Last - HENRI-GEORGES CLOUZOT'S INFERNO
51st - NYMPH
50th - DEAD SNOW
49th - DOUBLE TAKE
48th - MARTYRS
47th - HORRORS OF MALFORMED MEN
46th - ZIFT
45th - VAN DIEMEN'S LAND
44th - THE BASTARDS (LOS BASTARDOS)
43rd - PARDON MY FRENCH (UN CHAT UN CHAT)
42nd - ALPHAVILLE
41st - THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE
40th - HANSEL & GRETEL
39th - AN EDUCATION
38th - CHE PART 2
37th - SHADOW PLAY: THE MAKING OF ANTON CORBIJN
36th - LITTLE JOE
35th - MUM AND DAD
34th - THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE
33rd - MURCH: WALTER MURCH ON EDITING
32nd - THE BURROWERS
31st - DOGTOOTH
30th - BLACK DYNAMITE
29th - YAKUZA EIGA
28th - MOTHER
27th - FISH TANK
26th - RED RIDING 1983
25th - THE WHITE RIBBON
24th - IT CAME FROM KUCHAR
23rd - WHITE LIGHTNIN'
22nd - IN THE LOOP
21st - THEATER OF WAR
20th - CHE PART 1
19th - THE HURT LOCKER
18th - RED RIDING 1974
17th - RED RIDING 1980
16th - TEARS FOR SALE
15th - BRONSON
14th - TYSON
13th - HOME MOVIE
12th - TROUBLED WATER
11th - MOON
And now, ladies and germs... I present to you... THE BEST.
MY TOP 10 FILMS OF MIFF 2009 (#s 6-10)
10th - THIRST
Look, I know it's not perfect. Far from it: It's a good 20-30 minutes too long, it spends a lot of time digressing into elongated comic-relief sequences, it's burdened with a saggy-ass middle, the storytelling in opening half-hour is not entirely clear. Yes, I know all this, acknowledge and accept it. But, you know what?
I still love it. I'd own it and watch it again in a heartbeat.
Because I love Park Chan-Wook. Nobody else makes films like this guy. Ever since OLDBOY unleashed itself upon my cortex at MIFF 2004, I've been in absolute raptures whenever a new work from this mad genius of
South Korean cinema emerges. His mix of gallows humour, outrageous violence, unstoppable set-pieces, operatic hysteria and anthropomorphic curiosity are unique in cinema history. South Korean cinema in general displays many of these qualities, but no-one mixes them together with the confidence, epic sensibility, or seamless yet breakneck changes in tone of Park Chan-Wook. For me, he's one of the most thrillingly original filmmakers working today. So, you can imagine the combination of Park and Vampires was pretty damn high on my anticipatio-meter.
The premise is killer, and I'm surprised more US horror cinema hasn't done it: a priest (the excellent Song Kang-Ho) contracts a killer virus while on an aid mission and, after a futile blood transfusion is performed to keep him hanging on, he miraculously survives, making a full recovery. Thanks to the new blood, he's the virus' first survivor, faster, stronger and fitter than ever before, becoming a Christ-like figure to a collection of the sick and the lame... but the effects of the cure wear off periodically, and he's horrified to discover there’s only one perpetual way to stave off these effects: drinking blood. I won't go into the plot from here on in, as this film has alleyways and surprises I'd rather you discovered unaided.
All I wanted from this film was for Park to provide the last word on a very played-out genre -- to explore old tropes in new ways, to ask novel questions, to provide fresh angles -- and, in this regard, the man doesn't disappoint. There are so many set-pieces in this film which are stunning, beautiful, tragic and comic all at once. Sure, he wastes some time with third wheel supporting characters and travels in bizarre directions -- but some of those are incredibly fruitful and disquieting. From its quiet opening to the stunning final sequence -- one of my favourite scenes of the last few years -- THIRST may outstay its welcome and outlast its ambition, but it certainly delivers something all too rare these days: a Vampire movie which feels fresh. Now, if everyone else can just kindly stop. Thank you.
9th - OUTRAGE
Depending on your point of view, director Kirby Dick is either very brave or very cowardly. Taking on the Motion Picture Association of America's reign of censorship in THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED is one thing, but what he does with OUTRAGE is balls-out insane: Dick aims to publicly out closeted gay Republican pollies who've gone out of their way to vote down pro-gay legislation. His claims as presented here don't seem to be spurious, either; the politicians cited all seem pretty hypocritical and Dick's research is quite extensive.
You may see Dick's crusade to be a violation of privacy... and if this were anyone but politicians, I would completely agree. But if you're going to actively deny thousands of people happiness purely because of their lifestyle, you forfeit the right to go and live that very same lifestyle in private. These people have to be called to account, and that's what Dick's documentary sets out to do. Despite striding these fine lines of truth seeking versus utter violation v-e-r-y tenuously, there's no denying the film is searing, justifiably angry, hilariously funny, often poignant and incredibly entertaining. I don't know how Washington powerbrokers haven't blocked its release, to be honest. Hell, maybe the First Amendment isn't dead after all.
8th - FOOD, INC.
One of the scariest, most disquieting films you'll see, about the ridiculously far-reaching effect that the indomitable hand of big business has on the food we eat. (Well, on the food Americans eat, for sure. I'll get to that later.) The way USA agribusiness has been centralised, mechanised and automated is shown in shocking detail, as we follow the incredibly compromised path that meat and many other (some surprising) perishables take from the "farm" (a loose term for many establishments) to the supermarket shelf. It's the nightmare you've always known of, or lurked in the back of your mind, given flesh.
The great thing about this documentary is that it presents the current reality in all its horror and duplicity, but then suggests viable alternatives to the status quo (a la AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH); things we can all do and look for that don't require enormous lifestyle changes. It introduces us to organic farmers and good people aligned with bad companies who are trying to do the best they can under the circumstances. The film is incredibly wide-ranging and benefits from exhaustive investigation and research. It's efficiently directed and breezily assembled, but never seems like it's delivering hyperbole. Overall, it's a terrific documentary with a powerful message. (So powerful, the friend I saw it with immediately turned to Vegetarianism and I've been buying Organic meat ever since -- sorry, I love my Chicken and Beef too much.) The only real problem I have with this film, is it's too America-centric. I'd have liked it to take a global view; the whole time you're watching FOOD, INC, you're thinking, "This is America. Surely it's not as bad here, right?" You assume the worst, but hope for the best. I guess the fact I'm assuming the worst at all, proves the film has done it's job. You'll never look at your local supermarket the same again.
7th - ANTICHRIST
I've only recently been introduced to the bizarre, inspired, punishing, emotionally bruising oeuvre of Lars von Trier, but I've rather taken to it. BREAKING THE WAVES, in particular, was heartbreaking, with DANCER IN THE DARK not far behind. ANTICHRIST, preceded by controversy and written & directed during von Trier's bout with depression, was sure to traverse some dark territory. There's some big issues being thrown around here -- the effectiveness/danger/futility of psychoanalysis, the role/demonisation/subjugation of women throughout history -- and von Trier certainly goes there, never one to die wondering.
What I didn't expect, was how much it really worked as a straight horror film. Sure, it's arty, but it's also creepy, moody, unsettling, visceral, suspenseful and sure to wring both sweat and winces out of its audience. It's also visually striking, von Trier's most handsome film yet. Speaking of not dying wondering, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe throw everything at this, and are stunning to watch. Gainsbourg's fragility and descent are completely believable, and are almost heartbreaking when she's not being scary. Dafoe's got the right amount of male bravado and intellectual rigor for the role of Gainsbourg's psychoanalyst husband, who attempts to fix her severe depression by taking her to the place that scares her the most: their cabin in the lush, yet foreboding, forest aptly named Eden. With its beautiful imagery, horrific subject matter and constant spectre of tragedy, it's a pretty serious film for the most part, with the one exception being a welcome -- and now-famed -- burst of comic mischief in which a ghostly fox utters to Dafoe what is now the movie's catchcry: "Chaos
Reigns." But, otherwise, rather than being a pastiche of shock tactics, ANTICHRIST seems to come from a very personal place within von Trier. It's very much the work of a person going through depression.
Many have commented on the film's misogyny and, while I'm not going to flat-out deny its existence, I don't believe this film is that simple. It uses the demonisation of women throughout the ages as a giant buildup of steam -- a raging storm of social malaise -- which must be released, and for which Gainsbourg is the vessel, the burst valve. She embodies all the stored-up hate bred by centuries of man's inhumanity to woman, and from there, there may be a sacrifice, there may be a catharsis, maybe both. I'm not going to say which. But, because of this approach, I actually found ANTICHRIST's stance to be misogynist and feminist, in equal measure. I think von Trier's feelings toward women are complex and contrary: he seems to take great pride in putting his female protagonists through unfathomable suffering, but clearly admires the hell out of their ability to withstand the adversity, to maintain a sense of purpose and self all the way through and, most importantly, to emerge as the sympathetic heart and soul of all of his movies. (The kind of roles, by the way, actresses generally would kill to play.) In fact, ANTICHRIST's ending seems to be a summation of this recurring theme in von Trier's career, and I'm hoping he can return his lens to other themes from here onward. But as closing statements go, ANTICHRIST is a damn good one.
6th - THE CHASER
It's no secret that South Korea has been at the forefront of innovative genre cinema for at least the second half of this decade. Filmmakers like Park Chan-Wook (OLDBOY), Bong Joon-Ho (THE HOST) and Kim Ji-Woon (THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD), as well as their less-well-known contemporaries, are really doing some wild and wonderful things, both technically and thematically. So, every MIFF, I always check in on what those nutty bastards are up to, and am usually blown away. However, after seeing HANSEL AND GRETEL, MOTHER (which everyone else seemed to love, might have to take another run at this one) and THIRST (brilliant yet flawed), I felt that SK hadn't hit one in the centre of the bat this year. So, on the second last night of the festival, I went in to THE CHASER with both trepidation, and faith in an industry which had rarely let me down.
Man, did THE CHASER bring it home. To the names above, you may now add Na Hong-Jin, this stunning crime drama's debut(!!) writer/director. THE CHASER's basic idea is this: a serial killer of prostitutes abducts his latest victim, but what he doesn't count on is, her pimp is a shady ex-cop, who doesn't like his girls being stolen from under him -- he thinks it's a rival pimp poaching his staff -- and won't stop until he finds her. That's all I'm going to tell you, because from there, Na's awesomely constructed, tonally perfect film juggles plot threads, subverts almost EVERY cliche of the genre and springs surprise upon surprise. All three lead performances -- cop Kim Yun-Seok, killer Ha Jung-Woo and abductee Seo Yeong-Hie -- are brilliant, the action is tough and tight, the drama so utterly real, you wonder how in the hell a filmmaker can exercise this much control over such a complex crime action thriller, first time out of the gate. Even at 124 minutes, not a second of screen time is wasted. It's thrilling, funny and wickedly brilliant, the best pure action picture I've seen this year. An absolute, unqualified must-see.
Now... THE TOP FIVE! VERY SOON!!!
TSIK
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