilm, encounter and subsequent relationship adds up to a true tale of Wüste Filmproduktion) 121m Color surrealist-style amour fou. It is a very modern genre, one that passes Language German / Turkish / English through Robert Rossen’s Lilith (1964) and the Australian film Angel Baby (1995)—but Fatih Akin’s Head-On stirs a particularly potent brew Producer Andreas Schreitmüller, by adding extra ingredients to the formula. First, the union starts on a Stefan Schubert, Ralph Schwingel decidedly mock, non-fou note, as a marriage of convenience between Screenplay Fatih Akin Photography Rainer two people on the bottom rung of society: Cahit (Birol Ünel) has smashed Klausmann Music Alexander Hacke, Maceo his car; Sibel (Sibel Kekilli) has slashed her wrists. Yet, as Sibel asserts her Parker Cast Birol Ünel, Sibel Kekilli, Catrin desires by prowling the local clubs and bars, Cahit becomes increasingly Striebeck, Meltem Cumbul, Zarah McKenzie, jealous and violent—and then love, in however perverse or clumsy a Stefan Gebelhoff Berlin Film Festival Fatih way, asserts itself. Second, Akin complicates everything by making this Akin (Golden Berlin Bear and FIPRESCI Prize) the story of Turkish immigrants in Germany, suffering racism and abuse in the course of their negotiation of two very different cultures. Yet Head-On is not, in any strict sense, a “social realist” film. A nervy, unsettling, sometimes bleak drama of two outsiders (vividly played, with unwavering intensity and conviction, by the two leads), the film in fact continues a vital strand of provocative, post-punk creativity in contemporary European cinema—a vitality from which even Akin’s subsequent films have shied away. AM 902

Le conseguenze dell’amore Paolo Sorrentino, 2004 The Consequences of Love Italy (Lafayette Films) 104m Color Paolo Sorrentino’s breakthrough feature, The Consequences of Love, was Language Italian Producer Domenico inspired by the ritualistic behavior of a businessman encountered by the Procacci, Nicola Giuliano, Francesca Cima, director while visiting Sao Paolo. It was also influenced by his desire to Angelo Curti Screenplay Paolo Sorrentino show a different perspective of the mafia, representing its ferocity as well Photography Luca Bigazzi Music Pasquale as its mechanisms and rules. It established Sorrentino as a supreme visual Catalano Cast Toni Servillo, Olivia Magnani, stylist and a significant voice in contemporary European cinema. Adriano Giannini, Raffaele Pisu, Angela Goodwin, Diego Ribon, Giselda Volodi, A former stockbroker from Southern Italy, Titta di Girolamo (Toni Servillo) resides in an anonymous hotel in a Swiss–Italian town. He seems Giovanni Vettorazzo. to be a man without identity and with little to do, spending his time smoking and coldly observing the hotel’s denizens, particularly the i beautiful barmaid Sofia (Olivia Magnani). Girolamo once lost money Consequences won five David di owned by the mafia on the stock market and has been punished in a Donatello awards, including Best gruesome way: He is to deliver the mafia’s money to the bank once a week Film, Best Director, and Best Actor. and is allowed no life for himself. But as he becomes growingly aware of Sofia’s presence, his neatly organized world turns upside down. A quietly gripping psychological thriller, Consequences also offers a potent mediation on the discovery of love. Toni Servillo gives a masterly performance, and Luca Bigazzi’s crisply composed cinematography vividly maps out the empty spaces of Girolamo’s self-enclosed world. The inventive use of music is highly atmospheric, suggesting the welter of emotion that lurks beneath Girolamo’s icy surface. JWo 903

Moolaadé Ousmane Sembene, 2004 Senegal (Filmi Doomireew) 119m Color Senegalese-born director Ousmane Sembene never shrank from tackling Language Bambara / French Producer taboos—and in his final film, Moolaadé, he took on one of the most sensitive: the widely practiced custom of female genital mutilation. Ousmane Sembene, Thierry Lenouvel Screenplay Ousmane Sembene Sembene’s films are subtle and ambivalent, acknowledging the Photography Dominique Gentil value of traditions and regretting their erosion while still exposing the system of oppression and injustice they often upheld. His heroine, the Music Boncana Maiga Cast Fatoumata formidable Mama Collé (Fatoumata Coulibaly), can turn tradition to her Coulibaly, Maimouna Hélène Diarra, own ends. When four village girls who have fled the cutting ceremony come begging for refuge, she grants them impregnable sanctuary simply Salimata Traoré, Dominique Zeïda, Mah by stringing a cord across the entrance to her courtyard. This flimsy Compraoré, Aminata Dao, Rasmane barrier is the moolaadé (protection) of the title. Ouedraogo, Ousmane Konaté, Bakaramoto Sanogo Solemnity rarely taints Sembene’s films; his anger and indignation are tempered by his warmth, humor, and generosity of spirit. The opening 2004 of Moolaadé shows his affectionate, intimate view of African village life at its warmest, offering a useful corrective to Western ideas of Africa as a starved, helpless continent, devoid of dignity and self-sufficiency. The film’s climax is perhaps its weakest point, but the sheer liberating exhilaration of Sembene’s ending is all but impossible to resist. PK Der Untergang Oliver Hirschbiegel, 2004 Downfall Germany / Italy / Austria (Constantin) 156m A fair amount of critical hand-wringing attended the American opening Color Language German Producer Bernd of Downfall, the first German movie to portray Adolf Hitler in a Eichinger Screenplay Bernd Eichinger conventional narrative. There was concern that the film—a fast-paced, Photography Rainer Klausmann doggedly straightforward account of the final days of Hitler (Bruno Ganz) Music Stephan Zacharias Cast Bruno Ganz, and his inner circle—humanizes the Third Reich and its delusional Alexandra Maria Lara, Corinna Harfouch, draftsmen and thereby plays down their ghastly deeds. Hitler, Eva Braun Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler, Heino Ferch (Juliane Köhler), Joseph Goebbels (Ulrich Matthes), and the rest are Oscar nomination Germany (best assuredly human here; but the point is that the truly monstrous usually foreign language film) are. And so we are left with an uncomfortable feeling of familiarity as we watch the various factions of the winding-down Nazi machine work utterly at cross-purposes, as the psychopath-romantic who was once at its hub raves, cajoles, rationalizes, and bemoans the failure of his sci-fi utopia—while disavowing his part in the annihilation of a culture. This disorienting matter-of-factness is the key to Downfall’s brilliance. Hitler is routinely pushed to the edge of the frame by Oliver Hirschbiegel’s camera and Ganz’s grandly withered performance. Meanwhile, other modes of behavior are allowed to surface via the surrounding characters: compassion, pity, bravery, avarice, careerism, and, in the case of the German people Hitler despises, bewildering devotion. This fascinating, subtly radical exegesis of how empires crumble from within reveals the many ways in which they had it coming. MH 904

Tsotsi Gavin Hood, 2005 G.B. / South Africa (IDC of S.A., After several years of promise, South African cinema seemed poised for 2005 NFVF of S.A., Moviworld, U.K. Film and TV) a breakthrough. Tsotsi duly became the country’s first offering to win an Academy Award for Foreign Language Film. As often is the case with 94m Color Language Zulu / Xhosa / emergent cinemas, it plucks its story from the city streets and tells it Afrikaans Producer Peter Fudakowski in a realist style with non-professional or untried actors. The Tsotsi of Screenplay Gavin Hood, from the novel the title (Presley Chweneyagae), is a small-time hoodlum who, with Tsotsi by Athol Fugard Photography Lance three hangers-on, commits the mugging of a middle-aged businessman Gewer Music Paul Hepker, Mark Kilian on a train. In the course of the robbery, he stabs and kills the man. Back in the shantytown where they live, one of the gang is overcome with Cast Presley Chweneyagae, Mothusi remorse—but Tsotsi despises him for his weakness and gives him a Magano, Israel Makoe, Terry Pheto, Percy beating. Now working on his own, he hijacks the car of a wealthy Matsemela, Jerry Mofokeng, Benny Moshe, woman, wounding her in the process. Then, having made his escape, Tsotsi discovers the woman’s baby in the back of the car. Owen Sejake, Zola Oscar South Africa (best foreign language film) Tsotsi’s instinct is to abandon the child, but something prevents him from doing so. He takes it back to his shack and tries to feed and care for “One of the privileges it. But the child needs milk, and so Tsotsi forces a young single mother of being a writer is to in a neighboring shack to breast-feed it. Miriam (Terry Pheto) cares for poke your nose around the child and tries to persuade Tsotsi to return it to its mother. At last, and learn about worlds having failed to defend himself to Miriam, Tsotsi is forced to confront the nature of his life and the direction it is taking. you don’t know.” Chweneyagae and Pheto give remarkable performances in a film that powerfully conveys the brutality and squalor of the urban slums of Johannesburg—while maintaining a strong belief in the human spirit, which resists being crushed under the oppressive weight of poverty. If at times the direction seems overly theatrical—with heavy pauses while we absorb the significance of a scene—this is a small price to pay for the film’s powerful insights. EB Gavin Hood, 2006 i Of South Africa’s various languages, Hood chose Tsotsi-Taal—”which,” he reported, “means ‘gangster speak.’”

Brokeback Mountain Ang Lee, 2005 2005 U.S. (Alberta, Focus Features, Good Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain got a lot of attention for being one of the Machine, Paramount, River Road, This Is That first gay Westerns to hit mainstream theaters. In fact, Andy Warhol had hit the mark more than three decades earlier with his pioneering Productions) 134m Color Producer Diana Lonesome Cowboys (1969), which was shot on location at Old Tucson Ossana, James Schamus Screenplay Larry Studios in Arizona. But while Warhol’s film was a genre spoof, Lee’s McMurtry and Diana Ossana, from a short work is deadly serious, and directed with an air of precision and solid story by Annie Proulx Photography Rodrigo craftsmanship that harks back to the Westerns of Budd Boetticher, John Ford, and Howard Hawks. Prieto Music Gustavo Santaolalla Cast Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Randy Working from a screenplay by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, Quaid, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, Lee’s film tells the tale of Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal). While working on a lonesome job watching sheep in Valerie Planche, Graham Beckel, David the back country of Wyoming in the summer of 1963, they meet and fall Harbour, Kate Mara, Roberta Maxwell, in love. At first, the two are simply buddies at home on the range—but, Peter McRobbie, Anna Faris, Linda Cardellini, as the summer wears on, their relationship deepens into what will Scott Michael Campbell, David Trimble become a lifelong love affair; albeit one that is resolutely forbidden by contemporary society, and mediated by failed marriages that neither Oscar Ang Lee (director), Gustavo man really cares about. While Gyllenhaal does excellent work in his role, Santaolalla (music), Larry McMurtry, Diana Ledger is a revelation. Taciturn, shy, and keeping his own counsel, he Ossana (screenplay) Oscar nominations hides his emotions behind a rough exterior of macho horseplay. His untimely death in 2008 at the age of twenty-eight lends an even greater Rodrigo Prieto (cinematography), Diana poignancy to his performance. Lee’s camerawork brings out the beauty Ossana, James Schamus (best picture), and the harshness of the landscape, and the supporting cast—including Randy Quaid, Anne Hathaway, and Michelle Williams—back up the two Heath Ledger (actor), Jake Gyllenhaal leads with impeccably timed performances. (actor in support role), Michelle Williams (actress in support role) “Blending the macho western genre, western life, with a gay love story… that’s hard to do,” observed Ang Lee. Nonetheless, Brokeback Mountain was an instant classic, that altered the conventions of the Western to tell a wholly convincing love story that resonated in the mind long after the last image had faded. And one that is heartbreaking, honest, and refreshingly matter-of-fact about its subject matter. WWD “In this year, 2005, I can’t understand why anyone . . . would even question any actor taking any gay role.” Heath Ledger, 2005 i Gus Van Sant had attempted to make the film five years previously. “I dropped the ball,” he admitted. 906

El laberinto del fauno Guillermo del Toro, 2006 Pan’s Labyrinth Mexico / Spain / U.S. (Warner Bros., Tequila Pan’s Labyrinth is something of a summative film from Mexican director Gang, Esperanto Filmoj, Estudios Picasso, Guillermo del Toro. Having worked on projects that offered a high level OMM, Sententia, Telecinco) 112m Color of special effects, such as Hellboy (2004), as well as those that created an Language Spanish Producer Álvaro unnervingly otherworldly atmosphere (for example, 2001’s The Devil’s Augustín, Alfonso Cuarón, Bertha Navarro, Backbone), here, in perhaps his most mature picture, the director brings Guillermo del Toro, Frida Torresblanco the two strands together. The result is a film that is both eerie and built Screenplay Guillermo del Toro around effects technology (hence its three visual-related Oscars). Photography Guillermo Navarro Music Javier Navarrete Cast Álex Angulo, Set in 1944, Pan’s Labyrinth tells the story of Ofelia, a young girl who discovers a fantastical world of woodland creatures when her mother Ivana Baquero, Roger Casamajor, Ariadna Gil, takes her to northern Spain to join her stepfather, a brutish and bitter Doug Jones, Sergi López, César Vea, Maribel member of General Franco’s Fascist army. Del Toro gathers together a roster of top-line Spanish actors, including Sergi López, Ariadna Gil, and Verdú Oscars Guillermo Navarro Maribel Verdú, alongside Ivana Baquero as the young girl. (cinematography), Eugenio Caballero, Pilar Set against a backdrop of post–civil war Spain, the film’s startling Revuelta (art direction), David Martí, beauty and the strength of its performances offer much to admire. Montse Ribé (makeup) “Shooting Pan’s Labyrinth was very painful,” del Toro told Sight & Sound, “but it also became a war about me not compromising. I gave back my i entire salary in order to get the film made the way I wanted it.”If the story This was American actor Doug fails to fully unite the reality and fantasy elements—Pan’s Labyrinth Jones’s third del Toro movie, after remains two outstanding halves rather than one spectacular whole—this 1997’s Mimic and 2004’s Hellboy. does not make del Toro’s accomplishment any less extraordinary. AW 907

Germany (Bayerischer Rundfunk, Das Leben der Anderen Creado Film, Wiedemann & Berg, Arte) The Lives of Others 137m Color Language German Producer Quirin Berg, Max Wiedemann Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006 Screenplay Florian Henckel von By turns horrifying and humorous, The Lives of Others is debut director Donnersmarck Photography Hagen von Donnersmarck’s story of the East German government’s obsession Bogdanski Music Stéphane Moucha, with tracking the populace’s every move. Gabriel Yared Cast Hans-Uwe Bauer, Matthias Brenner, Martina Gedeck, Charly It’s 1984 and “glasnost is nowhere in sight” as Stasi hardliner Captain Hübner, Volkmar Kleinert, Sebastian Koch, Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe) decides to keep playwright Georg Dreyman Ulrich Mühe, Ulrich Tukur, Thomas Thieme (Sebastian Koch) under surveillance. When a bug planted in his Berlin Oscar Germany (best foreign language film) apartment reveals the writer genuinely believes in the socialist state, Wiesler grows fascinated by Dreyman’s life with his lover Christa-Maria 2007 (Martina Gedeck). Things are further complicated when his superior— culture minister Hempf (Thomas Thieme)—fancies Christa-Maria for himself and instructs Wiesler to clear the way by framing Dreyman. Pushed out of the comfort zone of government-sanctioned spying, Wiesler is shunted in directions with which he is profoundly unfamiliar. The callousness of Cold War East Germany is chillingly conveyed, but when events threaten to grow overwhelmingly dark, von Donnersmarck reins back with a dose of black humor. A Kafkaesque spin on Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974), this was a deserved Oscar winner. TE Paranormal Activity Oren Peli, 2007 U.S. (Blumhouse Productions) 86m Color Paranormal Activity is proof positive that you do not need a huge budget Producer Steven Jay Schneider, Amir Zbeba, to make a terrifying and wildly profitable film (to date, it is the most profitable movie of all time). You just need someone with true Jason Blun, Oren Peli Screenplay Oren Peli imagination. That someone is Oren Peli, a first-time filmmaker who shot Photography Oren Peli Cast Katie the film in his own home for around $15,000. Featherston, Micah Sloat, Mark Fredrichs, The story is simple yet riveting. Young couple Katie (Katie Featherston) Amber Armstrong, Ashley Palmer and Micah (Micah Sloat) realize something weird is happening in their new home and set up a camera to record what happens while they sleep. For the first few nights, the camera records almost nothing: a door moves, the blankets flutter. We are lulled into a false sense of security, so that when chandeliers start swinging and Ouija boards ignite, the impact is genuinely shocking. The night-vision scope through which most of the movie is seen adds an interesting depth. With no color to distract, our eyes are drawn immediately to even the slightest movement. Peli submitted Paranormal Activity to Screamfest 2007, at Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. It was the hit of the festival, and bloggers immediately began writing about it. It was bought by Dreamworks/ Paramount, originally with the intention of turning it into a big-budget movie. The studio realized, however, that a Hollywood movie would never be able to beat the suspense of the film Peli had made at home. Anybody who likes being scared silly will love Paranormal Activity. CP 908

There Will Be Blood Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007 U.S. (Ghoulardi Film Company, Paramount Paul Thomas Anderson grew up on the fringes of show business and Vantage, Miramax Films) 158m Color Hollywood. There Will Be Blood, his excoriating study of greed—and the both constructive and destructive powers of competitiveness and Producer Paul Thomas Anderson, JoAnne ambition—is a stunning achievement by the still-young writer-director. Sellar, Daniel Lupi Screenplay Paul Thomas Using Upton Sinclair’s satirical 1927 novel Oil! as a jumping-off point, Anderson, from the novel Oil! by Upton Anderson creates a dark tale of a prospector seemingly without a single Sinclair Photography Robert Elswit redemptive characteristic. Concentrating on long, almost silent passages and huge panoramas, There Will Be Blood delves to the painful depths of Music Jonny Greenwood Cast Daniel Day- a man who, by many measures, would have been considered both a Lewis, Paul Dano, Kevin J. O’Connor, Kevin success and a genius, but in Anderson’s hands is a charismatic sociopath. Breznahan Oscars Daniel Day-Lewis The notoriously selective and methodical Daniel Day-Lewis gives an (actor), Robert Elswit (cinematography) indelible performance as antihero Daniel Plainview—who turns nature’s Oscar nominations Daniel Lupi, JoAnne resources into his own bounty, regardless of the cost to him and the Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson (best picture), world. The picture provided 2007 audiences with a painfully resonant Paul Thomas Anderson (director), Paul condemnation of so much that was then hurting America and the world: Thomas Anderson (adapted screenplay), oil-based greed and violence, the madness behind such aggression, the Jack Fisk, Jim Erickson (art direction), Dylan corruption of religious fervor, the paranoia behind much foreign policy, and the betrayal of our children by capitalism. But instead of couching Tichenor (editing), Matthew Wood, these themes in the overt terms of the “Iraq War pictures” of the time, Christopher Scarabosio (sound editing) Anderson makes an intimate yet epic period piece set around another boom-or-bust era, and evokes the universal truths behind his story. JP i Anderson wrote the movie for Day- Lewis after learning the actor had liked his Punch-Drunk Love (2002). 909

The Hurt Locker Kathryn Bigelow, 2008 2008 U.S. (Voltage Pictures, Grosvenor Park Media, The Hurt Locker is Kathryn Bigelow’s greatest film yet. Like the following FCEF, First Light Production, Kingsgate Films) year’s District 9, Inglourious Basterds, and Avatar (by Bigelow’s ex-husband and ex-collaborator James Cameron), it taps back into the sentiment of 131m Color Producer Kathryn Bigelow, the “good war”that audiences clearly craved after an onslaught of dreary Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier, Greg Shapiro films such as Rendition (2007), Stop Loss (2008), and Lions for Lambs Screenplay Mark Boal Photography Barry (2007): “unjustified war” stories that had kept theaters empty for years. In 2010, Bigelow made history as the first female director ever to win an Ackroyd Music Marco Beltrami, Buck Oscar—only three female directors had previously been nominated. Sanders Cast Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce, Ralph Her fascination with violence and our relationships to it (audience Fiennes, David Morse, Evangeline Lilly, and characters alike) here gets its most distilled and most visceral Christian Camargo, Suhail Aldabbahc, treatment. Action in movies excites, she has always proclaimed, and the Christopher Sayegh, Nabil Koni, Sam Spruell, lives of the violent, who choose to live with danger, are the most worthy Sam Redford, Feisal Sadoun, Barrie Rice, of her attention. With the steady hand of screenwriter and ex-journalist Imad Dadudi Oscars Kathryn Bigelow Mark Boal, she creates almost unbearable suspense, with Jeremy Renner (director), Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, in an Oscar-nominated turn as Staff Sergeant William James. Nicholas Chartier, Greg Shapiro (best Set during the Iraq War, The Hurt Locker skillfully pulls us into the picture), Mark Boal (screenplay), chaos of an elite U.S. bomb deactivation unit by concentrating on authenticity and character, while avoiding politics and polemics. Through Bob Murawski, Chris Ennis (editing), escalating set pieces and dollops of personal information, Bigelow Paul N. J. Ottosson, Ray Beckett (sound), presents not the nature of war, but rather the nature of the warrior. Paul N. J. Ottosson (sound editing) The soldiers’ compulsions for danger, heroics, mental and physical Oscar nominations Jeremy Renner challenge, and glory are what make them seem damaged in peacetime, (actor), Barry Ackroyd (cinematography), but it is these very addictions that fill them with a terrible absoluteness Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders (music) during conflict. War may be hell, but it’s the closest thing to heaven for William James. Renner is ably assisted by Anthony Mackie as J. T. Sanborn, “I’d like to dedicate this Brian Geraghty as Owen Eldridge, and Guy Pearce as Matt Thompson. [Oscar] to the women and men in the military The pleasure Renner’s character gives us by challenging himself through impossible situations as the archetypal “movie hero” seems who risk their lives almost addictive by the fade-out. We come to see, through vicarious on a daily basis.” experience and calibrated observation, how heroism and madness can be one and the same, and to remember—thanks to Kathryn Bigelow— just how much fun men of danger are in the movies. JP Kathryn Bigelow, 2010 i The film was shot in and around Amman in Jordan, owing to the risk of snipers across the border in Iraq. 910

The Dark Knight Christopher Nolan, 2008 U.S. (Warner Bros.) 152m Color A Hollywood blockbuster long and dark, The Dark Knight is Christopher Producer Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven, Nolan’s sequel to his Batman Begins (2005). Highly anticipated for its script (co-written by Nolan and his brother), its high-profile cast, and its Emma Thomas Screenplay Christopher tone, this is—with all due respect to the first and third of the director’s Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, David S. Goyer trilogy—the most arresting and alarming installment of the Batman Photography Wally Pfister Music Hans oeuvre, but also the richest in character and emotion. Zimmer, James Newton Howard Christian Bale returns as the millionaire Bruce Wayne/superhero Cast Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Batman who finds himself trapped—with heroic District Attorney Harvey Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Dent (Aaron Eckhart), his assistant Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman and Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman)—in the diabolical hands of the Joker (Heath Ledger). As the highly disturbed and disturbing villain, Oscars Heath Ledger (actor in support Ledger gives an indelible performance that richly merits his posthumous role), Richard King (sound editing) Oscar. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman appear as Alfred and Lucius Fox, respectively, two heralds of an old world where evil knew its place. Oscar nominations Nathan Crowley, Peter Lando (art direction), Wally Pfister Filmed primarily in a darkly gleaming Chicago, the story pivots on (cinematography), Lee Smith (editing), John the escalation of evil and how good can be tainted in its attempts to Caglione, Jr., Conor O’Sullivan (makeup), triumph. Particularly shocking is the Joker’s setup of putting people on Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo, Ed Novick two ships, each with a detonator for the other, in the hopes of a massacre. (sound), Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Timothy Webber, Paul J. Franklin (visual effects) Emotionally and morally complicated, The Dark Knight sees Batman facing the problem he has always battled: Can a vigilante be ethically i sound? The answers are ambiguous but the film is astonishing. KK Asked what distinguished Nolan from other directors, Heath Ledger said, “He drinks a lot more tea.” 911

Sweden (EFTI, Sandrew Metronome, Låt den rätte komma in Tomas Alfredson, 2008 Filmpool Nord, SVT, WAG, Canal+, The Chimney Pot, Fido Film AB, Ljudligan) 115m Let the Right One In Color Language Swedish Producer Carl Molinder, John Nordling Screenplay John At face value, this Swedish vampire film follows the trend of prudish predators: the vampire as your abstaining friend. Any languishing for sex Ajvide Lindqvist, from his novel is thoroughly suppressed. Of course, it helps that the protagonists— Photography Hoyte Von Hoytema blond and angelic Oskar (Kåre Hedebrant) and the enigmatic Eli (Lina Music Johan Söderqvist Cast Kåre Leandersson)—are (or seem to be) children. Oskar is bullied by his Hedebrant, Lina Leandersson, Per Ragnar, classmates and, though he dreams of getting even, he remains passive. Henrik Dahl, Karin Bergquist, Peter Carlberg, Eli teaches him to stand up for himself. “Be me a little,” she tells him. He does, but his actions come back with a vengeance in a bloodbath climax. Ika Nord, Mikael Rahm Throughout the film, pale white palettes abound, and punctured 2009 spots of red intervene in this snowy, sleepy, and dreamy design. Set in the early 1980s, there is no social media, no frantic chatter to relieve the sense of isolation. Into this constellation comes the dark, brooding Eli; she is a guest, but it is not clear how welcome she is. The title refers to the fact that, according to folklore, vampires must be invited in by their victims. Oskar initially refuses; only after Eli almost bleeds to death from his rudeness does he give in. Let the Right One In thus asks the uncomfortable question whether hospitality means that one has to accept the bad with the good. A pointed commentary on immigration, perhaps; an enchanting fairytale, for sure. EM U.S. / New Zealand / Canada / South Africa District 9 Neill Blomkamp, 2009 (TriStar Pictures, Block / Hanson, WingNut Films) 112m Color Language English / This acclaimed science-fiction invasion thriller was inspired by events Nyanja / Afrikaans / Zulu / Xhosa / Sotho that took place in District Six, Cape Town, during apartheid. Centering Producer Peter Jackson, Carolynne on themes of xenophobia and segregation, it tells of a spaceship that stalls over South Africa. When a group ventures up, they find hundreds Cunningham Screenplay Neill Blomkamp, of sick and malnourished aliens, or “Prawns.” Earth steps in to help and Terri Tatchell Photography Trent Opaloch places the aliens in a shantytown called District 9, forbidding them from Music Clinton Shorter Cast Sharlto Copley, mixing with the general populace. Two decades later, overpopulation has become a concern for the government. A plan to relocate some of Jason Cope, David James, Eugene the Prawns is put in place, led by kindhearted Wikus Van de Merwe Khumbanyiwa, Mandla Gaduka, Vanessa (Sharlto Copley). Documentary-style filmmaking gives the movie an air Haywood, Louis Minnaar, John Sumner of authenticity that helps the audience connect on a human level with Oscar nominations Julian Clarke (editing), the plight of the alien population. As our hero Wikus is infected with a Peter Jackson, Carolynne Cunningham (best disease and slowly starts to turn alien himself, our empathy grows. picture), Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell District 9 is a smart political allegory that puts emotion, humor, and (screenplay), Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, incredible visuals to fluid and accomplished use. The special effects of Robert Habros, Matt Aitken (visual effects) the Prawns mark one of the most seamless examples of CGI thus far. Director Neill Blomkamp dictated that the species had to be insectlike but also bipedal, saying, “Unfortunately, they had to be human-esque because our psychology doesn’t allow us to really empathize with something unless it has a face and an anthropomorphic shape.” SJS 912

U.S. / G.B. (Twentieth Century-Fox Film Avatar James Cameron, 2009 Corporation, Dune Entertainment, The culmination of a master filmmaker’s career, Avatar marks a decade’s Giant Studios, Ingenious Film Partners, worth of work and millions of dollars of investment. Though no Gone Lightstorm Entertainment) 162m Color with the Wind in complexity of character or event, it is of the same Producer James Cameron, Jon Landau, monumental ambition and singularity of vision. Only D. W. Griffith, Cecil B. DeMille, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg attained such heights of Colin Wilson, Laeta Kalogridis, Janace technical achievement in stories of such grand scope while still reaping Tashjian Screenplay James Cameron box-office success. Like these greats, James Cameron raises the bar. Photography Mauro Fiore Music James Horner Cast Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, The story has been told many times, in films like Dances with Wolves Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Joel (1990) and The Thin Red Line (1998), but it’s still a classic. A soldier tries Moore, Giovanni Ribisi, Michelle Rodriguez, to find inner peace during wartime by going native, finding a more Laz Alonso Oscars Rick Carter, Robert grounded, loving existence among the peoples he has been taught are Stromberg, Kim Sinclair (art direction), his enemy. Inevitably, the cultures clash, and he finds himself in the Mauro Fiore (cinematography), Joe Letteri, middle, fighting for the side of right and love against his former allies. Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Using state-of-the-art technologies, Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) is Andy Jones (visual effects) Oscar able to run free in his “avatar,” a genetically engineered body that allows nominations James Cameron, Jon Landau him to survive in the hostile atmosphere of the moon Pandora. Similarly, Cameron uses state-of-the-art film techniques to submerge us in the (best picture), James Cameron (director), flora and fauna of a new world; much as King Kong did in 1933, Star Wars James Horner (music) did in 1977, and Jurassic Park did in 1993. Like those films, Avatar—hailed as a game changer, a masterwork, and a box-office record breaker—will i someday, no doubt, look antiquated but, hopefully, remain beloved. JP Cameron hesitated to cast Sigourney Weaver, owing to her role in his other extraterrestrial military epic, Aliens. 913

Inception Christopher Nolan, 2010 2010 U.S. / G.B. (Warner Bros., Writer-director Christopher Nolan is a mastermind filmic architect, and Legendary Pictures, Syncopy) 148m Color Inception is a feat of complicated construction. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) are corporate Producer Christopher Nolan, Emma spies specializing in “extraction,” the art of going into someone’s Thomas Screenplay Christopher Nolan subconscious to extract their deepest secrets, or at least the ones they Photography Wally Pfister Music Hans are being paid to discover. Computer hacking is a thing of the past, and one’s mind is now the most vulnerable target. Cobb has been forced to Zimmer Cast Leonardo DiCaprio, Ken leave his children, after being exiled for espionage, and is desperate to Watanabe, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Marion return to them. When he is approached by Saito (Ken Watanabe) and Cotillard, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, Tom guaranteed safe passage back to the United States upon completion of Hardy, Dileep Rao, Tom Berenger, Michael a new job, he will stop at nothing to accomplish the task. Caine Oscars Wally Pfister (cinematography), Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley, Pete Bebb, The job is unlike any other: it is not an extraction but an “inception,” the implantation of an idea so deep in one’s subconscious that it is Paul J. Franklin (visual effects), Richard believed to be one’s own. Cobb puts together a crack team to travel King (sound editing), Lora Hirschberg, Gary inside the darkest recesses of the mind of their mark, Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy), and implement an idea that will make their bosses Rizzo, Ed Novick (sound mixing) Oscar incredibly rich. As the team members plant the idea, they battle Fischer’s nominations Christopher Nolan, Emma subconscious barriers while fighting off their own demons. Cobb battles Thomas (best picture), Christopher Nolan with the manifestation of his dead wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard), who (writing), Hans Zimmer (original score), tempts him to stay in the dream world where they can be together. Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias, Douglas A. Inception works on many levels: not only is it an entirely original and Mowat (art direction) fresh idea, but it also manages to be a smart action thriller, a poignant and grief-filled drama, and an examination of the deeply hidden recesses of our minds that are completely unknown. This allows viewers to enjoy the film for its superficial beauty and quality performances, while letting the cerebral plot wash over them, to be examined more closely upon a second or third viewing. Although Inception plays well on the popcorn- movie premise, its twisted mind-game undercurrents will set it apart in cinematic history. SJS “The movie is a perplexing labyrinth without a simple through-line.” Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, 2010 i Ariadne is a character in Greek mythology who helped Theseus find his way out of the labyrinth. 914

U.S. (Columbia Pictures, Relativity The Social Network David Fincher, 2010 Media, Trigger Street Productions) 120m Color Producer Scott Rudin, Dana More than 1 billion people log on to Facebook every day, and it is no Brunetti, Michael De Luca, Ceán Chaffin wonder a movie about the beginning of the phenomenon became a Screenplay Aaron Sorkin Photography Jeff huge hit. What is surprising is just how good a film it is. The script is Cronenweth Music Trent Reznor, Atticus brutally funny and helps to expose the ego-driven and narcissistic Ross Cast Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, profiles we have created for ourselves. It is also terribly depressing. Justin Timberlake, Brenda Song, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella, Rashida Jones, No one is more self-obsessed than lead character Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg). After his girlfriend dumps him, he writes a scathing Joseph Mazzello, Rooney Mara blog entry about her and is further inspired to create a webpage where Oscars Aaron Sorkin (writing), Trent Reznor, male students can rate the attractiveness of their female classmates. From there, Zuckerberg takes his computer skills, the wild popularity of Atticus Ross (original score), Kirk Baxter, his webpage, and early funding from his best friend Eduardo Saverin Angus Wall (editing) Oscar nominations (Andrew Garfield) to jump-start the most popular social networking site of all time. The rest, as they say, is history. Jesse Eisenberg (actor), David Fincher (director), Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Eisenberg is exceptional, but his costars also shine. Garfield portrays Michael De Luca, Ceán Chaffin (best picture), Saverin with a heart-tugging vulnerability, Justin Timberlake easily Jeff Cronenweth (cinematography), Ren captures the arrogant swagger of Napster founder Sean Parker, and Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Mark Armie Hammer nails the double duty of playing rowing-star brothers the Winklevoss twins. Director David Fincher adds his subtle beautiful visual Weingarten (sound mixing) prowess to Sorkin’s quick script, and the resulting film is a never-ending debate on who did what and who owes whom. As the movie closes on i a shot of Zuckerberg alone at his computer, the audience cannot help The script was adapted from a book but ask: Has Facebook made us feel more connected or more alone? SJS about Facebook, The Accidental Billionaires (2009) by Ben Mezrich. 915

2013 Chile (Atacamer Productions, Nostalgia de la luz Patricio Guzmán, 2010 Blinker Filmproduction, Westdeutscher Rundfunk) 90m Color Language Spanish Nostalgia for the Light Producer Jutta Krug, Renate Sachse On the high plains of the Atacama Desert in Chile, as astronomers look Photography Katell Djian Music Miguel to the skies in the hope of mapping distant galaxies, relatives of “the disappeared”—victims of a brutal dictatorship—dig around and search Miranda José Miguel Tobar through the earth in the hope of uncovering the remains of loved ones. In his youth Patricio Guzmán wanted to be an astronomer, but when “I started looking for a General Augusto Pinochet toppled the democratically elected Allende place where there was government in 1973, he turned to filmmaking. The result, beginning with more past than present.” the landmark The Battle of Chile (1975–78) and later Nostalgia for the Light, has been a career dedicated to recording both the atrocities committed Patricio Guzmán, by Pinochet against all who opposed him and what has happened in the Sounds and Colours website years since, as a nation has attempted to come to terms with its past. Guzmán’s film contemplates a paradoxical world in which science has mapped so much of the universe yet still bears witness to humanity’s unbridled capacity for cruelty. Beginning with the story of his own interest in astronomy, Guzmán weaves a fascinating narrative out of the interplay between science and history. A political prisoner describes his escape from a concentration camp and out of the Atacama Desert, one of the driest regions on the planet. Lacking any other form of guidance, he uses the stars for his compass. In another sequence we cut from a close-up of the moon’s surface to a gradual pan over the battered and pockmarked globe of a skull. And in the film’s most powerful scene, a woman gazes across to a collection of observatories and wonders if such technology wouldn’t be better employed looking into the ground and finding the remains of her son. Guzmán’s film celebrates humankind’s scientific advances, but suggests that such progressive thinking is redundant if it is indifferent to human suffering and people fail to empathize with one another. IHS i Patricio Guzmán (right) has directed more than a dozen documentaries about his native Chile. 916

France (La Petite Reine, La Classe The Artist Michel Hazanavicius, 2011 Américaine, JD Prod, France 3 Cinéma, It is 1927 and Hollywood is at its peak. The most famous silent film star Jouror Productions, uFilm) 100 m is George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), riding high from his newest success. Color Producer Thomas Langmann At the premiere he meets Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), a flapper who is trying to break into show business. George gets her a part in his next Screenplay Michel Hazanavicius film, and not long after a technological breakthrough changes the Photography Guillaume Schiffman industry forever: the arrival of sound. “Talkies” take over, and while Peppy’s career skyrockets, George’s plummets. Music Ludovic Bource Cast Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman, The Artist is a black-and-white, silent film and was shot in 1:33:1, the same ratio that many 1920s films used. Dialogue is expressed using James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller intertitles, and Ludovic Bource’s jazzy score guides you through the Oscars Thomas Langmann (best picture), narrative. The film is thoroughly rooted in the classics of the silent period Jean Dujardin (actor), Michel Hazanavicius and is filled with references to the early years of Hollywoodland. (director), Ludovic Bource (original score), Mark Bridges (costume) Oscar nominations The actors tap back into the forgotten art of silent movie acting, expressing themselves through their facial expressions and mannerisms. Berenice Bejo (actress in support role), Bejo, meanwhile, lights up any frame she is in—equally at home dancing Michel Hazanvicius (screenplay) Cannes the Charleston or weeping for the man she secretly loves. Film Festival Jean Dujardin (actor) Crucially, The Artist does not spoof silent movies, nor does it wink at the audience. It wins the viewer around with its perfectly judged tone i and an engaging story that shifts from light and frothy to some The role of Jack the dog was played unexpectedly harrowing moments. As a loving tribute to the days when actions spoke louder than words, The Artist is charming and irresistible. by three matching Jack Russell And it features the best performance by a dog since Toto. SW Terriers: Uggie, Dash, and Dude. 917

The Cabin in the Woods Drew Godard, 2011 U.S. (Lionsgate, Mutant Enemy) 95m Color Joss Whedon’s The Cabin in the Woods is a fiendishly clever horror with Producer Joss Whedon Screenplay Joss an unexpected plot development that’s one of the great surprises in recent cinema. The film begins predictably, with a group of attractive- Whedon and Drew Godard Photography looking college students retreating to a secluded rural hideaway. Peter Deming Music David Julyan Meanwhile, in an initially undisclosed location, two white-collar middle- management types next to a bank of TV screens are seemingly involved Cast Kristen Connolly, Chris Hemsworth, in a surveillance job. Their connection to the teenage revellers isn’t Anna Hutchison, Fran Kranz, Jesse Williams, immediately clear, but as the party in the cabin turns into a gruelling bloodbath, the film grips with its shocking, unfolding sense of revelation. Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Brian White Directed with merciless efficiency by Drew Godard, who made the home-movie-style monster movie Cloverfield (2008), The Cabin in the i Woods is co-written and produced by Buffy creator and Avengers (2012) The movie’s opening was deliberately director Joss Whedon. Like Buffy, it is at once a knowing pastiche of horror conventions and a horror film in its own right. With its bloody intended to make audiences think exploration of ideas of sacrifice, the movie prompts difficult questions they were watching the wrong film. about the audience’s need for and enjoyment of onscreen violence and fear. But for the movie’s ironic reference to other horror films, The Cabin in the Woods works in wholly visceral terms: it is at once a clever experiment in genre and a scary experience in itself. EL 918

Lincoln Steven Spielberg, 2012 U.S. (Dreamworks SKG, 20th Century Fox, The Washington of Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln is a world of collusion, 2012 Reliance Entertainment) 150m Color compromise, and self-interest. The political sparring is brutal, with the Producer Kathlreen Kennedy, Steven lower chamber of Congress resembling a gladiatorial ring where legends are forged and vacillation can destroy a career. One doesn’t have to look Spielberg Screenplay Tony Kushner from too hard to find the parallels with contemporary America. book by Doris Kearns Goodwin Tony Kushner’s screenplay, drawing on Doris Kearns Goodwin’s Photography Janusz Kaminski Music John impressive Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, is less Williams Cast Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, a biopic of one man than an account of the machinations that led to the Tommy Lee Jones, David Strathairn, Joseph passing of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery. In tone Gordon-Levitt, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, it resembles a densely plotted political thriller as the legislation John Hawkes, Jackie Earle Haley, Bruce McGill, undergoes its precarious journey through a fractious and ideologically- Tim Blake Nelson, Lee Pace, Michael Stuhlbarg, divided House of Representatives. Walton Goggins, David Oyelowo, Lukas Haas Oscars Daniel Day-Lewis (actor), Jim Erickson, Daniel Day-Lewis is astonishing as the sixteenth President of the United States. Like Oskar Schindler in Spielberg’s 1993 Holocaust drama, Rick Carter (production design) Oscar we first see him from behind, hearing his voice before seeing his face. By nominations Kathleen Kennedy, Steven the time we see him in close-up, any trace of Day-Lewis is gone. Lincoln Spielberg (best picture), Steven Spielberg here is both a man of the people and a skilled debater, at ease in any (director), Tony Kushner (screenplay), Sally company. As a statesman he is not immune to deception or playing the Filed (supporting actress), Tommy Lee Jones Washington game. He is shown engaging the services of lobbyists, and gambles with soldiers’lives as he tactically courts peace with the enemy, (supporting actor), Janusz Kaminski whose arrival in Washington he delays in order to see his amendment (photography), John Williams (original passed. The impact of one term in office and the grueling toll of a drawn- score), Michael Kahn (editing), Joanna out civil war is visible in his face and physique, but when countering Johnston (costume design), Andy Nelson, opposition to his plans he erupts with passion and fire. Gary Rydstrom, Ron Judkins (sound mixing) Lincoln is Spielberg’s third film to deal with race in America, after The Color Purple (1985) and Amistad (1997). It is also the best. Aided by Kushner’s impressive script and Day-Lewis’s towering performance, along with a strong cast that includes Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones, and David Strathairn, Spielberg’s consummate drama is a reminder of why Abraham Lincoln is among the most revered figures in U.S. political history. IHS “No one is loved as much as you by the people. Don’t waste that power.” Mary Todd Lincoln (Sally Field) i Spielberg wore a suit and tie every day to work while directing in order to better blend in with the actors.

Wadjda Haifaa Al-Mansour, 2012 Saudi Arabia / Germany (Razor Film Trumpeted as the “first” film from a female Saudi filmmaker (although Produktion, Highlook Communications the claim is not quite true, the achievement is nonetheless a rare one), Wadjda is the deceptively simple tale of a young girl who wants a bicycle. Group, Rotana Film Production) However, this is contemporary Saudi Arabia and young girls do not often 98m Color Language Arabic Producer get what they want, not least permission to ride, let alone own, a bicycle. Gerhard Meixner, Roman Paul Screenplay Haifaa Al-Mansour’s debut is a remarkable achievement in a society Haifaa Al-Mansour Photography Lutz where women cannot vote and cinemas themselves are banned. It is a Reitemeier Music Max Richter Cast Waad beguilingly simple story that chooses not to tackle politics or human rights issues head on. Instead it employs a subtle and often charming Mohammed, Reem Abdullah, approach to make a very clear statement. Effortlessly told, this character- Abdullahraman Al Gohani, Ahd, Sultan Al driven piece focuses on the eponymous heroine, a spiky, straight-talking Assaf, Alanoud Sajini, Rafa Al SaneaDana 10-year-old, whose competitive streak with the neighborhood boys leads her on a quest to acquire her heart’s desire: a green bicycle. Along Abdullilah, Rehab Ahmed Venice Film the way we discover a family torn apart by a father bowing to pressure Festival Haifaa Al-Mansour (“CinemAvvenire” to take a second wife, and we delight in the subversion of Wadjda raising the money she needs by thrashing the opposition in a school Qur’an Award, C.I.C.A.E. Award, Interfilm Award) recitation competition. Funny and smart, Wadjda offers a window into another world—one where the realities of life for young women are i harsh, but where personality can shine through. BHa Haifaa Al-Mansour had to direct some of the street scenes from inside a van, for fear of sparking protests. 920

Gravity Alfonso Cuarón, 2013 G.B. / U.S. (Warner Bros., Heyday Films, A rare commercial success that attracted almost universal critical 20123 Esperanto Filmoj) 91m Color acclaim, Gravity fires a Robinson Crusoe narrative into orbit thanks to state-of-the-art 3D technology. Sandra Bullock plays Dr. Ryan Stone, Producer David Heyman, Alfonso Cuarón whose mission on a space shuttle is cut short when the wreckage from Screenplay Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón a destroyed Russian satellite creates a chain reaction and sends a cloud of debris hurtling toward her at the speed of a bullet. Photography Emmanuel Lubezki Music Steven Price Cast Sandra Bullock, George As filmed by Alfonso Cuarón, this 3D disaster movie works not in spite of his intelligence as a filmmaker but because of it. Employing the Clooney, Phaldut Sharma, Ed Harris, same style used in his earlier films (Y Tu Mamá También [2001] and Orto Ignatiussen Oscars Emmanuel Lubezki Children of Men [2006]), as evinced by the long opening shot of the (cinematography), Alfonso Cuarón (director), orbiting shuttle coming in to view, Cuarón envelops us in the spectacle of space before unleashing the metallic tsunami that destroys everything Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger (editing), in its wake. Throughout the groundbreaking shoot, during which Bullock Steven Price (original score), Glenn spent most of her time encased in a light box that allowed the visual and special effects team to capture the weightlessness of spaceflight, Cuarón Freemantle (sound editing), Skip Lievsay, Niv steers clear of the rapid editing style of most action movies. Instead we Adiri, Christopher Benstead, Chris Munro have time to contemplate Stone’s predicament and feel the tension rise (sound mixing), Timothy Webber, Chris as the metal tide once again makes its way toward her. Lawrence, David Shirk, Neil Corbould (visual If the film’s script is a little insubstantial, George Clooney’s charming effects) Oscar nominations Alfonso Cuarón, captain and Bullock’s scientist more than compensate for it. Though not David Heyman (best picture), Sandra Bullock as fully realized as Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley, Bullock brings enough humanity to her character to make Stone a convincing sci-fi heroine. She (actress), Andy Nicholson, Rosie Goodwin, is at her best in the film’s quieter moments, particularly a revealing scene Joanne Woollard (production design) that suggests why she may have originally opted to travel into space. “Half of North America In a later conversation, Stone manages to contact someone on Earth. just lost their Facebook.” Unaware who the man is, her spirits lift at the sound of a baby crying and a dog barking. In Jonás Cuarón’s short Aningaaq (2013), we are on the other end of the line, in Greenland, as an Inuit fisherman is facing his own, potentially serious, dilemma. It is a moving and elegiac companion piece to this, the grander feature he co-wrote with his father. IHS Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) i The offscreen voice of Mission Control is Ed Harris, who previously played a mission director in Apollo 13 (1995).

2013 Italy / France (Indigo Film, Medusa Film, La grande bellezza Paolo Sorrentino, 2013 Babe Film) 142m Color Language Italian Producer Francesca Cima, Nicola Giulliano The Great Beauty Screenplay Paolo Sorrentino Photography Luca Bigazzi Music Lele Marchitelli Cast After his uneven excursion to America with This Must Be the Place (2011), Toni Servillo, Carlo Verdone, Sabrina Ferilli, Paolo Sorrentino returned to Italy to continue his examination of the Carlo Bruccirosso, Galatea Ranzi, Giovanna country’s privileged class. But whereas Il Divo (2008) offered a scathing Vignola Oscars Italy (best foreign language account of corruption among Italy’s political ranks, as embodied by film) Cannes Film Festival Paolo Sorrentino Guilio Andreotti, The Great Beauty shines a light on Rome’s cultural elite. (Golden Palm nomination) In his youth, Jep Gambardella penned a highly praised novella and a glittering literary career awaited him. Instead, he chose to take center “A shimmering coup stage among the cream of Rome’s aristocrats and wealthy, coming to life de cinema to make your at night and partying until dawn. Now, celebrating his sixty-fifth birthday, he looks back on his life and ponders its worth. heart burst, your mind swim, and your soul roar.” From the curious prologue, in which a Japanese tourist dies at one of the city’s many religious sites, Rome lies at the heart of Sorrentino’s film. His camera prowls through gardens, glides across sculptures, and is enraptured by the city skyline, particularly the view from Jep’s magnificent apartment. It is a marked contrast to the ghouls and grotesques that populate the interminable parties. The dances they perform are pathetic rituals—a desperate attempt to evade the passage of time and proximity of death. This is the Berlusconi generation, and what a sorry, self-deluded, and inelegantly wasted bunch they are. Sorrentino’s breathtaking direction is matched by the stunning performance of Toni Servillo, the director’s leading man in four of his six films. In choosing to echo the themes of Felinni’s La Dolce Vita (1960), it is perfect that Sorrentino has his own Marcello Mastroianni. Servillo, one of the finest actors in contemporary cinema, brings Jep to life with a balance of wit, cynicism, and weariness with a lifestyle he knows is contemptible, but indulges in nonetheless. Witnessing his journey through this world is like watching a car crash—we know it’s wrong but we just can’t look away. IHS Robbie Collin, The Telegraph, 2014 i Sorrentino considered calling the film “L’Apparato Umano,” after the title of the fictional novel by Jep. 922

France / Belgium / Spain (Qaut’sous Films, La vie d’Adèle—Chapitres 1 et 2 Wild Bunch, France 2 Cinéma) 179m Color Language French Producer Brahim Chioua, Blue is the Warmest Color Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013 Abdellatif Kechiche, Vincent Maraval Seemingly coming out of nowhere to win the Golden Palm at the 2013 Screenplay Abdellatif Kechiche, Ghalia Cannes Film Festival, Blue is the Warmest Color left a fluster of over-awed Kechiche Photography Sofian El Fani reviewers trailing in its wake, smashed taboos at every turn, and rapidly Cast Léa Seydoux, Adele Exarchopoulos, disintegrated into a circus of “he said/she said” scrapping between its Salim Kechiouche, Catherine Salée, Auélien director and one of its stars on release. Featuring a graphic and much Recoing, Benjamin Siksou, Mona Walravens, discussed lesbian sex scene, the film unprecedentedly saw its Golden Alma Jodorowsky, Jérémie Laheurte, Anna Palm divided between its director, Abdellatif Kechiche, and two stars. Loiret, Benoît Pilot, Sandor Funtek To focus on the sex scenes is to betray the extraordinary strength of Cannes Film Festival Abdellatif Kechiche a writer/director who understands the nature of drama, from how long to show a scene to when to cut. At its heart, the film is, quite simply, (FIPRESCI Prize), Abdellatif Kechiche, about love—of which sex is but a part—about the trauma of growing Adèle Exarchopoulos, Léa Seydoux up, and the subtleties of class. The latter is never more perfectly observed than when watching the girls’ two families at mealtimes— (Golden Palm) Adele’s huddled around the TV, messily slurping simple spaghetti; Emma’s enjoying a sophisticated fruits de mer, complete with oysters i and riveting middle class chat. But above all else it’s a study of the Initially planned to be shot in complexity of romantic and sexual obsession—sometimes murky, two months, the movie took nearly almost always inevitably doomed, but utterly irresistible all the same. five-and-a-half months to film. Kechiche’s confidence to hold our gaze with sex scenes, breakup scenes, and all the seemingly insignificant moments in between, results in a riveting film that demands and rewards our attention. BHa 923

12 Years a Slave Steve McQueen, 2013 2013 U.S. / G.B. (Regency Enterprises, River Road The year is 1841. Solomon Northup is a free black man who works as a Entertainment, Plan B Entertainment) 134m violinist and lives in upstate New York with his wife and children. Tempted by the offer of a few days work in Washington, he travels there only for Color Producer Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, his supposed employers to drug and kidnap him. He wakes in rags and Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen, Anthony chains, and is beaten by two strangers when he protests. Rechristened “Platt,” he is transported to the Southern states and sold as a slave. Katagas Screenplay John Ridley Photography Sean Bobbitt Music Hans Based on Northup’s memoir, Steve McQueen’s film is seen by many as mainstream U.S. cinema’s most challenging account of slavery. Zimmer Cast Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Recounting Solomon’s time under different owners and his desperate Fassbender, Lupita Nyong’o, Dwight Henry, attempts to return to his family, the film never panders to easy emotion Scoot McNairy, Paul Giamatti, Sarah Paulson, or exploits the brutality of his existence. Its power lies in the gradual Paul Dano, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt, degradation of daily life, which contrasts sharply with the world that Adepero Oduye, Michael Kenneth Williams, Solomon knew. In one flashback, as Solomon and his wife are shopping for clothes, a slave wanders into the shop they are in and stares in Kelsey Scott, Quvenzhané Wallis Oscars disbelief as Solomon samples the tailoring. Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen, Anthony Katagas (best Despite shocking scenes of violence, McQueen has crafted a beautiful picture), Lupita Nyong’o (actress in support film: trees droop under the weight of the Spanish moss, sunrise colors role), John Ridley (adapted screenplay) the gently flowing rivers, and the Southern landscape as a whole resembles a lush Eden. Beatings and whippings play out against this Oscar nominations Steve McQueen idyllic backdrop. (director), Chiwetel Ejiofor (actor), Michael Fassbender (actor in support role), Patricia Yet throughout this ordeal Solomon clings to his humanity, his face taut with desperation and his eyes deep wells of sadness. It is to Norris (costume design), Joe Walker both McQueen and lead actor Chiwetel Ejiofor’s credit that Solomon (editing), Adam Stockhausen, Alice Baker remains a fully rounded character and not merely the conduit for our sympathy and horror. (production design) By focusing on one man’s story, McQueen has laid down a challenge for future representations of this period. Upon hearing Solomon’s terrible journey, Brad Pitt’s character Bass comments, “Your story is amazing, and in no good way.”This is an important film and long overdue. SW “It is pitched pretty near perfectly in terms of sheer narrative craftsmanship.” Mark Kermode, The Observer, 2014 i 12 Years a Slave is the first film from a black director to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. 924

Boyhood Richard Linklater, 2014 U.S. (IFC Productions, Detour Films) 165m By virtue of its unusual production history, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood 20124 Color Producer Richard Linklater, Cathleen gives us two films in one: a work of fiction spanning twelve years in the life of a young boy growing up in Texas; and a shadow-documentary that Sutherland, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss escorts its fictional counterpart each step of the way. How could it be Screenplay Richard Linklater Photography otherwise, given Linklater’s singular decision to shoot the film over a corresponding period of time, and with the same cast? The actors age Shane Kelly, Lee Daniel Cast Patricia before us, though it is the evolution of Ellar Coltrane (who plays the boy, Arquette, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater, Mason) and Lorelei Linklater (the director’s daughter, playing Mason’s sister) that has the most resonance. Ethan Hawke Oscars Patricia Arquette (actress in support role) Oscar nominations Like François Truffaut’s Antoine Doinel films (beginning with The 400 Richard Linklater, Cathleen Sutherland (best Blows [1959] and ending with Love on the Run [1979]) and Michael Apted’s Up series, Boyhood’s power is accumulative. However, Linklater’s picture), Ethan Hawke (actor in support longitudinal study is also a lesson in compression—he gives us the role), Richard Linklater (director, original incremental bloom of Mason’s life, and all of its attendant experience, in screenplay), Sandra Adair (editing) Berlin less than three hours. The seamless and unannounced transitions that Film Festival Richard Linklater (director, introduce each phase of his development elicit in the viewer a commensurate gasp of delayed recognition: look how he has grown! But Golden Bear nomination) underpinning it all is a feeling of concern and even suspense, no doubt encouraged by our awareness of the cast’s deep investment, as well as “The achievement of a the onset of time: what will become of Mason/Ellar? lifetime. Linklater has shown, perhaps with As we follow Mason through the commonplace rituals of an American adolescence, we begin to see that one of Linklater’s more heart-piercing achievements is to have created something at once both unerringly acuity than any other specific (a Texas childhood in the early twenty-first century) and universal. And while the film is something of a paean to parenthood director, how a child (Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette are both subtle and true as the boy’s grows into an adult.” divorced parents), Boyhood’s real subject is time, unfolding as it does in a perpetual present tense. MM Robbie Collin, The Telegraph, 2014 i Partway through filming, Lorelei Linklater asked for her character to be killed off, but her father refused.

Birdman Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2014 2014 Like Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope (1948), Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)—to give the movie its U.S. / Canada (Fox Searchlight) 119m Color full title—will have us believe that the film unfolds as one single shot. Producer Alejandro González Iñárritu, John Digital trickery has replaced someone standing in front of a camera Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole while a fresh reel of film is loaded, but the effect remains the same— although now we’re no longer confined to a single room. Iñárritu’s Screenplay Alejandro González Iñárritu, camera swoops and swerves, first in the Broadway theater where former Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, screen superhero Riggan Thomson is preparing to make his debut with Armando Bo Photography Emmanuel an adaptation of a Raymond Carver story he has written, directed, and Lubezki Cast Michael Keaton, Edward Norton, is starring in, before following him out onto the street. It’s already clear that he is teetering on the edge of sanity. Throughout the film he Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, Andrea converses with his alter ego, Birdman, the comic crusader-turned-movie Riseborough, Zach Galifianakis, Amy Ryan character he played twice on the screen before retiring from the role in Oscars Alejandro González Iñárritu, John 1992. That was the same year that Michael Keaton, who plays Riggan, Lesher, James W. Skotchdopole (best picture), stopped playing Batman. What we are meant to draw from this association, Iñárritu and his star leave to us. Alejandro González Iñárritu (director), Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Hollywood loves a comeback as much it does movies about itself. As such, Iñárritu’s film strikes a double whammy, offering up a brilliant satire Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo of both the theater and film world, and giving Michael Keaton his best (original screenplay), Emmanuel Lubezki role since he played Ray Nicolette in the adaptations of Elmore Leonard’s Jackie Brown (1997) and Out of Sight (1998). Not that the actor does (cinematography) Oscar nomations Michael anything we haven’t seen before. His nervous energy is what made his Keaton (actor), Edward Norton (actor in Bruce Wayne such a livewire and his villains so compelling. However, more than any other director he has worked with in the last decade, support role), Emma Stone (actress in support Iñárritu understands how to channel that energy into a portrait of a man role), Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Thomas plagued by demons—an actor with an overinflated ego who is nevertheless crippled by a fear of failure. Varga (sound mixing), Aaron Glascock, Martín Hernández (sound editing) Venice Film With its pounding percussive score by Antonio Sanchez, Birdman is a frenzied, often brilliant comedy that, unlike some of Iñárritu’s Festival Alejandro González Iñárritu (Future previous films, never takes itself too seriously. If only Riggan would do Film Festival Digital Award, Leoncino d’Oro the same. IHS Agiscuola Award, Nazareno Taddei Award, Golden Lion nomination) “Popularity is the slutty little cousin of prestige.” Mike Shiner (Edward Norton) i The carpet in the backstage corridor scenes shares the same pattern as the one in the hotel in The Shining (1980). 926

The Grand Budapest Hotel Wes Anderson, 2014 U.S. / Germany (Fox Searchlight, Indian The twin spirits of Ernst Lubitsch and Stefan Zweig preside benevolently 2014 Paintbrush, Studio Babelsberg) 100m Color over The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson’s intricately baroque vision Producer Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven of the world of Middle Europe as it probably never was before at least one, and possibly both, world wars. Anderson has always striven to Rales, Jeremy Dawson Screenplay Wes devise alternative universes of his own; this is his most complete Anderson Photography Robert Yeoman fabrication yet, a fanatically and fantastically detailed, sugar-iced, Music Alexandre Desplat Cast Ralph Fiennes, calorie-stuffed, gleefully overripe Sachertorte of a film. F. Murray Abraham, Mathieu Amalric, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Harvey The action centers around the eponymous mountain-set luxury hotel Keitel, Jude Law, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, and its presiding genius, urbane omnicompetent concierge Monsieur Saoirse Ronan, Jason Schwartzmann, Tilda Gustave (Ralph Fiennes). The narrative jumps backward through four Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Owen Wilson, Tony time zones, the mood is stylized comedy undercut with melancholia, Revolori Oscars Milena Canonero (costume), and the joyously melodramatic plot takes in murdered aristocrats, Frances Hannon, Mark Coulier (makeup and contested wills, purloined paintings, jailbreaks, high-speed pursuit down a ski-slope, defenestrated cats, lovelorn widows, gourmet patisserie, and hairstyling), Alexandre Desplat (original a secret fraternity of hotel concierges. score), Adam Stockhausen, Anna Pinnock (production design) Oscar nominations Wes It’s a rich mixture—perhaps too rich for some. But those not indissolubly wedded to hard-edged realism, and prepared to succumb Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven M. Rales, to the charm of Anderson’s filmmaking, with its acute sense of design, Jeremy Dawson (best picture), Wes Anderson its playful tone, and exhilarating pace, will find The Grand Budapest Hotel (director), Robert D. Yeoman (cinematography), a delectable and unexpectedly moving experience. Shooting in three different ratios—2.35:1, 1.85:1, and the classic 1.33:1—to differentiate Barney Pilling (film editing), Wes Anderson, the movie’s three main timelines, Anderson deploys a cast that, even by Hugo Guinness (original screenplay) Berlin his standards, is bewilderingly star-studded, with many of the famous Film Festival Wes Anderson (Grand Jury Prize, names onscreen for barely more than a minute or two. But above all, this is Fiennes’s film. Gifted a rare chance to play comedy, he demonstrates Golden Bear nomination) an impeccable comic timing that makes his performance as Monsieur Gustave, informed as it is by an evident affection for the character, a constant joy to watch. PK “As intricately layered as a Dobos torte and nearly as rich.” Justin Chang, Variety, 2014 i The name of the fictional Republic of Zubrowka comes from the Polish vodka Zubrówka. 927

Star Wars: The Force Awakens J.J. Abrams, 2015 2015 U.S. (Lucasfilm, Bad Robot, Truenorth Set thirty years after the events of Return of the Jedi (1983), the Skywalker Productions) 135m Color Producer saga continues with Episode VII. Picking up the characters from the original trilogy, The Force Awakens thrusts them through hyperspace Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, Bryan Burk and into a new adventure, along with a collection of boisterous new Screenplay Lawrence Kasdan, J.J. Abrams, heroes and villains. Michael Arndt Photography Dan Mindel The Empire has fallen, but the First Order has risen in its wake, Music John Williams Cast Harrison Ford, determined to quash the New Republic and bring the galaxy under Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John its shadow. The Resistance, led by General Leia (Carrie Fisher), launches a desperate search for the missing and last remaining Jedi, Luke Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Skywalker (Mark Hamill), who is now little more than a myth. A penitent Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter stormtrooper (John Boyega), hotshot pilot (Oscar Isaac), and lonely Mayhew, Andy Serkis, Max von Sydow, Mark scavenger (Daisy Ridley) become embroiled in the quest and soon find their destinies intertwined with that of the entire galaxy. Hamill Oscar nominations Maryann Brandon, Mary Jo Markey (film editing), John Though technologically the most sophisticated movie in the series, there is debatably too much reverence to what came before. Having a Williams (original score), Andy Nelson, climactic father-son moment upon a bridge, a planet-size superweapon, Christopher Scarabosio, Stuart Wilson and a well-spoken villain in General Hux—whom Domhnall Gleeson (sound mixing) Matthew Wood, David Acord struggles to delineate from previous roguish thesps—doesn’t help. But (sound editing), Roger Guyett, Pat Tubach, when it follows its own path the film soars, such as Rey’s flight from the Neal Scanlan, Chris Corbould (visual effects) planet Jakku and her brutal duel with the wonderfully maladjusted Kylo Ren, played with delicious malevolence by Adam Driver. The Force Awakens oozes charm and likeability from every old- fashioned pore, from the new fan-favorite robot BB-8 and an engaged and enthusiastic Harrison Ford reprising the role of Han Solo to the use of special, rather than visual, effects to bring the creatures and sets to life. Grossing $1 billion within twelve days of opening, Star Wars has, once again, established itself as the dominant blockbuster franchise for a long time to come. SW “Star Wars has now gone beyond the sci-fi genre to its own kind of intergalactic quasi- Arthurian romance.” Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian, 2015 i Daniel Craig has a cameo as a Stormtrooper with the number JB-007—James Bond 007. 928

The Revenant Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2015 USA / Hong Kong / Taiwan (20th Century- Reputedly nearly as much of an ordeal for its cast and crew as for 2015 Fox) 156m Color Producer Arnon Milchan, its protagonist, Alejandro González Iñárritu’s film is inspired by the Steve Golin, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mary legend of Hugh Glass. In 1823, the American frontiersman was left for dead by his companions after being mauled by a bear, but managed Parent, Keith Redmon, James W. to haul his battered body across 200 miles (320 km) of wilderness to Scotchdopole Screenplay Mark L. Smith, the nearest settlement. Given that Glass’s story has been much Alejandro González Iñárritu Photography embellished over the years, it hardly matters if the film plays fast and Emmanuel Lubezki Music Ryuichi Sakamoto, loose with it. (The previous Hollywood treatment of the tale, Richard Alva Noto Cast Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Sarafian’s 1971 Man in the Wilderness, starring Richard Harris, took even more liberties.) Hardy, Domnhall Gleeson, Will Poulter, Forrest Goodluck Oscars Iñárritu’s purist insistence on shooting in natural light for only ninety Leonardo DiCaprio (actor), Alejandro minutes a day, and in the most remote and rugged subzero locations, González Iñárritu (director), Emmanuel pays off. The visual intensity of his landscapes, shot in moody near- monochrome by acclaimed cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, brings Lubezki (cinematography) Oscar out all the icy indifference—and paradoxical beauty—of the stark nominations Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, desolation Glass has to struggle through and underlines his dogged Alejandro González Iñárritu, Mary Parent, determination to survive. Leonardo DiCaprio, rarely off-screen throughout the film’s two-and-a-half-hour-plus running time, has Keith Redmon (best picture), Tom Hardy relatively little dialogue, but his expression of clenched, vengeful fury (supporting actor), Stephen Mirrione (editing), speaks volumes. (This committed performance finally won DiCaprio an Jacqueline West (costume design), Sian Grigg, Academy Award after four previous nominations.) Duncan Jarman, Robert A. Pandini (makeup), There’s an eerie, almost mystical tone to the film, which with its Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Randy Thom, theme of resurrection—Glass, seemingly dead, clambers up out of his Chris Duesterdiek (sound mixing), Martín own grave—at times seems to hint at Christian or perhaps shamanistic Hernández, Lon Bender (sound editing), symbolism, a reading abetted by a scene in a ruined church. Iñárritu has created a grim epic of survival, a tale that with its extremes of violence Richard McBride, Matt Shumway, Jason Smith, and suffering isn’t always easy to watch, but one that hooks itself Cameron Waldbauer (visual effects), Jack Fisk, relentlessly into the memory. PK Hamish Purdy (production design) “As long as you can still grab a breath, you fight.” Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio) i The movie was shot in twelve locations in three countries: Canada, the United States, and Argentina.

Hungary (Laokoon Filmgroup, Hungarian Saul fia László Nemes, 2015 National Film Fund) 107m Color Son of Saul Language Hungarian Producer Gábor Sipos, Gábor Rajna Screenplay László October 1944, Auschwitz-Birkenau. Saul Ausländer (the sensational Géza Nemes, Clara Royer Photography Mátyás Röhrig) is a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando, a group of Erdély Music László Melis Cast Géza Röhrig, Jewish prisoners isolated from the camp and forced to assist the Nazis Sándor Zsótér, Levente Molnár, Urs Rechn in the machinery of large-scale exterminations. While working in one of Oscar Hungary (foreign language film) the crematoriums, Saul discovers the corpse of a boy he takes for his son. As the Sonderkommando plans a rebellion, Saul decides to carry out an Cannes Film Festival László Nemes impossible task: save the child’s body from the flames, find a rabbi to (FIPRESCI Prize, François Chalais Award, recite the mourner’s Kaddish, and offer the boy a proper burial. Grand Prize of the Jury, Vulcain Prize for the Technical Artist, Golden Camera nomination, Son of Saul is an extraordinary work exhibiting courage, focus, and a clear-eyed sensibility concerning the atrocity of genocide and Palme d’Or nomination) inhumanity. That it is the work of a director making his debut further accentuates its towering achievement. Shot on 35mm, it’s a terrifying 2015 glimpse into hell, suffering, and cruelty, in which no shot is extraneous and no horror is spared. There is, however, more to the film than an endless parade of torture. The use of close-up is intrinsic, making the spectator in some way a complicit witness in the horror. The sense of claustrophobia is intense and at times overpowering. Claude Lanzsmann’s Shoah (1985) is rightly regarded as the benchmark in terms of cinema dealing with the Holocaust. Son of Saul is perhaps the first fictional work that deserves to be spoken of in similarly reverential tones. JWo U.S. (Duplass Brothers Productions, Through Tangerine Sean Baker, 2015 Films) 88m Color Producer Sean Baker, Positioned in the press as either “the transgender prostitute movie” or Karrie Cox, Marcus Cox, Darren Dean, Shih- “that film shot on an iPhone,”Sean Baker’s mischievous twenty-four-hour Ching Tsou Screenplay Sean Baker, Chris odyssey through the pulsating streets of Los Angeles is a far cry from the novelty piece such soundbites might imply. Instead, this richly emotional Bergoch Photography Sean Baker, Radium and imaginative Christmas Eve in the life of two sex workers on Santa Cheung Cast Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Mya Monica Boulevard is no mere gimmick. This is the real deal. Taylor, Karren Karagulian, Mickey O’Hagan, Baker’s decision to shoot on three iPhone 5s (borne out of budgetary James Ransone necessity) certainly informs the look and frenetic pace of the film, allowing for a sense of energy and unrestrained movement that could only be achievable with such lightweight equipment. But technique always takes a back seat to the real stars of the show: trans non-actors Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor, who give two extraordinary performances as the hypnotic heroines Sin-Dee Rella and Alexandra. With vivid colors and tart dialogue, Tangerine has much to offer, both from an artistic and cultural perspective. Although perhaps what is ultimately most fascinating about the film is in fact what it is not. It is not another lesson in transgender identity told through cisgender eyes. Nor is it a didactic commentary on sex work, or a simplistic portrayal of marginalized characters. It is a dizzying, crackling, and authentic celebration of female friendship and solidarity. MB 930

U.S. / Canada (Anonymous Content, First Spotlight Tom McCarthy, 2015 Look Media, Participant Media, Rocklin / Faust) 128m Color Producer Blye Pagon Journalism is much like law or international spying in that the individuals Faust, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin, Michael practicing it in movies are inevitably having a more exciting time than their real life counterparts. That Spotlight, which follows a small team of Sugar Screenplay Tom McCarthy, Josh newspaper reporters in 2001 as they uncover widespread sexual abuse Singer Photography Masanobu Takayanagi within the Boston Archdiocese, avoids the temptation to add drama where there was none is a testament to its quiet daring. Tom McCarthy Cast Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton, Rachel draws strength from restraint, demonstrating confidence that his film McAdams, Liev Schreiber, John Slattery, can be engrossing and moving without having to squeeze in artificial Brian d’Arcy James, Stanley Tucci, Jamey conflicts and character arcs. Sheridan, Billy Crudup Oscars Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin, Blye Spotlight is so involving precisely because it observes professionals doing a job well. It is significant that we never see the team receive the Pagon Faust (best picture), Josh Singer, Tom Pulitzer Prize for their efforts. (The film followed suit, winning the Oscar McCarthy (original screenplay) Oscar for Best Picture.) Instead, the focus is exactly where it should be: on the task at hand. McCarthy spends an appreciable amount of time depicting nominations Mark Ruffalo (supporting the sort of unglamorous reporting that films typically ignore, as the actor), Rachel McAdams (supporting journalists, powered by moral horror, chase multiple sources, trawl through parish directories, and request court reports. While Spotlight is actress), Tom McCarthy (director), Tom deeply compassionate about the well over 1,000 estimated abuse McArdle (editing) Venice Film Festival Tom survivors, it is fundamentally a celebration of investigative journalism and the decent, ordinary people committed to it. JW McCarthy (Brian Award, Silver Mouse) i The credits and title cards are set in Miller, the typeface that the Boston Globe uses for most of its headlines and body copy. 931

Mad Max: Fury Road George Miller, 2015 2015 Australia / U.S. (Warner Bros., Kennedy Miller Long before The Fast and the Furious franchise tore up the world’s Productions, Village Roadshow Pictures) freeways and petrolheads guzzled themselves on the antics of the Top Gear team, an ex-cop called Max Rockatansky ruled the barren 120m Color Producers George Miller, Doug wastelands of the open road. After Ned Kelly, Max is arguably Australia’s Mitchell, P.J. Voeten Screenplay George most famous pop culture icon. Neither an outlaw nor a hero in any Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nico Lathouris classic sense, he is molded by the world around him—a land that has descended into chaos, with rival factions vying for whatever remains of Photography John Seale Music Junkie XL the Earth’s natural resources. Cast Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas In the frenetic Mad Max: Fury Road, Mel Gibson has been replaced Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Josh Helman, as Max by Tom Hardy, whose more introspective road warrior allows Nathan Jones, Zoë Kravitz, Rosie Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa to steal the show. The one-armed driver of a huge eighteen-wheel war rig, she takes advantage of a fuel Huntington-Whiteley Oscars Margaret Sixel run to escape the clutches of the insane leader of the War Boys, (editing), Jenny Beavan (costume), Lesley Immortan Joe, taking with her his coterie of wives. With Max and Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega, Damian Martin Furiosa’s singular talents combined, they manage to ward off an army of assailants, and the resulting vehicular mash-ups dwarf even the (makeup), Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff, Ben previous films’record-setting levels of carnage. Driving the action, which Osmo (sound mixing), Mark A. Mangini, includes a vertiginous hurricane of fire, is Junkie XL’s pulsating score— more than a match for Brian May’s pounding accompaniment to the first David White (sound editing), Colin Gibson, two installments. Lisa Thompson (production design) Oscar nominations Doug Mitchell, George Miller The landscape has changed a little, too. Australia was used as the backdrop for the first three Mad Max films, whereas Fury Road’s action (best picture), George Miller (director), was mostly shot across the vast red plains of the Namib Desert. But John Seale (cinematography), Andrew the gothic feel of the film, both in the design of vehicles and the Jackson, Tom Wood, Dan Oliver, Andy characters who drive them, remains the same. It’s B-movie heaven filmed as a big-budget blockbuster, with an Oscar-winning team of Williams (visual effects) technicians and designers ensuring the ride is as fabulous to look at as it is thrilling to experience. IHS “If I’m gonna die, I’m gonna die historic on the Fury Road!” Nux (Nicholas Hoult) i The majority of the effects in the movie are real practical effects, stunts, make-up, and sets. 932

Germany (MonkeyBoy, Radical Media) Victoria Sebastian Schipper, 2015 138m Color Language German Producer An extraordinarily ambitious undertaking, Sebastian Schipper’s Victoria Catherine Baikousis, Jan Dressler, David dazzlingly bottles the exhilaration of pure, undiluted adrenalin. Much Keitsch, Anatol Nitscke, Sebastian Schipper was made of the film’s technical achievement, as it was shot in a single, audacious, 140-minute take in the unassuming district of Mitte, Berlin. Screenplay Sebastian Schipper, Olivia The film is a journey into the city’s underbelly that takes in crime, Neergaard-Holm, Eike Frederik Schultz romance, and criminality to reflect a young woman’s awakening. Photography Sturla Brandth Grøvlen Victoria (Laia Costa), a young, fun-loving woman from Madrid who Music Nils Frahm has decided to put her conservatoire training as a pianist on hold, meets Cast Laia Costa, Frederick Lau, Franz four local guys outside a nightclub. Sonne (Frederick Lau) and his friends Rogowski, Burat Yigit, Max Mauff, André are “real” Berliners who promise to reveal the hidden secrets of their city. But what starts out as a fun if reckless evening suddenly takes on a Hannicke, Eike Frederik Schultz darker, more malignant hue, and as dawn approaches Victoria and Sonne realize that the stakes have become perilously high. i The entire movie was filmed Performed to an incredible standard, with each actor meeting the demands of an extremely grueling shoot, Victoria is as impressive for the on three different nights, nuanced character study of its central protagonist as it is for the manner and the one released was in which the director and cinematographer Sturla Brandth Grøvlen combined to film it. Schipper and Costa expertly navigate the subtle the third and final take. emotional shifts, giving us a portrait of a young woman who starts off the film as one kind of person and ends it radically transformed. JWo 933

La La Land Damien Chazelle, 2016 2016 U.S. (Black Label Media, Gilbert Films, Here’s to the ones who dream . . . whose numbers include writer– Impostor Pictures, Marc Platt Productions, director Damien Chazelle. He has gone against the grain of Broadway adaptations and karaoke jukebox cash-ins with his daring resurrection Summit Entertainment) 128m Color of the original movie musical. Inspired by Hollywood’s classic technicolor Producer Fred Berger, Gary Gilbert, Jordan showbiz extravaganzas (Singin’ in the Rain, The Band Wagon) as much as Horowitz, Marc Platt Screenplay Damien by French auteur Jacques Demy’s more workaday, story-sung fables (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg), Chazelle fashions a vibrant love letter to his Chazelle Photography Linus Sandgren adopted city of Los Angeles: one imbued with affectionate callbacks to Music Justin Hurwitz Cast Emma Stone, its cinematic heritage, but also focused on the pressures of juggling a Ryan Gosling, John Legend, J.K. Simmons personal relationship with professional ambition. Oscars Emma Stone (actress), Damien Our amorous, ambitious couple, jazz purist and wannabe impresario Chazelle (director), Justin Hurwitz (original Seb (Ryan Gosling) and aspiring actress Mia (Emma Stone), first clash score), Linus Sandgren (cinematography), immediately after Chazelle’s incredibly ballsy opening—an all-singing, all-dancing, seemingly one-take showcase on a gridlocked LA freeway. David Wasco, Sandy Reynolds-Wasco It’s the film in microcosm: bright young things throwing themselves (production design) Oscar nominations heart and soul into dexterous songs (by composer Justin Hurwitz and Fred Berger, Gary Gilbert, Jordan Horowitz, lyricists Benj Pasek and Justin Paul) about “making it” (“it” being a career, a romance, an identity), tracked by Linus Sandgren’s swooping, Marc Platt (best picture), Ryan Gosling swooning camera. Stone and Gosling’s vocals aren’t meant to imitate (actor), Damien Chazelle (original Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds; their footwork isn’t trying to match Astaire and Rogers. What they do bring, in their third and best onscreen screenplay), Tom Cross (film editing), Mary coupling to date, is effortless, effervescent chemistry. Stone has never Zophres (costume design), Andy Nelson, been more charming or achingly vulnerable, while Gosling, playing his Ai-Ling Lee (sound mixing), Ai-Ling Lee, own piano, gracefully cedes the spotlight to her. The bittersweet price Mildred Iatrou Morgan (sound editing) of chasing your desires is wonderfully brought home in a show-stopping fantasy climax that invokes (among others) An American in Paris’s dream ballet, but firmly marks La La Land’s own place in the Hollywood firmament—a new heavenly body in the city of stars. LS “We immediately had a rapport, which you can find if you improvise with someone.” Emma Stone, Elle, 2016 i For the film, Gosling learned the piano for three months, while pianist John Legend had to learn guitar. 934

Hell or High Water David Mackenzie, 2016 U.S. (Film 44, OddLot Entertainment, Sidney Had Donald Trump seen Hell or High Water during his presidential Kimmel Entertainment) 102m Color election campaign, he may have cited the Howard brothers as examples of what has gone wrong with America. Siblings Toby (Chris Pine) and Producer Peter Berg, Carla Hacken, Sidney Tanner (Ben Foster) are faced with the foreclosure of their recently Kimmel, Julie Yorn Screenplay Taylor deceased mother’s ranch. To save the property, they embark on a series of bank robberies over a short time span, laundering their money Sheridan Photography Giles Nuttgens through a casino. But Tanner’s wayward tendencies get the better of Music Nick Cave, Warren Ellis Cast Chris him, bringing them ever closer to the two Texas Rangers in hot pursuit. Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges, Gil Thematically similar to Ramin Bahrani’s 99 Homes, David Mackenzie’s Birmingham, Dale Dickie, William Sterchi, film offers a refreshing take on classic genre material. It’s impossible not Kristin Berg, Jackamoe Buzzell, Katy Mixon to see the political allusions in Taylor Sheridan’s perfectly constructed Oscar nominations Julie Yorn, Carla Hacken screenplay, which allows for compassion toward the Howards until (best picture), Jeff Bridges (actor in support Tanner goes too far. Foster offers up another convincing social misfit, role), Taylor Sheridan (original screenplay), while Pine impresses as the quieter Toby, only occasionally unleashing his rage against a system that profits from exploitation. Jake Roberts (film editing) As the Texas Rangers, Gil Birmingham’s Alberto Parker is both more knowing than he lets on and a wry foil to Jeff Bridges’s cynical Marcus 2016 Hamilton, whose conversations with Parker add humor to the film. Bridges brings depth and humanity to the film’s later scenes, and his exchanges with Pine are a masterclass in understated performance. IHS The Jungle Book Jon Favreau, 2016 U.S. (Fairview Entertainment, Moving Picture Following the current trend in Hollywood for remaking classic movies, Company (MPC), Walt Disney Pictures) 106m Disney has employed state-of-the-art technology to revisit its roster of Color Producer Jon Favreau, Brigham Taylor animated features. First up is an ambitious take on its beloved, jazz- tinged adaptation (1967) of Rudyard Kipling’s classic tale. Screenplay Justin Marks Photography Bill Pope Music John Debney Cast Neel Sethi, It’s the story of orphan Mowgli (Neel Sethi), who has been lovingly raised by a family of wolves as one of their own. Life is good until Shere Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Khan (Idris Elba), a tiger bearing human-inflicted scars, professes that it Nyong’o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo is only a matter of time before Mowgli realizes his true identity and Esposito, Christopher Walken, Garry becomes a threat to the animals; the tiger demands that Mowgli be Shandling Oscar Robert Legato, Dan sacrificed to him. Forced to flee, and joined by the wise panther Bagheera (Ben Kingsley), Mowgli encounters the honey-loving bear Lemmon, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones Baloo (Bill Murray), the python Kaa (Scarlett Johansson), and orangutan (visual effects) king of the apes Louie (Christopher Walken), who bears more than a passing resemblance to an Apocalypse Now-era Marlon Brando. Shot entirely on location in Los Angeles, The Jungle Book is an extraordinary technical achievement and skillfully delivers Kipling’s story to a modern audience. Eschewing contemporary animated films’ deployment of references to pop culture, Jon Favreau’s film opts to immerse us in a realistic and often menacing world, while exuding just the right amount of Disney magic. AG 935



Jackie Pablo Larraín, 2016 Chile / France / U.S. / Hong Kong (Fox Without King Arthur’s wife, Guinevere, would the legend of Camelot 2016 Searchlight) 100m Color Producer Darren appear quite so gilded? Likewise, would its twentieth-century Aronofsky, Scott Franklin, Ari Handel, Juan equivalent—the presidency of John F. Kennedy—have exhibited such de Dios Larraín, Mickey Liddell Screenplay luster without its enigmatic First Lady? It is the latter question that Noah Oppenheim Photography Stéphane underpins Pablo Larraín’s Jackie. The movie carries off a daring narrative and historical coup by pushing the major male political players of that Fontaine Music Micachu Cast Natalie era to the periphery in order to assert Jacqueline Kennedy’s importance Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, Billy within the short-lived Kennedy administration. Also offered is an Crudup, John Hurt, Richard E. Grant, Caspar alternative perspective on one of the key moments in postwar American history, which, like the mythic Camelot, was very much defined by its Phillipson Oscar nominations Natalie central female protagonist. Portman (actress), Micachu (original score), Larraín’s film mostly unfolds in flashback, over the four-day period Madeline Fontaine (costume design) between JFK’s assassination and his state funeral, and during the filming of Jacqueline Kennedy’s televised tour of the White House in 1961. These “It’s as if she’s always scenes are interspersed with an interview in the film’s present, between about to explode, but the former First Lady and a Life magazine reporter, taking place a week after the assassination. The facts of what happened—the alleged she holds it back.” conspiracies surrounding the assassination, the shooting itself, and the way the postmortem was carried out—are not called into question; the Pablo Larraín, aim of the film is to present something far more intimate. The New York Times, 2016 Jackie is not an attempt to recreate a moment in history. From the i outset, it eschews the conventional biopic form, and Noah Oppenheim’s Pablo Larraín has estimated that screenplay does not portray a public figure stoically coping with tragedy. Instead, Oppenheim is much more interested in grappling with the a third of the shots in the film possibility that his subject might have questioned her own identity in were the first take. the immediate aftermath of her husband’s death, when the world she had come to know collapsed around her. The interview finds her attempting, mostly off the record, to extract her public persona from her own personality, one that is fraught with doubts and which previously she has revealed only to her priest (John Hurt). This sense of unease that she feels, as the hours following the assassination pass by and her personal loss becomes subsumed by the duties of office, is accentuated by Mica Levi’s haunting score. Stéphane Fontaine recreates the visual style of television in the 1960s for the White House tour, along with footage of the President’s car speeding toward Parkland Memorial Hospital. For all the moments that unfold after the shooting, Fontaine draws out the vivid colors of Jackie’s outfits against the backdrop, accentuating the importance of her role. Playing Jackie, Natalie Portman is mesmerizing. Her performance transcends mimicry, although she captures the voice, mannerisms, and physical movement to perfection. But in this film it is the quieter moments that matter most. A quizzical glance to her assistant, the way she behaves with her children, or stifling an emotion—these are what draw us into this woman’s world. IHS 937

Germany / Austria / Switzerland / Romania Toni Erdmann Maren Ade, 2016 (Komplizen Film) 162m Color Language German Producer Maren Ade, Jonas German director Maren Ade’s third feature, Toni Erdmann, marks a significant if unlikely international breakthrough for a filmmaker already Dornbach, Janine Jackowski, Michel Merkt highly regarded in her homeland. Debuting at Cannes, where it won the Screenplay Maren Ade Photography FIPRESCI prize, the film went on to be a multiple victor at the European Patrick Orth Cast Sandra Hüller, Peter Film Awards, going on to win over critics and audiences worldwide. Simonischek, Michael Wittenborn, Thomas The film is an in-depth character study of the relationship between Loibl, Trystan Pütter, Ingrid Bisu, Hadewych a lonely German teacher, Winfried—aka Toni Erdmann, an oafish character with a penchant for fart jokes and false teeth—and his uptight, Minis, Lucy Russell, Victoria Cocias, work-obsessed daughter living and working in Bucharest. A biting Alexandru Papadopol analysis of white-collar culture, the film is incredibly funny and not remotely parochial, while also acknowledging the debilitating effects of Oscar nomination Maren Ade mental illness and the undiagnosed paralysis caused by loneliness. It (foreign language film) also decries the economic exploitation of poor European countries. i The lead performances are astonishing, especially Sandra Hüller as Winfried Conradi is loosely based on the very vulnerable daughter. Channeling Tilda Swinton’s Karen Crowder in Michael Clayton, Hüller radiates surface calm and self-restraint but Maren Ade’s father, who has worn gradually reveals a seething underbelly of alienation and unhappiness. fake teeth to joke with people. Featuring a jaw-dropping nude dinner-party sequence in which male and female genitalia are the least sensitive elements on public display, this is a wholly satisfying film that will resonate for a long time. JWo 938

Under the Shadow Babak Anvari, 2016 U.K. (Wigwam Films) 84m Color Producer Not just one of the finest horror films of the year but one of the best 2016 Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill, Lucan Toh films, period, Under the Shadow is all the more remarkable considering that it is the work of a first-time director. Deeply satisfying as a bone- Screenplay Babak Anvari Photography Kit chilling ghost story, it is also a feminist political drama set in Iran after Fraser Music Gavin Cullen, Will McGillivray the Cultural Revolution, as well as a forensic examination of how a Cast Narges Rashidi, Avin Manshadi, Bobby disintegrating marriage destabilizes a family triangle. Naderi, Arash Marandi, Aram Ghasemy, As the Iran–Iraq War rumbles on, Shideh (Narges Rashidi) is blocked Soussan Farrokhnia, Ray Haratian, Hamid from continuing her medical studies, having been on the wrong side of the Revolution as an outspoken student. By contrast, her ambitious Djavadan, Behi Djanati Atai husband moves rapidly through the ranks of Ayatollah Khomeini’s administration. Though it is never overtly articulated, each partner “The building gets quietly disapproves of the other—the wife for having prioritized politics more and more, you over personal gain and the husband for placing ambition above principle. When her husband is sent away from Tehran for military know, dark . . .” service, Shideh is left alone with their daughter who, sensing her father’s frustration with his wife, grows difficult and sullen with her mother. After Babak Anvari, a missile lands on their apartment building but does not explode, an old, Den of Geek website, 2016 superstitious resident insists that it has unleashed an ancient, evil Middle Eastern spirit. The child’s behavior becomes increasingly menacing and uncanny, suggesting that the spirit may have her in its grips. UK-based Iranian writer–director Babak Anvari delivers a film of astonishing poise and exquisitely ratcheting tensions, with the whole cast understanding and using the power of understatement to elevate the audience’s sense of unease. Economical and perfectly paced as it heads toward its frenzied and deeply satisfying climax, this is a richly effective contribution to the horror genre, at different times recalling Repulsion, Poltergeist, and the recent Australian chiller The Babadook. Just don’t think about watching it alone. TT i Anvari has cited Roman Polanski’s apartment trilogy as a key source of inspiration for the movie.

Manchester by the Sea Kenneth Lonergan, 2016 2016 U.S. (Pearl Street Films, The Media Farm, The Having produced only three features in more than fifteen years, writer– A/Middleton Project, B Story, CMP, Oddlot director Kenneth Lonergan (You Can Count on Me, Margaret) proves that Entertainment) 137m Color Producer you cannot rush genius. Manchester by the Sea is reminiscent of the character-driven American cinema of the 1970s, exemplified by directors Lauren Beck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Gigi such as Hal Ashby, Michael Ritchie, and Bob Rafelson. At its heart, the Pritzker, Kimberly Steward, Kevin J. Walsh movie is a harrowing but wholly empathetic portrait of people who Screenplay Kenneth Lonergan have lost their way—and every day carry the burden of knowing that all too well. Photography Jody Lee Lipes Music Leslie Barber Cast Casey Affleck, Lucas Hedges, Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is the resident handyman for a small Kyle Chandler, Michelle Williams, Gretchen apartment complex in a suburb of Boston, Massachusetts. He spends his Mol, Matthew Broderick, C.J. Wilson Oscars days doing menial tasks, and his evenings either alone in his basement apartment or nursing a beer at his local bar, where he looks to pick a Casey Affleck (actor), Kenneth Lonergan fight with anyone who throws a glance his way. Then Lee receives the (screenplay) Oscar nominations Lauren news that his older brother Joe has died, and that, to his chagrin, he has been appointed legal guardian of Joe’s teenage son Patrick (Lucas Beck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Gigi Hedges). He has no choice but to return to his coastal hometown, a place Pritzker, Kimberly Steward, Kevin J. Walsh full of painful memories and still inhabited by a former wife (Michelle (best picture), Kenneth Lonergan (director), Williams). Here, he is forced to confront the past that he had tried to escape, and the terrible memories that still haunt him. Lucas Hedges (actor in support role), Michelle Williams (actress in support role) Like Margaret, a movie that has been mired in distribution difficulties, this is a sprawling, ambitious film whose very flaws give it both vitality and the ability to perfectly replicate the human experience. Remarkably attuned to the failings and foibles of human nature, Manchester by the Sea is a challenging work that is unafraid to shine a light on the darker recesses of our lives—although it provides much-needed moments of levity, too. A film about lost souls, it is explicit yet never less than poetic on the subject of trauma and depression. And Affleck’s “I can’t beat this. I just can’t” speech is guaranteed to break the hardest of hearts. JWo “To me, every day [for Lee] is a struggle to not collapse. A very active struggle.” Kenneth Lonergan, Uproxx website, 2016 i The idea for the movie was pitched to Lonergan by Matt Damon, who initially hoped to direct it. 940

I, Daniel Blake Ken Loach, 2016 G.B. (Sixteen Films, Why Not Productions, Ken Loach has made naturalistic dramas about struggling ordinary Wild Bunch) 100m 19s Color Producer people since Cathy Come Home and Poor Cow, and it is evident with I, Daniel Blake that the same underlying social problems continue to Rebecca O’Brien Screenplay Paul Laverty animate him today. In the film, widowed fifty-nine-year-old joiner Daniel Photography Robbie Ryan Cast Dave (Dave Johns), unable to work after a heart attack yet apparently ineligible for disability benefits, finds himself enmeshed in a bureaucratic Johns, Hayley Squires, Sharon Percy, Briana nightmare, relieved only by his friendship with young single mother Shann, Dylan McKiernan, Kate Rutter, Katie (Hayley Squires). Based on research by Loach’s long-term Kema Sikazwe collaborator Paul Laverty, I, Daniel Blake is fiercely critical of the U.K. welfare system, and is all the more successful as a polemic for the affection and empathy it evinces for its working-class characters. 2016 While I, Daniel Blake is angry, bleak, and often desperately sad—a scene where Katie breaks down in a food bank is particularly heartbreaking—Loach and Laverty demonstrate faith in common decency. When the computer-illiterate Daniel visits a library to complete an online form, everyone he asks is happy to give him a hand; likewise, Daniel is instinctively helpful, assisting Katie with practical solutions such as making an improvised heater from candles and a flowerpot. The film argues that those seeking state support are decent citizens who just need a little help—help any neighbor would give. Loach’s message is unchanged: it’s the system that’s cruel, not those trapped in it. JWa 13th Ava DuVernay, 2016 U.S. (Kandoo Films) 100m Color The title of Ava DuVernay’s searing documentary refers to the Thirteenth Producer Spencer Averick, Howard Barish Amendment to the United States Constitution, and specifically the Screenplay Spencer Averick, Ava DuVernay second clause in the first section: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have Photography Hans Charles, Kira Kelly been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place Music Jason Moran Oscar nominations subject to their jurisdiction.” But DuVernay and cowriter Spencer Averick show how incarceration has become the new Jim Crow, and that the U.S. Spencer Averick, Howard Barish, Ava penal system is merely an alternative to the system of slavery that DuVernay (documentary feature) operated in the country before the Civil War. Featuring a wealth of interviews with journalists, academics, cultural commentators, and politicians of every persuasion, the film analyzes the tactics used by the U.S. government to ensure the continued growth of the prison industrial complex; the story is shocking and dispiriting. Yet the film ends on a note of cautious hope. The “Black Lives Matter” movement is evidence that people are not willing to stand by passively and let black men be killed. It is a rallying cry for not only justice but fairness. As activist Malkia Cyril points out, “When black lives matter, everybody’s lives matter. . . . It’s not just about black lives. It’s about changing the way this country understands human dignity.” IHS 941

Arrival Denis Villeneuve, 2016 U.S. (Lava Bear Films, 21 Laps Entertainment, The more advanced special effects become, the harder it is for them to FilmNation Entertainment) 115m 48s Color impress. Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival, understanding this fact, inspires Producers Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Aaron wonder not through the depiction of its immense, pebble-shaped Ryder, David Linde Screenplay Eric spacecraft but by answering an intriguing question: what would be the Heisserer Photography Bradford Young fundamental challenges if we were actually visited by aliens? Cast Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg, Tzi Ma, Mark Its lead character, accordingly, isn’t a political or military figure but O’Brien, Abigail Pniowsky, Julia Scarlett Dan, linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams). Her occupation is Frank Schorpion Oscar Sylvain Bellemare integral: after a dozen alien ships appear across the planet, she is tasked (sound editing) Oscar nominations Shawn by the U.S. government with decoding their language. Communication is appropriately one of the film’s main themes—beyond Banks’s Levy, David Levine, Aaron Ryder, David Linde philological efforts, Arrival reflects upon the difficulty of international (best picture), Denis Villeneuve (director), cooperation and its crucial role in tackling global problems. Eric Deisserer (adapted screenplay), Bradford Arrival ’s most thrilling scenes are all conversations. Banks, along with Young (cinematography), Joe Walker (film sensitive physicist Ian (Jeremy Renner), solves problems through editing), Patrice Vermette, Paul Hotte research and reason. Eric Heisserer’s ambitiously structured screenplay is unafraid to raise concepts like semasiographic writing or nonlinear (production design), Bernard Gariépy Strobl orthography, and displays faith in our ability to follow the narrative’s play (sound mixing) with time. What prevents Arrival from becoming a cerebral exercise, however, is its grounded humanity: Ian, approaching a spaceship for the i first time, runs his hand along its surface and is amazed and awed. JWa The inky, spidery writing of the aliens was created by Montreal artist Martine Bertrand. 942

Moonlight Barry Jenkins, 2016 U.S. (A24, Plan B Entertainment) 111m Color Barry Jenkins’ stunning film, which is adapted from playwright Tarell 2016 Producer Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Alvin McCraney’s In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, captures three moments in the life of a single character. “Little” Chiron (Alex Hibbert) is Adele Romanski Screenplay Barry Jenkins bullied at school and has to deal with his crack-addicted mother Photography James Laxton Music Nicholas (Naomie Harris) but finds solace in the time he spends with Juan (Marhershala Ali) and Teresa (Janelle Monáe), a drug dealer and his Britell Cast Ashton Sanders, Alex Hibbert, girlfriend. The teenaged Chiron (Ashton Sanders) is withdrawn but forms Trevante Rhodes, Marhershala Ali, Naomie a bond with Kevin (Jharrel Jerome). Finally, in his mid-twenties, “Black” Harris, Janelle Monáe, André Holland, Jharrel Chiron (Trevante Rhodes) is reconciled with his mother and decides to Jerome, Jaden Piner Oscars Dede Gardner, visit Kevin (André Holland) after more than a decade has passed. Jeremy Kleiner, Adele Romanski (best Mood is everything in Moonlight. The script, sparse and poetic at picture), Marhershala Ali (actor in support times, is the framework over which Jenkins and regular cinematographer role), Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney James Laxton create moments of breathtaking beauty. Each of the (adapted screenplay) Oscar nominations chapters in Chiron’s life unfold in brief snapshots. Yet the understanding that Jenkins has of this world—both he and McCraney grew up in similar Barry Jenkins (director), Naomie circumstances in a Florida neighborhood—allows him to reach deep Harris (actress in support role), Nicholas into each character and draw out authentic and subtle nuances in their behavior. As Martin Scorsese did with Mean Streets, Jenkins offers up a Britell (original score), James Laxton fresh take on a familiar world. And Nicholas Britell’s score, along with a (cinematography), Nat Sanders, Joi McMillon selection of songs that brilliantly inform the narrative, underlines the emotional cadence of each scene. (film editing) The three central performances—the incarnations of Chiron at different ages—succeed in being both different and a progression of one character. And bookending the film is Ali’s deservedly acclaimed portrayal of Juan and Holland’s sensitive take on the grown-up Kevin. His and Rhodes’s scenes together, particularly the extended sequence in a diner, ache with a sense of longing, a desire to belong, and the hope that they both might finally have found their way home. IHS “Faggot is a word to make gay people feel bad.” Juan (Marhershala Ali) i The three actors who play Chiron never met during production, as Jenkins wanted them to develop their own personas for the character.

Contributors Geoff Andrew (GA) is Senior Film Editor of Roumiana Deltcheva (RDe), Ph.D., is a Tom Gunning (TG) is a professor in the Time Out London, Head of Programming at scholar in new media technology in Montreal, Department of Art History and the Committee the National Film Theatre, and the author of Canada. She engages in interdisciplinary on Cinema and Media at the University numerous books on film. research in literature, film, and print media, of Chicago. He is the author of Fritz Lang: Linda Badley (LB) is Professor of English at focusing on the cultural paradigms defining Allegories of Vision and Modernity. Middle Tennessee State University, where she post-totalitarian East Central Europe. Philip Hall (PH) studied law, literature, and also teaches film studies. She is the author of Wheeler Winston Dixon (WWD) is the James film at Victoria University in Wellington, New Film, Horror, and the Body Fantastic and has Ryan Endowed Professor of Film Studies, Zealand. He now lives and writes in London. published essays on fantasy, science-fiction, Professor of English at the University of Rahul Hamid (RH) is a Doctoral candidate in film, and TV. Nebraska, Lincoln, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Department of Cinema Studies at New Kathryn Bergeron (KB) is a graduate student the Quarterly Review of Film and Video. His York University, writing his thesis on Iranian in Media Arts at the University of Arizona. Her books as author or editor include Film and film. His writing has appeared in publications work focuses primarily on the representation Television After 9/11. such as Cineaste magazine. of race and marginalization in film. Dana Duma (DD) teaches film history Briony Hanson (BHa) is the British Council’s Joanna Berry (JB) worked as a film critic for at Hyperion University and the National Director of Film and also an occasional film Time Out before becoming reviews editor University of Cinema and Theatre in critic and broadcaster. She has previously run for Empire magazine. She has written for Bucharest. She has written the books Self- the BFI Programme Unit, programmed the a number of magazines and newspapers Portraits of the Movie, Gopo, and many articles London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and including the Observer, Maxim, and Radio Times. for film periodicals. been Director of The Script Factory. Edward Buscombe (EB) was formerly Head Rachel Dwyer (RDw) is Senior Lecturer Ernest Hardy (EH) is a film/music critic and of Publishing at the British Film Institute. He in Indian Studies at SOAS, University of poet. He is a Sundance Fellow whose work is the author of books on Stagecoach and The London. Her publications include Yash has appeared in the New York Times, LA Times, Searchers. Cinema Today, his history of World Chopra and Cinema India: The Visual Culture Rolling Stone, and Vibe. He is a member of Cinema since 1970, was published in 2003. of Hindi Film. LAFCA (Los Angeles Film Critics Association). Garrett Chaffin-Quiray (GC-Q) has Angela Errigo (AE) studied film and Ian Haydn Smith (IHS) is the update editor sponsored film festivals, taught TV and journalism at San Francisco State University. for 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die. cinema history, and published book, movie, She is a freelance writer and broadcaster, a He is a London-based writer and the editor of video, and event reviews, several scholarly contributing editor on Empire, and film critic Curzon Magazine. essays and book chapters, and one short story. for the BBC Radio 2 Arts Programme. Bernd Herzogenrath (BH) is the author Tom Charity (TCh) is Film Editor of Time Out Tim Evans (TE) is reviews editor for of An Art of Desire: Reading Paul Auster and London magazine. He is the author of John Skymovies.com. Born in London, he has editor of From Virgin Land to Disney World: Cassavetes: Life Works and The Right Stuff. worked for newspapers in the Midlands Nature and Its Discontents in the USA of Mark Cousins (MC) writes for Sight and Sound, is as well as ITN. Yesterday and Today Honorary Professor of Film at the University of Chiara Ferrari (CFe) is a Doctoral candidate Mark Holcomb (MH) writes about film for Glasgow, and co-founded the 8 1/2 Foundation. in the Department of Film, Television, and The Village Voice and other publications. He His films include The First Movie and The Story of Digital Media at the University of California, lives in Brooklyn, New York. Film: An Odyssey; his books include Imagining Los Angeles. Her research includes culture, Anikó Imre (AI) teaches film studies in the Reality: The Faber Book of Documentary. media, and society, and Latin American cinema. Department of Interdisciplinary Arts and Travis Crawford (TCr) is a curator for Ailsa Ferrier (AF) is a London-based Sciences of the University of Washington, the Philadelphia Film Festival. His festival programmer, currently curating for the Curzon Tacoma, and has published on race and gender programs, “New Korean Cinema” and “Danger Home Cinema platform. She previously in cinema, violence, and postcoloniality. After Dark,” highlight the best in Asian genre worked for Artificial Eye Film Distributors. Philip Kemp (PK) is a writer and film filmmaking. He is a regular contributor to Cynthia Freeland (CFr) is Associate Professor historian, and is a regular contributor to Sight Filmmaker and Moviemaker magazines. of Philosophy and Director of Women’s and Sound, Total Film, and International Film Adrian Danks (AD) is the Head of Studies at the University of Houston. She has Guide, among others. Cinema Studies in the School of Applied published widely on both ancient philosophy James Kendrick (JKe) is an associate Communication, RMIT University (Australia). and aesthetics. instructor in the Department of He is currently President and co-curator of the Jean-Michel Frodon (J-MF) is the Senior Communication and Culture at Indiana Melbourne Cinémathèque, and co-editor of Editor on cinema at Le Monde and teaches at University, Bloomington. His research the journal supplement Cteq. the Institut de Sciences Politiques. He created interests include violence in the media and Ethan de Seife (EdeS) is a Ph.D. candidate L’Exception, a think tank about cinema, and postclassical Hollywood film history. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is has published several books. Joshua Klein (JKl) is a freelance writer whose currently at work on a dissertation about the Chris Fujiwara (CFu) is the author of Jacques work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, films of Frank Tashlin. Tourneur: The Cinema of Nightfall. He is a Washington Post, and The Onion. David Del Valle (DDV) has been Hollywood contributing editor of Hermenaut. Laura Kloss (LK) is a writer, film workshop correspondent for Films and Filming (U.K.) and Akua Gyamfi (AG) is the the founder of arts developer, and programmer. She is currently L’Ecran Fantastique (France). He has written for entertainment database The British Blacklist. developing Lightbox Cinema, which combines Video Watchdog, Psychotronic, Films in Review, As a writer, her work encompasses fashion, cinema heritage and workshops for children. and Scarlett Street among others. film, television, and theater. 944

Mikel J. Koven (MK) is a lecturer in Film and Corinne Oster (CO) completed a dissertation Adam Simon (AS) is a writer and director Television Studies at the University of Wales, on new representations of marginality in whose work includes Braindead, The Aberystwyth. He is the author of the Pocket contemporary French women’s cinema, for Typewriter, and The American Nightmare. Essentials series: Blaxploitation Films. the Department of Comparative Literature at Leigh Singer (LS) is a freelance film journalist, Karen Krizanovich (KK) has reviewed films the University of Massachusetts. programmer and filmmaker whose writing for a variety of publications, including Empire, R. Barton Palmer (RBP) holds Ph.D.s from Yale and video essays appear in print and online. NME, Word magazine, and Cosmopolitan UK. University (Medieval Studies) and New York Peter Stanfield (PS) is Senior Lecturer in Andrea F. Kulas (AK) obtained her MA in University (Cinema Studies). He is Professor of Media Arts at Southampton Institute, England. Media Arts from the University of Arizona and Literature at Clemson University and Director His books include Hollywood, Westerns and the is the coeditor of Ridley Scott: Interviews. of the South Carolina Film Institute. 1930s: The Lost Trail. Frank Lafond (FL) has written essays on Richard Peña (RP) is Associate Professor David Sterritt (DS) is film critic of The Christian horror and film noir and has edited a book on of Film Studies at Columbia University and Science Monitor, Professor of Theater and Film the modern American horror film. the Program Director of the Film Society of at Long Island University, and a member of the Edward Lawrenson (EL) is a freelance writer Lincoln Center. Film Studies Faculty at Columbia University. based in London. Cooper Penner (CP) is a Los Angeles– Adisakdi Tantimedh (AT) is a writer and Colin MacCabe (CM) is Distinguished based writer and lover of film. He recently filmmaker. He has written radio plays and Professor of English and Film at the University completed his first novel. television scripts for the BBC and various of Pittsburgh, and writer of Godard: A Portrait Jonathan Penner (JP) is a Los Angeles multi- screenplays, including the BAFTA award of the Artist at 70. hyphenate. An Oscar nominee and proud winner Zinky Boys Go Underground. Adrian Martin (AM) is the author of The Mad father, his book Horror Cinema, is co-authored Michael Tapper (MT) is editor of Film Max Movies, Once Upon a Time in America, and with Steven Schneider. International. He has contributed to various Phantasms, and coeditor of Movie Mutations. Murray Pomerance (MP) is Professor and publications including Lars von Trier: Interviews. Ernest Mathijs (EM) is a lecturer in film at Chair of the Department of Sociology at Ella Taylor (ET) is a film critic for LA Weekly. the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He Ryerson University. His books include She has also written about film for many has recently researched the reception of Sugar, Spice, and Everything Nice: Cinemas newspapers and magazines. David Cronenberg, Low Countries cinema, of Girlhood. Jo Taylor (JT) graduated from Kingston and the cross-cultural impact of The Lord of Phil Powrie (PP) is Director of the Centre for University. Her Masters focused on the myth the Rings. Research into Film and Media, University of of the Hollywood Hero in modern day society. Mick McAloon (MM) has been writing about Newcastle upon Tyne. Stacy Title (ST) is an Oscar-nominated writer- film for fifteen years. He also curates films Bérénice Reynaud (BR) is the author of director. Her credits include The Last Supper and events. Nouvelles Chines, nouveaux cinémas and A and Let the Devil Wear Black, and she has Jay McRoy (JM) is Associate Professor of City of Sadness. She teaches at the California written for Harper’s Bazaar and Premier. English and Film Studies at the University Institute of the Arts. Tricia Tuttle (TT) is the Deputy Director of of Wisconsin-Parkside. He is the editor of David Robinson (DR) is the former film critic Festivals at the British Film Institute. Japanese Horror Cinema. of The Times (London), a film historian, and Ginette Vincendeau (GV) is Professor of Film Spencer Medof (SM) is an independent Director of the Giornate del Cinema Muto. His Studies at the University of Warwick. Among producer with several feature and television publications include From Peepshow to Palace: her recent books on French cinema is Jean- projects in various stages of development. The Birth of American Film. Pierre Melville: An American in Paris. Annalee Newitz (AN) is founder of the Jonathan Romney (JRom) is the Independent Jason Ward (JWa) is the associate editor of webzine Bad Subjects and has written White on Sunday film critic and writes for Sight and Oh Comely magazine and a freelance film Trash: Race and Class in America. Sound and Film Comment. His books include journalist. Kim Newman (KN) is a novelist, critic, and Atom Egoyan and Short Orders. Simon Ward (SW) is the author of The Art broadcaster and the author of Nightmare Jonathan Rosenbaum (JRos) is film critic for and Making of Independence Day: Resurgence Movies, Wild West Movies, and Apocalypse the Chicago Reader. His books include Abbas and Aliens: The Set Photography. His work has Movies. Kiarostami and Dead Man. appeared in numerous publications. Dom Nolan (DN) is a novelist and critic. Martin Rubin (MR) programs films at the Andy Willis (AW) teaches film and media Devin Orgeron (DO) is Assistant Professor Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago. He has studies at the University of Salford. His of Film Studies at North Carolina State written on Busby Berkeley and thrillers. publications include The Cinema of Alex University. His writing has appeared in a Steven Jay Schneider (SJS) is a film critic, de la Iglesia. number of publications, including CineAction. scholar, and producer, with M.A. degrees Josephine Woll (JW) teaches at Howard Marsha Orgeron (MO) is Assistant Professor in Philosophy and Cinema Studies from University. Her work includes Real Images: of Film Studies at North Carolina State Harvard University and New York University, Soviet Cinema and Thaw. University. She has been published in Cinema respectively. He is the author and editor of a Jason Wood (JWo) is the Director of Journal, American Literature, and Quarterly number of books on movies. Programming for Curzon Cinemas. He is also Review of Film & Video. Marc Siegel (MS) writes about queer theory the author of numerous books on cinema. and experimental film. He is a Visiting Lecturer in Film Studies at the Free University in Berlin. 945

Genre Index Action Reservoir Dogs 804 Fitzcarraldo 679 Toy Story trilogy 844 “A” gai waak juk jaap 735 Return of the Jedi 688 Goldfinger 416 Who Framed Roger Rabbit Adventures of Robin Hood, Rio Bravo 360 Great Escape, The 412 RoboCop 764 759 The 140 Rocky 608 Gunga Din 153 Akira 754 Romper Stomper 802 Hill 24 Doesn’t Answer 304 Avant-Garde Alien 643 Run Lola Run 868 Hsia nu 495 Blonde Cobra 410 Aliens 728 Saving Private Ryan 866 It Happened One Night 115 Deseret 836 Apocalypse Now 646 Seven Samurai, The 293 Jaws 600 Flaming Creatures 404 Avatar 913 Shaft 531 Jungle Book, The (2016) 935 Hold Me While I’m Naked 442 Batman 767 Shao Lin san shi liu fang 637 Jurassic Park 818 Koyaanisqatsi 692 Ben-Hur 354 Shaolin Master Killer 637 La belle et la bête 210 Még kér a nép 529 Beverly Hills Cop 703 Shichinin no samurai 293 Lawrence of Arabia 393 Meshes of the Afternoon 187 Big Red One, The 659 Sleeping Dogs 619 Le salaire de la peur 274 Red Psalm 529 Blade Runner 675 Spartacus 371 Lion King, The 820 Report 453 Braveheart 836 Star Wars 612 Lord of the Rings, The 892 Scorpio Rising 419 Captain Blood 123 Star Wars: The Force Awakens Monty Python and the Holy Too Early, Too Late 672 Captains Courageous 137 Vinyl 439 Cidade de deus 895 928 Grail 590 Wavelength 465 City of God 895 Storm over Asia 70 Mutiny on the Bounty 119 Zu Früh, Zu Spät 672 Come Drink with Me 447 Superfly 551 North by Northwest 349    Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Terminator 2: Judgement Prapancha Pash 71 Comedy Princess Bride, The 739 “A” gai waak juk jaap 735 890 Day 797 Raiders of the Lost Ark 664 À nous la liberté 83 Da zui xia 447 Terminator, The 697 Return of the Jedi 688 Adam’s Rib 238 Dark Knight, The 911 Thelma & Louise 793 Right Stuff, The 686 Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of Die Hard 762 Thief of Bagdad, The 48 Sen to chihiro no kamikakushi Die xue shuang xiong 770 Thin Red Line, The 872 the Desert, The 827 Do ma daan 727 Three Kings 877 892 Age of Gold, The 80 Eagle, The 48 Top Gun 730 Shanghai Express 95 Airplane! 662 Easy Rider 497 Total Recall 783 Spirited Away 892 All About My Mother 881 Empire Strikes Back, The 654 Touch of Zen, A 495 Stand by Me 731 Amarcord 570 Enter the Dragon 558 Towering Inferno, The 572 Star Wars 612 American Graffiti 556 Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! 438 Untouchables, The 745 Sullivan’s Travels 172 American Werewolf in London, Fight Club 878 Wo hu cang long 890 Thief of Bagdad, The 48 Full Metal Jacket 740 Wong fei-hung 793 Throw of Dice, A 71 An 663 Get Carter 529    Total Recall 783 Annie Hall 616 Gladiator 885 Adventure   Touch of Zen, A 495 Apartment, The 372 Goldfinger 416 2001: A Space Odyssey 484 Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Archangel 783 Grand Budapest Hotel, The 927 Adventures of Prince Achmed, Ariel 752 Great Train Robbery, The 23 The 234 Artist, The 917 Harder They Come, The 569 The 55 Wages of Fear 274 Artists and Models 301 Heat 843 Adventures of Robin Hood, Wizard of Oz, The 154 Awful Truth, The 138 Hsia nu 495 Wo hu cang long 890 Bab el hadid 343 Inception 914 The 140    Babbetes Gaestebud 743 Independence Day 859 African Queen, The 257 Animation Babe 837 Jaws 600 Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes 538 Adventures of Prince Achmed, Babette’s Feast 743 Killer, The 770 Aguirre, the Wrath of God 538 Back to the Future 711 King of New York 780 Akira 754 The 55 Baker’s Wife, The 141 Lola Rennt 868 Back to the Future 711 Akira 754 Band Wagon, The 271 Lord of the Rings, The 892 Beauty and the Beast 210 Alice 752 Bank Dick, The 164 Mad Max 650 Ben-Hur 354 Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Being John Malkovich 875 Mad Max: Fury Road 932 Black Cat, The 117 Being There 644 Matrix, The 882 Bridge on the River Kwai, Achmed 55 Beverly Hills Cop 703 Natural Born Killers 826 Dumbo 175 Big 759 Oldboy 898 The 334 Fantasia 159 Big Chill, The 687 Oldeuboi 898 Captain Blood 123 Fantastic Planet 569 Birdman 926 Once Upon a Time in China 793 Captains Courageous 137 Grave of the Fireflies 758 Blazing Saddles 582 Peking Opera Blues 727 Close Encounters of the Third Heaven and Earth Magic 392 Boudu sauvé des eaux 93 Planet of the Apes 477 Hotaru no haka 758 Boudu Saved from Drowning 93 Potomok Chingis-Khana 70 Kind 610 Jungle Book, The (1967) 471 Brave-Hearted Will Take the Project A, Part II 735 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon La planète sauvage 569 Public Enemy, The 89 Lion King, The 820 Bride, The 840 Pulp Fiction 824 890 Neco z alenky 752 Brazil 713 Raiders of the Lost Ark 664 Deliverance 537 Pinocchio 165 Breakfast at Tiffany’s 381 Dersu uzala 573 Sen to chihiro no kamikakushi Breakfast Club, The 707 Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Breaking Away 642 892 Achmed 55 Snow White and the Seven E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial 670 Easy Rider 497 Dwarfs 136 Empire Strikes Back, The 654 Spirited Away 892 946

Bringing Up Baby 142 Hard Day’s Night, A 425 Ninotchka 153 To Be or Not to Be 177 Broadcast News 742 Harold and Maude 526 No Man’s Land 893 Todo sobre mi madre 881 Buffalo 66 870 Heartbreak Kid, The 547 Nutty Professor, The 411 Toni Erdmann 938 Bull Durham 748 High Society 323 Once Upon a Time in China 793 Tootsie 677 C’est arrivé près de chez vous 808 His Girl Friday 158 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Top Hat 124 Cairo Station 343 Horí, má panenko 470 Toy Story trilogy 844 Campanadas a medianoche 437 Housemaid, The 373 Nest 592 Trainspotting 849 Caro diario 833 Hsi yen 817 Ostre sledované vlaky 466 Trois vies & une seule mort 853 Chimes at Midnight 437 It Happened One Night 115 Our Hospitality 41 Trouble in Paradise 96 Christmas Story, A 684 Jerk, The 652 Paleface, The 229 Trust 777 City Lights 85 Juliet of the Spirits 433 Palm Beach Story, The 176 Unbelievable Truth, The 774 Clerks 830 Jungle Book, The (1967) 471 Peking Opera Blues 727 Underground 840 Closely Watched Trains 466 Kid Brother, The 65 Philadelphia Story, The 161 Up in Smoke 635 Clueless 842 Kind Hearts and Coronets 242 Pink Flamingos 549 W.R.: Misterije organizma 523 Crimes and Misdemeanors 766 King of Comedy, The 694 Player, The 803 W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism Daisies 446 Kingdom, The 835 Playtime 458 Dear Diary 833 L’âge d’or 80 Pretty Woman 780 523 Decline of the American Empire, L’Atalante 116 Princess Bride, The 739 Wedding Banquet, The 817 La femme du boulanger 141 Prizzi’s Honor 706 When Harry Met Sally 765 The 727 La grande bellezza 922 Producers, The 489 Whisky Galore! 243 Delicatessen 797 La La Land 934 Project A, Part II 735 Who Framed Roger Rabbit 759 Destry Rides Again 149 La règle du jeu 157 Purple Rose of Cairo, The 716 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Dilwale Dulhaniya le Jayenge Ladies Man, The 385 Quiet Man, The 261 Lady Eve, The 169 Rain Man 761 Factory 521 840 Lady Vanishes, The 144 Raising Arizona 734 Withnail and I 738 Diner 676 Ladykillers, The 311 Real Life 642 Women on the Verge of a Discreet Charm of the Lavender Hill Mob, The 259 Riget 835 Le carosse d’or 269 Rocky Horror Picture Show, Nervous Breakdown 749 Bourgeoisie, The 543 Le charme discret de la Wong fei-hung 793 Do ma daan 727 The 586 Young Frankenstein 580 Do the Right Thing 772 bourgeoisie 543 Roger & Me 774 Young Girls of Rochefort, Down by Law 726 Le déclin de l’empire américain Roman Holiday 282 Dr. Strangelove 422 Room with a View, A 720 The 463 Draughtsman’s Contract, 727 Rules of the Game, The 157 Zéro de conduite 106 Le roman d’un tricheur 129 Rushmore 869 Zero for Conduct 106 The 684 Le souffle au coeur 534 Saturday Night and Sunday    Duck Soup 105 Les demoiselles de Rochefort Crime Eagle, The 48 Morning 363 12 Angry Men 328 El ángel exterminador 397 463 Sedmikrasky 446 400 Blows, The 350 Exterminating Angel, The 397 Les vacances de M. Hulot 272 She Done Him Wrong 103 À bout de souffle 370 Fargo 850 Little Big Man 510 She’s Gotta Have It 723 Aileen Wuornos: The Life and Fast Times at Ridgemont High Local Hero 694 Sherlock, Jr. 44 Lucía 498 Singin’ in the Rain 264 Death of a Serial Killer 897 671 M*A*S*H 512 Slacker 792 All the President’s Men 602 Ferris Bueller’s Day Off 728 Man Bites Dog 808 Sleeper 563 American Friend, The 615 Fireman’s Ball, The 470 Manhattan 645 Smiles of a Summer Night 312 Angels with Dirty Faces 140 Fish Called Wanda, A 755 Mary Poppins 428 Smoke 839 Ariel 752 Forrest Gump 831 Modern Times 125 Some Like it Hot 348 Asphalt Jungle, The 245 Four Weddings and a Funeral Mon oncle 346 Sommarnattens leende 312 Atlantic City 655 Monsieur Verdoux 222 Sons of the Desert 109 Badlands 554 830 Monty Python and the Holy Steamboat Bill, Jr. 70 Big Heat, The 280 Freedom for Us 83 Sting, The 551 Bird with the Crystal Plumage, General, The 60 Grail 590 Story of a Cheat, The 129 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes 281 Monty Python’s Life of Brian 641 Stranger than Paradise 704 The 511 Ghostbusters 698 Moonstruck 744 Strictly Ballroom 802 Black Cat, The 117 Gigi 338 Mr. Deeds Goes to Town 127 Sullivan’s Travels 172 Blue Velvet 721 Giulietta degli spiriti 433 Mr. Hulot’s Holiday 272 Sunset Blvd. 251 Bob le flambeur 313 Gold Rush, The 53 Mujeres al borde de un ataque Swing Time 126 Bob the Gambler 313 Golden Coach, The 269 Tampopo 732 Body Heat 667 Good Bye Lenin! 899 de nervios 749 Tangerine 930 Bonnie and Clyde 473 Good Morning, Vietnam 743 Muppet Movie, The 649 Terms of Endearment 689 Boyz ‘n the Hood 787 Graduate, The 460 Muriel’s Wedding 826 Thin Man, The 118 Breathless 370 Grand Budapest Hotel, The 927 Murmur of the Heart 534 This Is Spinal Tap 701 Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Grease 636 My Fair Lady 417 Three Kings 877 Great Beauty, The 922 My Man Godfrey 128 Three Lives and Only One Garcia 572 Groundhog Day 815 My Uncle 346 C’est arrivé près de chez vous Gunga Din 153 Naked Gun, The 757 Death 853 Hannah and Her Sisters 722 Network 604 808 Hanyeo 373 Night at the Opera, A 121 Chinatown 578 Happiness 871 Clockwork Orange, A 518 Come Drink With Me 447 Conformist, The 503 947

Consequences of Love, The 901 Man Bites Dog 808 Deseret 836 Ai no corrida 609 Conversation, The 576 Manchurian Candidate, The 399 Dog’s Life, A 396 Ali: Fear Eats the Soul 584 Cyclo 841 Mean Streets 562 F for Fake 566 All About Eve 248 Da zui xia 447 Memento 889 Fires Were Started 185 All About My Mother 881 Dark Knight, The 911 Money 685 Gimme Shelter 516 All Quiet on the Western Daybreak 152 Murder, My Sweet 198 Gleaners and I, The 883 De Stilte Rond Christine M. 683 Natural Born Killers 826 Great White Silence, The 45 Front 79 Der Amerikanische Freund 615 Odd Man Out 222 All That Heaven Allows 314 Detour 201 On the Waterfront 284 Häxan 40 All That Jazz 648 Die xue shuang xiong 770 Once Upon a Time in America Hearts of Darkness: A Alphaville 436 Dirty Harry 517 Alphaville, une étrange aventure Dog Day Afternoon 591 695 Filmmaker’s Apocalypse 801 Double Indemnity 196 Out of the Past 221 High School 482 de Lemmy Caution 436 Dr. Mabuse, der Spieler 35 Pépé le Moko 132 Hoop Dreams 828 Amadeus 705 Dr. Mabuse, Parts 1 and 2 35 Pickpocket 351 Hôtel Terminus: Klaus Barbie et American Beauty 879 Drugstore Cowboy 771 Pink Flamingos 549 American Friend, The 615 Elephant 897 Point Blank 462 son temps 748 American Graffiti 556 Enter the Dragon 558 Postman Always Rings Twice, Hotel Terminus: The Life and Amores perros 888 Farewell, My Lovely 198 Anatomy of a Murder 356 Fargo 850 The 209 Times of Klaus Barbie 748 Andrei Rublev 492 Fish Called Wanda, A 755 Prizzi’s Honor 706 House is Black, The 404 Andrei Rublyov 492 Force of Evil 227 Public Enemy, The 89 In the Year of the Pig 499 Angst Essen Seele Auf 584 French Connection, The 528 Pulp Fiction 824 Khaneh Siah Ast 404 Aparajito 333 Gangs of New York 893 Question of Silence, A 683 Koyaanisqatsi 692 Apartment, The 372 Get Carter 529 Rashomon 246 Land Without Bread 108 Apocalypse Now 646 Godfather, The 544 Reservoir Dogs 804 Las hurdes 108 Apur Sansar 359 Godfather: Part II, The 574 RoboCop 764 Le chagrin et la pitié 521 Ariel 752 Goodfellas 778 Rope 231 Les glaneurs et la glaneuse 883 Arrival 942 Great Train Robbery, The 23 Scarface 693 Les maîtres fous 304 Ascent 609 Gun Crazy 236 Scarface: The Shame of a Mad Masters, The 304 Ashes and Diamonds 342 Hana-Bi 860 Man with a Movie Camera, Astenicheskij sindrom 771 Harder They Come, The 569 Nation 98 Asthenic Syndrome, The 771 Heat 843 Serpico 559 The 72 Au hasard Balthazar 452 Heavenly Creatures 823 Shaft 531 Méditerranée 413 Au revoir les enfants 733 Hell or High Water 935 Sting, The 551 Mondo cane 396 Autumn Afternoon, An 390 Henry: Portrait of a Serial Straw Dogs 535 Nanook of the North 36 Ba wang bie jie 814 Superfly 551 Night and Fog 306 Bab el hadid 343 Killer 782 Targets 487 Nostalgia de la luz 916 Babbetes Gaestebud 743 Hole, The 366 Taxi Driver 606 Nostalgia for the Light 916 Babe 837 I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Thelma & Louise 793 Nuit et brouillard 306 Babette’s Feast 743 Touch of Evil 337 Olympia 143 Bad and the Beautiful, The 266 Gang 93 Untouchables, The 745 Roger & Me 774 Badkonake sefid 839 Il conformista 503 Usual Suspects, The 847 Sans soleil 687 Badlands 554 JFK 791 Victoria 933 Sherman’s March 731 Ballad of Narayama, The 688 Killer, The 770 Wall Street 744 Shoah 718 Balthazar 452 Killers, The 211 White Heat 237 Sorrow and the Pity, The 521 Barefoot Contessa, The 291 King of New York 780 Wrong Man, The 323 Sunless 687 Barren Lives 408 Klute 525 Xich lo 841 Tale of the Wind, A 756 Barry Lyndon 585 L.A. Confidential 861    Thin Blue Line, The 753 Battle of Algiers, The 434 L’argent 685 Docu-Drama Tokyo Olympiad 432 Battleship Potemkin, The 51 L’uccello dalle piume di cristallo Close-Up 779 Tokyo Orimpikku 432 Beau Travail 880 Louisiana Story 235 Tongues Untied 798 Beautiful Troublemaker, The 788 511 Nema-ye nazdik 779 Triumph des Willens 111 Beauty and the Beast 210 Lady from Shanghai, The 230 W.R.: Misterije organizma 523 Triumph of the Will 111 Before the Revolution 421 Ladykillers, The 311 W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism Une histoire de vent 756 Being There 644 Last Seduction, The 821 Vérités et mensonges 566 Beiqing chengshi 776 Lavender Hill Mob, The 259 523 Woodstock 515 Belle de jour 455 Le consequenze dell’amore 901       Ben-Hur 354 Le jour se lève 152 Documentary Drama Bharat Mata 335 Le trou 366 13th 941 8 ½ 400 Bicycle Thief, The 223 Les quatre cents coups 350 Aileen Wuornos: The Life and 12 Years a Slave 924 Big Chill, The 687 Les vampires 27 39 Steps, The 120 Big Red One, The 659 Little Caesar 77 Death of a Serial Killer 897 Actor’s Revenge, An 413 Bigamist, The 275 Lone Star 857 Battle of San Pietro, The 205 Actress, The 807 Bigger Than Life 320 Long Goodbye, The 557 Bowling for Columbine 894 Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of Birdman 926 M 90 Chelovek s kinoapparatom 72 Chronicle of a Summer 387 the Desert, The 827 Chronique d’un été 387 Affair to Remember, An 325 Crumb 822 Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes 538 Aguirre, the Wrath of God 538 948