Twenty-Ought-Six

Bluntly stated, 2006 was a shitty year. And not just for film. The death of my father in February was the first in a disturbing number of deaths that touched me this year – seems that a month didn't go by without hearing of somebody's loss – from friends, associates, fellow bloggers, etc. It was a year shrouded in an air of dolefulness. Yet these events were not the only reason I saw fewer films theatrically this year than any other in recent memory. There just wasn't that much that inspired me; it was a year where mediocrity ruled and the critical response to nearly everything was a qualified 'meh'. There were the grand disappointments (The Black Dahlia), the head-scratchers, or "why-is-this-so-successful-again?" (Little Miss Sunshine), the missed opportunities (Babel), and the outright awful (Little Children). (Todd Field should be prohibited from ever getting behind a camera again, lest he turn yet another work of literature into a ham-fisted piece of condescending crap.) Then there are the films that I just couldn't bring myself to place on my top ten. Inland Empire -- the film that brought out the poet in many a critic, which was showered with praise and (occasionally purple) prose by critics I deeply admire – just left me cold. I didn't dislike it, quite the opposite in fact, but I found it difficult to buy in to many of the arguments being put forth in its defense, particularly those surrounding the film's lo-fi appearance. I couldn't stand the look of the DV, and found the endless, unflattering wide-angle close-ups irritating. Still, it's a film not easily forgotten, and perhaps repeated viewings will arouse in me the kind of passion felt by others. There's a part of me that wants to include Dreamgirls in my top ten – a musical in the grand Hollywood tradition – yet somehow I lack the conviction to do so. Maybe my reaction is nothing more than my unabashed love for musical film, or the fact that this big, flashy, and oh-so-alive production is everything Chicago wasn't. Still, I was simply enthralled from start to finish, and hearing the thunderous applause after many of the songs brought me back to the days of the Regency revival theater, where thirty and forty year-old MGM musicals never failed to get hands clapping. Most (if not all) of the negative reviews are focusing on its lack of socio-political commentary, poor character development, and songs that aren't as good as Motown hits. Duh. It's a musical. From Broadway no less. And while Henry Krieger is no John Kander, director Bill Condon takes full advantage of the medium, giving us on screen what can't be accomplished on stage – exactly the opposite of Rob Marshall's stiff and wooden Chicago. Yet is this reason enough to include it in my top ten? I guess not. What follows is a list of my top ten favorite distributed films, as submitted to Dennis Lim's 2006 Critics Poll over at IndieWire. It doesn't include my actual favorite film of the year, Spike Lee's When the Levees Broke, for it didn't qualify (owing to a lack of theatrical release). Easily the most important film I saw this year, and probably the most scathing and damning portrait of the Bush administration, this is a major document that will live on for ages. Though the media had wall-to-wall Hurricane Katrina coverage, none of it comes close to the power of even a single minute of this four-hour masterpiece. In reverse order: 10. Battle in Heaven (Carlos Reygadas, Mexico) I found the director's debut feature, Japón, to be both pretentious and calculating in its button pushing. Yet this, his (equally, if not more controversial) follow-up is a thing of beauty. Reygadas' non-actors often seem uncomfortable, which only enhances the already tense atmosphere. Best use of sound in a film this year. 9. Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, Mexico/Spain) This psycho-politico-fantasy trip is the film that most made me feel like a kid again, and a reminder that cinema's possibilities are indeed limitless. My review here. 8. Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (Michael Winterbottom, UK) Leave it to the chameleon-like Winterbottom to make postmodernism both hip and funny again. A word to any over-zealous screenwriters thinking of trying something similar – don't! My review here. 7. Yaji and Kita: The Midnight Pilgrims (Kankuro Kudo, Japan) Two of this year's funniest films came from Japan – the criminally under-seen Yaji & Kita and the as-yet-undistributed Funky Forest: The First Contact (see list below). Anarchic, chaotic, surreal, and terribly clever, they represent a new wave of Japanese comedy that defies description while it skews multiple genres. Sure, some of the jokes are lost in translation, but there's more than enough to keep you in slack-jawed amazement. My review here. 6. Inside Man (Spike Lee, USA) Universal did their best to bury the director's name on this one, and to be honest I expected to see Spike's great sellout film. How wrong I was. One of the best screenplays of the year, this is both a throwback to great 70s heist films, while at the same time offering one of the most honest and accurate portrayals of a post 9/11 New York City. Issues of race are found in nearly every frame of the film, yet there's a wonderful subtlety to it all. 5. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, UK/USA) The bleakest film ever to be released on Christmas day. A cinematographic dream of a deeply disturbing dystopian nightmare. Chilling, haunting, and unforgettable. Full review to follow. (Hopefully.) 4. A Prairie Home Companion (Robert Altman, US) Though he never intended it to be his final film, there's a funereal spirit that pervades over this ensemble comedy-musical. A film that could easily have been made in the 70s, Altman's swan song finds the great director going out on a high note. Be Bop A-Ree-Bop Rhubarb Pie! 3. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (Park Chan-wook, Korea) Now that torture has become America's newest form of entertainment (Hostel, Turistas, etc.) and seemingly more acceptable (Guantanamo, waterboarding), Park's final film in his vengeance trilogy is even more disquieting than it was when I first saw it back in 2005. My review here. 2. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (Cristi Puiu, Romania) Diclofenac. Distonocalm. My review here. 1. Climates (Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Turkey) Ceylan's portrait of a relationship slowly dying is a quiet, unassuming little film that went straight for the gut. A good friend described it as A Modern Romance without the laughs. You know what? He's right. My review here. Favorite films seen in 2006 without distribution: Funky Forest: The First Contact (Katsuhito Ishii, Aniki, Shunichiro Miki, Japan) Der Freie Wille (Matthias Glasner, Germany) Coeurs (Alain Resnais, France) Woman on the Beach (Hong Sang-soo, Korea) Magicians (Song Il-gon, Korea) King and the Clown (Lee Jun-ik, Korea) L'Enfer (Danis Tanovic, France) Hanging Garden (Toshiaki Toyoda, Japan)

Comments

[Brian]

I didn't want to interrupt the flow of the heated Dreamgirls conversation over at Cinemarati with something that seems a bit off-track. But I noticed that not a single critic in the indieWIRE poll picked the film in anything other than performance categories. As a fan of the film and an indieWIRE poll voter who yet didn't place it in your top ten, do you have any theories as to why?

I liked the film, but I have to say I had to overcome the air of foregone-conclusion Oscar-contender (if not winner), the resultant studio campaign, the exhorbitant $25 ticket prices during its first week of release, and the end credits sequence, which felt enough like "For Your Consideration" ads to sour the experience pretty heavily.

[mike]

kudos to filmbrain for including Tristram Shandy and Inside Man. I can't think of two movies this year that were bigger (happy) surprises. Tristram was just out there - perfect for an unintelligble book - and Inside Man reminded me of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

[A. Horbal]

Filmbrain, seeing your name on the list of contributors to the indieWIRE poll validated that list more than any consensus number 1 pick ever could have. I have your back on all six films I've seen on your Top Ten (especially Inside Man), and I still say that given the way you're describing Dreamgirls it belongs on that list (the spontaneous applause at my screening was absolutely the best part of the film). But you gotta do what you gotta do...

Here's hoping 2007 treats you better than 2006 all across the board!

[lady wakasa]

Filmbrain - sorry that 2006 was so bad. I also lost a friend, and the whole thing's a bit surreal...

Your list is wonderful for so many reasons... I saw Sympathy for Lady Vengeance a couple weeks back and could only say, "wow" - it's probably my favorite for 2006. Saw several of the others (especially at the last couple of NYFFs) and loved them. Want to get into NYC to see others (why isn't Children of Men in wider release?). And loved King and the Clown enough to be working on a website to provide some of the historical / cultural / political background for when the movie opens in the West.

And I want to see When the Levees Broke, most definitely.

There are two I'd disagree with. Pan's Labyrinth was good, even very good, but I kept getting this weird "Hollywood blockbuster Lead-in to the Oscars" vibe from it. That might have been tied to the actual viewing, and I should go to a regular theater and see it again, but I haven't convinced myself to do that yet. And I saw Inland Empire (on little sleep) with an actor friend. Immediately after, he gave me some insight on the movie which was like the clouds parting and the sun shining... so unbelievably, a David Lynch movie actually makes pretty solid sense to me.

[filmbo]

I can't disagree with you more about the films of 2006. Sure there were disappointments, but think of all the American films that were boo-ed overseas. Maria Antoinette, Fast Food Nation, Tideland, The Fountain.... doesn't that mean something? Bad movies aren't the ones that are boo-ed, and certainly three of the four of those that I've seen are pretty terrific. And what about United 93, Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, Departed, Bubble, Prestige, or Cache?

And your disappointment with The Black Dahlia is such a cliche. Did you really expect him to make a better film than Femme Fetal, Mission to Mars, or Snake Eyes? I'm a huge fan of his, but I still knew what I was expecting.

[Filmbrain]

Brian -- Good questions, none of which I have a definitive answer to. The people that make up the IndieWire poll are less likely to throw their votes towards something so obviously capital-H Hollywood. I saw the film with three critics who also participated in the IndieWire poll, and all of them hated it.

[Filmbrain]

Mike - Yes, Inside Man was very similar and tone and mood to Taking of Pelham One Two Three, even down to its use of comedic moments.

Andy - Thanks for the kind words.

Lady W - It's interesting how little Universal has done to promote the film. I've not seen a single advert, nor posters hanging in the NYC Subway. Perhaps when it goes wider in early 2007 they'll give it a bigger push.

Your comments about Pan's Labyrinth are interesting -- all I kept thinking of while watching it was how un-Hollywood it was. As for my reaction to Inland Empire, I think the timing had a bit to do with it. I saw it at the tail end of the NYFF -- two weeks and 20+ films. My head wasn't exactly clear at that point.

Filmbo -- that's the beauty of these lists. A chance to disagree, argue pro/con, etc. As for the list of films you rattled off, several of them, while enjoyable, just didn't leave a lasting impression. The Fountain was pretty great, and like Bubble could very well have landed on this list.

As for Black Dahlia -- if it was even half as good as those you mentioned I would have been happy. But this was just awful -- I honestly can not think of another film from this year with such atrocious acting. I adore DePalma (I'm one of the few who will defend Mission to Mars) but there was no way for me to embrace this one. His apologists (and there were many) tried very hard to defend it, but not a single piece I read convinced me.

[colinr0380]

That is a shame about the Black Dahlia. I've just ordered the DVD of it because I'm a DePalma fan as well. I've loved all of his films apart from Mission To Mars, which I thought was jaw-droppingly, hellishly awful! (I even watched it twice to try and find anything vaguely decent about it, but even the Morricone score was bad!) You've got me a bit worried for Black Dahlia now! I still keep meaning to check out Femme Fatale, which unfortunately suffered from my post-Mars-crappiness shock at DePalma. I heard that film got very good reviews.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Pan's Labyrinth as well (I forced a couple of friends to watch Devil's Backbone on Boxing Day! They liked it after getting past the subtitles!). I heard someone say Pan's Labyrinth looks to have a similar style to Clive Barker's Nightbreed, with the nice monsters, and murderous humans.

The film which had the most impact on me this year was Longford, shown on UK television by Channel 4. It was about the relationship between a politician and widely-despised murderess Myra Hindley. It had excellent performances, especially from Jim Broadbent as Longford and Samantha Morton as Hindley, but also from the supporting players such as Lindsay Duncan as Longford's wife, who starts off shocked that he is even talking to Hindley before becoming more involved herself, and from Andy Serkis as Ian Brady, who murdered with Hindley and was perhaps even more responsible for the crimes than Hindley was.

It really was a great piece of work, covering the material from all sorts of angles, from how much Hindley was to blame (there is the suggestion that she was bullied by Brady into committing the murders with him, but does that excuse her from responsibility?); how the media gets involved in whipping people up into a frenzy of hatred so that Hindley has to be given special treatment and treated much more harshly than the other prisoners; whether Hindley being a woman who killed children causes much harsher treatment of her by society than Brady is faced with; and how incredibly hard it is, but also how important it can be, to find compassion and forgiveness for even the most reprehensible members of our society. Of course the film doesn't shy away from looking at the idea that Hindley is using Longford and manipulating his decency for her own ends, but I was also left with the sense that we should also be questioning ourselves and wonder why Longford's sense of decency seems so alien to the culture we live in.

I don't know if this will come out in the cinemas in the US, or even be shown on television there, but with the big names in the cast I really hope it does. It is such an intelligent piece of work that it deserves to be more widely recognised, even if the frisson of dealing with the 'Moors Murderers' doesn't have the same impact there as it does in Britain. Anything that can make someone as deeply cynical about democracy as me feel for the dilemmas faced by, and be left with a fundamental respect for, a politician has to be worth a watch!

I also wanted to thank you for the time you have spent on this blog over the year, your writing has made a difficult year somehow more tolerable for me. I hope you can continue for a long time to come. Have a happy new year.

[colinr0380]

I forgot to mention that Longford was written by Peter Morgan, who also wrote The Queen.

Here is also a link to the reports from when Lord Longford died: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/1472645.stm

[Peter Nellhaus]

I'm going to keep my eyes open for the Korean and Japanese films listed to be available on DVD here. Thai dubbed versions play theatrically here in Chiang Mai. If I've written about any films that you're interested in, let me know. Dreamgirls is scheduled to open later this month at what should be a far lower price than $25.00. Have a great 2007!

[Sister Rye]

A Perfect Couple (Un couple parfait) by Nobuhiro Suwa was my favorite unreleased (without wide distribution) film of 2006. I don't know a thing about film distribution, but I saw it at the PFA in Berkeley, and didn't see it listed elsewhere. Thanks for your insightful list. I hope you have a better year coming to you.

[Filmbrain]

Sister Rye --

I'm excited to hear you enjoyed Un couple parfait so much; I'm really looking forward to it.

I just saw that it landed on the Cahiers du Cinema best of 2006 list.

[Chris Stangl]

Bless you for not only finding such a high slot for Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, but the melee in the Comments on the original review. Hilarious!