Top 15 films of 2012

15) Untouchable dir. Olivier Nakache & Eric Toledano

I completely understand why this wasn’t nominated for an Oscar and I wish the French had put forward ‘Holy Motors’ (which I really liked) instead of this film but oh well. I hear Hollywood might remake it, which doesn’t surprise me (though I wish they wouldn’t) because it so ‘feels like a Hollywood film’ – when I think of French contemporary cinema (I haven’t seen much at all so I may not know what I’m talking about) I think of quirkiness - as though they were trying to do the New Wave again - intimately but never over dramatically. This film is corny, it’s sentimental, at first glance it’s like a Hollywood film. Yet, it feels so French. Like some notable moments, for example when Driss humorously shaves Philippe’s moustache & beard. Jokes are so brutally honest, and the piano-based score by Ludovico Einaudi not only accompanies the story but entwines with it and pulls out raw feelings, but never goes over-the-top. I was expecting corny typical Hollywood-imitating drama but I got something slightly more exquisite.

14) The Deep Blue Sea dir. Terence Davies

SPOILER ALERT!!!

It was such a long time ago that I saw this film but I still remember how ‘British’ and poetic I felt everything to be, poetry not from what the characters said but more so from what they never said, from the way they looked at each other (especially Rachel Weisz, who was brilliant) and from the pauses between dialogue. I loved the parallel between Hether’s self destructiveness and the scenes of destruction from the war. And at the end when she loses everything she could easily have crumbled to pieces again, yet she draws open the curtains in such a liberating manner and the camera pans to a destroyed house in comparison. The underground scene when she remembers the people gathered there to escape the bombing singing together was magical and I still remember it vividly.

13) Django Unchained dir. Quentin Tarantino

SPOILER ALERT!!!

I enjoyed this film, it was entertaining and the performances by the supporting cast (Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio & Samuel L Jackson) were absolutely terrific. Christoph Waltz was the ‘good guy’ (which worked out well as we are comforted by the knowledge that this gun-loving dangerous man is on our side) and he supported Jamie Foxx so well. Jamie Foxx by the way did a good job too, but his character Django doesn’t actually give much input (until the final act) which I think is supposed to be the case because he’s like a vessel, he’s the subject and the story is what happens to him (does that make sense?) Leonardo DiCaprio was the best thing about the film, playing the outrageously evil Calvin Candie with just the right amount of drama. He didn’t get nominated though, surprise surprise. And Samuel L Jackson’s character was so sinister and was probably in fact the truest form of evil in the film. He is able to sense immediately that there is something going on between Django and his wife and where we (at least I) thought he might let them off or even assist them, he ‘betrays’ his own people/race and chooses to be loyal to Candie. I wish they had developed his character more and shown more of him. In fact not just him but Leo as well, and perhaps Waltz. That was my problem with the film. Instead of going on and on extending scenes I felt they really didn’t need to, I wish they’d shown more of the characters. And the final act was disappointing. It’s Tarantino so there’s supposed to be mindless violence, but it was a little too all over the place for me after Leo and Waltz died. All hell broke loose. I think the satirical approach was supposed to emphasise the true horrors of slavery and the violence involved, but it wasn’t successful. If I am to take the film as pure entertainment and nothing more, it’s still disappointing compared to his previous film ‘Inglorious Basterds’ for example, which was so epic and just absolute fun. Compared to his previous films, this story was too simple.

12) The Grey dir. Joe Carnahan

SPOILER ALERT!!!

I didn’t see this until recently because of the utterly misleading trailer. And Liam Neeson. It looks like just another survival film except this time there’s wolves as well – awesome! So of course the people who went to see it expecting that were disappointed. It’s not supposed to be taken literally at all. The characters are supposed to die one by one at each obstacle, Liam Neeson is supposed to be the only one alive at the end, the howling and growling of the wolves are supposed to sound over-the-top, it’s supposed to be unrealistic. Yet not have the plot lose its validity. Because it’s all a metaphor for life and death. Fear of death. Fear of living. The twist at the end was revealed so perfectly at the perfect time which turned everything on its head. The film was a wonderful little surprise and I wish they’d marketed it for the correct audience.

11) Looper dir. Rian Johnson

SPOILER ALERT!!!

I don’t usually enjoy science fiction/action but I was taken by surprise because of the originality of this film’s idea. Though, the concept of needing to send people back in time to kill them, no matter how strict or whatever the government has become in the future, is ridiculous. In fact there’s tons of plot holes and absurdities, but you know what, none of it matters! As Bruce Willis actually said at some point in the film, “I don’t want talk about time travel because if we start talking about it then we’re going to be here all day.” Which I thought was a way of Rian Johnson telling us that he’s aware it doesn’t make total sense but let’s just sit back and enjoy. And that is so easy to do here because of this whole enthralling world and idea that he has brought to life. The film has been structured well I think, I loved the pacing. Whether or not everything was accurate, young Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt)’s actions changing Bruce Willis’ memories, that whole idea of having your present self and older self existing in the same time frame facing each other is so wonderfully absurd. The Cid storyline was very entertaining. The idea of needing to stop/kill a little boy into becoming a future evil force, his emotionally being affected by his parent/step-parent and the love that he is given, his rage and his supernatural powers, all borderlining sentimentality, for some reason reminds me of Japanese manga/anime and it’s refreshing to see it here in this context, making it an all the more unique experience. And the effort put into physically changing Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s face without using CGI to look more like Bruce Willis’ has truly satisfying effects for viewers. A brilliant scene that still remains vividly in my mind is the one where older Seth’s body parts begin to disappear one by one, starting with his fingers and then his nose. That was truly horrifying!

10) The Impossible dir. Juan Antonio Bayona

This is based on the true story about one family’s experience of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. Before watching the film I wasn’t so sure if it was appropriate seeing as it was such a terrible event, which also for me as a half Japanese person is reminiscent of the 2011 tsunami/earthquake which hit Japan, but I decided to see it and I’m glad I did. Like the title suggests, the family are torn apart but miraculously all survive and find each other. It’s amazing because it’s a true story and therefore I think it was necessary in fact, for people to see it as a symbol of hope. That such an extraordinary thing can actually happen. And towards the end as the family make their way onto their private plane provided by their travel insurance, as they walk past the masses of people in despair, grieving and in agony, it reminds us, in case anybody had got carried away, that this is in no way a happy ending. I’ve seen some people complain about the sappy use of the camera, the sentimentality in how for example the sound is muted when Naomi Watts is thrashed under water etc, but I don’t know how to respond to that… I suppose I agree. When Tom Holland, his younger brothers and Ewan McGreggor find each other outside the hospital, that is another example of extremely cheesy filming and use of music. But the truth is that they did find each other, the miracle did in fact happen, so why not be dramatic with the use of camera was the mentality behind the director I suppose..? But at the end of the film I do not feel like any of them had been glorified in any way or presented like heroes. So I suppose it’s okay. Naomi Watts was wonderful, as was Tom Holland who played the eldest son.

9) Beasts of the Southern Wild dir. Benh Zeitlin

Once again I didn’t see this film until recently because I thought it was going to be just a child point of view fantasy film. Yes it was that, but I had no idea how rich and mystical the fantasy was going to be. It’s ultimately about Hushpuppy ‘growing up’ but the beauty of this film is in how it’s structured and told visually from her perspective and the layers of the characters and what everything in the film represents. Everybody will take something different from it and have completely different experiences. The performances are incredible, especially Quvenzhane Wallis (though nominating her for an Oscar is a bit too much I think).

8) Skyfall dir. Sam Mendes

SPOILER ALERT!!!

Sam Mendes did a truly amazing job here and it was fitting as the 50^th anniversary Bond. Thematically, the suggestion that Bond was becoming too old was of course representative of the franchise itself as well. The opening chase/fighting sequence was awesome and gripping and the transition from his falling into the water into the opening credits with the brilliant ‘Skyfall’ sung by Adele gave me goosebumps. Javier Bardem was introduced in that memorable continuous shot and in that scene facing M the acting was top-notch. So wonderfully chilling and creepy! Ben Whishaw was an interesting addition as Q, though to be honest his hacking scenes were a bit ridiculous. But I loved his introductory scene with Daniel Craig. At the end after reaching Skyfall the disappointment started. I read that the role played by Albert Finney was actually originally written for Sean Connery, and that seemed ridiculous at first but now that I think about it, it would’ve been so awesome! Imagine the reactions of the audience! It would have made no sense in that he is Bond so it isn’t possible, but it would’ve instantly translated to us as the ‘father figure’ - Bond going back to his roots. Instead we get Albert Finney appearing suddenly out of nowhere and sticking around for the rest of the film, still there even in the final scene when M dies. The whole M mother figure dying in his arms was nice, and I really liked the moment when Javier Bardem sees the tombstones of Craig’s parents. It’s sentimental but not too sentimental. Overall a great story with fitting themes and little things like the Aston Martin, the final scene which ties nicely to the very first Bond film, the brilliant cinematography, the all-star cast and soundtrack which nicely complements the film, make Skyfall not just a great Bond film but a great film on its own. If a Bond film was ever going to be nominated for Best Picture this had to be it, but it wasn’t. I guess it will never happen then :( 

7) The Imposter dir. Bart Layton

SPOILER ALERT!!!

What a bizarre and incredible story! This is a brilliant example of the unreliable narrative as it’s told from the perspective of this pathological liar. It’s a documentary but it really perfectly combines documentary style and film style, for example overlapping his mouthing of words with his recollections (reconstructed footage) which has such a sinister effect. Later in the film there is the whole suggestion of the family murdering their son and things had been shot in a way to make that seem believable. Which brings me to the point that if they were in fact innocent I feel slightly bad for them. But I suppose it’s been made clear that this is merely his account of what happened and thus we probably should doubt him seeing as he’s a natural ‘imposter’. I wish they hadn’t ended the film like that though, so ambiguously. It leaves this eerie and disturbing feeling which is probably good, but it’s so unsatisfying.

6) Moonrise Kingdom dir. Wes Anderson

This was such a sweet and adorable film about innocence and also I think hope, told straightforwardly but enchantingly. I loved the strong sense of place and the colours & general cinematography of the film. The supporting cast was an ensemble of some great actors – Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray etc, but the 2 leads Jared Gilman and Kara Heywood weren’t overshadowed at all, in fact they really shone. Wes Anderson made use of their inexperienced (they were both first time actors) innocence and freshness to his advantage, combined it with magical Wes Anderson-ness and came up with this wonderful film which felt play-like.

5) Argo dir. Ben Affleck

This had me on the edge of my seat pretty much the whole time. I loved the script (by Chris Terrio), loved the suspense, loved how fluid it felt and loved the paralleling between scenes of the hostages and the whole science fiction film element. This was based on a true story but it was clear some things were altered, added or removed in order to make the film a more dramatic experience, which is something that I've grown to not mind (depending on the subject matter). In this case it only annoyed me towards the end at the runway of the airport because what was being shown was just impossible and ridiculous, but overall Argo was an extremely engaging and tense, enjoyable experience and I was hooked from the introductory sequence combining comic book strips and documentary footage.

4) Seven Psychopaths dir. Martin McDonagh

This was thoroughly entertaining and also very unique. It’s about a screenwriter struggling with writer’s block trying to write a screenplay called ‘Seven Psychopaths’ based on the 'psychopathic' people around him and the things that consequently happen. There’s a lot of Tarantino-esque violence but as the protagonist Colin Farrell seems to feel, I think it strives ultimately to say something about such violence, raise questions, even suggest that it's stupid, and I think it succeeds humorously while being a violent and entertaining film. Which I've explained badly but I'm hoping you'll understand if you see the film. The characters were brilliant, notably the supporting actors Sam Rockwell and Christopher Walken, and once again as with Martin McDonagh’s previous film 'In Bruges', I love the dialogue!

3) Life of Pi dir. Ang Lee

SPOILER ALERT!!!

I really wish I’d seen this in 3D. I’ve never seen a film in 3D so I can’t say for sure but the film really made me think that if it’s for a film like this, if 3D is going to be used ‘correctly’, then it will no doubt be spectacular. I never thought I’d like a film with such heavy use of CGI so much. It really surprised me and that’s why it’s climbed this high up the list. By the time Pi and the tiger were alone in the little boat there was still half the film left to go so I wondered what was going to happen. How is Ang Lee going to stretch this section out for so long to depict the sense of endlessness and starvation without boring us? But one after another came visual spectacles which just wowed and stunned me. The beginning part of the film was nothing exciting but after finishing the film I accepted it, not in the sense that I was 'forgiving' it because the rest of the film turned out to be great, but because those themes of self-searching, growing up and seeking a 'God' needed to be presented to us first for us to make sense of it all in the end. The ending initially disappointed me because I just couldn’t believe they’d told this entire magical story to us and then in a matter of seconds said that in fact none of it actually happened, but then I soon understand that was the point. The story isn’t a survival film or a fantasy film but is a metaphor for faith; what we experience and what we feel depends on whether or not we have faith and where it lies in. Suraj Sharma did an amazing job in his debut feature film.

2) Silver Linings Playbook dir. David O. Russell

SPOILER ALERT!!!

This film is so brilliantly done. Ultimately in terms of genre and plot structure I suppose it's pretty conventional and predictable, but if this makes any sense, at the same time it feels so unconventional and unpredictable as it is executed so well in every aspect. It’s not just a love story but it’s also about family, notably father and son. They even had to cast Jackie Weaver as the mother even though I’m sure anybody could’ve played her, but just to make everything perfect they did – the film’s been nominated for all 4 Academy Award acting categories. The American football element was nice, the dance element was surprising but wonderful, and the dance itself is a bipolar dance with ‘ups’ and ‘downs’. I don’t know anyone with bipolar but I’m very familiar with mental health issues and I thought Bradley Cooper and J-Law both played their characters believably and sympathetically. This theme was what attracted me to the film in the first place. I loved the ending - the characters really deserved it. I don’t think it’s just corny and irrationally concluding things to make it a ‘feel good ending’ – the brief scenes of Cooper and J-Law being happily together at the end having found each other also conveyed a strong sense that the road ahead will continue to be bumpy.

1) Holy Motors dir. Leos Carax

For the first half of the film it was more like Holy Shit because I wasn’t comprehending anything. And there isn’t any specific moment in the film where things are made clear, we all make our own interpretations, and the interpretation I made was that this film was about how humans ‘act’ their lives as though they were on camera, and nowadays cameras are literally scattered around everywhere and we subconsciously play characters as opposed to actually live. That seems like quite a bland and simplified explanation, but when I was watching it I’m sure I had a more interesting eureka moment of understanding. Of course it's also a tribute to cinema itself I think, stretching out as far as possible to show us what film can do. Holy Motors was certainly the most mesmerising, mind blogging and satisfying film of the year for me!


Note: I haven't seen Paul Thomas Anderson's 'The Master' which looks like the kind of film I'd like. I think it may have been on this list had I seen it.