It's October, and 2012 is quickly coming to an end. And do you know what that means? I'm writing my best films of 2011 list! Yes, I've finally reached that point in the year where I'm fed up with tracking the remaining DVD releases of films everyone else talked about months and months ago, and my completist tendencies have been assuaged enough (after viewing 151 titles) for me to put out what I'm satisfied is a mostly thorough and well-informed list of favorites. And also, there's nothing like distracting yourself from all of this year's upcoming titles than looking back on last year's.
As always, my criteria for eligibility requires that a film must have been released in its own home country during 2011, so film festivals and other special screenings don't count. Picks are unranked, previously posted reviews are linked where available, and the "Plus One" spot is reserved for the best film of the previous year that I didn't manage to see in time for the last list.
Midnight in Paris - Remember when romantic comedies were about more than just endlessly contrived meet-cutes and misunderstandings? Perhaps no one makes them better than Woody Allen, and though he isn't as consistent as he used to be, his highs are higher than most directors could ever hope to match. Here, his penchant for fantasy, for nostalgia, and for picturesque European cities all converge for the benefit of a beautiful little romantic fable about dreamers in Paris.
The Artist - Though often described as a throwback, what director Michel Hazanavicus accomplished was not simply making a silent film, but using silent film techniques to make a silent film that never could have never been made in the silent film era. This was also my favorite theatrical experience of last year, because "The Artist" depends so greatly on the intangible atmosphere of the theater, and I cannot imagine that the film would work nearly as well being viewed on television or a computer screen.
Project Nim - The year's best documentary relates the woeful tale of the famous Nim Chimpsky, a chimpanzee who was raised as a human and taught sign language in an experiment that followed few scientific protocols. He then passed from well-meaning caretaker to caretaker until his death at the age of 26. Particularly illuminating are the profiles of Nim's various trainers, teachers, and the people who helped to raise him. As they speak about their experiences with Nim, we learn as much about the nature of the humans as we do about the nature of the chimp.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - The one I've had to defend the most vehemently, because contrary to all the marketing copy, this adaptation of the celebrated John le Carré spy novel is not a typical thriler, but actually a character piece with an impressive performance by Gary Oldman at its center. So cerebral and so intricate that a viewer may wish to take notes, it confounded and disappointed many audiences. I had the opposite reaction and am hoping fervently for a sequel.
We Need to Talk About Kevin - Here's a new spin on the old genre tale of the evil child, told from the unreliable perspective of his tormented, guilt-wracked mother after an unspeakable tragedy occurs. Tilda Swinton's performance was one of the year's best, and director Lynne Ramsay crafted an unsettling, ambiguous, and deeply disturbing fever dream around it. This is a rare psychological thriller that draws its blackest horrors from the largely unexplored realms of parental guilt and paranoia.
The Descendants - Alexander Payne and his collaborators find a way to make the tragic funny and the ridiculous moving, as George Clooney, delivering a knockout performance as a recently widowed father, navigates the difficult waters of grief and regret. So many others have tackled this kind of material and so few have managed to find the right balance of humor, heartbreak, and ukulele music that makes "The Descendants" such a genuinely touching and memorable bit of cinematic catharsis.
The Skin I Live In - Celebrated Spanish director Pedro Almodovar explores all of his favorite themes, including transsexuality, gender roles, and obsessive love, but this time through the creation of a remarkable science-fiction horror film. It is astonishing how well this shocking tale of a mad scientist and a most peculiar monster fits the pattern of Almodovar's previous work, while at the same time marks a clear departure from the lively melodramas and stirring tragedies that he is best known for.
Win Win - Thomas McCarthy has always made films about oddball characters coming together to form their own makeshift families. "Win Win" starts out with a traditional nuclear family, and then watches it get a little bigger when the father, played by Paul Giamatti, gets tangled up in the affairs of an elderly client and his grandson. It's a genuinely sweet comedy about a collection of very imperfect people. And it's also a high school wrestling movie for a while, which I admit I did not see coming.
Shame - In many ways 2012 was Michael Fassbender's year, and the highlight was his appearance in Steve McQueen's latest feature, their second collaboration. In "Shame" Fassbender plays a sex-addict living a lonely, alienated double-life in New York. It's a haunting portrait of a man battling his demons, trying to escape an addiction that is portrayed as destructive and all-consuming . Never have so many starkly NC-17 rated sex scenes seemed so hollow, empty, and cold.
The Tree of Life - One of the most anticipated cinematic events of the year, and it met all expectations. I've concluded that Terrence Malick should have left off the confounding bookend sequences, but the central story is so strong and so spectacularly rendered that it makes up for any and all of the film's deficiencies. Malick touches true greatness here, because he is in possession an utterly boundless ambition that I haven't seen from any other director in a very, very long time.
Plus One
Venus Noire - An unflinching French language biopic of a remarkable woman, which includes many snapshots of humanity at its worst. Sarah Baartman, originally from South Africa, toured Europe in the early 19th century as the Venus Hottentot, and was subjected to endless humiliation and exploitation as she struggled to earn her way. The film directed by Abdellatif Kechiche and starring Yahima Torres is gripping, provocative, and occasionally devastating. At the time of writing, the film is only available on Region 2 DVD.
And finally, a couple of honorable mentions:
Submarine
Drive
Pariah
Meek's Cutoff
Jane Eyre
Melancholia
A Separation
Take Shelter
Perfect Sense
Margaret
And tomorrow, what didn't make the list.
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