Closing out our year-end coverage is individual top ten lists from a variety of The Film Stage contributors, leading up to a cumulative best-of rundown. Make sure to follow all of our coverage here and see Raffi Asdourian’s favorite films of the year below.
It has been an exceptional year in film, with some exceptional new offerings from seasoned filmmakers to the resurgence of lesser known, but much beloved filmmakers trying to make their own mark. To say that 2013 hasn’t had it’s share of ups and downs would certainly be a bit disingenuous, with Hollywood still wading through the trenches of sequels and stale franchises. Yet nothing can stop the bullet train that is quality contemporary cinema, with all sorts of amazing offerings from both the US and around the world. I was lucky enough to attend several film festivals this year and there was an excellent amount of top notch work making this list tough to cull down. All I can say is that there was a steady stream of quality films to choose from in 2013 and I hope that continues next year.
Honorable Mentions:
10. Spring Breakers (Harmony Korine)
Harmony Korine‘s bizarre trip to Florida feels like the cinematic equivalent of taking drugs. Featuring dizzying cinematography from the lens of Benoît Debie, the DP of Gaspar Noe‘s Enter the Void and Irreversible, the film is less a traditional narrative and more a fever dream that encapsulates, similarly to The Wolf of Wall Street, the escapism inherent in the American Dream. But where Scorsese is more interested in the dangerous potential of unfettered freedom, Korine is all about embracing it. Spring Breakers is a hallucinatory journey into the vices of American culture without trying to tackle any one them too seriously, it’s just an odd amalgamation of a film.
9. The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese)
With Wolf of Wall Street, Martin Scorsese has proven that he still has the bravado and energy to make a truly great American film. Especially considering that his main subject, the parasitic titular Wolf, is a vile, despicable and highly unlikable human being who manipulated and used the people around him to satiate his own never ending need for money, drugs and power. It’s impressive that this three-hour film, filled with scenes bursting with energy, feels more like a roller-coaster than anything else. Smartly skewering capitalism, greed and materialism with razor sharp writing, direction and acting, The Wolf of Wall Street is the pinnacle achievement in Leonardo DiCaprio’s and Martin Scorsese’s cinematic love affair.
8. Borgman (Alex van Warmerdam)
The less you know about Borgman, the better. All that matters is that it’s Dutch, it was the most bizarre film to play in the main competition of Cannes this year and it’s coming out next year courtesy of Drafthouse Films. Oh, and it’s a devilishly good time for fans of black comedy shenanigans. If any of that sounds at all intriguing, then definitely seek this film out and you’ll be sure to be both bewildered and delighted. All that’s left to say is: Gotta go Borgman.
7. The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer and Anonymous)
Joshua Oppenheimer’s unusual hybrid style of documentary and narrative creates one of the most disturbing and fascinating films of the year. By following around several retired gangsters in Indonesia who committed horrific crimes during a military coup against ‘communists’ thirty years ago, the film attempts to understand how these men, who brutally executed thousands of people without questioning their conscience, are still celebrated as heroes. By attempting to get them to recreate their actions by selling them on making a movie to preserve their legacy, Oppenheimer cleverly creates moments for them to realize the atrocity of their own actions. Subversive and surreal, The Act of Killing is unlike any documentary to come out in the last several years.
6. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen)
Any year that the Coen brothers decide to make a movie is a good year for cinephiles and this year was no different. Using their collective intelligence and experience seems to give them an impeccable ability to create memorable films that feel effortless in their elegance of presentation. They have a precision to their craft that is uncanny and Inside Llewlyn Davis is a further testament to this, focusing in on a specific time and era in New York’s Greenwich Village folk music scene with incredible detail and character. Anchored by an incredible performance from Oscar Isaac, whose musical talent is equally impressive as his acting ability, Inside Llewyn Davis captures a mood and place in time that is both transportive yet tragically heartbreaking.
5. Her (Spike Jonze)
Spike Jonze‘s fairytale romance about a lonely soul falling in love with a piece of technology echoes so many sentiments that the modern world is facing today. Do we stare so deeply into our mobile devices that we become lost in them, to the point of detachment from reality? The answer is arguably yes and that’s one of the many reasons that Her is one of the most fascinating meta-critiques of modern day societies increasing attachment to digital devices. The other reasons Her is so awesome is that it includes amazing performances from lovestruck Joaquin Phoenix and only the voice of Scarlet Johansson, incredible art direction and cinematography all bonded together by a heartfelt soul seeking sentimentality that resonates deeply with the modern human psyche.
4. Bastards (Claire Denis)
Claire Denis is arguably one of the best filmmakers working today, whose unique style distinguishes her oeuvre as a hardened auteur to be reckoned with. While not my personal favorite film at Cannes this year, Denis’ latest lingered long in my mind after a final disturbing sequence of shots, so much so, that it compelled me to return to it for a second viewing. After seeing it again, the subtle nuance of Denis’ direction, camerawork and sound design rose to the surface, serving as a reminder for what an incredibly powerful, enigmatic artist she is. Bastards is sure to upset some audiences, but there’s no denying Denis masterful grasp of the medium of filmmaking, making her one of the most interesting voices in contemporary cinema.
3. A Touch of Sin (Jia Zhangke)
Jia Zhangke is best known for his restrained style in crafting subdued cinematic landscapes about alienated youth. In what might be a slight departure from his usual tendencies, Zhangke has created perhaps his most accessible film to date, with a touch of violent outbursts akin to a Quentin Tarantino flick. Scathing in its criticisms of modern day China, the film metaphorically punishes people who are corrupted by power and money while highlighting the plight of those less fortunate. Touch of Sin also brilliantly makes its fictional narrative genuine in its subtle use of real life people who tirelessly slave away in coal mines, electronics factories and whorehouses and allow the film to resonate even further within the constraints of reality.
2. Blue is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche)
When this film premiered at Cannes earlier this year, it caught most festival audiences off guard by the raw emotion and heartfelt performances from it’s two leads Adèle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux. It’s for good reason as well, since watching the electric chemistry between these two actors makes for one of the most exhilarating and draining love stories in years. Director Abdellatif Kechiche elegantly captures the various movements in the symphony of an emotional relationship, from the initial spark to the sweeping swell of carnal pleasure before disintegrating into a sea of heartbreak and sadness. Despite all the controversy post-release, Blue is the Warmest Color remains one of the most emotionally resonant testaments to the beauty and pain of falling in and out of love.
1. 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen)
No other film this year had the same profound raw emotional power of Steve McQueen‘s 12 Years a Slave, his best film to date. With both nuanced direction and a slew of amazing performances, the film is unflinching in its portrayal of slavery, one of the most tragic injustices this country has ever taken part in — and by faithfully adapting the original text of Solomon Northup, McQueen has crafted an amazingly poignant story, vividly showing the brutal tactics, violence and humiliation which make it all the more sobering. 12 Years a Slave is the most powerful, troubling, and profound cinematic experience of the year.