The 2010s (2010-2019) continued the streak of stellar global films from the 2000s. The cinematic trajectory was firmly on the way up and in the last year of the decade we had the first truly global crossover film in Parasite (2019), which went all the way from winning the Palme d’Or (Cannes 2019) to top of the Academy Awards in Feb 2020. The success of Parasite gave hope that global cinema would continue to soar in the 2020s. But alas, March 2020 arrived and the world shut down. Cinemas struggled to stay afloat, film festivals had to scale back and the already fragile film distribution broke down. It took a few years for some form of global film output to resume but it was clear the world had drastically changed. Time will tell where the 2020s stand in terms of cinematic quality. Was 2019 the highpoint for global cinema and film festivals? Currently, it appears so. Looking from the vantage point of 2025, it does feel that the 2010s may be the last great decade for cinema for a long time. The next 5 years may prove me wrong. But this post is about celebrating the beautiful films of the 2010s.
Top 30 films of the 2010s (2010-19):
1. Dil Dhadakne Do (2015, India, Zoya Akhtar)
Sholay (1975) was #1 in my 1970s film list and is still considered to be the greatest Hindi language film of all time. Dil
Dhadakne Do arrived 4 decades later, directed by Zoya Akhtar and
co-written by her brother Farhan Akhtar (who also stars in the film). Both Zoya
and Farhan are the children of Javed Akhtar, one of the brilliant co-writers of
Sholay (the other being Salim Khan, the duo often known as
Salim-Javed). The two films, Sholay and Dil Dhadakne Do,
couldn’t be more different yet in their own way capture a sentiment
of the times.
Sholay captured the anger, angst and fear of
the 1970s while Dil Dhadakne Do captures sentiments of an
evolving India, one where women are fighting for their dreams/careers/identity against a
highly patriarchal society; where families rarely discuss their problems and where
children don’t want to blindly follow their parents wishes. Dil Dhadakne
Do depicts many hard-hitting realities but in an entertaining way. The film is packed
with stars, catchy songs (yes there is dancing) and beautiful locales like many
Bollywood films but unlike most Bollywood films, Dil Dhadakne Do
has a brain and a heart.
2. Zama (2017, Argentina co-production, Lucrecia
Martel)
3. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011, Turkey, Nuri
Bilge Ceylan)
4. Certified Copy (2010, France/Iran/Italy, Abbas
Kiarostami)
5. Timbuktu (2014, Mauritania/France, Abderrahmane
Sissako)
6. Holy Motors (2012, France, Leos Carax)
7. Transit (2018, Germany/France, Christian Petzold)
8. Jauja (2014, Argentina co-production, Lisandro
Alonso)
9. Like Father, Like Son (2013, Japan, Hirokazu
Kore-eda)
10. This is Not a Film (2011, Iran, Mojtaba
Mirtahmasb/Jafar Panahi)
11. The Treasure (2015, Romania/France, Corneliu
Porumboiu)
12. Carlos (2010, France, Olivier Assayas)
13. Burning (2018, South Korea, Lee Chang-dong)
14. Parasite (2019, South Korea, Bong Joon-ho)
15. Neighboring Sounds (2012, Brazil, Kleber Mendonça
Filho)
16. Embrace of the Serpent (2015, Colombia
co-production, Ciro Guerra)
17. Right Now, Wrong Then (2015, South Korea, Hong
Sang-soo)
18. The Pearl Button (2015, Chile/France/Spain/Switzerland,
Patricio Guzmán)
19. A Man of Integrity (2017, Iran, Mohammad Rasoulof)
20. Shin Godzilla (2016, Japan, Hideaki Anno/Shinji
Higuchi)
21. Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2018, China, Bi Gan)
22. A Gentle Creature (2017, France/Russia/Ukraine
co-production, Sergei Loznitsa)
23. One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk (2019, Canada,
Zacharias Kunuk)
24. Faces Places (2017, France, JR/Agnès Varda)
25. The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (2019,
Canada/Norway, Kathleen Hepburn, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers)
26. The Turin Horse (2011, Hungary co-production, Béla
Tarr/Ágnes Hranitzky)
27. An Elephant Sitting Still (2018, China, Hu Bo)
28. Ash is Purest White (2018, China co-production, Jia
Zhang-ke)
29. Get Out (2017, USA/Japan, Jordan Peele)
30. Under the Skin (2013, UK/Switzerland/USA, Jonathan Glazer)
Honourable mentions (in no particular order):
Vitalina Varela (2019, Portugal, Pedro Costa)
The Master (2012, USA, Paul Thomas Anderson)
The Social Network (2010, USA, David Fincher)
Cocote (2017, Dominican Republic co-production,
Nelson Carlo de Los Santos Arias)
A Separation (2011, Iran/France/Australia, Asghar
Farhadi)
45 Years (2015, UK, Andrew Haigh)
Phantom Thread (2017, USA/China, Paul Thomas Anderson)
Closeness (2017, Russia, Kantemir Balagov)
Varda by Agnès (2019, France, Agnès Varda)
The Nothing Factory (2017, Portugal, Pedro Pinho)
Happy Hour (2015, Japan, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)
Pain and Glory (2019, Spain/France, Pedro Almodovar)
La Flor (2018, Argentina, Mariano Llinás)
Ship of Theseus (2012, India/Holland, Anand Gandhi)
Kaili Blues (2015, China, Bi Gan)
Li’l Quinquin (2014, France, Bruno Dumont)
The Tribe (2014, Ukraine/Netherlands, Miroslav
Slaboshpitsky)
The Strange Case of Angelica (2010, Portugal
co-production, Manoel de Oliveira)
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010, Thailand
co-production, Apichatpong)
Drive (2011, USA, Nicolas Winding Refn)
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