2007 is a strange year in that nothing outstanding arrived at our screens during the first part of the year. Most of the year's best arrived with the Toronto International Film Festival. This year's TIFF proved one of the best in years. The last quarter of 2007 saw excellent films and hopefully the trend will continue into 2008. Already Paul Thomas Anderson's THERE WILL BE BLOOD opening early January has made my 2008 top 10 list.
The year also saw the sad deaths of three great directors. Ingmar Bergman, Michelangelo Antonioni and Edward Yang will be missed by cineastes the world over. 2007 also saw the comeback of veterans as Sidney Lumet (BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD), Brian De Palma (REDACTED) and Mike Nichols (CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR) returned with excellent films.
Strangely enough, three of the top 10 had to be seen the second time around for their beauty and purpose. Below are my top 10 for 2007 listed in alphabetical order.
Based on a novel by Ian McEwan, ATONEMENT is a story that contains nasty characters. Briony (played by 3 different actresses Saoirse Ronan, Kiera Knightley and Vanessa Redgrave at different stages of her life) is a rich spoilt kid whose childhood mischief causes unforgivable harm. Her sister Cecilia (Knightley) is not that likeable a character either - flirty, bored and unrelenting and their brother's best friend is a sex offender. Even the hero's character is questionable. Nothing much is said in the film of what he did during the war. Oscar winner Christopher Hampton's (DANGEROUS LIASONS) script combined with Wright's direction result in a mischievous yet meticulous made film. The play between imagination and reality works well. The climax of the film which requires an elderly Briony (Vanessa Redgrave) to deliver a lengthy 15 minute speech is done interspersed with some stunning beautiful imagery of what a happy ever after ending should be.
The film begins with a comical yet brutal botched robbery of a jewellery store. The robber is shot dead by the severely wounded lady in the store. Director Lumet (NETWORK, DOG DAY AFTERNOON, SERPICO) then reveals the store to be owned by a mother (Rosemary Harris) and father (Albert Finney) and the heist planned by their two sons Andy (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Hank (Ethan Hawke). Lumet's edgy film titters on the right side of the line of being sardonic and witty without falling into silly. Entertaining, keenly observant of the drug and social culture, Lumet's dark suspenseful thriller of a dysfunctional family proves once again he is a master director of his craft. Most of his human beings are either victims or robbers.
CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR boasts performances from three Oscar winners Tom Hanks, Julie Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman, a smart script by Aaron Sorkin (of the West Wing) and seemingly effortless direction by Nichols. All are in top form in CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR. Hanks plays the playboy Texan congressman, Charlie Wilson who engineers the covert funding of weaponry for the Afghanistan rebels that eventually led to the expulsion of the invaders. His two unlikely conspirators are Houston socialite, Joanne Herring (Roberts) and an expert but maniacal CIA agent called Gust with a 'T' (Hoffman). One need not know much about American politics to enjoy CHARLIE WILSON'S WAR. Nichols film is easy to follow and the film laid out with sufficient high points placed strategically at various parts of the film to create a welcome varied pacing. Nichols works his audience well. His film is at first sad and hilarious, then hilarious and scary finally settling down to downright scary. All the while, he shows the glamour of American politics (Charlie says at one point: "I love America!") while putting it down eventually towards the film's end. The frightening truth about the whole enterprise is that it is all happening again right now with the current U.S. situation, as the stars mention during recent interviews promoting the film.
Based on the book by his widow Deborah Curtis, WALKING AWAY FROM SILENCE, CONTROL is the story of Ian Curtis (Michael Riley), the enigmatic singer of Joy Division whose personal, professional, and romantic troubles led him to commit suicide at the early age of 23. Filmed in black and white and set in 70's Manchester, CONTROL has the gritty feel of the place (the surrounding Manchester area), times and passion of the band's lead singer thanks to details of costumes, props down to the minute mannerisms and actions of the actors. Michael Riley (24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE) is superb as the disturbed Ian Curtis. Here is a troubled man whose romantic true love and fame and fortune serve as a curse because of his personality. Riley and director Corbijn get these essential points across in a sometimes difficult to take film. Though the film has an odd shift from Ian's music to his infidelity though the second half, director Corbijn slowly but effectively blends the two issues together.
LE SCAPHANDRE ET LE PAPILLION (THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY), based on the memoir by Jean-Dominque Bauby (Mathieu Amalric) is a brilliantly shot (by Oscar winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminski) incredibly moving film about Jean-Do's life. Jean-Do is the successful Elle magazine editor who wakes up one day totally paralyzed from a stroke - a rare case of what the doctor describes (en anglais) as locked-in syndrome. He is only able to move one eyelid (the other sewn shut to prevent the cornea getting septic), blinking once for yes and twice for no. The first part of the film tells of his rehab followed by the writing of his memoir. What makes the film tick is Schnabel's portrait of Jean-Do as a man full of human failings. He is a womanizer before his stroke and even after, he insists on seeing his mistress despite the fact that the wife (Emmanuelle Seigner) who he has left, selflessly attends to his needs. The agony, regrets, frustration and achievements are well documented cinematically. Director Schnabel deservedly won the best direction award at Cannes for this remarkable piece of humanity on film.
This low budget Romanian film, 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND TWO DAYS deservedly won the grand prize for best film at Cannes this year. Gãbiţa (Laura Vasiliu) is pregnant and undergoes an abortion with the help of her girlfriend, Otilia (Anamaria Marinca). Mr. Bebe (Vlad Ivanov) performs the deed, but not without problems. The film also takes a look at the current living standards of Romania, the current social climate and the issues of relationships and of course, abortion which was illegal during the time the film is set. Made simple with single takes mainly on a steady camera (first one is hand held though), director Mungiu demonstrates that you do not need lots of money or special effects to make a compelling, effective movie. From the acting, carefully planned and executed segments and pacing, 4 MONTHS emerges as one of the most effective films of the 2007.
LADY CHATTERLY can best described as a female French version of the erotic D.H. Lawrence novel about sexual awakening. The lady is a woman of society (Marina Hands) wed to an impertinent, pompous, and impotent coal baron, Lord Clifford. (Hippolyte Giradot). She finds sexual awakening and love in the form of what Lord Clifford describes as an uncouth gamekeeper, Parkin (Jean-Louis Coulloc'h). For a film running for almost 3 hours, much more happens than can be penned on paper. This is the beauty of director Pascale Ferran's film. From dialogue, to cinematography, from acting to music, LADY CHATTERLEY soars. She brilliantly plots the film's build-up as her protagonist undergoes a sexual maturity and freedom - which works well to edge the film to a satisfactory climax. Almost every scene is taut with tension or energy. LADY CHATTERLEY brims with life and feeling. LADY CHATTERLEY deservedly won the Cesar (French equivalent of the Oscar) for best picture of the year.
The Coen Brothers return to gory BLOOD SIMPLE and comedic RAISING ARIZONA territory in an odd piece of Americana based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy. The film begins when Llewlyn Moss (James Brolin) finds drugs and cash in a pick up truck with a dozen dead men. When Moss steals the money, a mysterious stranger known to those familiar to him as pure evil, Anton (Julio Bardem) chases in pursuit, leaving a bloody trail of killings. NO COUNTRY is odd, hilarious, edgy, thrilling though sometimes confusing. Though the film has a quiet feel with no musical soundtrack at all, the dialogue and sounds ring loud and clear. Every character is allowed his or her own say, no matter how much or little sense it might make in and out of context. Best performances go to Bardem and Woody Harrelson as a cocksure son of a b***h. These actors and the Cohen ingenuity ensure that the film never lacks a surprise around every corner.
REDACTED refers to text that has been blacked out or censored - information that is known but consciously repressed about the Iraq war. It is in this film that De Palma accomplishes the reverse. He uses the documentary medium to add in footage, personal statements and uncensored information to tell his story and send an anti-war message. He brought a small crew to Iraq and filmed in digital video a documentary style film. By effectively tracing the activities of a squad of American soldiers manning a checkpoint from their daily routines, to their interaction with each other and the Iraq people, culminating in the rape of a 15-year old Iraq girl, De Palma will have you writhing in your seats. REDACTED deservedly won De Palma the best director award at the Venice film festival.
Denis Dercourt's super cool and chilling psychological thriller follows the trail of Mélanie Provost (Déborah François), an ex-pianist, whose hopes of entering the conservatoire were dashed when one of the jurors, a concert pianist, Ariane Fouchécourt (Catherine Frot) distracted her. She devotes the rest of her life exacting a revenge incredibly sinister. Mélanie begins work as an intern at Ariane's husband's law firm and eventually lends her a job at their country home as the son's governess and finally Ariane's PAGE TURNER. Jérôme Peyrebrune's cinematography is stunning. The image of Mélanie walking through a dark corridor of the huge country mansion lit only at the end by the simmering blue of the water of the swimming pool is more creepy and chilling than any haunted house movie. The camera tracking of Mélanie and Ariane round the outdoor tennis court during the hide-and-seek game is also worthy of mention. Mélanie is the daughter of a butcher. The cross-cutting at the film start of slabs of raw red meat with her piano playing is brilliantly disturbing. Dercourt's dialogue is minimal and effective making THE PAGE TURNER compelling entertainment.
- Gilbert Seah -