GENEROSO'S
BEST OF 2004 FILM LIST
This was easily one of the best years in film that I can remember so it was
extremely difficult putting together this list. The top four
films especially would’ve been my number one last year. As always
I saw about 180+ films this year. Documentaries are still getting a wider
release than ever before but the stronger and stronger art house Asian entries
dominate the list. So, here it goes….
1) Last Life in the Universe/ Ruang Rak Noi Nid Mahasan (Pen-Ek Ratanaruang)
THAILAND The title of the Village Voice review of this film
is wonderful… “Suicidal Librarian, Chain-Smoking Slob Discover Life's Elusive
Symmetries”. The main character Kenji’s (Tadanobu Asano of Zatoichi) attempted
suicide leads to the accidental death of a young girl. Kenji befriends
the dead girl’s sister Noi (Sinitta Boonyasak) and moves into her wreck of
a house to escape his past while she readies to move away to his home of
Osaka. Gorgeously shot by Chris Doyle. Funny, touching and exciting.
This is the second film by Ratanaruang, who’s first film “Mon Rak Transistor”
is worth hunting down as well.
2) 2046 (Wong Kar Wai) HONG KONG
I almost feel the need to put an asterisk next to this film as I have heard
that this version which I’ve seen will be severely edited prior to it’s US
release. The character Chow Mo Wan (Tony Leung) has returned from “In
the Mood for Love” now bitter from the relationship with Su Li Zhen he (Chow)
continues to write serial novels but now places the people he meets into
the future…2046 (fifty years after Hong Kong has gone back to China and the
number of the hotel room where he and his former love wrote their novels
together). Daring visually (Chris Doyle again) but like his earlier
“Ashes of Time” works more as a series of great moments creating mood than
a drawn out story. This easily would’ve been first on my list had some
of the character’s (most notably Lulu early in the film) had been better
created. Still, a great achievement.
3) Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michael
Gondry) USA Charlie Kaufman’s screenplay for “Confessions
of a Dangerous Mind”and his previous work in “Adaptation” and “Being John
Malkovich: have him doing some of the most unique screenwriting in American
cinema. This film deserves the praise it has been receiving and unlike
“Adaptation” there is no letdown at the end. This film provides Jim
Carrey, Kate Winslet with the strongest performances of the careers and the
supporting cast is excellent as well,…Tom Wilkinson (In the Bedroom), Mark
Ruffalo (You Can Count on Me) and Kirsten Dunst. Not unlike a Phillip
K. Dick novel using science fiction to bear out the fragility of human emotion.
4) The Saddest Music in the World (Guy Maddin) CANADA
A musical? How this movie looks this good shot on digital video boggles
my mind. A beer heiress invites musicians from all over the world to
present the saddest song ever made and compete for $25,000. Isabella
Rossellini is dynamic in the lead and the pace is unlike anything I’ve seen
this year. Mark McKinney from the defunct Kids in the Hall is wonderful
as well and really adds much to many scenes.
5) Gozu/ Gokudô kyôfu dai-gekijô (Takeshi Miike) JAPAN.
Since 1991 Miike has made 64 films! That’s four films a year.
Eclectic is not the word for Miike as in 2001 he came out with his bizarre
musical The Happiness of the Katakuris and followed it up later that year
with Ichi The Killer, quite possibly the most disturbing film he’s made and
that’s saying something. Gozu is a “comedy” where
a young Yakuza is told to kill his Yakuza brother but loses his (the brother)
body after he is accidentally killed. The young Yakuza is then led
into a surrealist world of sexual repression. Some scenes are so extreme
that I cannot mention them here. So much fun with a truly demented
ending.
6) Reconstruction (Christoffer Boe) DENMARK
Great first feature by Danish director Boe. Main character Alex has
a wonderfully sweet girlfriend in Simone but still chooses to have a one
night affair with Aimee (both women played to perfection by Maria Bonnevie).
The future of all of their lives seems to come from the pen of Aimee’s husband,
an author, who is fully aware of his wife’s activities. Smartly scripted
and this year’s entry into the Mullholland Drive admiration society.
7) Goodbye Dragon Inn/Bu san (Tsai Ming Liang) TAIWAN. A
strong follow up to Tsai’s 2002 masterpiece “What Time Is It There”.
A slow thorough study of the last night in a run down cinema which is showing
King Hu's 1966 classic "Dragon Inn. A lovely testament to the power
of the movie theatre as a community center and the many other roles that
it has served over the years, Lovely work.
8) Crimson Gold/ Talaye sorkh (Jafar Panahi) IRAN. This
is the ninth film by Panahi who came out with the superb “White Balloon”a
few years back. The story begins with a brutal jewelry store theft
and then follows the main character Hussein backwards to see what led to
this moment. Like countryman Abbas Kiarostami who insists on using non-professional
actors, Panahi uses a real life pizza delivery man (Hossain Emadeddin) in
the lead as the marginalized man who must turn to violence. Magnificent
tension the whole way through.
9) Dig! (Ondi Timoner) USA. How good
is this documentary? Timoner followed up and coming bands-“The Brian
Jonestown Massacre” and “The Dandy Warhols” for years of lineup changes,
misery and failure and although I could care less about the music these bands
created I couldn’t have been more enthralled with what I saw. So compelling
are some of the scenes that you almost feel too guilty to watch. Brilliantly
done.
10) How To Draw a Bunny (John Walter)-USA.
Admittedly I knew so little about Ray Johnson going into this film, then
again as it seems no one knew too much about him. .Long considered the best
unknown pop artist in New York, he was overshadowed by Warhol who had the
desire to manipulate the media more than Johnson. Truly hysterical
letters and video pieces in his memory unearthed after his suicide.
A real pleasure to watch.
ALMOST MAKING THE LIST:
The Return/ Vozvrashcheniye (Andrei Zvyagintsev)
RUS A father returns after a twelve year absence to take
his sons to a remote island for fishing. Tarkovsky like in form, well acted
by the three leads. A great debut film for Zvyagintsev.
House of Flying Daggers/ Shi mian mai fu (ZhangYimou) CHINA
Yimou so improved over his “Hero”which was too drawn out to be effective.
Yimou has created a great work in which the visuals don’t overwhelm the story
which is quite compelling. It does run long but is enjoyable,
Springtime in a Small Town/ Xiao cheng zhi
chun CHINA A remake of the 1948 of the same name. Depicts
the family struggles during one of the darkest periods in Chinese history.
Well done in almost every way and solid acting.
Strayed/ Les Égarés (Andre Techine) FR Emmanuelle
Beart is strong as the mother of two young children that flee an air raid
to find an abandoned mansion. Director Techine created the seminal
coming of age film “Wild Reeds” so he is skilled in directing young people
in adverse situations.
Bad Education/ LA Mala educación (Pedro Almodovar) SPAIN
Almodovar can do no wrong as his last four films suggest. Not as strong as
“talk To Her” but still quite impressive is this story of two friends that
endured sexual abuse during the Franco era of schooling. Gael García
Bernal is sensational in the lead.
Tarnation (Jonathan Caouette) USA Unique documentary has
director Caouette filmng his mother’s decline into schizophrenia over a 19
year period. Some methods of filing become redundant and hurt the main
subject but it is still a thrilling use of the technique.
The Story of Marie and Julien/ Histoire de Marie
et Julien (Jacques Rivette) FR Veteran French New
Wave director Rivette continues to make well though out dramas. Although
it overlabors it’s central allegory I this admired the interplay between
Beart and Radziwilowicz. Not as strong as Va Savior but well made.
The Legend of Leigh Bowery (Charles Atlas) USA. Great short
film about the life of 80s fashion designer Leigh Bowery who died of AIDS
at the age of 33. Interviews are balanced and give an entertaining
portrait of a true eccentric.
End of the Century-The Story of the Ramones (Jim
Fields) USA. The Ramones were the first concert I ever went
to at the tender old age of 14 and I have loved them since so obviously my
expectations were a bit high. This documentary does cover all of the
bases but as usual for a rock doc is just does not have enough clips of music.
Badass (Mario Van Peebles) USA.
Mario’s homage to father Melvin and his struggles to make the film that would
move black filmmaking to the front in the 1970s. Film could’ve been better
acted but the story is just too good not to see. Should make a star
out of Joy Bryant who played Melvin’s assistant.
Before Sunset (Richard Linklater) USA.
The critics are going way too crazy over this follow up to the 1995 film
Before Sunrise. Cut away to ten years later and the leads have figured
out a bit about their younger self important selves. Still a lovely
film with fabulous performances from Hawke and Delpy. Well ad-libbed
dialogues are quite impressive.
Dawn of the Dead (Remake) (Jack Snyder) USA.
I once said that it would be easier to remake Casablanca than the original
Dawn which is locked into an era and also it’s one of my favorite films of
all time. Still Snyder does a good job shifting the focus from consumerism
to post 9/11 protectionism. Action is the idea here and it delivers
well. The script from Troma veteran James Gunn I’m sure helped in keeping
this one real.
Spring Summer Winter Fall and Spring/ Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom
(Kim Ki-duk) KOREA On a floating temple on a serene
lake, a young boy is raised by a Buddhist monk. As he grows past his
home and leaves, the boy is eventually drawn back after he struggles with
the outside world. One of the many great new Korean films being distributed
in the US.
DISAPPOINTMENTS
The Life Aquatic (Wes Anderson) USA
I adore Bottle Rocket and Rusmore but was not thrilled with the Royal Tannenbaums.
Here it confirms that Wes is in a rut. The attention to tiny details
is just trite here and the characters seem so very one dimensional unlike
his earlier films. Some laughs but an otherwise flat film.
Millennium Mambo (Hou Hsiou Hsien) TAIWAN Shu Qi is luminous in
the lead but invariably this film which is more in the vain of HHH’s
“Flowers of Shaghai” just sets a mood that doesn’t keep interest. I
did enjoy the visuals as I normally do with all of Hsien’s films but it doesn’t
go anywhere.
Coffee and Cigarettes (Jim Jarmusch) USA
Collected over several years, these shorts center around the aforementioned
title. Some scenes do work well (Bill Murray and RZA, Tom Waits
and Iggy Pop) and some just don’t (Cate Blanchett and The White Stripes).
Mr. Jarmusch hasn’t made a good complete film since 1996’s Dead Man.
This seems like a watered down version of “Night on Earth” and that step
back was not necessary.
WAY OVERRATED
Farrenheit 9/11 (Michael Moore) USA.
So if Moore’s purpose was to encourage undecided voters to look at the evil
George W and his wrongdoings in Iraq he should’ve maybe considered putting
his old tricks away…bad humor on a serious subject and preaching to the liberal
choir. Being poetic while showing the World Trade Center tragedy and
then showing mutilated Iraqis for sympathy isn’t going to draw tears from
the heartland, sorry. BTW Bush won so you failed! Shame on Tarantino
and his jury for giving this film the Palm D’Or at Cannes this year, putting
their political agenda over art.
The Dreamers (Bernardo Bertolucci) ITALY/FR
Poor Bernardo…Admittedly I have a low tolerance for 60s nostalgia but this
film was simply painful to watch and ultimately unnecessary as Bertolucci
covered this better 40 years earlier in Before the Revolution. The
beauty of the three leads is unquestionable but the acting is unbearable.
Particularly Eva Green who mutilates her already bad lines in this film which
leads to the events of May 68. Blah!
The Passion of the Christ (Mel Gibson) USA/ITALY
The last word on the life of Christ, should’ve been Scorcese’s “Last Temptation
of the Christ” which was obviously missed by Gibson who chose the pain of
Christ’s death as the only source of identifying Christ’s humanity.
So grotesque and unnecessary it does more to alienate non-Christians away
from the teachings of Christ who as seen here in Gibson’s film is no more
god than Brando is in “On The Waterfront”. That is if you are using
the ability to take a beating as proof of divinity?