First, I would just like to mention two that did not make this list. One is Lee, which apparently many people were too cool to appreciate. Various critics have called it too conservative or else boringly conventional, but I beg to differ. I loved this film. I loved the subject matter (and have long been interested in Lee Miller's work) and thought Kate Winslet gave one of her best ever performances (which does say something). Plus, how could you ever resist that ending?
Also, not because it is a masterpiece or anything like that, but simply because the reviews were undeservedly cruel, I would just like to say a few good words about Slingshot. It is a harrowing sci-fi film about a mission to Saturn's moon that kept me on edge all the way through. Casey Affleck really is one of the finest actors of his generation.
The Brutalist / dir. by Brady Corbet
I'm sorry for the obvious pun, but this was indeed rather brutal. Despite the short 15-minute intermission, the length of the film (three and a half hours) was definitely a challenge. That said, I left the cinema completely overwhelmed by Brady Corbet's cinematic language. That of nervous half-truths, horrible hints, half-closed doors and devastating understatements. Each and every scene in the film, every conversation, is imbued with the director's unique voice.
First time that it unsettled me was back in 2015, when I saw his powerful debut The Childhood of a Leader. With Scott Walker's pounding, unnerving score, that film felt like it was speaking a different language. Scott Walker is now long dead, of course (The Brutalist is actually dedicated to him), but the score still retains those grandiose qualities. It certainly goes well with the brutalist architecture that is at the heart of this story. The Brutalist explores many themes, from immigration to Holocaust to the difficult relationship between the artist and the moneyman. The scenes are memorable, expansive, like huge slabs of Italian marble.
As for Adrien Brody, he is of course brilliant. His face is this rich Pollock's painting of pain and anguish and tortured inspiration. If they give the Oscar to Timothée Chalamet, that's a fucking scandal.
A Real Pain / dir. by Jesse Eisenberg
I thought this would be a pleasant little trifle but A Real Pain turned out to be one of my films of the year. I have since watched it two times, and my love for it has not dwindled one bit.
Two American cousins undertake a trip to Poland (the film is lovingly shot, clearly Eisenberg admires the country - he has even applied for Polish citizenship) in order to explore their past. Their Polish grandmother had recently died and left them some money for just such heritage trip. In the process, we get caught up in the strained relationship between the two main characters. I do not think it would be a stretch to say that Jesse Eisenberg plays Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin plays Kieran Culkin. Which is not meant as a criticism. As a matter of fact, I could watch them for days talking on that roof in Lublin.
The film has some powerful and incisive things to say about the past and the Jewish experience (basically, Culkin and Eisenberg play two sides of a Jewish personality - one successful and well-off and the other lives with a packed suitcase by the door). There is one scene in Warsaw that some of our more conservative Polish comrades could find problematic, but I personally had tears in my eyes all the way through. Either from crying or laughing too hard.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig / dir. by Mohammad Rasoulof
Even though I'm hardly an expert on Iranian cinema, I love what I have seen. Abbas Kiarostami has become one of my favourite filmmakers, and I remember being very impressed by A Separation a decade or so ago.
Which is to say, it was not surprising that I ended up loving The Seed of the Sacred Fig so much. And also, being a Belarusian, how could I not? The film deals with a family living amid the recent Iranian protests in Tehran. The main character is given a high-profile job of an investigating judge which basically forces him to condemn innocent people to prison sentences and death penalties. This certainly takes its toll, and this is compounded by the fact that at some point the gun he was given at work disappears. The final third of the film will have you on the edge of your set.
It is impossible to speak about this film without mentioning that the film was shot in secret, and later the director had to flee the country on foot, and the main actress was sentenced to flogging. A hackneyed truth, of course, but still: the disgusting regime will fall, and I do not believe that anyone who has seen this film will ever forget it.
