5) Inside Llewyn Davis - Studio
Canal (and others) - Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, Starring Oscar Isaac
Like most Coen Brother films, one viewing simply does not do it justice. Their films are so radically different than most, from the first frame on, that repeat viewing is necessary for understanding them in full, if at all. That being said, I have not had a chance to revisit this moody, clever, formidable film, and it may move up my list as I do. Even so, however, I still cannot get it off my mind, not only for it's wonderful musical sequences, both hilarious and tragic (occasionally at the same time), but for it's razor sharp sense of place and time, as well as an atmosphere at once stunningly realistic while suprisingly dark and peculiar. As the title character, character actor Oscar Isaac turns in a star-making role (or what should have been one), creating a character so immediately identifiable but strangely distant that I could not take my eyes off of him, trying to figure out what was ailing him so much that he felt an obligation to finding and tending to an acquaintance's cat, as well as various other odd character quirks. Like all of their films, however, it is not necessary to understand, but rather to experience, not thinking too hard about what everything means or why it is there, but going along for the ride and trusting that the brothers have you properly under their spell. Even without all of these elements, the film manages to capture the essence of life in so many different ways: from an immediately iconic rendition of a hokey folk pop song to the sad reality of Llewyn's dreams detailed so eloquently and with impressive brevity by F. Murray Abraham's Bud Grossman when he says, "I see no money in it." While it is a detailed period piece about a very specific amount of time, the masters of their own odd, almost undefinable domain manage to make it relate to the times we live in now, and perhaps always have. Through misery there lies hope, a theme the brothers seemingly never stray from, while remaining stubbornly focused on making the kinds of films they want to make, a privilege only talents like them - who happened to come into popularity at just the right time in their careers and industry - can get away with.
4) All Is Lost - Before the Door
Pictures - Directed by J.C. Chandor, Starring Robert Redford
A man, his boat, and the sea: Nothing else matters. In an era in which films with major stars tend to be derivative to a fault, sometimes tragically so, a film about one man, with literally no dialogue (OK, a few lines here and there) is a breath of fresh air that gives me great hope for the future of cinema, specifically American Cinema. Coming off of his first film, a good if overrated depiction of what went on the night before the stock market crash of 2008, J.C. Chandor shocked and impressed me with his confidence and control over this story about Robert Redford's “Our Man” and his fight for survival. Like the independent film scene’s response to the emotional manipulations of both Life of Pie and Gravity, Redford tells us all we need to know by his actions – the only thing needed to tell a story such as this. None of it would work, however, if Chandor did not display deft attention to detail, and a keen eye for the beauty of the open sea (CGI be damned). In his hands, the smallest moments, such as Our Man drinking water from a can, knowing it might be his last, reveals layers of feeling, such layers that most feature’s do not contain throughout their entire run, let alone in a single quiet, somber moment, of which this film has many. Via All is Lost, Robert Redford passes the filmmaking torch to Chandor, enabling him to run with his creativity and passion from one project to the next; it just might make him one for the history books, and All is Lost is a hell of a start.
3) A Hijacking - Nordisk Films - Directed by Tobias Lindholm, Starring Soren Malling and Johan Philip Asbaek
Another perfect companion piece to a major American Production (this time Paul Greengrass's tense but overlong and far too gung-ho Captain Phillips) A Hijacking depicts the harrowing tale of a Danish cargo ship taken over by pirates. Unlike the American telling of a very similar story, Lindholm focuses on the complications of the negotiations, and creates tension in moments of silence, where the characters can have no way of knowing someone's true intention, which in reality is the scariest situation of all. The first moment I knew I was in a genius' hands was, after spending time with the CEOs in charge of monitoring the cargo ships safe trip, we are brought back to said ship with the pirates having already taken control. Their first task is getting food, and the perfectly played scene where they threaten Asbaek's cook's life while yelling in their native language (the translation of which is wisely left out) is just a tease for similarly gut-wrenching moments to come. Never have I ever been on the edge of my seat while watching a room of businessmen sit in front of a telephone, but alas, when Malling's stone-faced, tightly professional Ludvigsen proposes a ransom price and is left hanging for nearly ten seconds, I'll be damned if it wasn't the most excited I've been watching a movie all year. Stubbornly sticking to the concept of "reality rules," Lindholm creates a film for the ages, at once darkly nihilistic and completely engaging throughout, without having to resort to heavy handed dialogue or symbolism to get his points about human nature across (for a master class in showing not telling, watch the fishing scene, where both pirates and crew cannot help but work together, regardless of the fact that the task at hand is but a distraction from the dire situation they all find themselves in. It makes Greengrass' handling of Phillips' encounters with Barkhad Abdi's Muse seem like child's play). For a truly impactful, memorable rendering of a by nature melodramatic situation, steer clear of American cinemas and see where the true talents are shining.
2) Upstream Color - ERPB - Directed by Shane Carruth, Starring Amy Seimetz and Shane Carruth
Constantly baffling but endlessly captivating, Shane Carruth's follow-up to 2004's anomaly Primer shows just what a special talent the man is, a talent unfortunately doomed to never get the credit he deserves due to his stubborn refusal to engage in any part of the pre-determined American Film Structure (arguably an understandable one, considering the films he comes out with being more intelligent, challenging, and downright resonant than almost anything else coming out these days). In this, a much better, more beautiful and inviting film than his bare-bones debut, Carruth creates a tapestry of sound, image, and ideas straight out of Thoreaux's Walden to tell the story of a life-cycle caught up in our own, complicating things emotionally far more than they already need to be. In doing so, however, he reveals the true power of visual storytelling, with connections between people being made not by dialogue, or even abstract symbolism, but the similar tones of noises, and the cross-cutting of animal lovers and emotionally connected humans. While not all of it is decipherable (even upon multiple extra viewings, a task I engaged it and gave me an even larger idea of what it all means), but all of it makes sense on a plain of consciousness that few talents are able to properly engage. Many may not be able to tell you exactly what it is about, but few would be able to properly dismiss it, for the moods it brings out and the elevated, specific moments of power it holds do so with such success that one cannot help but think of days, even weeks after taking it all in. And, while it is inaccessible to mainstream audiences of today, it reveals a connection we all have to everything around us, whether we like it or not; a message many people ought to think about more, but will surely do so in the future, as long as there are filmmakers like Carruth out there, willing to put their whole life into their projects and come out on the other end wiser, fuller, and with something that will be impacting creative minds for generations to come.
1) 12 Years a Slave - Plan B - Directed by Steve Mcqueen, Starring Chiwetel Ejiofor
The best movie of the decade, and perhaps the young century, has Brad Pitt to thank for getting to the big screen it so thoroughly deserves. At once life-affirming and harrowingly intense, not a single moment in Mcqueen's magnum opus is wasted, not a single frame not holding great meaning or power. Watching this in theaters, I was completely floored, captivated from the first second to the very last, never once feeling manipulated, misinformed, or like my intense emotional reaction was unearned on the filmmaker's part. Many times I could hardly watch the atrocities onscreen, but the eye with Mcqueen treats his subject is so magnetic I didn't dare to look away either. A realistic response to Tarantino's endlessly fun but ultimately empty Django Unchained, the story of Solomon Northup is that of our nation: When he is hung by his neck, the tips of his toes the only thing separating him from the afterlife, the rest of the slaves exit their homes and get to work, unable to help, lest their lives be taken from them. This complacency and unwillingness to risk our lives for another's speaks to the state of our nation, where the whole is larger than the parts, but not on an immediately personal basis. While we would all like to think we'd do what's right in every situation thrown our way, we are always taking our needs to heart above all else's: this is not wrong - it is simply human nature. But, in an environment where one's life can be fully determined by the color of their skin, such myopia could lead to years of struggle for an entire people. Containing some of the best performances of the decade, from Ejiofor to Fassbender to Paul Dano on down, this masterpiece is constantly captivating, constantly powerful, and stubbornly unforgiving. While Django could be seen as letting Americans off the hook for their past indiscretions, John Ridley's script as visualized by Mcqueen holds on tight and keeps adding to the pile of horrifying, villainous behavior many of us must come to terms with, lest we forget the evil that men are capable of and may be going on under our noses every day. Thanks to painterly cinematography and aforementioned refusal to slack on the details, 12 Years a Slave becomes a film immediately etched firmly in your mind, and in American culture, a feat rarely achieved by anyone, let alone a filmmaker not from this country depicting the exact reason why heroes are needed and perseverance is necessary to the development and continued thriving of the human spirit.
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