Araki directs with such a graceful, wise hand that it's difficult to even recognize his presence (considering his earilier, nihilistic work) aside from the visual style. Mysteriuos Skin is based around extremely taboo subject matter, but is handled extremely well and in good taste... more than that: it is made with such grace and heart that it's even touching and hearbreaking without shoving some kind of message in its audience's face. It doesn't answer all the questions it poses, infact, the film seems hardly aware of its own questions, because, at one point, it's about innocence and the imaginative mind of youth settling down to harsh reality; at another, its about how certain events can effect our lives, and who we are as individuals, forever, without even the knowledge of it. The film follows two youngsters who were afflicted as youth similarly, and the polar effects and characters that stem from that turning point.
I like Danny Boyle's style, effortlessly shifting genres from fantastic zombie horror (28 Days Later) to surreal adventure (The Beach) to heroin laced downer (Trainspotting). Here, in Millions, he sheds a bit of the pensive seriousness for an often lighthearted look at the endless imagination of youth and the ways society and money can afflict the benign, beautiful mind of a child. Boyle still utilizes surreal elements, this time with such creative, thought-provoking style that the collective use of these elements manifest a whole, detailed, ingenius world of characters. Millions might be the only film on this list that was constructed and inviting for the whole family, but by the end there is no doubt in my mind that there was a lot of love and truthfulness put into this picture.
The only film on the list I have seen but once, and from that one viewing left such an impression that I had to put it on the list. If I were giving any awards for acting, they would go straight to Phillip Seymore Hoffman for his portrayal of Truman Capote. All of them. He is such a complex character teetering back and forth between painful truthfulness and almost apathetic shallowness. The backdrop for this film revolves around his infamous book, In Cold Blood, and the way in which he gathered the truth about a small town murder, from the suspects. But like I said, its merely a backdrop, a subtext for the character development to flourish, and it works so well because of Hoffman's amazing portrayal, and the surprising elegance of director Bennett Miller.
Director Johnathan Glazier, as Kidman put it, explored very masculine emotions with Sexy Beast and feminine emotions with Birth. Not that this is by any means, a "chick flick," in fact it reminds me most of Kubrick's later work. The fact reamins that the main character is female though, and it is very much about her fragile state of mind, and the ways that she comes to grips with the death of a loved one. Birth is an unconventional love story, but it's not necessarily the concept of the film that really does it for me, because it has been explored in many ways with other films (thriller/Dead again, comedy/Chances Are, etc...), it's the way Glazier suspends disbelief, and offers different perspectives and subjective ways to feel about the subject. Birth so elegantly states that relationships, and the emotions that encompass them last beyond the moments between birth and death.
Cronnenberg's latest, is one hell of a powerful film. His quirky sense of dark humor, expertly integrated in the opening scene, is more apparent than in 2002's Spider, without distracting from the overall pacing and atmosphere. So the fact that from the beginning, the director is not taking everything with the upmost grim seriousness, one is able to allow the amazingly simple story to seep and settle into the unconscious. Some of the most simple stories can make for the best films though, because it gives the photography and small beautiful segments a moment to shine at an equal luminosity as the actors and dialogue. Cronnenberg undoubtably has a unique directing style, particularly with his actors, that doesn't always seem the most realistic under specific circumstances. But he has a goal in mind, and some awkward moments are there to serve as just that, the distance of the characters from eachother and their unknown intentions.
Undertow is a mood piece of uncommon power, that surrounds the audience with its beutiful southern, americana atmosphere. Though its noticeably set in the 80's, its awfully timeless after the initial credits sequence. It is a character piece, played extremely well by Jamie Bell, who is torn between the potential polar sides of his character, and the discovery of who he actually is, the product of nurture or nature. The title, Undertow, itself suggests the nature of man, and the events that can pull one under, to perhaps never rise above the seemingly daunting tasks that face us in life. It's an adventure film also. The audience undergoes the kid's hardships with them as they evade their only home, and a terrible tragedy, to build their own temporary homes in train carts and junk yards. Philip Glass does some amazing work with the score, helping director, David Gordon Green to fully capture the feeling of that foreboading calm before a storm (emotionally or otherwise), that is so well executed in this film. The wonderful climax is reminiscent of John Huston's classic, The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.
Reconstruction can be a difficult film at times, but it's foundation is based on the simplicity/complexity of relationships and love. Here, dicrector Christoffer Boe, creates a dizzying break from traditional form of storytelling by integrating other mediums of art to tell the story. And like David Lynch he explains from the beginning that this is just magic, its a fictional story and fictional characters, but that doesn't mean that the pain from heartache or otherwise, is not truthfull or even real. The audience follows the protagonist, Alex David, through Copenhagen Denmark as he attempts to pick up the shattered pieces of his life after involving himself in an affair. The surreal elements in the film are brilliantly conceived to keep the story flowing at a certain pace and to involve the audience in the intoxicating effects of new love.
"They took from their surroundings what was needed and made of it something more..." the opening line to the film isn't solely talking about the character's device, to me it says what Shane Carruth and company have done with this film. This piece of science fiction is done so well, with care, percision, and truthfulness, that one would never even imagine it was completed with such an astounding, shoe string budget of $7k, yet that isn't the only reason I love this film. Primer purposefully eludes the viewer in order to rightfully depict its depth. Again, the concept of the film isn't the most original, it is the way that the film and first-time director, Carruth, feed the audience the information. It constantly sparks the imagination without being overwrought in nature, and the endless permutations that are created from the characters exposure to their device, are just as much baffling to them as they are to the audience, and thats just the point. The subject is so elusive that Carruth doesn't claim to know everything about it, he just presents the questions and imagines the numers outcomes. And though it is a science fiction film, there are real characters here who's arcs are defined by their trust of one another, and the manipulation that comes with the effects of playing god.
A Very Long Engagement is a sweeping, epic, World Ward I love story, which is lavished in the unique imagery and storytelling of director, Junet. All his usual, but very peculiar elements are weaved so well into the film; from surreal, uncanny coincidences (revealed as very rewarding payoffs that push the story along as a puzzle), to the detailed character backdrops that enrich its epic nature. But this is not intended for the crowds of hormonal , weeping teens that fill the theater for something like The Notebook. Infact, the first frame of the film exposes a daangling half-torso pinned to a broken cross from its one remaining limb. The film is unwavering in its views and stance of the atrocities of war, but doesn't loom in depressing fits of despair, rather floats above all the doom with its ideals of hope and love.
Guy Ritchie drops the visual flash and rigorous pace of previous endevours, for a psychological thriller that's more centered on human emotions than Smokin' Barrels. The film begins as a usual revenge flick, and at just about the time you think it will be just that, it turns on the audience, and perplexes. Surreal elements are abruptly dropped into the story, suddenly adding layers to its meaning. Ritchie personifies the emotions within the characters, as the characters themselves, abruptly shifting personalities. The overwhelming sense of greed drifts from character to character, bending their thoughts and actions. Antagonists are anguished by their need to be feared, and protagonists begin to suggest their ulterior motives. Revolver is a tapestry of metaphores created to decieve its audience and lead one in different directions, as a con artist would do. Specific characters are almost directly related to pieces on a chess board. The film is literally a chess game, with unexpected turns around every corner, and alot of food for thought. It has its campy moments, yes, but somehow, I imagine Ritchie smirking behind the camera.