The Best of 2013 - Part Two
Yesterday I kicked off the beginning of my Top 10 Films of 2013. You can it check out here. Now it’s on to the hard stuff, having a look at the Top Five. The crème the la crème, the movies that have captivated me, urged me into my creative mind and have taken my soul hostage; refusing to let go until 2014 where I go through the entire emotional roller coaster again. But time for the biggies and yes, for number five I have cheated and added an extra one.
5) The Way Way Back / What Maisie Knew
I found it utterly impossible to choose between these two because both a brilliant portrayals of the emotional abuse that adults and parents on their kin. The difference here is one is complete drama and the other is a drama comedy. What Maisie Knew is breathless movie, focusing on a young 6 year old as her parents divorcee. Her parents, played ruthless and brilliantly by Steve Coogan and Julianne Moore, are cold; putting their own games ahead of her own. It isn’t until their new partners come along that Maisie enters a world of love as the pair take more care of her than her own. The astonishing thing here is the acting capabilities of Onata Aprile who levels her skills with those around her. Achingly beautiful, it is an impacting story about how selfishness can damage the relationship with your child.
Turning to The Way Way Back and it is a similar atmosphere as teenage Duncan’s well being is pushed aside when his mother falls for the horrid Clint (played maliciously by Steve Carell in one of his finest roles to date.) He eventually finds solace from a man who belittles him at every turn by taking a job in a Water Park run by the charismatic Owen. Owen, played by the equally loveable Sam Rockwell, gives Duncan what he needs; fun, support and a home. The best scene in this movie is one of my favourites for the whole year; an interchange between Owen and Clint sees no fighting but simple move shifts the power and it is extraordinarily written.
Both movies, I urge you to watch because they will probably be sorely missed this year.
4) Third Contact
Here is a movie that fell into my lap thanks to the great efforts of Director and Screenwriter Si Horrocks. Here is also a movie that you probably haven’t seen, thanks to limited screenings. Never fear because it is global tour next year that will hopefully grab the right attention and see it distributed everywhere. So what is so fucking special about this movie? It was made on a £4000 budget and does much more than a lot of movies did this year. Third Contact is big on the atmosphere and intelligence, it tells the story of quantum suicide and a Doctor who is exploring the deaths of two of his patients. Turning, enigmatic and full of this terrifying mortality fear, Third Contact is a breath-taking cinematic piece that deserves much more recognition (as it stands, people have refused to give it a fair distribution because they fear audiences won’t understand it.) Go watch it, and see it. It will change your perspective.
3) Django Unchained
I think because of the time it was released (Christmas 2012 in USA and January UK) people have forgotten that Quentin Tarantino’s latest cinematic outing came out this year. Django Unchained was perhaps the movie I watched the most this year. And the most in the cinema. Telling the story of a free slave battling to save his wife, Tarantino puts on his most visually stunning movie to date. Utilising the landscape of the Deep South, Django Unchained is a story with enough emotional heart to pull Tarantino away from the need for excessive violence. True, there are moments of brutality but it is a necessary exercise in a gruesome war that plagues American History. Add the iconic Christoph Waltz as Dr King Schultz and you have an Academy Award Winning movie that has put a foot in the door of allowing us to see the horrors that slavery were. Only now we wait for 12 Years A Slave, released in the new year.
2) Stoker
Sitting here and deciding between numbering my definitive Top Ten was a difficult one as this as Django flipped places constantly. What pushed me to place this at number two was the innovative and imaginative visual narrative that director Park Chan Wook decided to go for. Stoker may seem like a simple story but thanks to the enigmatic script from Wentworth Miller, complexities and drama bubble underneath this family caught between past and present, murder and life. Charlie, played by the underused and underrated Matthew Goode, is the ultimate villain; an Uncle who manipulates each member to his own doing. Mia Wasikowa and Nicole Kidman have a wonderful tense and wrought relationship and both actresses are teaming with these understated but mindblowing performances. But more importantly, Stoker is teaming with stylish cinematography that is thanks to Oldboy director Chan-Wook’s talent. Here, the visuals are new and original, highlighting a new spin on an almost noir film for Chan-Wook’s first English Speaking film. Awe-inspiring and stunning, Stoker is film making at its best.
1) The Act of Killing
When deciding a top movie; what kind of qualities must a film be? Must it be full of style, a visual treat and a triumph of cinematography? Must it have a story that is dripping with mystery and emotion; turning with characters loveable and hateable at the same time? How do you judge it?
For me, I based it on movies that haunt me, that are evocative and full of impact. None of the movies on the list still stick in my mind as much as the brilliant yet shocking The Act of Killing. This documentary is different, giving leaders of an Indonesian mass killing to re-enact their crime (they were never held accountable and incidentally, still rule to date.) The astonishing thing here is that director Joshua Oppenheimer presents a movie that is an exploration of humanity. Focusing on the “villains of the story” they seem to not feel guilt for their crimes (brutal murders.) But here, when forced to confront their vicious nature, they turn and finally feel the pang of culpability. The Act of Killing is one of the few movies I had to pause and leave, because it excavates and shows people as terrifying beings. So often, we strip villains down to uncaring and unfeeling monsters. What is more horrifying is that people who care and feel, can still commit heinous crimes. Oppenheimer has delivered the best movie of 2013 by far.
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