Gorgeous cinematography, stunning performances... and a recurrent taste of ashes
Oct 12 '07 (Updated Nov 27 '09)
The Bottom Line Venture out into world cinema!
IMO, 2004 had one great movie, which is one more than 2003, did. "Shi mian mai fu" (House of Flying Daggers) played Cannes and Telluride in 2004, but was not released in US theaters until 2005. I actually saw it in 2004--on Chinese DVD. As for other years ("year" being a more elastic measure than one might think, especially for those of who recognize that the "ten"--or however many--best films of a year might not all come from Hollywood and play US multiplexes).
As for my other best-of-year x lists, I have to stipulate that I have not seen (and, in some cases, likely will never see) some films that made the lists of others and/or won awards. For 2004, this list is:
Born Into Brothels
The Bourne Supremacy
Bright Future
Les Choristes (The Chorus)
Daremo shiranai (Nobody Knows)
Finding Neverland
Goodbye, Dragon Inn
The Incredible
Kill Bill 2
Un long dimanche de fianóailles (A Very Long Engagement)
Machuca
Mar adentro (The Sea Inside)
Sa som i himmelen (As It Is In Heaven)
Voces innocentes/Casas de carton (Innocent Voices)
Then there are what I think are the year's overrated movies (several of these have outstanding performances and I don't dislike about half of them):
De-Lovely
Eros
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Garçon Stupide
Garden State
Gegen die Wand (Head-On)
I Heart Huckabees
Kung-fu Hustle (a keen disappointment after "Shaolin Soccer")
María Full of Grace
Ma mère
Ray
Sideways
Tony Takitani
Vera Drake
And ones that I thought were good, but didn't make the top-ten cut. This list, too, has some outstanding performing (and gorgeous visuals in the case of "The Taste of Tea," which I should write about... someday, but not today!):
2046
Before Sunset
Being Julia
Cha no aji (The Taste of Tea)
Closer
Crustacés et coquillages (Côte d'azur)
Fahrenheit 9/11
The Manchurian Candidate
Mooladé
O Outro Lado da Rua (The Other Side of the Street)
Shi qi sui de tian (Formula 17)
Soldier's Girl
Soldier's Pay
Spider-Man 2
Troy
Der Untergang (Downfall)
White Diamond
The Woodsman
Yesterday
You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
The Eleven Best
(10-a tie) I could not make up my mind whether to include "Die Fetten Jahre sind vorbei" (the title means "The Fat [in the sense of prosperous] Years are Over," but the English-language title is the pseudo-Germanism The Edukators (cowritten and directed by Austrian Hans Weingartner), or The Oscar-winning best picture, "Million Dollar Baby" (directed by Clint Eastwood) in the tenth spot. In that three unconventional characters are the primary focus in both, sharing a slot seems not unfair. There were aspects that I admired and like in both. I think that both go on too long and beg questions (that they raise questions at all distinguishes them from most Hollywood movies!). MDM clearly had a much larger budget and stars (though Daniel Bruehl is now a star in the world beyond Fortress Bush). The movie about Dada "terrorists" and about a girl (Hilary Swank) who wants grizzled veteran Clint Eastwood to mentor her have a lot of very good work in them, though I can't say that I really like either one as a totality (the whole movie, that is).
(9) I have no such problem with "Cachorro" (Bear Cub), a Spanish comedy about a gay "bear" (big and hirsute) who wants to be responsible for a belligerent teenager about as much as the teenager wants someone acting in locis parentis. I thought that it was entertaining, and was reassured by the high IMDB ranking to believe that my appreciation wasn't idiosyncratic. The smart and charming boy seeking an initially reluctant father figure is reminiscent of the originally released "Cinema Paradiso" with the rather bearish Phillipe Noiret (and the even gruffer one in "Kolya"). Like that (before the undoing of the "director's [un]cut"), "Cachorro" depends upon the rapport between the bearish man who has no experience of being a father and the young boy. David Castillo is a Spanish television child star, and Jos Luis Garcia Perez a distinguished Spanish stage actor. They have great rapport, just as the characters they play respect each other's autonomy (and differences from each other). Each also has a great confrontation scenes with Bernardo's grandmother.
(8) As much as it pains me to include any movie that starred Tom Cruise on any list, I thought that "Collateral" (directed by Michael Mann) was gripping and even put the half-pint swaggerer to good use as a contract killer. Despite Mann's mastery of thrillers, I doubt that the film would have made it onto my list without the nuanced performance of Jamie Foxx as the driver of a taxi that Cruise's character hijacks. Foxx played a junior version of the Man of Conscience that Morgan Freeman so often plays (and finally received an Oscar for in 2004, for "Million Dollar Baby"). As many have observed before me, the ending is predictable.
(7) I'll admit to a weakness for road movies, particularly if they have the spectacular scenery (South American) of "Diarios de motocicleta" (Motorcycle Diaries, directed by Walter Salles [Central Station]). The film looks great, as does its star, Mexican heart-throb Gael García-Bernal (a double-hitter on this list). I think that Ernesto "Che" Guevera became a thug who died a pathetic death 40 years ago, but don't think that that has anything to do with the quality of the film about his youthful trip from Buenos Aires west and then north with Alberto Granado (a wry Rodrigo De la Serna) on a temperamental motorcycle. It also has an enthralling soundtrack by Gustavo Santaolalla.
(6) Although Timothy Hutton's presence barely registered, I thought that Liam Neeson, Laura Lynney, Chris O'Donnell (!), Peter Sarsgaard, John Lithgow, Tim Curry (Dr. Frank-n-Furter as a prude—inspired casting! along with Robin kissing a Batman substitute), and Dylan Baker were outstanding in the biopic "Kinsey" (written and directed by Bill Condon [Gods and Monsters]). Simplified and compressed (as all biopics are), it was far more accurate than, say, "Capote." The natural scientist focused on behavioral data in particular (and afraid of subjectivities, starting with his own) is impressively impersonated by Neeson. I love the IMDB plot keywords: "Female Masturbation, Female Nudity, Owl, Indiana University, Sequoia " It was the second Kinsey report -- the one on women -- that raised the greater storm with evidence that female masturbation occurred (you had to be there -- as I was not). Kinsey remains as controversial as Guevera, and more than Howard Hughes so far as I can see.
(5) For cinema technique across the whole spectrum of motion picture arts and sciences, a strong argument could be made that Martin Scorsese's Howard Hughes biopic "The Aviator" was 2004's outstanding movie. The formidable Cate Blanchett won an Oscar for impersonating perennial Oscar-winner Katharine Hepburn, Alan Alda got to play a neocon après la letter, Senator Owen Brewster. Alec Baldwin also had more opportunities to be nasty, and I thought that Leonardo di Caprio was very good, looking quite unlike Hughes. The script obscured the later (quite insidious) politics Alex thoroughly discusses that), but had great aerial footage.
(4) The subject matter of "Hotel Rwanda" (cowritten and directed by Terry George) is so horrific that it is difficult to judge the movie as cinema. I remember it being very green (with lots of corpses, but they were more black than red -- I guess that if I can posit a color scheme, I am showing my callousness). One has to admire the courage and savvy Paul Rusesabagina and the range of Paul Cheadle's characterization of him. The scene in which Paul and his wife Tatania (the also extraordinary Sophie Okonedo discuss hurling their children to their death from the roofs is not just unforgettable, but can give me chills just remembering it). I didn't find the musical score overly intrusive. As I wrote, Cheadle's "performance and the magnitude of the violence do not need to be amped up with music in the Max Steiner tradition."
(3) "Mala Educación" (Bad Education written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar) has two explosive performances by Gael García-Bernal and an extraordinary one that was less heralded by Fele Martínez. Along with the acting and the Hitchcockian complicated screenplay, I especially liked the Bernard Hermann homage soundtrack composed by Alberto Iglesias (Lovers of the Arctic Circle). "Bad Education" lacks classical catharsis and it may leave a taste of ashes for viewers eager to identify with Angel. (And those not paying attention might get lost in the labyrinthine plot.) It seems that a majority of the films on this list leave a taste of ashes in the mouth after sumptuous cinematography and outstanding acting, including what I think is the best of the best of 2004.
(2) Travelers and Magicians is the first feature film ever made in the Buddhist Kingdom of Bhutan. (What a start!) Its Bhutanese director, Khyentse Norbu, is a very esteemed reincarnated lama who studied film-making in London and was a consultant for Bernardo Bertolucci's movie "Little Buddha." His first movie, "The Cup," filmed in a Buddhist monastery in Nepal was based on his own experiences as a youngster in a Buddhist monastery. It became an international hit. The bemused observation of the interplay of traditional culture and interest in globalized culture is not quite as central to T&M as it was to "The Cup," but is an important aspect. Especially since there are two stories intercut -- a road movie and a sort of Bhutanese The Postman Always Rings Twice -- the pace could be brisker. Like "Motorcycle Diaries," the mountain scenery is breath-taking even without experiencing the oxygen deprivation of being there.
(1) Not everyone appreciated Zhang Yimou's "Shi mian mai fu" (The House of Flying Daggers) as much as I did. Too bad! I think that it is an astonishing piece of cinema and that the cinematography by is as gorgeous as it gets. Kaneshiro Takeshi can give Gael García-Bernal as an international male heart-throb (Andy Lau used to be one) and Zhang Ziyi's blind tavern-entertainer playing of "the echo game" in the Peony Pavilion is sublime. I love when the fleeing lovers are caged running through the forest (and having watched the end more than a dozen times, still have am not sure whether zero, one, or two of the leads is alive at the end, though my best guess is one).
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I've also posted annotated lists of best movies of the 1940s, the 1980s,
1939, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008
of my favorite films of all times and the greatest films of all times along with lists by genres that are linked from there.
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