I'm well aware the decade is not yet over but since everyone else considered 2009 to be the end of it I've gone along. At Four Star we have around 10 employees, each with wide and varying interests. So when the deliberations came about what the store's "Best Of The Decade" list should include there were a fair amount of movies that the entire staff had not seen making it impossible to get them on the list no matter how deserving they were. Here is my personal top 10. I'll try to keep the details of each film limited & I've opted out of listing movies that are not currently available on dvd. After all, we are a video rental store.
1 WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES -BELA TARR
In my opinion 'Werckmeister' had the second most awe-inspiring opening shot in the annals of cinema, with the first belonging to Orson Welles's 'Touch of Evil.' But, as with 'Touch of Evil,' 'Werckmeister Harmonies' does not succeed solely on the technical brilliance of the director. Existentialist fatalism has never been rendered so beautifully and harrowing. My heart tightens and I often tear up every time I watch this film. There are only 39 shots in the entire film! 39 heart rending shots.
2 YOU THE LIVING -ROY ANDERSSON
If I had to explain this movie to someone I might refer to it as a mix of both Jacques Tati & Monty Python blended together with the above mentioned Bela Tarr & Ingmar Bergman. I think it's a film about basic human emotions & actions and while it is morose and full of pain it is also hilarious. I've never chuckled at misery more so than while watching it unfold in each of Andersson's brilliantly executed and almost entirely stationary shots.
3 SARABAND -INGMAR BERGMAN
It is a disgrace that Ingmar Bergman didn't make each and every decade's best list. 'Fanny & Alexander' was set to be his last film back in 1982 but after continuing to work in theatre and writing the screenplay for 'Faithless' he decided to one more. This is a continuation of 'Scenes From a Marriage' but is not really about resolution and though I highly recommend watching the previous film first it's not entirely necessary as 'Saraband' stands on it's own. And oh how Liv Ullmann has aged so gracefully and beautifully!
4 TALK TO HER -PEDRO ALMODOVAR
I may seem surly but it is abhorrent that Almodovar was missing from our decade's best of list. The exclusion of Bergman is somewhat understandable as many people weren't not even aware he was still alive but to leave out Almodovar, who is one of the most important directors alive today, is ridiculous. The man directed 4 movies this decade and I'd be okay with seeing any of them on a best of list. 'Talk to Her' is my personal favorite of his and I firmly believe it may be his best movie of all time. Perhaps that title should go to 'Woman on the Verge...." but it's a tough call.
5 GLEANERS & I -AGNES VARDA
Part documentary about the struggling gleaners of France and part rumination of Varda's life as a filmmaker. This is the woman who directed 'Cleo From 5 to 7' one of the pinnacle works of the La Nouvelle Vague and which should be more than enough to garner your interest. Unfortunately there is no trailer available on Youtube.
6 TOKYO SONATA -KIYOSHI KUROSAWA
At first glance this seemed to be a drastic departure for Kurosawa but upon viewing I can safely say that this is indeed a horror film of sorts. The horror is that of a daily rituals and partly that of the economy. If you don't watch many Japanese movies and have no interest in their culture it is possible that parts of this movie will be lost on you, but even so most of it should or at least could ring familiar enough to enjoy viewing it. This is actually the most uplifting of all of Kiyoshi Kuroasawa's films and ends on a strong and optimistic note. *No pun intended.
7 GOYA IN BORDEAUX -CARLOS SAURA
Carlos Saura unfortunately passed away this year. He had continued to work in film producing important and pivotal works of art for 40 years and for some reason remains a little known director or at least little known outside of "film buffs." Much of his work is not even available on dvd in the U.S. but perhaps Criterion will come along and change all of that. 'Goya In Bordeaux' is absolutely brilliant and breathtaking cinema. I'd rank it next to both Peter Greenaway's 'The Thief, His Wife...." & 'Prospero's Books" as some of the most brilliantly staged and beautifully crafted of all cinema. Coincidentally even though Greenaway had no part in the making of this movie, Goya, did however influence one of Michael Nyman's operas with Nyman being a frequent collaborator of Greenaway.
8 MATCH POINT -WOODY ALLEN
Woody Allen is one of my favorite directors of all time. I go to see almost every one of his movies on opening day and have so for the past 10 or so years. At Allen's rate of making movies that has been about 10 or so movies. For around three decades the man has managed to produce a movie every year! It's easy to forgive some of his less successful works when you consider this as most other directors only mange 2-4 a decade and few have his success rate. I'm glad that Woody finally left N.Y. and it U.S. entirely and feel it truly rejuvenated his career. O.K. I admit that 'Scoop' wasn't so hot but even his "failures" are leaps and bounds beyond anything else that is getting churned out. 'Match Point' was his best in years and even though it bore a lot of resemblances to his previous 'Crimes and Misdemeanors,' which happens to be a favorite of mine, I still loved it. And I absolutely loved the ending.
9 THE SEA INSIDE -ALEJANDRO AMENABAR
Please do not let your personal, and possibly ignorant, views or beliefs on the subject matter of this movie keep you from witnessing, nay, experiencing one of the most beautiful & sincere movies I've seen in many years. Javier Bardem cemented his status as one of the best actors alive with his elegant portrayal of a man who simply wants to die. Rather than posting the trailer I've decided to post what is not only my favorite scene in the movie but one of my favorite scenes of all time.
10 THE LIMITS OF CONTROL -JIM JARMUSCH
I referred to 'Limits' as an action movie without action long before I heard Jarmusch utter that exact phrase in an interview. It's a fitting description and I believe in the end this movie was a sort of treatise on action cinema. And through working with Christopher Doyle, Wong Kar-Wei's favorite cinematographer, Jarmusch has managed to produce one of the most beautiful "action" movies of all time and definitely his most gorgeous to date. Isacch De Bankole is perfect in the lead role and their are countless excellent, however brief, supporting roles. Jarmusch is almost always far reaching so if you don't appreciate his works such as 'Coffee & Cigarettes,' 'Night On Earth' then you should probably pass on this one as well.
RUNNERS UP: NIGHTWATCHING-PETER GREENAWAY, TROUBLE EVERY DAY-CLAIRE DENIS, HEADLESS WOMAN-LUCRECIA MARTEL, RUSSIAN ARK-ALEKSANDR SOKUROV, CAFE LUMIERE-HOU HSIAO-HSIEN, WENDY & LUCY-KELLY REICHARDT, NIGHTWATCHING-PETER GREENAWAY, BRAND UPON THE BRAIN/MY WINNIPEG-GUY MADDIN, SYNECDOCHE NEW YORK-CHARLIE KAUFMAN
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