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I confess. This is being written only because while out of town over the weekend I received an email asking “When is Todd going to post his year end list?” Oh, right … it’s the time of year for these sorts of things. And so I invite you to take a look at a list of the best and worst of filmic 2006. You’ll find a list of fifteen films I loved – and it was tough to get the number down that low – ten major disappointments, five young directors to watch and five titles I’m looking forward to in 2007. Onward!
Top films.
Before beginning it’s worth noting that I have seen very few Hollywood films over the past year and that these things are, as always, purely subjective and this one in particular represents nothing more than my personal tastes. Being an enormous coward I have ordered them alphabetically.
Coisa Ruim
Something of a surprise entry on the list I fell in love with this slow burning ghost story on first viewing and it has only gotten stronger with time and distance. It’s a horror story that works your brain rather than your adrenal gland, driven by a fantastically brainy script and compelling performances not to mention a firm hand behind the camera.
The Descent
British horror roared back in a big way with this, the sophomore effort from the director of Dog Soldiers. Intensely claustrophobic and bloody in all the right places The Descent establishes Neil Marshall not just as one of Britain’s brightest talents but one of the finest genre directors in the world today.
Election / Election 2 / Exiled
Yes, it’s a blatant cheat but this trio of films took me from “What do people see in Johnnie To?” to “My god, this man is a genius.” And I just couldn’t bear to choose between them. The Election films are a cold blooded deconstruction of the triad mythos with Exiled working more as a stylish palette cleanser to wash away the grimness of what came before.
Election Review and DVD. Election 2 Review and DVD. Exiled Review and DVD.
The Fountain
Darren Aronofsky’s metaphysical science fiction picture baffled many and angered some but to me this stands as an immediate classic, a film I believe will prove to be as much a touchstone in years to come as 2001 and Bladerunner are now. Beautiful, tragic and challenging.
Funky Forest: The First Contact
You want baffling? The latest from Katsuhito Ishii et al just screams cult classic as it skips gleefully from sketch to sketch, proudly displaying its bursts of animation, dance numbers and mounds of absurdist humor. My proudest film related moment of the year was to walk into Funky Forest’s screening at Toronto After Dark – where I had programmed the film – at the mid point and hear the crowd cheering wildly and calling out each new sketch title. An archetypal crowd experience film, we loved it so much at TAD that we created a new award purely so we could give it one.
The Host
Was there any doubt this would be on the list? As much a family drama as it is a giant monster film Bong Joon-Ho’s massive Korean blockbuster succeeds totally on both fronts. Smart, surprisingly funny and driven by an unending string of strong performances playing out Bong’s wry social observation and criticism.
It’s Only Talk
Ryuichi Hiroki’s follow up to the much acclaimed Vibrator further cements the former pinku director’s reputation as one of the most insightful and challenging directors in the world when it comes to sketching out portraits of fragile, damaged souls. That the metaphor he uses to do this is sex is almost entirely coincidental, particularly in this film which is not at all visually explicit. Shot in a subdued verite style Hiroki draws career best performances from both of his leads.
Pan’s Labyrinth
Without a doubt the finest point of Guillermo Del Toro’s career to date, both beautiful and tragic and showcasing the man’s incredibly vivid imagination. Del Toro is a director who remember that childhood brings both a sense of wonder and a sense of fear and powerlessness with it and he works both ends of the spectrum in this Spanish Civil War story dressed up as a fantasy film.
Paprika
Satoshi Kon’s latest effort is also his best, a mind bending exploration of consciousness dressed up as a stylish sci-fi, cyberpunk adventure. If there’s anyone in the world who could do justice to Neuromancer it is likely Kon but now that he’s made Paprika, why bother? The film has been picked up by Sony so expect it on local screens before the end of the year.
Prague
Watch this with a friend who has lived through a marital breakdown and then ask them how many of the conversations they have had word for word. I guarantee at least three. As much as I enjoyed After The Wedding there is no doubt that Denmark chose the wrong film as their Oscar submission, Prague besting Bier’s latest on every level. Emotionally wrenching and laced with wry humor driven by one of the finest performances of Mads Mikkelsen’s career Prague firmly establishes director Ole Christian Madsen as one of the country’s absolute top talents.
Severance
Christopher Smith’s sophomore film is a huge step forward, easily balancing sharp writing, believable characters, and shocking gore with a hysterically funny sense of humor. Smith has set himself a fairly difficult balancing act and he navigates it flawlessly.
Suite Dreams (The Uchouten Hotel)
A surprise entry on the list The Uchouten Hotel just plain refused to go away as titles were removed to create the final draft. A throwback to the classic US studio manners comedies of the 1940’s with Koji Yakusho in the Cary Grant role as the quietly competent hotel assistant manager surrounded by madness on New Years Eve. Sometimes slick and charming is exactly what the doctor ordered.
The Sword Bearer
A film that tends to divide audiences thanks to the way it lingers in a region between art house and multiplex The Sword Bearer is nonetheless my absolute favorite of all the big Russian genre pictures of the past couple years, the Night Watch films included. What happens when you give a man in the real world superpowers? He ends up horribly maladjusted and on the run from both the mob and police while trying to preserve a fragile romantic relationship. Simply gorgeous on screen with soulful leads and some shockingly gory moments.
Taxidermia
György Pálfi's sophomore effort is shocking, unclassifiable and utterly compelling. Sex, death and competitive eating fuel this triptych of bizarre images and compulsive human behaviour. That this film ever got made is an absolute wonder to me and nobody other than Pálfi could have done it. Tartan are aiming to have it on North American screens later this year though it’ll likely be a ‘blink-and-miss-it’ sort of release. Don’t blink.
This is England
By far the finest moment in Shane Meadows’ career, no mean feat considering just how highly I hold Dead Man’s Shoes, his previous film. This is England is built around the true story of a summer in Meadows own life, a summer spent hanging around a local gang of skinheads while searching for his own identity. By turns vibrant, brash, joyful and brutal it proves that sometimes the most personal stories are also the most universal.
Ten Major Disappointments
Once again, we begin with a disclaimer. These aren’t necessarily bad films per se – though I would say most of them are – but they are all films that I had very high hopes for that simply were not met for whatever reason. Once again, titles are listed alphabetically.
Allegro
Christoffer Boe’s sophomore film builds on too many of the weak points of his stellar debut and not enough of the strengths. Beautifully shot but far too reliant on an intrusive narrator who continually breaks the emotional flow of the story with unnecessary chatter.
Bugmaster
Akira director Otomo commits the cardinal sin of being boring with his live action adaptation of the popular manga and anime. Hard to go wrong with Joe Odagiri in the lead but this film does it, coming across as nothing but an inferior retelling of stories already told far, far better elsewhere. Stick with the anime.
City of Violence
One fantastic fight sequence – no matter how long or intense – does not a good film make and director Ryoo is both experienced and smart enough that he should have learned this long before. A buddy movie with zero on screen chemistry and not nearly enough story.
Dragon Tiger Gate
Great martial arts? Check. Half baked story and wild over reliance on CG in the final act? Damn straight. And as great a martial artist as Donie Yen is he’s waaaaay too old to be playing this part. It does, however, once again feature Nic Tse proving himself better than the sad material he’s often saddled with, an occurrence we’ll be seeing again farther below.
The Half Life of Timofey Berezin
Amazing cast completely and totally squandered. End of story.
Invisible Waves
Very likely at least a partial victim of too-high expectations due to the degree of talent involved this follow up to Last Life in the Universe just feels far too much like an inferior rehash of the elements that made that film so strong.
Imprint
Takashi Miike’s entry in the generally underwhelming Masters of Horror series is visually fascinating but dramatically hindered by Miike being forced to shoot in English – a language he doesn’t speak at all. Cue the weird speech rhythms and Billy Drago veering wildly over the top …
Mercury Man
Mercury Man is remarkable solely in one area: the uncanny ability to make the wrong decision at every possible opportunity. It’s stunning. Poorly written, acted and choreographed; an intensely clumsy attempt at international appeal.
Perhaps Love
Peter Chan’s musical is undeniably gorgeous to look at but filled with boring musical numbers and a string of hateful characters behaving badly. So close to being something exceptional …
The Promise
Chen Kaige’s latest promised big, glorious, epic action and instead delivered a campy, muddled b-film. Yes, it is often amazing to look at and can be an awful lot of fun in a ‘what were they thinking’ sort of way but when that’s not what you’re going for … It does, however, feature another above par performance from Nic Tse, possibly the only actor in the piece who realized what sort of film he was in.
Five Directors To Watch.
One of the best things about running a website like ScreenAnarchy is the chance to find young talent emerging around the world. Here are five directors with no more than one feature under their belt who I expect great things from.
AJ Annila (Finland)
Much as was the case with The Sword Bearer listed above AJ Annila’s Jade Warrior tends to polarize audiences thanks to the way it occupies a space somewhere between the arthouse and the multiplex. But wherever you may think the weakness of the film lie it’s obvious that Annila is a simply enormous talent, shooting absolutely gorgeous film with limited resources, handling complex story elements easily and drawing strong performances from his actors. Smart, passionate, funny, talented and he’s still in his mid twenties.
Carlos Gananian (Brazil)
The young Brazilian director has only three short films to his credit but those three – Akai in particular – are more than enough to prove that he has a stellar eye and a truly uncommon ability to tell a story through visuals alone. Just an incredible grasp of character and mood.
Scott Glosserman (USA)
Glosserman’s debut feature – Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon – has already turned heads on the festival circuit and is poised to his North American theaters within the next month. Blazingly smart, engagingly funny and not afraid to lay on the blood when it’s called for. And apparently Toronto audiences, at least, agree with me … Glosserman took home the Audience Award at the inaugural Toronto After Dark this past October.
Pavel Ruminov (Russia)
Ruminov should be a very familiar name around here considering how closely we’ve been following his debut theatrical feature, Dead Daughters. Whether that be the film to break him internationally or not I’m convinced that Ruminov will be making a major splash soon thanks to his biting intelligence and very strong visual sense. This is a man who loves film, takes his art very seriously and is far too talented to be ignored.
Roar Uthaug (Norway)
Uthaug has the unusual distinction of having helmed a slasher film that gets absolutely everything right other than the actual slashing but there’s no doubt that he and Annila together represent a rising wave of young Nordic film makers eager to shake off the arthouse expectations of their local industries and create something more visceral. And what Cold Prey does well it does spectacularly well – it is impeccably shot, flawlessly paced and features some compelling character work. Uthaug clearly has smarts and technical chops to spare. Plus he’s got the best name ever for a horror director.
Looking to 2007
Five films I’m itching to see …
Armful
My love for Thailand’s Wisit Sasanatieng of Citizen Dog and Tears Of The Black Tiger fame is well documented here and the idea of the man being unleashed to create a full on Technicolor ode to 19070’s Shaw Brothers martial arts films with a one armed protagonist just sends me into a swoon.
Dead Daughters
Art-house horror from Russia, I’ve been in love with it from the first stills I laid eyes on and every successive scrap of footage has just gone farther towards convincing me that this is the real deal.
Hot Fuzz
Edgar Wright! Simon Pegg! Nick Frost! A cast of thousands! Lots and lots of guns! What’s not to love?
Inland Empire
It has been hugely divisive and Lynch is showing every sign of becoming progressively more self indulgent as he ages but the man is an undeniable genius and it has been far, far too long since Mulholland Drive.
Tekkon Kinkreet
Animation from Japan’s stellar and criminally overlooked Studio 4C based on a manga by the author of Ping Pong and Blue Spring. Zowie. Images look amazing and the Japanese press has been quite good. It’s found a US home already so look for it here sometime this year.