I am disqualifying films from the 1940s (more Top Ten lists are incoming) and films I expect to write about for future Great Directors posts next year. My picks are unranked, and listed below by release date.
The Wayward Cloud (2005) - Tsai Ming Liang's films mostly take place in the same Taiwanese milieu, employ the same close circle of actors, and explore many of the same themes. So I was utterly flabbergasted to discover that Tsai had made a musical, complete with elaborate dance numbers and pornographic interludes. I'm not sure that it's a good film, but many of the individual sequences are priceless, and it is without a doubt the best cinematic surprise I had all year.
Pusher II (2004) - I decided to catch up on the early Nicolas Winding Refn films this year, including his beloved "Pusher" trilogy, set in the Copenhagen criminal underworld. The second installment, starring Mads Mikkelsen as a hapless hoodlum with a soft side, is easily the highlight. Refn's style here is bleak and brutal, reflecting the chaos of his hero's life. This is also one of the best Mikkelsen performances I've seen to date, where he really gets to dig into the life of a complicated character.
Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks (2002) - Filmed between 1999 and 2001, Wang Bing's nearly ten hour documentary about the shuttering of Shenyang's industrial Tiexi district is a massive work by any measure. The film is split into three parts, one following the last few workers in the state-run factories, one following some of their families being relocated, and one following railway workers. The filmmaking is immersive and moving, capturing images of a closing chapter of Chinese history.
Microcosmos (1996) - This is the second of three documentaries on this year's list. I've watched plenty of nature documentaries, but none of them present a picture of the insect world quite like this one. The filmmakers here don't just show us insects and other invertebrates up close, but frame them as movie stars, all bursting with personality. With the help of a great score by Bruno Coulais, we meet bees and snails and spiders and ants and millipedes, not quite on their own terms, but awfully close.
Psycho II (1983) - How is it possible that the forgotten sequel to "Psycho," made 22 years later, is actually a good movie? Anchored by a strong performance by Anthony Perkins, as a more sympathetic Norman Bates, "Psycho II" is both a tribute to Hitchcock films and a conscious reframing of the Norman Bates story. There's a twist to the story, of course, but it's a twist that is wholly original and fits the new narrative. Best of all, this is a sequel that actually makes me like the original a little more.
Juvenile Court (1973) - I limited myself to picking one of Frederick Wiseman documentaries, because I had too many good options. "Juvenile Court" is one of Wiseman's most dramatic films, because of the subject matter. Watching real kids going through the system, and having their fates decided by well-meaning adults, who are beholden to a bureaucratic system, is fascinating. Especially when the most important decisions often happen outside the formal court proceedings.
The Cannibals (I Canibali) (1970) - Liliana Cavani's wonderfully strange counterculture film is a loose retelling of "Antigone," starring Britt Eklund and Pierre Clementi. It was a direct commentary on the sociopolitical climate of the time, with the "cannibals" representing social undesirables. I love Cavani's imagery - the corpses littering the streets, the naked couple, and the iconography of the police state. "The Cannibals" also features one of the maddest theme songs of all time - written by Ennio Morricone.
The Mystery of Picasso (1956) - Henri-Georges Clouzot filmed Pablo Picasso creating twenty drawings and paintings, livestream style, in 1956. Several novel filmmaking techniques had to be employed to capture Picasso's process in real time. I loved seeing his tendency to go over his pictures again and again, changing and editing the images extensively. As an art nerd who had no idea this movie existed before this year, I'm honestly still stunned that this documentary is real.
The Sign of the Cross (1932) - A star studded Cecil B. DeMille Bible epic, showing the oppression of the Christians in Rome under the rule of Emperor Nero. It's more famous now for its censorship troubles and multiple versions, but is still very enjoyable today as a sword-and-sandals spectacle. I especially enjoy Charles Laughton and Claudette Colbert playing the evil Nero and decadent Poppaea, though Frederic March does a good job as the pompous commander, who becomes a convert.
Master of the House (1925) - Finally, this is one of the best silent films I've seen in years, and I guess it's no surprise that it was made by Carl Theodor Dreyer, director of my favorite silent, "The Passion of Joan of Arc." It's a domestic drama about a bad husband, who is a terror to his household until his old nanny, the irascible Mads, decides to intervene. It's not the best Dreyer film, but it's the funniest, and one his few films that has a happy ending.
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