Top Ten Films of 2011

As 2012 begins it's time for me to reveal my Top Ten Films of 2011.  A couple of them have not yet opened in the Chicago area, but will do so later this month.  A few are available on DVD.  The films are unique and original in their own ways.  All of them moved me more than others in 2011:

#10  Albert Nobbs

Here’s a film that has gotten more attention for the performances of Glenn Close and Janet McTeer than anything else. There’s even more to the film though.  Taking place in the late 1890s, Close plays the title character that must hide her gender identity in order to remained employed in a high society hotel.  Once she meets another woman disguised as a man (McTeer) she begins to see a world she never before considered.  The film beautifully explores, through these and other characters as well, how wearing a disguise was the only means of survival for some during the era.  It’s also an expertly designed and shot film.  Opening in Chicago Jan. 27.

 #9 Incendies

How this film didn’t win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film last February is beyond me.  It’s a multi-layered Canadian film that takes us on a spectacular journey as two generations of one family struggle to find answers to their pasts in the war-torn Middle East.  Incendies is riveting from start to finish with several clever twists.  The images aren’t always pleasant to watch but they are relevant depictions of the atrocities associated with war.  It’s a film that may inspire some to locate ancestors while warning that unwanted secrets may be found.  Available on DVD.

 #8 The Guard

This is the first film by John Michael McDonagh, brother of my favorite Irish playwright, Martin McDonagh.  Using the same hilarious, irreverent dark humor, The Guard is richly layered with biting dialogue.  It stars Brendan Gleeson as a small town police sergeant whose desire for some excitement is rewarded in the form of an international drug-smuggling ring that encroaches on his territory.  Don Cheadle is the FBI agent who has come to track down the criminals.  The dialogue between the two of them rivals some of Quentin Tarantino’s best work.  The film is filled with surprising twists and a major dramatic climax.  It is a very dark, funny, quintessentially Irish film.  Available on DVD

 #7 Shame

Michael Fassbender plays a sex addict whose life is turned upside down when his sister, played by Carey Mulligan, decides to move in.  This appropriately rated NC-17 film is a powerful examination of one man’s psychological coping mechanisms.  He’s been scarred in the past and now internalizes his pain except during his sexual exploits.  The film features outstanding performances from Fassbender and Mulligan as well as director Steve McQueen’s inventive use of long takes.  This is a powerful film about adults for adults.  Currently playing in limited release.

#6  Young Adult

Charlize Theron plays the beautiful, successful Mavis Gray who returns to her hometown in an attempt to win back her high school boyfriend.  The script is filled with some of the best lines delivered to perfection by Theron.  She could be one-dimensional but writer Diablo Cody creates a complex woman marked by obsessions, depression, and alcoholism while stuck in the mind of a young adult.  Director Jason Reitman does a great job of creating a community that Gray clearly feels at odds with while also serving as her wake-up call.  The darkness of this character may not be for everyone but the film completely worked for me.  Currently playing in local theaters.

 #5 We Need to Talk About Kevin

Tilda Swanton and John C. Reilly play parents to a monster of a son in this psychologically disturbing drama.  Told out of chronological order, the film represents Eva’s (Swinton) reflections on her past with Kevin now that he is a jailed teen.  Director Lynne Ramsay, using extreme colors and visual metaphors to represent subjective states, artistically constructs the film.  Yet it is also highly accessible.  Swanton gives another standout performance here that clearly deserves awards attention.  Opening in Chicago on Jan. 27.

#4  Martha Marcy May Marlene

Elizabeth Olsen gives a star-making performance in a film about a teenaged girl who runs away from a cult.  Using flashbacks and dreams intercut with present day scenes, the film does an expert job at exploring how one could become absorbed into a cult community while later experiencing its lasting, devastating, psychological effects.  The film is disturbing while being honest in its depictions of everything from sex to criminal behavior.  A lot of this is due to the outstanding performances by everyone in the cast as well as the excellent script and direction by newcomer Sean Durkin.  This was my favorite film screened at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.  It is currently playing in limited release.

 #3  Another Year

This film was released late last January in Chicago so it missed making my Top Ten of 2010.  Having seen it again though I was reminded about what a brilliant script Mike Leigh created.  The writer/director famously allows his actors to improvise. They wouldn’t be nearly as effective though if he hadn’t already layed the groundwork.  Another Year takes us through a year with a stable, middle-aged couple whose world is constantly interrupted by their seemingly ever-young friend Mary, played brilliantly by Lesley Manville.  Mary is a character who talks non-stop while her world spins wildly out of control.  She also can’t quite accept the truth of her age.  The film is a great illustration of the givers and takers in life as well as the challenges of growing old gracefully.  I loved the dialogue and performances in this psychologically complex film.  Currently available on DVD.

 #2 Melancholia

Controversial filmmaker Lars von Trier has created a provocative masterpiece with Melancholia.  Divided into two parts, each focusing on one of two sisters, the film explores how different people react to the same situations and how anticipation is disturbingly relative.  In part one, Justine, played by Kirsten Dunst has just been married yet she quickly unravels at her own wedding reception.  Part two focuses on Claire, played by Charlotte Gainsbourg, who fears the sudden appearance of a fly by planet that she believes threatens to hit earth.  Both women have their moments to take charge and yet both feel powerless over the chaos the universe brings.  The actresses are top notch.   Von Trier creates an anxiety-ridden atmosphere with enough visual impact to make it all come alive.  Currently playing in limited release.

 #1 Midnight in Paris

I know some will say that this Woody Allen fan is just giving this slot to his favorite writer/director.  In fact, this is the first time Allen has been number one on my Top Ten list in the twenty odd years in which I’ve creating them.  (I still rank Annie Hall though as the best film of the 1970s.)  Aside from being his biggest hit in over two decades, Midnight in Paris was simply the most pleasurable and original film experience of the year.  Perhaps only Allen can get away with having a character played by Owen Wilson wander around present day Paris while getting sucked into its 1920s heyday.  Wilson meets F. Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, Salvador Dali, among others.  Each is hilariously portrayed by a host of actors including Adrien Brody, Alison Pill, Corey Stall, Kathy Bates, and Tom Hiddleston.  It’s an outstanding ensemble cast.   Yet Allen, while paying homage to this earlier era, recognizes its limitations.  As much sentimentalizing as Allen does of the past, he lovingly salutes the present.  The way Paris is shot during the film’s opening scenes suggests a tribute that rivals Allen’s own affection for New York in his classic film Manhattan.   Midnight in Paris represents the apex of the originality found throughout my Top Ten.  It’s also a complete pleasure to experience.  Hats off to Woody!  At 76, he’s done it again!  Currently available on DVD.