Top Ten Films of 2005 as Objectively Selected and Ranked by God
Mar 04 '06 (Updated Mar 05 '06)
The Bottom Line I had a sleeping vision, yea, and God came unto me verily as a Dove and sang these His most beloved films of 2005 into my ear. Awake and hearken!
There is something awfully arbitrary about comparing a bunch of movies that happened to be released in the same period of 365 days. And yet here we are, in Oscar season again, and the world (or about a fifth of it) will be curious to see this horse race to the finish. Wasn’t Heath Ledger’s performance in Brokeback Mountain evidently and quantifiably “better” than Philip Seymour Hoffman’s in Capote (or is it vice versa?). So, the competitive aspect is arbitrary, subjective, an indignity to art at the highest levels, and ultimately quite meaningless, but damn if it’s not also irresistible and fun!
These are my ten favorite fiction features released during 2005, organized in several ways. First, and most important on my scale: how long I expect each will stay with me.
Top 10 for Personally Enduring or Lasting Value
10. Nobody Knows (director, Hirokazu Kore-eda). A haunting and sad, based-on-true events story about five siblings abandoned by their mother in an apartment in Tokyo, Nobody Knows possesses some of the most convincing and extraordinary performances by children I’ve ever seen. (In America featured similarly strong performances by very young actors.)
9. Broken Flowers is yet another film with Bill Murray as an aggrieved, semi-slovenly man in midlife crisis who may or may not be the father (or surrogate parent) of a confused young adult. I think we’re up to part four of the series, this time with the ever hip and generally brilliant director Jim Jarmusch at the helm. Cool soundtrack too. Otherwise, recedes without a trace into doughy memory.
8. Caché (Hidden) is a brilliant mind-fuck of a film from the sadistic Austrian auteur, Michael Haneke. It is akin to Lost Highway (David Lynch), and this year’s A History of Violence, exploring themes of suppressed violence its repercussions. By two years’ passing, however, I doubt I will ever think of this fine film again.
7. My Summer of Love, by director Paul Pavlikovsky, is a fascinating and beautifully shot film about a really mean, manipulative wealthy girl hooking up with a naïve, good-hearted and poor girl: trouble of all kinds ensue, especially when the poor girl’s brother takes on Jesus and the community to pray on behalf of his “fallen” sister. A gorgeous soundtrack rounds out the great performances and camera work.
6. Munich, Spielberg’s troubled and troubling reflection on the 1972 Olympics Massacre, the Israeli “hit squad” reprisals, and more to the point, his reflection on the usefulness of targeted assassinations in accomplishing one’s goals, is worthy (I think) more for its intelligent and humane equivocation and ambivalence on the issues than as a historically accurate document. Viscerally, this was by far the most nerve-jangling film of the year.
5. A History of Violence (David Cronenberg) had the Village Voice critics in their annual poll frothing at that mouth in admiration. Myself, I found it very entertaining and thought-provoking at once, though no thunderclap from the cinematic gods. Like both Munich and Caché, it delves into dark territory of violence and human nature, but from a noirish, pulpy angle.
4. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee) has now officially been ruined by an avalanche of lame jokes, good and bad press (from critical and religious or “family friendly” circles, respectively), faux trailers and other parodies, and basic cultural overdose. Beneath all that was a beautiful and well-made story, brilliantly adapted (and expanded) from Annie Proulx’ short story. Pity it has now become, more than anything else, a punchline.
3. Good Night, and Good Luck (George Clooney) is stylish and timely, a piece of the 1960s that speaks volumes about the current dance between politicians and the press (note: the politicians still lead). Edward R. Murrow’s unflinching stare at a demagogic Joe McCarthy, and his refusal to cede basic freedoms in the face of a boorish junior senator are reasons to cheer.
2. The Squid and the Whale is a perfect piece of tragicomedy (my favorite genre) from young director Noah Baumbach (my classmate at Vassar College). The film is given feint praise as a “small, independent” gem, but it outshines its humble scale: magnificent performances and a sublimely true-ringing script (also by Baumbach, in semi-autobiographical mode) render the tiniest details universal. Putatively “about” the fallout of divorce on children, it’s also about learning to admit the fallibility of one’s parents and finding one’s own path. Harrowing and hilarious at once, this is “my people’s” coming-of-age film.
1. La Meglio gioventù (The Best of Youth) was neither made in 2005, nor was it originally a film. At six-hours length, and made for Italian TV in 2003 by Marco Tullio Giordana, it was only released in theaters in 2005 and on DVD in 2006. Still, upon my first viewing, it launched itself not only into the top position of this year, but of the previous 5 or so. I can’t recall a recent film, in fact, that got this far under my skin: its music burrowed in my brain for days, its characters singed in memory I suspect for life. The effect was so severe, I doubted myself, wondering if I was merely in some temporary state of cinematic infatuation? Well, after a second viewing (on DVD) I was just as blown away by the humor, tragedy, and improbable zest for life exuding from its pores.
Top 10, Considering Overall Artistic Merit:
10. Broken Flowers
9. Munich
8. A History of Violence
7. My Summer of Love
6. Brokeback Mountain
5. Nobody Knows
4. The Squid and the Whale
3. Good Night, and Good Luck
2. Caché (Hidden)
1. La Meglio gioventù (The Best of Youth)
The Top 10, Considering Cultural Relevancy
10. Broken Flowers
9. My Summer of Love
8. Nobody Knows
7. Caché (Hidden)
6. La Meglio gioventù (The Best of Youth)
5. A History of Violence
4. The Squid and the Whale
3. Munich
2. Brokeback Mountain
1. Good Night, and Good Luck
Four Disappointments:
Woody Allen’s Match Point, Rob Marshall’s Memoirs of a Geisha, Hayao Miyazaki's Howl’s Moving Castle, and Terrence Mallick’s The New World.
Films of 2005 I Still Want to See:
A State of Mind (documentary about North Korean gymnastics tribute) and Walk the Line
Major Films of 2005 I Don’t Want to See:
King Kong, Harry Potter and the _____, and The Chronicles of Narnia
Films I Found Overrated
Café Lumière and Crash
Special Mention: Three Excellent Documentaries:
Grizzly Man, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Ballets Russes. I couldn’t say which one is “best”. I, er, God enjoyed all three very much.
By the way...
God was very peeved that Crash, a contrived and over-written story with admittedly great performances won the Oscar for Best Picture. He'd have preferred any other of the nominees, particularly Good Night, and Good Luck... anything but Crash. He shrugs his Almighty shoulders.
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