The (global) best (and worst) of 2014
I get to see a lot of movies from all over the world (340 in 2014); most best-ofs tend to focus on Anglo films, so this is an attempt to lump ín together a global choice of titles. It's a matter of personal taste, so no superhero blockbusters everybody knows. I've also put in a few no-no's from my point of view.
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40 titles
- DirectorZaza UrushadzeStarsLembit UlfsakElmo NüganenGiorgi NakashidzeIn 1992, war rages in Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia. An Estonian man, Ivo, has decided to stay behind and harvest his crops of tangerines. In a bloody conflict at his door, a wounded man is left behind, and Ivo takes him in.My favorite film this year. Its message has become very urgent in the past year with the Ukraine crisis. So far the best example - along with 'In Bloom' - for the ongoing Georgian cinema renaissance. To my surprise it did get an Oscar nomination.
- DirectorNuri Bilge CeylanStarsHaluk BilginerMelisa SözenDemet AkbagA hotel owner and landlord in a remote Turkish village deals with conflicts within his family and a tenant behind on his rent.My 2nd favorite film this year. Won Palme d'Or. Excellent photography. Very good script adapted from Chekov's short stories. Very good performance by lead actor Haluk Bilginer. Only reason why it's not my favorite film is its excessive runtime.
- DirectorDiego Quemada-DiezStarsBrandon LópezRodolfo DomínguezKaren MartínezA road movie about teenage immigrants and their journey to the U.S.My 3rd favorite film this year. Very realistic, very good script. A must see for Americans because it explains the background of the refugee crisis very well.
- DirectorDamián SzifronStarsDarío GrandinettiMaría MarullMónica VillaSix short stories that explore the extremities of human behavior involving people in distress.Among the films nominated, this would have been anyone's guess for the foreign language Oscar. Most successful Argentinian film of all time. It's only weakness is - as in all anthology films - that some episodes don't hit as hard as others.
- DirectorLee Joon-ikStarsLee ReSol Kyung-guUhm Ji-wonStory of an 8-year-old girl who faces a horrible rape that damages her internally and affects her emotionally, trying to overcome all the obstacles following the incident with the good support of those around her.From 2012 but with very limited release due to its controversial subject matter. Have never seen it handled so well and the performance of the girl (Lee Ree) is nothing short of amazing.
- DirectorKore-eda HirokazuStarsMasaharu FukuyamaMachiko OnoYôko MakiRyota is a successful workaholic businessman. When he learns that his biological son was switched with another boy after birth, he faces the difficult decision to choose his true son or the boy he and his wife have raised as their own.Koreeda continues to be the greatest author of Japanese cinema. Best-written film I've seen in 2014. Very good performance by Masaharu Fukuyama, who is actually one of Japan's most famous rock stars.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsEllar ColtranePatricia ArquetteEthan HawkeThe life of Mason, from early childhood to his arrival at college.It's Linklater's masterpiece and probably the only US film of the year which can be truly called defining. Won Silver Bear for directing and would merit a similar Oscar.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsMatthew McConaugheyAnne HathawayJessica ChastainWhen Earth becomes uninhabitable in the future, a farmer and ex-NASA pilot, Joseph Cooper, is tasked to pilot a spacecraft, along with a team of researchers, to find a new planet for humans.I'm one of the people who believe that Nolan's work since 'Memento' never caught up to that masterpiece, and that confusing the audience with plot twists and noise doesn't amount to clever film-making. But as blockbusters go, this one's exceptional. Easily the best OST of the year, too - probably Zimmer's all-time best.
- DirectorWes AndersonStarsRalph FiennesF. Murray AbrahamMathieu AmalricA writer encounters the owner of an aging high-class hotel, who tells him of his early years serving as a lobby boy in the hotel's glorious years under an exceptional concierge.I have to admit that I often don't get Wes Anderson's brand of laconic humour, and mostly like his films because of individual performances. Ralph Fiennes certainly pulls of one of his very best here, but what makes it so captivating is its orgy of lavish costumes and sets.
- DirectorIsao TakahataStarsChloë Grace MoretzJames CaanMary SteenburgenKaguya is a beautiful young woman coveted by five nobles. To try to avoid marrying a stranger she doesn't love, she sends her suitors on seemingly impossible tasks. But she will have to face her fate and punishment for her choices.Easily best animated film. Isao Takahata's swan song may not just be the penultimate Ghibli masterpiece, but outmatched grandmaster Hayao Miyazaki's own 'The Wind arises'. This degree of perfection may never be achieved again in animation.
- DirectorJehane NoujaimStarsAhmed HassanKhalid AbdallaMagdy AshourA group of Egyptian revolutionaries battle leaders and regimes, risking their lives to build a new society of conscience.Best documentary I've seen in 2014 (at Berlin film fest, so rather late). Has a relentless drive to it that perfectly catches the revolutionary atmosphere - which, as we now sadly know, has been completely crushed.
- DirectorJayan CherianStarsKallen PokkudanSarithaPrakash BareA band of displaced untouchables in Western Ghats of India embrace Buddhism in order to escape from caste oppression.If there was an Audacity Award for film making, this one would easily deserve it. Shows a perpective that is usually ignored and has nothing to do with standard Bollywood fare. Forbidden in India.
- DirectorNing HaoStarsZheng XuDuobujieNan YuA young lawyer from the city travels to the Gobi desert where he embarks on a series of adventures and challenges.It's a Chinese western set in the present. That premise works primarily because of excellent camera work and scenography. Also pretty poignant critique of Chinese society, aside from action fun.
- DirectorGareth EvansStarsIko UwaisYayan RuhianArifin PutraOnly a short time after the first raid, Rama goes undercover with the thugs of Jakarta and plans to bring down the syndicate and uncover the corruption within his police force.Best martial arts film of the year. Or decade. Or ever. This much combat action has never been done before, and will be hard to top.
- DirectorDoug LimanStarsTom CruiseEmily BluntBill PaxtonA soldier fighting aliens gets to relive the same day over and over again, the day restarting every time he dies.Credit where credit is due, 'EoT' was the funniest, fastest, most engaging action film of 2014 if you can't stand DC superhero movies (like yours truly).
- DirectorJennifer KentStarsEssie DavisNoah WisemanDaniel HenshallA single mother and her child fall into a deep well of paranoia when an eerie children's book titled "Mister Babadook" manifests in their home.My favorite horror film of the year, proving once more that imagination is more terrifying than blood and guts, and that Australian cinema is pretty much setting the zeitgeist pace (as does its vibrant music scene).
- DirectorDan GilroyStarsJake GyllenhaalRene RussoBill PaxtonWhen Louis Bloom, a con man desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story.If the world and the Academy are just, Gyllenhaal will get nominated for this (he didn't, to much controversy). As in 'Enemy', he's put a mile between himself and other US leads. Riz Ahmed would also deserve a supporting actor's nod. Not my favorite film of the year though because of gaping plot holes.
- DirectorUberto PasoliniStarsEddie MarsanJoanne FroggattKaren DruryA council case worker looks for the relatives of those found dead and alone.This is one of these nice little films that never get noticed outside of the festival circuit, which is regretful because of Eddie Marsan's wonderful performance.
- DirectorJohn Michael McDonaghStarsBrendan GleesonChris O'DowdKelly ReillyAfter he is threatened during a confession, a good-natured priest must battle the dark forces closing in around him.Another movie to watch for its excellent lead performance. It's a career best for Brendan Gleeson. Surprisingly ignored by the Academy, maybe because they dislike religious themes these days.
- DirectorShûichi OkitaStarsAyumi ItoJun KunimuraGô AyanoWere people's lives changed by having known Yonosuke?Probably the best among the recent wave of nostalgic Japanese films, with very nice performances by leads Kengo Kora and Yuriko Yoshitaka - if you like Japanese awkwardness as much as I do.
- DirectorVikas BahlStarsKangana RanautRajkummar RaoLisa HaydonA Delhi girl from a traditional family sets out on a solo honeymoon after her marriage gets cancelled.This was one of the most successful Indian films this year, a major break-through for its star Kangana Ranaud, and should probably be your choice if you only watch one Indian film per annum.
- DirectorZhangke JiaStarsWu JiangBaoqiang WangTao ZhaoFour independent stories set in modern China about random acts of violence.Director Zhangke Jia's most accessible film to date features a formidable performance by China's arguably best actor Wen Jiang. It's as obvious as social critique gets in China.
- DirectorHong KhaouStarsPei-Pei ChengBen WhishawAndrew LeungA young man of Chinese-Cambodian descent dies, leaving behind his isolated mother and his 4-year male lover, who grieve but don't speak a lick of each other's language.Has remained relatively obscure, but commendable for legendary wuxia actress Pei-Pei Chang's performance. Hong Khao is arguably the most interesting gay director right now.
- DirectorDavid Gordon GreenStarsNicolas CageTye SheridanGary PoulterAn ex-con, who is the unlikeliest of role models, meets a 15-year-old boy and is faced with the choice of redemption or ruin.Won Tye Sheridan Venice's newcomer award and proves that he's definitely one of the most interesting new faces in US cinema (as Whiplash meanwhile emphasized).
- DirectorHiner SaleemStarsKorkmaz ArslanGolshifteh FarahaniSuat UstaBaran, a Kurdish independence war hero, is now sheriff in Erbil, the capital city. No longer feeling useful in this society now at peace, he thinks about quitting the police force, but instead agrees to be stationed in a small valley, at the very borders of Iran, Turkey, and Iraq. It is a lawless territory, right at the heart of illegal drug, medication and alcohol trafficking. Having arrived in the small village, he refuses to bow down to Aga Azzi, the seriously corrupt tribal chief and absolute ruler of the area. Baran meets Govend, the village school teacher, who is also rejected by the villagers. Like Baran, she represents another law, that of the young and autonomous Kurdish state. Govend is all the more vulnerable as she is not a married woman.Golshifteh Farahani is far too beautiful for her role but how can she help it being the arguably the most gorgeous actress worldwide right now. Somewhat dwarfed by her radiance, the film is an interesting political western.