An Alternate Top Ten

I've been thinking recently about some of the films that are hovering around the gate to my favourite films paddock. The top ten that sits to the right of this post shall remain sacrosanct (though some films have crept in or out over my lifetime) but I sometimes happen upon a great film that has the temerity to challenge them. Here are some of those crackers in no particular order:


Tell No One (Ne le dis à personne)

This 2006 French thriller has so many attributes, it's hard to know where to start. From the word go we're gripped, due in no small part to the lead, Francois Cluzet. He's a bit like a middle-period Dustin Hoffman (think Tootsie or Rain Man), in looks and intensity. Cluzet is the perfect piece of casting in a film with countless great performers - Kristin Scott Thomas, Jean Rochefort and Gilles Lellouche all shine in parts of varying length or importance.

After an initial, important back-story, the pace doesn't let up with the different threads deftly held together by director Guillaume Canet, a solid actor in his own right. The whole film is exciting and immensely watchable but the key sequence for me is one where a funeral is intercut with a wedding. Sounds simple but it's amazingly effective. If you haven't seen this, do yourself a favour and watch it. If you have seen it, watch it again.




The Vertical Ray of the Sun (Mua he chieu thang dung)

Those who know me will be aware that I don't find too many things beautiful. Let's see.....

My wife - My daughter - A Wanganeen speccy - A Tendulkar cover drive - A Zidane pass - Carcassonne - Various songs by Queen, Radiohead, David Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Pixies, etc - Brigitte Bardot (circa 1955) - the Slow Loris - and The Vertical Ray of the Sun.

The images of Hanoi streets, the waters of Ha Long Bay, Tran Nu Yen-Khe (the gorgeous wife of director Tran Ahn Hung) washing her hair, the amazingly rickety houses and cafes and the songs by Lou Reed and Arab Strap among others are all beautiful.

Sure, the plot is meandering and some of the characters come across as quite ponderous or ethereal but I think that's beside the point of this film. It's a wonderfully evocative piece of cinema and the scenes of the brother and sister waking up in their airy, musical apartment are some of the best transition scenes I've ever witnessed on film. Watch it and relax.



No Country for Old Men

Not much more to be said about this film. It's purely brilliant film making from the best American directors working today. I mentioned once that I thought this was their best film, even though I liked Barton Fink slightly more. I think that still holds.

The performances are outstanding and were it not for a bravura turn from Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood in the same year, then Tommy Lee Jones may have been one Oscar better off (the fact that he was nominated for a different film skews that claim slightly). As it stands, it won awards for best film, best directing, best adapted writing and best supporting actor in Javier Bardem anyway. All richly deserved.

Notable moments include the drug dealers and dog chase of Josh Brolin's character, the almost unbearable tension in the motel, the off-screen shoot-out and death of &*^#%%&'s character and the clinical morals of Anton Chigurh.  A modern classic.



Nine Queens (Nueve Reinas)

Quite a surprise. I had no idea what to expect and I reckon that's the best way to enjoy this film. So all I'll say here is that Ricardo Darin is great and Nine Queens is a must see movie.












A Prophet (Un Prophete)

A brilliant, genre-busting film. Is it a crime melodrama? Is it a political drama? A religious allegory? A coming-of-age tale? An anti-crime message piece? Fuck knows, but it is fantastic.

Tahar Rahim has the chops to pull off a pretty harrowing role and despite great support from Niels Arestrup, it's Rahim's picture. Or is it director Jacques Audiard's picture? I'll say both. Audiard had excellent form coming into this film, after Read My Lips and The Beat That My Heart Skipped, both top quality also. He's a really clever writer/director - half hard-boiled, half sensitive - and A Prophet illustrates these qualities well.

Never mind that Michael Haneke's The White Ribbon beat A Prophet to the Palme d'Or in 2009. They should have chopped that palm tree in half.




The Sea Inside (Mar Adentro)

Hard to go past this moving film by Alejandro Amenabar. I have a little blub each time I see it but the over-riding theme is of guts and independence. Javier Bardem does all his acting with his face in this and he shows real emotion without once going overboard (I wonder how Cruise would do in a role that didn't allow him to use his hands - shite, I'd guess).

The support Bardem gets from his (mostly female) co-stars is very solid, especially Belen Rueda (from The Orphanage, Julia's Eyes, etc). The scenes when the priest pays Ramon a visit are brilliantly dry and acerbic and I'd challenge anyone to watch the part where his nephew chases the van without leaking a little salty water (behave!). A fantastically European and mature study of an heroic life.





Don't Look Now

This is one of the creepiest films I've seen and I mean that in a good way. Nic Roeg is a fine director and this is possibly his best work. The relationship between Julie Christie's and Donald Sutherland's characters is believable and honest, even more so considering the events that take place. Sad, hopeful, confusing, mesmeric and slow-paced in a way not many films try to be these days, it really stays with you after the end credits.

Christie and Sutherland are on cracking form and the celebrated sex scene feels as normal as if they were making breakfast - maybe the inter-cutting with them getting dressed helps in that regard. Odd but effective. Venice is another star of Don't Look Now. It's one of the reasons I went to Venice - I even found the church that Sutherland is restoring in the film. It looked like they hadn't got much further. I won't delve into the central, brightly coloured conceit of the movie, except to say that I still get a bit of a shiver when I catch a glimpse of a kid in red raincoat in the distance.



La Haine

One of the best films of the 1990s. It twitches with frenetic energy as the three leads run amok through the streets of Paris. But this Paris isn't for tourists, it's grimy, dingy and violent. Vincent Cassel basically begins his stellar career here as a cocksure, borderline mental case, full of anger and disenchantment.

The multicultural stand of the film is timely and probably went some way to altering the thinking of sections of European society towards their 'underprivileged' classes. It may also have helped some French people to get behind the brilliant, multi-racial French national team that went on to win the World Cup on home soil in 1998. I'd like to imagine a link anyway.

La Haine was also the breakout film for director Mathieu Kassovitz, who hasn't quite lived up to the promise of this. Hard to top, I reckon.



Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Saw this film earlier in the year and I haven't changed my opinion of it. It's outstanding. Please refer to my previous entry here.















And I can't decide between When We Were Kings and Hidden (Cache) for the last spot, so they're both here. Sorry.

When We Were Kings is the best doco I've seen. It tells an extraordinary story that has a satisfying conclusion (if you're fans of Ali). Skillfully made and absorbing.

Hidden is the best slow-paced movie I've seen. The tension builds agonisingly towards a nicely obscure climax. It left me with more Qs than As and I tip my hat to Michael Haneke for that. Oh and Auteuil and Binoche have rarely been better.



Well, that took some time. I strongly recommend seeing these films ASAP if you haven't already. They'll make you smarter, faster and stronger. Fact.