For three consecutive years my favorite films share the same ethos, that there is freedom in death and that true love begins with death. Amour, a film by Austrian auteur Michael Haneke is about an octogenarian couple faced with a grave circumstance after Anne, the wife, was stricken with stroke. Although it downplayed the subject of euthanasia, we are instead challenged here how deep and far true love can go. Can you give unselfish service to your loved one's by granting them merciful death if they were to suffer from an intolerable illness? Are you willing to do whatever it takes to secure that love through sickness and in health till death do you part even if you have to disregard your own spiritual credo and morality? If same sex marriage is getting a fair treatment from several countries, euthanasia is still a sensitive issue all over the world that is pretty much an elephant in the room - a taboo - ignored and avoided by everyone, by the church and the government. In my opinion, as long as the act itself is considered a crime it would never get acknowledge as legal, but at least with this film we see a point of view that mirrors centrally on human emotions rather on the politics and debates that the subject usually stirs upon. Amour, just like most of Hanake's films does not offer clear cut explanations and stretched out dialogues, the logic behind the characters actions depends largely on the viewers perception and the open-ended conclusion for their own discretion.
Every one would agree with me that this is the most "easy on the eyes" film by Lars Von Trier. Those who can not handle his weirdness would find this one rather manageable. Prior to this I have seen Antichrist, Dancer in the Dark and Europa, but all of them gave me a feeble feeling of stoicism and disconnection. "Melancholia" just got it right for me. The same feeling I have for Black Swan. Both movies ends with death - viewing it as a true means of a happy ending for their lead characters, instead of treating the subject as dismal and a hopeless choice. After all, Von Trier who suffered from depression consider this as his gift for the depressives. I find myself watching this movie every now and then especially when I am down in the dumps. Kirsten Dunst's miserable but sharp-tongued attack on her lines and Charlotte Gainsbourg's calm and fragile voice were two polar opposites - trading places from being strong and weak. This movie is a rare spellbinding masterpiece as it offer's us a chance to wonder what is truly essential in a world full of people that gravitates to hate, gives in to blatant materialism, nurtures apathy and modifies discrimination leading us down spiraling towards melancholy. It is only when we are face to face with our own demise - may it be psychologically and physically - that happiness can be possible for everyone. (Because everything means nothing except for the love that we give and take with us).
It is an open-book information that Black Swan is one of my favorite movies of all time. I have seen this film at least around fifty times and I still get the same feeling from the first time I have watched it. Except science fiction, all the elements I look for in a motion picture was present in this film. It is psychologically puzzling, dramatic, artistic and suspenseful. I love movies with so many different layers that it forces us not to settle on what we see but to read between the lines those every little details in each scenes. Natalie Portman is flawless. In real life we have a constant image of her pretty face as being sweet and innocent, but once she transformed into the titular character we were in trance with her fierceness and her believable plunged into darkness - it is both sexy, soulful and commanding. And those memorable lines, the first one by Vincent Cassel and the other by Nina (Portman) after she plummeted into her death. Right there and then I felt what it means to be perfect.
In my opinion, 2009 has produced several lackluster motion pictures, although there are enjoyable one's to single out - it still lacks a certain "joie de vivre". And we are talking about the same year a woman has been awarded a best director Academy award and a 3D film known as Avatar surpassed Titanic as the highest grossing film of all time. I still feel this year came short compared to what 2008 has brought to the table. Luckily, an Independent British film saved the day with Armando Ianucci's political satire "In the Loop". This is one of the most intellectually engaging comedies I have seen in years. How they get away with using the F word amazes me. Even with so much dialogues being passed around like football there are no sleep inducing moments here because everything they say is so intriguing - what they have are highly caffeinated conversations you are so pumped up for it. The absurdities of politics were exposed, the pettiness (and air headed tendencies) of its bureaucrats are shortened into a gimmicky farce, but without contempt they were all made in the name of an honest to goodness fun loving fiction. I can only offer up words of exultation, even with its imperfection this movie is straight-on excellent.
Epic is a routine word used and reused nowadays by netizens to express their bewilderment over a work that may or may not possess an epic quality. Sometimes I wonder if the true meaning of the word has been obliterated by the cliché that surrounds it. But if epic still stands for a work of unparalleled nature then, Charlie Kaufman's directorial debut "Synecdoche, New York" serves it right. This movie reminds me that our life is just a big stage or a film set of sorts with roles distributed unevenly, and the story is a reflection of life either made of tragedy or comedy. As usual, Kaufman throws us psychological concepts and bittersweet interplays between life and death that would made us rethink of our own personal relationships, may it be good or dysfunctional, with ourselves and of the people around us. The strength of the story and the script alone without doubt is just one of the many reasons that this motion picture would be studied and pondered, and would stand the test of time.
There was an "Into the Wild" phase in 2007 (at least for me) that made me ecstatic through and through. I bought the soundtrack by Eddie Vedder and read stuffs about Christopher McCandless on the internet and look forward with such obsession to watching the film by Sean Penn - who created a masterpiece out of the book by John Krakauer. The film featured beautiful landscapes of the American wilderness as Christopher McCandless (played by Emile Hirsch to the T) renounces material possessions and detached himself from civilization and of human connection. Whether his act can be viewed as heroism by those advocates of simplicity or perhaps, as an act of foolishness by the materialist and the pragmatist, nevertheless, this film focuses on McCandless's humanity, including his own faults, his desire to make peace within and around himself, and to know what it takes to love - may it be in the cradle of mother nature. Into the Wild's true beauty lies in its quiet moments and solitude where our heart's can comprehend beyond what our doubtful eyes cannot.
Sofia Coppola's minimalist approach on 'Lost in Translation' is a 180 degrees shift to the boisterous and candy colored grandiosity of her next motion picture: Marie Antoinette. What makes this film one of my favorites (and actually my favorite Sofia Coppola film) is that it makes no restriction incorporating elements that may or may not work per se, such as the cool and hip background music. After all, along with her husband Louis XVI, the heir of the French throne happens to be a bunch of clueless teenagers who were treated as a rock and roll superstar of their time and was easily maneuvered by their own court. Coppola highlighted Marie Antoinette's luxurious lifestyle and her reckless spending but also, played fair with the story treatment by showing us her other side - pretty, thoughtful to a fault and a victim of her age, ignorance, wealth and position.
In my opinion, one of the best film adaptations based on a classic novel. The cinematography, set production and costumes gave me a convincing impression that I am actually transported into a whole other era, with Dario Marianelli's magical music playing like a soft breeze of sunrise in the morning sky. And the actors, they all synched together, as if they were the actual people from the book. Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen's performances breathes an ethereal quality to the characters of this beloved Jane Austen's novel. They did it naturally without trying all mushy and physical - that you would end up wishing romance like this could happen at the present time. Overall, where credits are due, Joe Wright, the man behind the camera made every single element of this film work in perfect unison.
Hillary Swank's transformation as a struggling up-and-coming boxer in Clint Eastwood's serene but beautifully devastating motion picture would certainly knock you off of your feet. At first look, this film might be just about hard work and overcoming odds to achieve one's dreams. And yet, inside the psyche of each character is their undying flame of passion - a search for their own purpose to survive, and a desire to connect and to belong. Eastwood's take on human frailty versus vigor may not have its silver lining to appease a fairy-tale-ending savvy viewers, but I'll take cinema's tragedy every time because the way I see it - there is no security good enough to assuage our fears, we live according to the risks we take and the sacrifices we burn in order to make worthwhile the one life that we live.
Out of all the trilogies ever written or produced the final installment of LOTR is the one that really worked and gave its readers and viewers the ultimate reward: an epic conclusion to an epic saga. All the story arcs were resolved and the characters - even the minor ones - got the happy endings that they deserved. We see them through right till the very end. Although there are number of scenes edited out for the cinema, you could always buy the DVD director's cut version and watch the entire film that runs for more than four hours.
Although good performances are not really hard to come by, especially when you have the acting trio of Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore and Nicole Kidman in the same picture, an exquisite story, in my opinion, is all you will ever need to make a timeless piece truly effortless. Based on the Pulitzer prized novel by Michael Cunningham, The Hours has made an indelible mark on my life, the sequence on Virginia Woolf in particular. In all honesty, I never knew anything about her or her works prior to this movie, our literature professors in school may have deliberately forgotten to introduced her, which is stupid if you ask me. The woman who basically championed the use of 'stream of consciousness' was ignored by my stupid lit professors. Shame on them! I would rather have Beowulf deleted from our curriculum. There are so many unforgettable scenes and lines I find myself going back and forth, hit rewind and replay over and over again, such as the part where Virginia Woolf broke down in the train station - telling Leonard she is 'dying on this town'. Kidman has not only embodied Woolf on the surface but also unabashedly embraced her strength, genius and illness like they were of the same person.
This movie brings out the analyst in me. Every scene, every angle is an enigma and a puzzle to be solve. Most films we see on a regular basis do not require us to think. Most likely, we accept them on face value because the content is not profound enough to be challenged or to be explored. Mulholland Drive is a testament that patience is a requisite virtue - that would pay off if done in multiple viewing. The heart of the story itself is heartbreaking. Yes, and that Roy Orbison song - would tear you into pieces.
French films would always have a special place inside my dark and twisted heart, being a Francophile and all. The French, in my opinion, has their unique way of making romantic comedies, they know how to pull some 'big love' without the corniness and the hysterics. This Jean-Pierre Jeunet masterpiece, (with the lovely discovery of Audrey Tautou for non-French speakers), is like being inside a toy store or a room full of crayons, totally vibrant, colorful and enchanting to look at. The story and the people in it are portrayed as your everyday, working-class individuals, something that is very much easy for us to relate to. But just like the city of Paris, Jeunet made every single frame and moment of this movie magical, including the quirks and flaws of each characters. And as far as I'm concern, I'll always be a real life Amélie Poulain.
There are films that you can tell immediately if the characters belong together. Not just by their movements and gestures but there is something chemically right between them that makes them meant for each other. The two neighbors from a packed tenement in Hong Kong (played by Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung) are obviously two star crossed lovers. You want them to get together and leave their respective partners, after all, they were lied and cheated by them. Wong Kar Wai's "In the Mood for Love" shows the art of bridled passion, the "thrill of the chaste" and the tragedy of resisted love. Literally restrained as the main characters only shared sweet and innocent interludes together such as conversations and nothing else. With its beautiful cinematography by Kar Wai's regular collaborator Christopher Doyle we see a whole new definition to still life landscapes and long shots played under the gorgeous music of Shigeru Umebayashi and Michael Galasso. Although a heartbreaking piece nonetheless this is one of the most romantic movies of all time.
This Mexican film by Alejandro Gonzales Inaaritu is probably one of the first foreign language films that I really love and the one that started my being open to watching any subtitled-foreign films. When I was younger most of the movies I used to see were limited to those formulaic cookie cutter Hollywood motion pictures, they are technically poor in quality and originality, but being an adolescent in my 90s you can say that I am clueless about movie reviews and my only real concerned is to be entertained. But when 'Amores Perros' came along it changed my whole outlook and trajectory towards filmmaking. I was in awe by the way the stories were presented in this movie and how the lives of each characters were interconnected and drawn one way or another. It is like watching life through a looking glass, but without any smoke and mirrors.
