(This was also posted on The Examiner.)
Thanks to the poet and station manager, Cathleen Schandelmeier )I’m going TO discuss film on WZRD this year, and my first segment will air this Sunday around 3:30 on 88.3 FM.
Overall most of the best films of the year were mostly overlooked indies and international films that played at art film venues such as Landmark Century, the Music Box, and the Gene Siskel Center (the lamented Pipers Alley closed its doors forever in 2011.) I would have picked “Certified Copy” as best film of the year (it opened in Chicago in 2011, but it was screened once in 2010 at the Chicago International Film festival) if I hadn’t already picked as last year’s best film.
The top 10 highest grossing films were mostly juvenilia, sequels, pabulum, and derivative mainstream crap (for the first time the highest grossing films were all sequels which failed to measure up to thee originals.) Well without further ado here’s my top 10.
1.)The Strange Case of Angelica-Believe it or not, the strongest, most imaginative film of the year was a Portuguese import which played at the Gene Siskel Center for two days, and it was made by the oldest living film maker (Manoel Candido Pinto de Oliveria was born in 1908 according to IMDB which makes him almost 102.) This film only grossed $47,743 in the USA.
The plot concerns a Jewish photographer who is hired to take pictures of a dead girl dressed in a bridal dress by her family. Incredibly while the other family members are looking away the angelic corpse smiles and flirts with him who causes him to become infatuated with or obsessed with the corpse (he sees it everywhere he goers). Oh and there ends up being a quasi-rational explanation in the end and the film’s a straight-up (not dark) comedy. J. Hoberman, who I have always respected as a critic called it a “A sublimely autumnal comic masterpiece.”
2.)Melancholia -This devastating film by infant infante terrible, Lars Von Trier, begins with the end of the world –depicted (refreshingly with almost no special effects except a bride’s smoking fingers). The rest of the film is broken into two parts which spotlight two sister characters. Kirsten Dunst is the mentally unbalanced sister who goes into a deep depression on her wedding day for no apparent reason. Is she having a premonitions? Charlotte Gainsborough is the “sane” sister whose façade of composure begins to crumble when she is faced with catastrophe. The two sisters end up switching roles or nonliterally become each other in a twist on Bergman’s “Persona” in which the two characters merge. This psychological apocalyptic film is one of Trier’s most audacious and fascinating works, but the Von Trier’s got himself banned from Cannes recently when he announced he had sympathy for Adolph Hitler.
3.) Cave of Forgotten Dreams-Powerful documentary by German film maker (he prefers to be called Bavarian) Werner Herzog Is a compelling documentary about a cave that was recently discovered in France which includes some of the oldest remnants of human civilization including some of the earliest evidence of mystical or religious thought. The film is visually stunning, and unlike certain other films this year (such as “Captain America the First Avenger” and “Fright Night”) the film is immeasurably enhanced by the 3-D effects (this film demands to be seen on the big screen). I was delighted to hear that my friend, Dan Godston uses this movie in his classes.
Once again Herzog (who is surely one of the finest living film makers) manages to include some of his profound philosophic musings in the film.
3.)Poetry-Extremely beautiful Chinese film about an elderly widow who discovers the joys of writing when she joins a poetry class. In class she meets an upstanding man who may become a romantic interest, and as she finds her center , her grandson grows more and more insane, and evidence comes force that he is a sociopath.
4.) Tabloid-Deliriously funny documentary about a woman who abducts her ex boyfriend to deprogram him when he becomes a religious fanatic. But then again this may only be her side of the story. The movie and the woman’s life takes many unexpected twists and turns (for instance at one point she actually had her dead dog cloned), and in the end the film raises more questions than it answers.
5.) Tree of Life-Slow moving, ponderous but ultimately rewarding film about a dysfunctional family in Texas. Brad Pitt (in one of his most challenging and least likeable roles) plays a psycologically abusive father whose severity and reactionary parenting style severely scars his young son. Sean Penn has a small role as an adult version of a boy in the film. Like “The Wasteland” this mystical film demands to be intellectually absorbed more than once, and I’m not sure that even I completely understand it.
6.) Midnight in Paris-Just when I had all but given up on WoodyAllen (I even included a rant against him in my new poetry book, “A Passion for Apathy”), he came through. This is the year’s best written and freshest comedy, even if it is based on an old script. Owen Wilson is an imaginative young man honeymooning with his wife in Paris. His wife tries to steer him towards reality, but he goes back into the past (either in his mind or in real life) and meets up with all the people that inspired him artistically including Pablo Picasso and Ernest Hemingway. Kathy Bates (of “Misery” and the show “ Harry’s Law”) has a delicious supporting role as Gertrude Stein, and is perhaps the film’s most memorable character.
7.) The Descendants-George Clooney is magnificent as a father trying to patch his grieving family back together after he decides to help honor his comatose wife’s will by putting her out of her misery. All of the characters (including his initially shallow elder daughter) evolve, and the film is one of the most emotionally resonant mainstream movies of the year. Despite this, I thought that writer/director Alexander Payne’s “Election” was more subversive and ultimately more satisfying (“Sideways” was overrated.)
8.) A Dangerous Method-Dave Cronenberg (who has been on a hot streak for the last 10 years) directed this powerful and courageous film about an intellectual triangle involving Sigmund Freud, Karl Jung, and Sabine Speilrein. Michael Fessbender gives one of the intriguing performances of the year as Jung, but Kiera Knightley (as Sabine a brilliant mental patient turned psychology student) actually upstages him.
9.)13 Assassins-The year’s best action film (don’t be surprised it’s from Asia) is about a small band of warriors that believably defend themselves against an army of thousands. They use their wits and whatever materials they have at hand to cleverly outsmart their adversaries (in one the most shocking sequences they send a horde of burning bulls to annihilate their adversaries.)
10.)The Artist-Stylistically dazzling silent black and white feature about the harsh realities of fame takes place during the transition from silent films to talkies. An actresses’ career flourishes while her mentor’s career withers on the vine.
Honorable mentions: Drive, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Le Havre, Young Adult, Welcome
** As a sidenote my fellow poet, and dear friend Lee Groban died this year. Groban might be best known for starring in “The Cure for Insomnia,” a film in which Groban reads from the title poem for over 80 hours (there are also some other clips in the film.) To see an interesting, delightfully psycedelic short film featuring lee (directed by the talented Clavius Mortis) go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfUgvwpR9Qc.
