The idea being that I would like the list to express as broad a spectrum as possible, which might not be entirely possible given weird-ass Australian release patterns. List-making is a generous way of creating content and also an easy one, I know. But on with it.
11. Father of My Children (Mia Hansen-Love, 2009)
Poignantly observed dedication to the world of independent film-making is steered competently by first-time director Mia Hansen-Love. What lifts the material is the naturalism of its performances and the authenticity of the emotions wringed from the tragedy at the heart of the film. Heartbreaking stuff which is leavened by an optimism in the final scenes that causes an afterglow which is difficult to shake.
12. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (Werner Herzog, 2009)
Nicolas Cage is allowed to be unhinged in the lead role here and the result is his best performance since Adaptation (Spike Jonze, 2002). Herzog tames the beast here, and surrounds him with a motley crew of supporting players, including Val Kilmer (!!!), the incomparable Jennifer Coolidge (who cameos the shit out of the movie), iguanas (natch), Fairuza Balk (remember her?), Brad Dourif, alligators, Michael Shannon, Irma P. Hall, and Xzibit (pimp my movie). And while the film captures some of the spirit of the original, this reboot is content to recycle the Bad Lieutenant brand as it's own freaky curiosity that works in it's own right. I admit to being a fan of Cage's manic style of acting, both here where it is appropriate to the material, and in camper fare such as Knowing (Alex Proyas, 2009). The latter would actually make an interesting double with this feature, only to compare how much botox it takes to paralyze ones' acting ability.
13. Blue Valentine (Derek Cianfrance, 2010)
To paraphrase a taxi driver who tried to chat me up on an awkward drive to the airport, 'Relationships suck, don't bother with relationships. They end and it's not worth it afterwards'. I should have just replied with 'NO DUH I saw Blue Valentine already' which would have shut him up... But the film, whilst it has gained a reputation as a miserablist affair, deserves to be seen for the conviction and charisma of it's lead actors. Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams perform a riveting pas a deux together, and director Cianfrance cuts dextrously between stages of the relationship to illuminate it's convincing highs and lows. The story is ultimately slight and offers perhaps no innovative insight into contemporary relationships (ie. white people problems), but I'm happy to navel gaze when it is as accomplished and assured as it is here.
14. Dogtooth (Giorgos Lanthimos, 2009)
This deadpan contemporary Greek tragicomedy initially distanced me with it's cool minimalism, which I initially dismissed as being rank arthouse cliche. But the content of the film has grown on me considerably, the humour and the horror prescribed within each scene runs deeper upon recollection. The minimalist touch of Lanthimos' direction evinces a supreme confidence in the thematic subtexts and satire inherent in the film, and the aesthetic aligns perfectly. Moments of frank and explicit sexuality and violence punture the narrative and test the comfort of viewers. Brilliantly and disturbingly evoking Joseph Fritzel, the film is ultimately concerned with decoding systems of control and authority, such as language, social and family dynamics. Wickedly entertaining and subversive, it features the best musical sequence in a film I have seen in a while.
15. Wild Grass (Alain Resnais, 2009)
The film is loopy and all over the place. It begins with pornographic gazing upon a pair of Marc Jacobs heels and ends with a bizarre lament by a young girl who pops up in the very last scene of the movie to ask “When I’m a cat, will I be able to eat cat munchies?”. Yet the journey linking these two ends seems convincing, or at least thematically sound and convincing. Sabine Azema is beguiling in the film's central role, as the free spirited Marguerite, and her brilliant expressiveness and comic sensibilities hold the film together as it spirals into semi-absurd territory. I would almost insist upon this as compulsory viewing if only for it's unique dreaminess.
16. Somewhere (Sofia Coppola, 2010)
Sofia Coppola limns familiar territory, tackling the ennui of the white and privileged, but there is still an emotional authenticity which pervades her films that I thoroughly endorse. And her filmmaking technique here is formally audacious; deliberate and no doubt polarising in it's insistent Europeanness. I was ultimately won over by it's pace and aversion to narrative, relishing in Harris Savides' sun kissed lensing of Los Angeles and the charisma between Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning (the pretty one, just ask Marc Jacobs and Juergen Teller). It's a film which I feel rewards if you are willing to pay attention to it's nuances and details, but I fear it may strictly be only for the converted.
17. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009)
Sangfroid is a term which I think accurately sums up this film. Technically it's a marvel, from the period evoked through modest costuming and production design and the precise photography by Christian Berger. The parable at the heart of the film is chilling and intelligent, and Haneke controls the proceedings meticulously. But it does seem too polished and uncompromised a vision at times, life breathed into the proceedings only by the entirely convincing ensemble cast. Still, to see such craftsmanship and assurance on film guided by an auteur is invigorating, even if there is mild frisson generated.
18. The Kids Are All Right (Lisa Cholodenko, 2010)
Brialliantly acted by the entire ensemble, every actor is perfectly cast and breathes nuance and vibrancy into their characters, right down to supporting characters such as Yaya DaCosta's (who should ave WON Cycle 3 of America's Next Top Model, by the way). This is especially true of Mark Ruffalo, who I have never seen so charismatic and complex on screen (admittedly it's been nine years since I saw You Can Count On Me). The narrative spins entirely authentic and nuanced character arcs and negotiates conflicts with ease and plausibility. The cumulative effect is that you get a glimpse into the lived-in textures of characters you would be more than willing to spend more time with. If they could secure this cast for the HBO series spin-off it would be a miracle, and I would be there in a heartbeat.
19. Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire (Lee Daniels, 2009)
Poverty porn modulated in ebonic verse. But it is still harrowing and emotionally resonant, even if this is achieved through speciously manipulative and melodramatic means. As miserablist camp it succeeds convincingly, as Lee Daniels is a hack director, reliant on an over-the-top kitchen sink style of film-making that completely ignores subtlety. LOOK AT HER BODYSUIT, or at least at the scene where Mary and Precious transported into Two Women (Vittoria DeSica, 1960) and Mary tells Precious to 'sit her fat ass down' in Italian when she says she's hungry, and THEN try to convince me that Lee Daniels wasn't trying to deliberately hijack this as a comedy before changing his mind to 'overwrought drama' halfway through... He does luck out with a series of nuanced character beats and arcs provided by the tour-de-force performances of Gabourey Sidibe and Mo'nique . In fact, these performers alone elevate the film to a status worthy of recommendation. Both actors carry Precious (well... so does Xosha Roquemore as Fluorescent Beige but in an entirely different way) and create a compelling dynamic runs through Daniels' film like a fissure he should count his lucky stars he was able to capture. And yet... there is an earnestness detected here which makes me feel so guilty for holding so stubbornly onto my tears even though Daniels was trying with all his might to wring them from me with both hands. I would also be remiss here if I didn't acknowledge that Mariah Carey did a perfectly respectable job even completely scrubbed free of make-up.
20. Antichrist (Lars von Trier, 2009)
I don't think this film is misogynistic, if anything, it's purely misanthropic. Lars von Trier unearths here a visual lyricism which continues it's trajectory through with Melancholia (2011), and the result, at least from a purely aesthetic standpoint, is rapturous. Anthony Dod Mantle works wonders with his cinematography. Charlotte Gainsbourg essays hysteria and grief with considerable reckless abandon, and Willem Dafoe more than matches her with his ferocious whispering. The film is pretentious, graphic, and polarising, and the exact type of horror film making that works hard to make it's audiences shift with discomfort in more ways than one. Sure, von Trier is working overtime here to push buttons, but the results are cinematic with a capital C (for 'cunt', many would argue). His precociousness and genius and audacity as a film-maker are to be commended for all being inseparable heads baying for blood from the same body, like an auteurist Cerberus, proven here beyond doubt with the film's palpable evocation of hell on Earth.
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