Tuesday 7 January 2014

My own most admired films of 2013 films


These are in no particular order, and include some from 2011/12 that I was slow to catch up on and a 1991 release I had not seen for 20 years.


Gravity – for the amazing visual achievements of Director  Alfonso Cuaron and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki plus  Sandra Bullock’s role and performance.

The Counselor – Ridley Scott’s film from Cormac McCarthy’s script confused many critics by not being what they expected – a Hollywood thriller – but is an inexorable morality tale very well told, with a great cast and handsomely shot by  Dariusz Wolski.

Captain Phillips – for the two lead performances by the seasoned pro Tom Hanks and the non-professional Barkhad Abdi, Paul Greengrass’s Direction and  Barry Ackroyd’s cinematography.  How true it is to the actual events is another question.

The Life of Pi – amazing beauty and skilful story telling as Ang Lee attempts Yan Martel’s mysterious novel and Claudio Miranda shoots it.  It may not ‘make you believe in God’ but will ask which Grand Narrative you prefer.

Cloud Atlas – what courage it took to tackle filming David Mitchell’s novel – and what wit it took to make it so well.  The Wachowski siblings worked with Tom Tykwer plus a stellar cast and  John Toll and Frank Grieber behind the cameras.  But do read the book.

The Great Gatsby.    Luhrmann’s is for me the authentic film of the book, and Leonardo DiCaprio the essence of Gatsby.   Catherine Martin, aka Mrs. L, provided the immaculate Production Design as usual and Simon Duggan was the DP.

About Time – Richard Curtis’s  movie has all the virtues of the traditional small British film showing there is really no need to ape Hollywood.   Romanticism does not have to slip into sentimentality. 

Macbeth – the National Theatre’s Kenneth Branagh production is the best version of the Scottish Play I have ever seen.   The language shines as diamonds in the mud and blood.   Alex Kingston is a powerful and sexy Lady M. but the real star is Mr. William Shakespeare. 

The Sound of My Voice.   Independent movies rule in Zal Batmanglij’s work with Brit Marling’s second film.   (this was first released in 2011, but it took me time to get to see it, and I haven’t yet seen her East.) 

Zero Dark Thirty – Jessica Chastain, Kathryn Bigelow and  Mark Boal provide the most sympathetic – because the most honest – account ho Intelligence services works and of the CIA’s exhausting hunt for Osama Bin Laden.    Chastain and Jennifer Lawrence are surely the decade’s great acting finds. DP Greig Frazer.

Silver Linings Playbook.   David O. Russell brings us ensemble playing at its best, led by the wondrous Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in the happiest and least sentimental movie I have ever seen about grief and mental illness.  DP Masanubo Takayanagi.

Iron Man 3.   Shane Black put the franchise back on course after the disappointment of IM2.  This is the best IM yet, fast, funny, thrilling and refusing to take itself too seriously.  It was 2013’s biggest box office hit, which actually gives us some hope for Hollywood.   The DP was John Toll. 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.   It must be have been hard to make part 2  engaging, but Frances Lawrence’s effort  shines, working from Simon Beaufoy and Michael Arndt’s adaptation of Suzanne Collins novel.  Jennifer Lawrence delivers again and we have Phillip Seymour Hoffman added to the mix.   Thank goodness Young Adult lit does not have to be simplistic – or non-political.  DP Jo Willems.  ( I also have high hopes for the Zemekis/Kaufman adaptation of Patrick Ness’s Chaos Walking!)

Rust and Bone - I didn’t know what to expect of this Jacques Audiard film, but what I got surprised shocked and moved me.    With Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts.  Stephane Fontaine DP. 

Beasts of the Southern Wild – blew me away.  Who need Hollywood Studio  blockbusters when a tiny cooperative/community of dedicated professionals and non-professionals can intrigue, amaze and overwhelm us so? Behn Zeitlin, directing his first main feature, interviewed over 3000 young girls before finding 5 year old Quvenzhane Wallis to play Hushpuppy.  Time well spent.   The Oscar nomination for a (by then) eight year old was also well deserved. Watch and wonder.

Raise the Red Lantern – I saw this lustrous Zhang Yimou film 20 years ago and have been looking for a decent copy (with English subtitles) ever since.  The cover says it only has Thai subs, but it’s wrong.  Thank you, Remaster Edition.  Starring Gong Li.  


A word about Cinematographers and Directors of Photography.

When Orson Welles directed his Citizen Kane he insisted that the credits read A Film by Orson Welles and Greg Toland.    Toland was the Director of Photography.   Toland brought together so many new cinematic techniques, and invented a few others,  to produce a masterpiece, and Welles (even Welles) knew he could never have made this film without him.  

Any established Director will want to appoint their own DP, and any new one should be provided with a safe pair of hands behind the lens by the film’s producers.  The other key element in bringing a film to the screen is of course the Editor, but I will write about them at a later date.  

For now let us consider the varied talents of the men (and they are all men) who set the lights and cameras for the films listed above.   Some of them work consistently with the same Directors and have built up a joint understanding that helps realize the vision of the Director.   Others have varied CVs regarding both colleagues and genres.  I have only mentioned some of their well known movies below, but the Independent Movie Data Base website (IMDb) is a rich fund of information.

Before Gravity Emmanuel Lubezki worked with Terrence Malik on To The  Wonder as well as the Coen Bothers’  Burn After Reading   and Cuaron’s Children of Men, Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow.  Also Lemony Snicket; a Series of Unfortunate Events, Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in The Hat, Meet Joe Black, and Y Tu Mama Tambien

Dariusz Wolski  (The Counselor) previously filmed Scott’s Prometheus and all of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, plus Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland and  Sweeney Todd and films as varied as Dark City and Crimson Tide.

Barry Ackroyd (Captain Phillips) has Bigelow’s  The Hurt Locker,  Ken Loach’s  The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Carla’s Song, Land and Freedom  and United 93, Coriolanus and Green Zone in his portfolio.

Greig Frazer (Zero Dark Thirty) was the cinematographer or DP on Snow White and the Hunter, Killing Them Softly and the US version of Let Me In.

Masanubo Takayanagi (Silver Linings Playbook) previously filmed   Warrior  and  The Grey.

John Toll (Iron Man 3);    Cloud Atlas,  Legends of the Fall, Braveheart, The Thin Red Line, Vanilla Sky,  Gone Baby Gone.

Frank Grieber;  Run Lola Run, Perfume.

Jo Willens (Hunger Games; Catching Fire) filmed  30 Days of Night and Hard Candy. And may have already shot  Hunger Games parts 3 & 4.

Stephane Fontaine (Rust and Bone);  The Prophet and  The Beat My Heart Missed.

Some Directors started off as cinematographers, Zhang Yimou being a prime example.     I see  about thirty of my favourite movies named in this article,  suggesting that the men behind the cameras are almost as important as the men and women in the Director’s chair.   The auter theory needs adapting to include collaborators.