PHOENIX| Dir. Christian Petzold

A haunting film-noir of identity, betrayal and loss set against the backdrop of the end of WWII, PHOENIX is a perfectly judged melodrama that fulfilled all of my requirements for what has become my favoured genre. (2015 was an enlightening year in terms of realising this). With one of the most splendidly memorable endings in cinematic history, this had me running to see Petzold’s previous offerings including the rather fantastic BARBARA (2012)

CAROL| Dir. Todd Haynes

Read my review here

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY| Dir. Peter Strickland

You know where the review is…right here.

TIMBUKTU| Dir. Abderrahmane Sissako

FORCE MAJEURE| Dir. Ruben Ostlund

Ready my review here

A PIGEON SAT ON A BRANCH REFLECTING ON EXISTENCE| Dir. Roy Andersson

VICTORIA| Dir. Sebastian Schipper

This exhilarating 2 1/2 hour one take epic became a surprise festival favourite. Full disclosure: this is the kind kind of film where one might need to arm oneself with a suspension-of-disbelief pill – the conceit that a lone (Spanish) woman called Victoria, new to a country (Germany) would happily join a group of admittedly sketchy looking men she can barely communicate with on a night out – is something to get over with. There is an attempt to try and explain Victoria’s willingess to acquiesce to situations thrown at her in a somewhat moving scene. But credibility is rather stretched once it’s revealed  that while nice enough, these guys are actually as sketchy as they look, with the titular character becoming embroiled in a night of crime. Think 2002’s BANDITS but more gritty, suspenseful and delightfully German.

It’s one take technique makes the film a grueling experience that becomes ever more sketched on the actors’ face as the film proceeds and their circumstances become dire. This makes for a captivating experience, even if a little over long, I couldn’t help but be persuaded by the magnetic and committed performances with tension and disquiet that permeated and pulsated through the screen. Be prepared for this one.

BEST OF ENEMIES [DOC]| Dir. Morgan Neville, Robert Gordon

LOVE IS STRANGE| Dir. Ira Sachs

Read my review here

SLOW WEST | Dir. John McClean

BROOKLYN| Dir. John Crowley

Centred by one of the best performances of 2015. BROOKLYN is quintessential charm in a bottle. Impeccably photographed, (Yves Bélanger seems to have been watching FAR FROM HEAVEN and CAROL cinematographer Edward Lachman very closely) this romanticized historical drama about the immigrant experience, is strangely quite topical as it draws a complete contrast to the devastating pictures of the current migrant experience.

We follow the life of Ellis as she makes the voyage from a small village in Ireland to New York, encountering culture clash, maturation and love. Detractors of the film see it as very light and a little twee with the dramatic tension in the film focused on whom Ellis will choose – Tony the Italian plumber in New York or Jim Farrell, the gentlemanly bachelor from home – with her decision already weighted in favour of one over the other. For me the lightness in this subplot is deliberate because the two romantic interests are symbols of the emotional crux of BROOKLYN – the heartbreak and recovery from homesickness, which is sensationally portrayed by the faultless performance of Saoirse Ronan who embodies the nuance and depth of an actress with decades more experience. It’s hard to believe she’s only 21.

Special Mention:
LOOK OF SILENCE, FAST & FURIOUS 7, SPY, TANGERINE and SICARIO

Sorely missed in 2015:
45 YEARS, MISTRESS AMERICA, INSIDE OUT,EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT, FORBIDDEN ROOM, LAMB (Kenyan version, not the US indie coming soon), 99 HOMES, MIA MADRE, THE PRESIDENT, HARD TO BE A GOD,

Best Cinematic Discoveries of 2015:

A PHILADELPHIA STORY (1940)| Dir. George Cukor

AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS (1987)| Dir. Louis Malle

ANIMAL KINGDOM (2010)| Dir. David Michod

OBVIOUS CHILD (2014)| Dir. Gillian Robespierre

Best Cinema Experience of 2015:

FAR FROM HEAVEN (2002)| Dir. Todd Haynes

What I would have named my blog if THE STATION AGENT didn’t pip this film as my all time favourite film. FAR FROM HEAVEN was one of the first films where I began to think of film from a critical perspective – a medium that needs to be explored, uncovered and valued as art. It was also my introduction to the masterful work of Todd Haynes and the ways his films are cinematic essays on film history. I had to mention the experience of finally watching this on the big screen as an important event in my year of cinema.

While my DVD copy of HEAVEN is one of my most watched discs I own, I had never seen the film on the big screen. If one takes away anything from Haynes work is that his work is the most cinematic of non-mainstream cinema. HEAVEN is no exception. Like a (cinema) virgin, watching for the very first time, on 35mm film, on a giant screen, was like watching a live painting. Julianne Moore’s revelatory portrayal of trapped housewife Cathy Whittaker made me love her anew. In a year that in spite of some really great cinema but few to be really blown away by (there have been indeed one or two exceptions), it was a wonderful year to end the year by falling in love with cinema again.