Spotlight on Jessica Hausner

A spotlight on the Six feature films to date of Jessica Hausner.

Lovely Rita (2001)
Hotel (2004)
Lourdes (2009)
Amour Fou (2014)
Little Joe (2019)
Club Zero (2023)

I have to credit Sam Juliano for helping me come across Austrian director Jessica Hausner. In Jan 2011, Sam Juliano placed her film Lourdes as his top film of 2010. I hadn’t heard of that film or seen anything by Jessica Hausner up till that point. I rectified my blindspot and found Lourdes to be a brilliant combination of dry wit, humour and documentary. The film’s open ended presentation of faith and belief made me recall the style of Todd Haynes’ Safe and Lee Chang-dong’s Secret Sunshine. I thought of Todd Haynes’ Safe again when viewing Jessica Hausner’s newest film Club Zero (2023) but Club Zero goes off in a different direction. Both Lourdes and Club Zero are fascinating films that contain multiple styles and don't neatly fit in a single category. I felt a proper spotlight was needed to fully appreciate Jessica’s directorial style and see how the other films fit.

Hybrid genre

All of her 6 films tackle a different subject and on first glance appear to have nothing in common with each other. However, one common classifier across all 6 films is that each film is a blend of multiple genres and can’t be easily labeled as a single genre.

Lovely Rita appears to be a straight forward coming-of-age film but there is a shock in store especially if one isn’t aware of the real life incident that inspired the film. Hotel combines elements of horror, folklore in an artistic manner without any of the jump scares or dissonant music that one associates with horror films. The film also has a nod towards David Lynch (Twin Peaks curtain) and Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (hallway shots). Amour Fou appears to be a linear period film but the double suicide in the film puts a completely different spin by the time end credits roll. Little Joe combines sci-fi, horror and science in the most unexpected manner. Lourdes and Club Zero use dry wit to examine how faith and belief shapes people.

Of all the six features, Lourdes and Club Zero compliment each other nicely. Both films show how people are impacted by their beliefs: Lourdes shows a positive side in which people’s beliefs can provide them a way of healing and hope for their lives but Club Zero shows a negative side where blind belief can lead to a cult like following where believers are led down a potentially dangerous path. The increase in polarizing behaviour since 2020 and the increase in cult like worshiping certainly makes a film like Club Zero as highly relevant in our contemporary world.

Loose Threads

With the exception of Amour Fou, the remaining films have a degree of vagueness about the ending. The most abstract and open ending is that of Hotel while Lovely Rita, Little Joe give enough clues for viewers to know what will unfold next. Lourdes leaves a lot for the viewer to interpret events while Club Zero narrows down its focus but still leaves it up for the viewer to know what will happen to the students who are led away by their teacher.

Film Style

Jordan Raup’s insightful interview with Jessica Hausner as part of Film at Lincoln Center’s retrospective on her films helps shed light on her style. These words by Jessica standout: “Normally when I start a new film, I have a very simple logline in mind. It’s a short sentence or word that is the starting point.”

These words help explain how each film can grow from a single seedling of an idea. In the interview, Jessica explains the real life incident she read about that formed the genesis of Lovely Rita (spoiler alert) and Amour Fou and provides insights about the other films. She also addresses the abstract ending of Hotel. The interview was published after the release of Little Joe so Club Zero is not covered by the interview.

All of her films are insightful portrays of female characters who have to make crucial decisions. Amour Fou is the only film where the main character isn’t a woman but even in that film, the female character has to make a critical decision. The films show a thoughtful narrative arc which charts out a character’s journey and growth.

It is an interesting exercise to contrast this style of Jessica Hausner with that of her countryman Ulrich Seidl. Hausner is interested in exploring incidents that lead to a character’s decision and even the aftermath from their choices. Ulrich Seidl is instead invested in showing the suffering his characters face and in most of his films, he is fixated on sexual events.

Copa America 2024 Film Spotlight Results

A feisty Copa America 2024 ended with Argentina winning their 16th Copa America title. Argentina’s win wasn’t much of a surprise as they were easily the favourites but there were a few pleasant surprises along the way such as the re-emergence of Colombia (reached final and narrowly lost to Argentina in extra-time) and the continuing strength of Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay (finished in 3rd place). However, the biggest surprise was Jesse Marsch’s influence on the Canadian Men’s National Team. Canada were very impressive in their run to the semi-finals and unfortunately faced Argentina twice and lost both games. Still, Canada put on a positive attack-minded display even in the games against Argentina and created many chances but their biggest achilles heel in the tournament was their inability to make those chances count.

On the other hand, Canada had a much more of a favourable outcome in the Copa America 2024 Film Spotlight. When it came to films, Argentina and Brazil did much worse than their soccer counterparts. The points system is similar to that used in the Euro 2024 Film Spotlight: match-ups decided by 5 categories of Acting, Story, Direction, Cinematography and Production Values. The only exception was that 4 categories of Story, Direction, Cinematography and Production Values were used (Acting was dropped) in the case of a match-up between a documentary (Chilean film) vs fictional film. In the group phases, a win for a film was worth 3 points while a tie was 1 point.

Group film results: top 2 films advanced out of group (in green)

Group A

Argentina: Trenque Lauquen (2022, Laura Citarella)
Peru: The Milk of Sorrow (2009, Claudia Llosa)
Chile: My Imaginary Country (2022, Patricio Guzmán)
Canada:The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (2019, Kathleen Hepburn, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers)

Canada (The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open): 9
Chile (My Imaginary Country): 4
Argentina (Trenque Lauquen): 4
Peru (The Milk of Sorrow): 0

The length of the Argentine film worked against it when compared to the Canadian and Chilean films. Trenque Lanquen is multiple films within a single film. If I could have taken a slice of 90 minutes from that film and put it against the other films in this group, then the Argentine film would have come out on top. As it turned out, the tight focus of the Canadian and Chilean films ensured progress out of this group.

Group B

Mexico: New Order (2020, Michel Franco)
Ecuador: Cronicas (2004, Sebastián Cordero)
Venezuela:  The Box (2021, Lorenzo Vigas)
Jamaica: The Harder They Come (1972, Perry Henzell)

Mexico (New Order): 7
Venezuela (The Box): 7
Ecuador (Cronicas): 1
Jamaica (The Harder They Come): 1

Unlike the soccer tournament, Mexico advanced easily out of the film competition.

Group C

USA: Showing Up (2022, Kelly Reichardt)
Uruguay: Window Boy Would also Like to Have a Submarine (2020, Alex Piperno)
Panama: The Fists of a Nation (2007, Pituka Ortega-Heilbron)
Bolivia: Viejo calavera/Dark Skull (2016, Kiro Russo)

Bolivia (Dark Skull): 7
Uruguay (Window Boy Would also Like to Have a Submarine): 5
USA (Showing Up): 4
Panama (The Fists of a Nation): 0

Group D

Brazil:  Rule 34 (2022, Júlia Murat)
Colombia: Embrace of the Serpent (2015, Ciro Guerra)
Paraguay: EAMI (2022, Paz Encina)
Costa Rica: The Awakening of the Ants (2019, Antonella Sudasassi)

Colombia (Embrace of the Serpent): 9
Costa Rica (The Awakening of the Ants): 6
Brazil (Rule 34): 3
Paraguay (EAMI): 0

This was easily the toughest film group of the four with Group D being a Group of Death.

Quarter-Finals:

Canada (The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open) vs Venezuela (The Box)

Canada won 4-2 over Venezuela.

Chile (My Imaginary Country) vs Mexico (New Order)

Chile won 3-2 and advanced to Semi-finals.  

Note: Since the Chilean film is a documentary, only 4 categories were used to judge the films.

Bolivia (Dark Skull) vs Costa Rica (The Awakening of the Ants)

The Costa Rican film won on an emotional penalty shoot-out after both films were tied 4-4.

Colombia (Embrace of the Serpent) vs Uruguay (Window Boy Would also Like to Have a Submarine)

Colombia won 5-1 over Uruguay.

Semi-Finals:

Canada (The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open) vs Chile (My Imaginary Country)

Canada won 4-3 over Chile in a very tight encounter.

Colombia (Embrace of the Serpent) vs Costa Rica (The Awakening of the Ants)

Colombia edged out Costa Rica 4-3 in another close match-up.

Final:

Canada (The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open) vs Colombia (Embrace of the Serpent)

Match of two former #1 End of year films. The Canadian film placed first in my Best Films of 2020 while the Colombian entry was first in 2015.

In the end, Canada won 4-3 over Colombia to take the 2024 Copa America Film title. Incredibly, Colombia finished 2nd in both the soccer tournament and film spotlight.

Copa America 2024 Film Winner: The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (2019, Kathleen Hepburn, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers)

Euro 2024 Film Spotlight Results

Now that the football version of Euro 2024 is in the books, it is time to unveil results of the film version of Euro 2024. Like previous film spotlight tournaments, match-ups between films in Group and Knock-out phases are decided by the 5 categories of Acting, Story, Direction, Cinematography and Production Values. In the group phases, the difference is that a win for a film is worth 3 points while a tie is 1 point. In the Knock-out rounds, the winner is decided by the maximum score in the 5 categories of Acting, Story, Direction, Cinematography and Production.

16 films advance to the Knock-out rounds, with the top two films from each group plus top 4 third-placed films. The top 2 advancing out of the 8 Groups are shown in green.

Group A

Germany: Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972, Werner Herzog)
Switzerland: The Boat is Full (1981, Markus Imhoof)
Hungary: Satantango (1994, Béla Tarr)
Scotland: Gregory’s girl (1980, Bill Forsyth)

Hungary (Satantango): 9
Germany (Aguirre: The Wrath of God): 6
Scotland (Gregory’s girl): 3
Switzerland (The Boat is Full): 0

Group B

Spain: Death of a Cyclist (1955, Juan Antonio Bardem)
Italy: The Battle of Algiers (1966, Gillo Pontecorvo)
Albania: Daybreak (2017, Gentian Koçi)
Croatia: Buick Riviera (2008, Goran Rusinovic)

Italy (The Battle of Algiers): 9
Spain (Death of a Cyclist): 6
Croatia (Buick Riviera): 3
Albania (Daybreak): 0

Group C

Slovenia: Spare Parts (2003, Damjan Kozole)
Denmark: Babette’s Feast (1987, Gabriel Axel)
Serbia: Underground (1995, Emir Kusturica)
England: The Third Man (1949, Carol Reed)

Serbia (Underground): 7
England (The Third Man): 5
Denmark (Babette’s Feast):  2
Slovenia (Spare Parts): 1

Group D

Poland: Dekalog (1989/90, Krzysztof Kieslowski)
Holland: The Vanishing (1988, George Sluizer)
Austria: Homo Sapiens (2016, Nikolaus Geyrhalter)
France: Pickpocket (1959, Robert Bresson)

France (Pickpocket): 9
Poland (Dekalog): 4
Austria (Homo Sapiens): 2
Holland (The Vanishing): 1

Group E

Belgium: Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975, Chantal Akerman)
Slovakia: Orbis Pictus (1997, Martin Sulík)
Romania:  The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005, Cristi Puiu)
Ukraine:  My Joy (2010, Sergey Loznitsa)

Romania (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu): 9
Ukraine (My Joy): 4
Belgium (Jeanne Dielman): 4
Slovakia (Orbis Pictus): 0

Ukraine edges out Belgium to win second place by the slightest margin.

Group F

Turkey: Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011, Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
Georgia: What Do We See When We Look At the Sky? (2021, Aleksandre Koberidze)
Portugal:  Mudar de Vida (Change of Life, 1966, Paulo Rocha)
Czech Republic: Closely Watched Trains (1966, Jirí Menzel)

Turkey (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia): 9
Portugal (Change of Life): 6
Georgia (What Do We See When We Look At the Sky?): 3
Czech Republic (Closely Watched Trains): 0

Top 4 third placed films:

1st: Belgium (Group E)
2nd: Croatia (Group B)
3rd: Georgia (Group F)
4th: Scotland (Group A)

Round of 16 Draw and Results:

Hungary (Satantango) vs England (The Third Man)

Hungary wins 3-2 on the basis of Direction, Cinematography and Production while England scores on Acting and Story.

Germany (Aguirre: The Wrath of God) vs Spain (Death of a Cyclist)

Germany wins 5-2 over Spain.

Italy (The Battle of Algiers) vs Belgium (Jeanne Dielman)

Italy wins 5-2 over Belgium.

Serbia (Underground) vs Georgia (What Do We See When We Look At the Sky?)

Serbia wins 5-1.

Turkey (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) vs Scotland (Gregory’s Girl)

Turkey wins 4-1.

Poland (Dekalog) vs Ukraine (My Joy)

In a very close encounter, Poland edges out Ukraine 4-3.

Romania (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu) vs Croatia (Buick Riviera)

Romania narrowly wins out 4-3 over Croatia.

France (Pickpocket) vs Portugal (Change of Life)

In a match-up of two stellar films, France wins out 5-2.

Quarter-Finals: 8 films that are part of canons and best of lists

Italy (The Battle of Algiers) vs Hungary (Satantango)

Italy wins 5-2 over Hungary.

Turkey (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia) vs Poland (Dekalog)

In another hard fought close match-up, the Polish film edges out the Turkish entry 4-3.

Romania (The Death of Mr. Lazarescu) vs France (Pickpocket)

The French film wins 5-3 over the Romanian film.

Serbia (Underground) vs Germany (Aguirre: The Wrath of God)

Germany wins 5-4 over Serbia.

Semi-Finals: 4 giant films battle it out

Italy (The Battle of Algiers) vs Poland (Dekalog)

Italy wins 5-4 over Poland, with the stellar cinematography of Gillo Pontecorvo’s film being the edge.

France (Pickpocket)  vs Germany (Aguirre: The Wrath of God)

France wins 4-3 over Germany.

Euro 2024 Film Final: Two classic films

Italy (The Battle of Algiers) vs France (Pickpocket)

Italy wins 5-4, with a tiny edge in the overall Production category. That is understandable given the larger scope of The Battle of Algiers over Pickpocket.

Euro 2024 Film Winner: The Battle of Algiers (1966, Gillo Pontecorvo)

Ranking Godzilla movies

Ranking the best Gojira/Godzilla films isn’t an easy task, both from a quantity and quality perspective. There are 38 films noted in the Godzilla franchise with the original film released in 1954 and the latest edition in 2024, a span of 70 years. If one excludes the 3 Animation films, then that total drops to 35. The production quality varies a lot among these films not only due to differences in production between Japanese and American studios but also due to multiple reboot/reset of the franchise. There are some films that stand-out while others have substandard production quality and are just derivative, reheated attempts of the original film. It is not a series that one can binge watch as some films in the franchise are unwatchable and after a while, many of them start appearing to be the same. There are some exceptions and it is those films that linger long in the memory.

There are 33 Gojira films from Japan divided in the Shōwa era (1954–1975), Heisei era (1984–1995), Millennium era (1999–2004), Reiwa era (2016–present) and 5 that are part of the American series. This total doesn’t include four films released in US that were re-edited versions of the original Japanese films. In addition, there is a recent spin-off series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters which is part of the American Monsterverse, a series that includes the Hollywood films from 2014 onwards.

Listing of all 38 films

Shōwa era (1954–1975)
 

1. Godzilla (1954, Ishirō Honda)
2. Godzilla Raids Again (1955, Motoyoshi Oda)
3. King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962, Ishirō Honda)
4. Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964, Ishirō Honda)
5. Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964, Ishirō Honda)
6. Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965, Ishirō Honda)
7. Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966, Jun Fukuda)
8. Son of Godzilla (1967, Jun Fukuda)
9. Destroy All Monsters (1968, Ishirō Honda)
10. All Monsters Attack (1969, Ishirō Honda)
11. Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971, Yoshimitsu Ban)
12. Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972, Jun Fukuda)
13. Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973, Jun Fukuda)
14. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974, Jun Fukuda)
15. Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975, Ishirō Honda)

Heisei era (1989–1995) 

16. The Return of Godzilla (1984, Kōji Hashimoto)
17. Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989, Kazuki Ōmori)
18. Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991, Kazuki Ōmori)
19. Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992, Takao Ōkawara)
20. Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II (1993, Takao Ōkawara)
21. Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994, Kenshō Yamashita)
22. Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995, Takao Ōkawara)

Millennium era (1999–2004) 

23. Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999, Takao Ōkawara)
24. Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000, Masaaki Tezuka)
25. Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001, Shūsuke Kaneko)
26. Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla (2002, Masaaki Tezuka)
27. Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003, Masaaki Tezuka)
28. Godzilla: Final Wars (2004, Ryūhei Kitamura)

Reiwa era (2016–present) 

29. Shin Godzilla (2016, Hideaki Anno, Shinji Higuchi)
30. Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters (2017, Kōbun Shizuno, Hiroyuki Seshita)
31. Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle (2018, Kōbun Shizuno, Hiroyuki Seshita)
32. Godzilla: The Planet Eater (2018, Kōbun Shizuno, Hiroyuki Seshita)
33. Godzilla Minus One (2023, Takashi Yamazaki)

Note: films 30, 31, 32 are all animation films.

Hollywood films 

1. Godzilla (1998, Roland Emmerich)
2. Godzilla (2014, Gareth Edwards)
3. Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019, Michael Dougherty)   
4. Godzilla vs. Kong (2021, Adam Wingard)
5. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024, Adam Wingard)

Re-edited films for US market, not included in the 38 film total 

Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956)
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963)
Godzilla (1977)
Godzilla 1985 (1985)

Top 5 Godzilla Films

1. Godzilla (1954)

The original is still the template for all subsequent Godzilla films as elements in Ishirō Honda’s films are revisited, updated and even slightly improved in other films.
 
2. Shin Godzilla (2016)

An absolutely brilliant reboot that cleverly uses Gojira as a lens to demonstrate human logistics and problem solving.

3. Godzilla Minus One (2023)

If Shin Godzilla was about logistics and problem solving, Godzilla Minus One is using engineering to solve the very large Godzilla problem. In addition, the film also highlights the human impact on post WWII Japan in the aftermath of America’s atomic bomb drops.

4. Mothra vs Godzilla (1964)

Mothra is a key kaiju in Godzilla movies and her first appearance in the series also happens to be one of the most worthy films in the franchise.

5. Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)

Combines many components of the franchise with aliens, Ghidorah, Rodan.

Most family friendly Godzilla: Son of Godzilla

The franchise clearly was trying to make Godzilla appealing for younger kids by introducing a very cute young Baby Godzilla.

Most environmentally conscious film: Godzilla vs. Hedorah 

Godzilla films contain political and social messaging but nowhere is that hit on the head as much as Godzilla vs Hedorah where Hedorah is a monster who grows by feeding off the industrial waste dumped in oceans. Only Godzilla can save us from our destructive polluting ways! If dumping of chemicals and industrial waste in oceans led to the creation of a monster, then perhaps humans may have done more to protect our environment. Unfortunately, life isn’t a Godzilla movie!

Hong Sang-soo watch

This is a follow-up to the earlier March post when I had managed to see 24 out of 31 Hong Sang-soo features to date. I am happy to say that total has now increased to 27 / 31. The films in red are the ones left for me to see. This is the smallest gap I have had and while neither of the 4 films are available on any streaming platform, two are on DVD/Blu-Ray (Our Sunhi, The Woman Who Ran). So there is a chance that I can narrow the gap even further.

1. The Day a Pig Fell Into the Well (1996)
2. The Power of Kangwon Province (1998)
3. Virgin Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors (2000)
4. On the Occasion of Remembering the Turning Gate (2002)
5. Woman Is the Future of Man (2004)
6. Tale of Cinema (2005)
7. Woman on the Beach (2006)
8. Night and Day (2008)
9. Like You Know It All (2009)
10. Hahaha (2010)
11. Oki’s Movie (2010)
12. The Day He Arrives (2011)
13. In Another Country (2012)
14. Nobody’s Daughter Haewon (2013)
15. Our Sunhi (2013)
16. Hill of Freedom (2014)
17. Right Now, Wrong Then (2015)
18. Yourself and Yours (2016)
19. On the Beach at Night Alone (2017)
20. Claire’s Camera (2017)
21. The Day After (2017)
22. Grass (2018)
23. Hotel by the River (2018)
24. The Woman Who Ran (2020)
25. Introduction (2021)
26. In Front of Your Face (2021)
27. The Novelist’s Film (2022)
28. Walk Up (2022)
29. In Water (2023)
30. In Our Day (2023)
31. A Traveler’s Needs (2024)

The Top 10 Hong Sang-soo films list still stays the same

1. Right Now, Wrong Then (2015)
2. The Day He Arrives (2011)
3. Tale of Cinema (2005)
4. Like You Know It All (2009)
5. The Day After (2017)
6. In Front of Your Face (2021)
7. Woman Is the Future of Man (2004)
8. On the Beach at Night Alone (2017)
9. Night and Day (2008)
10. In Another Country (2012)

Copa America 2024 Film Spotlight

Two games of Copa America 2024 are already in the books with Argentina kicking off their title defense with a 2-0 win over Canada while Peru and Chile drew 0-0. Prior to start of the next fixtures, I want to unveil the selections for the Copa America 2024 Film Spotlight. Similar to Euro 2024 Film Spotlight, I have taken the approach of selecting previously seen films to give each nation the best chance of doing well. The one change from Euro 2024 selections is that I have tried to select as many recent films as possible. I only went for older films if a nation didn’t have a worthy recent contender.

15/16 films are within last 20 years (2004-24) with 12 out of 16 films within last 10 years and 5 films from 2022. The only exception is that the Jamaican film is from 1972. In addition, half of the films (8/16) are directed by women.

Group A

Argentina: Trenque Lauquen (2022, Laura Citarella)
Peru: The Milk of Sorrow (2009, Claudia Llosa)
Chile: My Imaginary Country (2022, Patricio Guzmán)
Canada: The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (2019, Kathleen Hepburn, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers)

Group B

Mexico: New Order (2020, Michel Franco)
Ecuador: Cronicas (2004, Sebastián Cordero)
Venezuela:  The Box (2021, Lorenzo Vigas)
Jamaica: The Harder they come (1972, Perry Henzell)

Group C

USA: Showing Up (2022, Kelly Reichardt)
Uruguay: Window Boy Would also Like to Have a Submarine (2020, Alex Piperno)
Panama: The Fists of a Nation (2007, Pituka Ortega-Heilbron)
Bolivia: Dark Skull (2016, Kiro Russo)

Group D

Brazil:  Rule 34 (2022, Júlia Murat)
Colombia: Embrace of the Serpent (2015, Ciro Guerra)
Paraguay: EAMI (2022, Paz Encina)
Costa Rica: The Awakening of the Ants (2019, Antonella Sudasassi)

Group and Knock-out round results will be posted in next few weeks.

Euro 2024 Film Spotlight

A criteria for previous Euro Film spotlights (Euro 2008, Euro 2012, Euro 2016) was to select previously unseen films or films from unknown directors. This led to some exciting discoveries and many months of viewing or hunting the film down. This time around, I have kept things a bit simpler. The main criteria for this Euro 2024 Film spotlight is to select some of the best films previously seen from each country. As a result, this will allow for a much more richer cinematic head-to-head competition. 9 decades are represented by these films with the earliest from 1949 and the newest from one from 2021.

Here are the 24 Top European films:

Group A
Germany: Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972, Werner Herzog)
Switzerland: The Boat is Full (1981, Markus Imhoof)
Hungary: Satantango (1994, Béla Tarr)
Scotland: Gregory’s girl (1980, Bill Forsyth)

Group B
Spain: Death of a Cyclist (1955, Juan Antonio Bardem)
Italy: The Battle of Algiers (1966, Gillo Pontecorvo)
Albania: Daybreak (2017, Gentian Koçi)
Croatia: Buick Riviera (2008, Goran Rusinovic)

Group C
Slovenia: Spare Parts (2003, Damjan Kozole)
Denmark: Babette’s Feast (1987, Gabriel Axel)
Serbia: Underground (1995, Emir Kusturica)
England: The Third Man (1949, Carol Reed)

Group D
Poland: Dekalog (1989/90, Krzysztof Kieslowski)
Holland: The Vanishing (1988, George Sluizer)
Austria: Homo Sapiens (2016, Nikolaus Geyrhalter)
France: Pickpocket (1959, Robert Bresson)

Group E
Belgium: Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975, Chantal Akerman)
Slovakia: Orbis Pictus (1997, Martin Sulík)
Romania:  The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005, Cristi Puiu)
Ukraine:  My Joy (2010, Sergey Loznitsa)

Group F
Turkey: Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011, Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
Georgia: What Do We See When We Look At the Sky? (2021, Aleksandre Koberidze)
Portugal:  Mudar de Vida (Change of Life, 1966, Paulo Rocha)
Czech Republic: Closely Watched Trains (1966, Jirí Menzel)

Results of the Group matches, knockout phases will be posted in a few weeks.

Top Argentine Films of All Time

As Argentina and Messi prepare to defend their Copa America, I wanted to do a Top Argentine film list. This isn’t a comprehensive list by any means since majority of the Argentine films I have seen start from the late 1990s with the onset of New Argentine Cinema. Three decades (1990-2023) isn’t enough to cover proper ground but over the last year, I have started to fill in the gaps by trying to watch Argentine films from the 1940s-60s. Therefore, this list will change over the next year.

For now, going into Copa America 2024, here are my starting 11 films with 5 honourable mentions looking to sub in if needed.

Top 11 Argentine Films of all time:

1. Zama (2017, Lucrecia Martel)
2. The Official Story (1985, Luis Puenzo)
3. Extraordinary Stories (2008, Mariano Llinás)
4. Invasion (1969, Hugo Santiago)
5. Liverpool (2008, Lisandro Alonso)
6. Bolivia (1999, Israel Adrián Caetano)
7. Mundo grúa / Crane World (1999, Pablo Trapero)
8. Apenas un delincuente / Hardly a Criminal (1949, Hugo Fregonese)
9. The Hour of the Furnaces (1968, Octavio Getino, Fernando E. Solanas)
10. Nueve reinas / Nine Queens (2000, Fabián Bielinsky)
11. Prisioneros de la tierra / Prisoners of the Earth (1939, Mario Soffici)

5 Honourable Mentions (in no order):
Bombón: El Perro (2004, Carlos Sorín)
Son of the Bride (2001, Juan José Campanella)
Pizza, birra, faso / Pizza, Beer and Cigarettes (1998, Israel Adrián Caetano/Bruno Stagnaro)
Silvia Prieto (1999, Martín Rejtman)
Trenque Lauquen (2022, Laura Citarella)

Top Iranian Films of All Time

There are a wealth of legal viewing options for Iranian Cinema unlike that for many other nations. Such a high number of entries made it an ordeal to narrow down a Top 10 list. It was also difficult to not make the entire top 10 list of films just by Abbas Kiarostami and Jafar Panahi, two of the best film directors in the world. However, the recent rediscovery of Chess of the Wind (1976, Mohammad Reza Aslani) is a reminder there could still be many worthy Iranian films hidden from view. Therefore, I do expect this list will change over time as I get to rediscover and even revisit Iranian films.

Top 10 Iranian Films of All Time:

1. Taste of Cherry (1997, Abbas Kiarostami)
2. Crimson Gold (2003, Jafar Panahi)
3. The House is Black (1963, Forugh Farrokhzad)
4. Close-Up (1990, Abbas Kiarostami)
5. A Man of Integrity (2017, Mohammad Rasoulof)
6. A Separation (2011, Asghar Farhadi)
7. The Cow (1969, Dariush Mehrjui)
8. The Wind Will Carry Us (1999,  Abbas Kiarostami)
9. Turtles can Fly (2004, Bahman Ghobadi)
10. It’s Winter (2006, Rafi Pitts)

Honourable Mentions (alphabetical order):

Be Calm and Count to Seven (2008, Ramtin Lavafipour)
Downpour (1972, Bahram Beyzaie)
Iron Island (2005, Mohammad Rasoulof)
Salam Cinema (1995, Mohsen Makhmalbaf)
This is not a Film (2011, Jafar Panahi)
A Time for Drunken Horses (2000, Bahman Ghobadi)
Where is the Friend’s House? (1987, Abbas Kiarostami)
The White Balloon (1995, Jafar Panahi)

Hugo Fregonese's Apenas un Delincuente

Apenas un Delincuente / Hardly a Criminal (1949, Argentina, directed by Hugo Fregonese)

This year’s AFOFF selection of the stellar 1949 Argentine noir Apenas un Delincuente was inspired by Allan’s ‘The Fish Obscuro’ column although the film isn’t as much in the shadows now as it was prior to 2022. That is because Apenas un Delincuente / Hardly a Criminal (1949) was part of a 2022 Hugo Fregonese retrospective that premiered at Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna and then later that year at MoMA. In addition, Apenas un Delincuente was the inspiration behind Rodrigo Moreno’s 2023 thoughtful film The Delinquents. In fact, both Apenas un Delincuente and The Delinquents share the same core story of a bank fraud but both films diverge in different directions.

The bank fraud in Apenas un Delincuente was inspired by a real-life incident and is one of those stories that emphasizes that reality is stranger than fiction. In the film, José Moran  (Jorge Salcedo) is a bank employee who fancies the rich nightlife and his day job is only a means for him to pay off his nightlife which also includes a gambling habit. José has run up a huge debt due to gambling losses and subsequent borrowed sums from loan sharks. His salary can’t cover off his debts and he is constantly trying to avoid the loan sharks who are looking to collect their payment. One day, the loan sharks arrive at the bank and demand their money. With no place to run, José gives them another customer’s deposit. Seeing how easy it was for him to use someone else’s money, José starts drawing up a plan to steal even more money from the bank. His ideas are strengthened when he learns that the maximum jail sentence for bank fraud is six years regardless of the amount stolen. José calculates that he can steal enough money, hide his loot, serve 6 years in jail, come out and comfortably live the rest of his life. His rationale is that this one time fraud followed by 6 years of jail time will yield him more money than working an entire life at the bank. José thinks his plan is perfect but like all film noirs, there are elements that José doesn’t factor in such as his family’s vulnerability or street smart gangsters. These unseen factors turn his plans upside down leading to a pulsating action packed finale.

Hugo Fregonese packs in a lot in just under 90 minutes. The first half of the film not only sets up the plan and execution but also gives enough of a family backstory which helps explain José’s decisions. The second half depicts fascinating prison power dynamics before the film incorporates car chases and a good old fashioned shoot-out. I hadn’t seen any of Hugo Fregonese’s films prior to Hardly a Criminal. The impressive execution of the film means that was a huge cinematic blindspot on my end. In reality, Fregonese wasn’t that much in the shadows if I had only looked in the right spots. He was a global film director who started his career in his native Argentina in 1940s before moving to direct films in Hollywood in 1950s such as Apache Drums (1951), Man in the Attic (1953), Black Tuesday (1954). He then moved around Europe to direct a string of films (The Beasts of Marseilles, The Death Ray of Dr. Mabuse) before returning to Argentina. If others haven’t seen a film by him, then Hardly a Criminal is a great starting point.

On another note, the running time of Moreno’s The Delinquents (3 hours 9 min) is double in length to Apenas un Delincuente (88 min) and doesn’t have any car chases, bullets or a backstory. Yet, both films are precious in their own right. In fact, the difference in treatment highlights how creativity can ensure that we will never run of worthy films to view.

Cross-published at Wonders in the Dark.

Best Films of 2023

As Cannes 2024 is wrapping up, I still have to catch up with a few worthy Cannes 2023 films (Lisandro Alonso, Victor Erice) but I have seen enough 2023 films now to put together a list. I have previously mentioned the challenges of legally seeing newer 2023 films so won’t reiterate that here.

Without further ado, here are my best films of 2023:

1. Past Lives (USA/South Korea, Celine Song)

A tender emotionally beautiful film. Like a soothing piece of music.

2. La Chimera (Italy/France/Switzerland/Turkey, Alice Rohrwacher)

A warm shape shifting film that tugs at both the mind and heart.

3. Laapataa Ladies (India, Kiran Rao)

Kiran Rao and writers Biplab Goswami, Divyanidhi Sharma, Sneha Desai have done an outstanding job by seamlessly stitching socially relevant topics within the fabric of a humorous comedic film.

4. The Delinquents (Argentina/Luxembourg/Brazil/Chile, Rodrigo Moreno)

Takes the bank fraud at core of the 1949 Argentine film Apenas un delincuente and transforms it into a languid stroll through the countryside.

5. How to have Sex (UK/Greece/France/Belgium, Molly Manning Walker)

At first, this appears to be cut from the same cloth as Spring Breakers but the film digs deeper into how men can still circumvent consent in a post #MeToo world.

6. 12th Fail (India, Vidhu Vinod Chopra)

It is hard to believe that Vidhu Vinod Chopra, a major name in Indian Cinema, has made one of the best films of his career at the age of 70 (he is 71 now). 12th Fail is a film stripped of any fat and with a singular focus. The struggles of exams and getting a job in India have been documented in cinema before but Chopra has infused the film with plenty of hope.  Part of the reason for that could be that the film is based on the real life story of Manoj Kumar Sharma and Shraddha Joshi and highlights how that there was always a ray of hope around the corner for the main character despite many pitfalls.

7. Kho Gaye Hum Kahan (India, Arjun Varain Singh)

A highly relevant contemporary film that depicts impact of social media on current generation. The film is set in Mumbai but the scenarios and characters can be found in most internet-connected nations around the world.

8. Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell (Vietnam/Singapore/France/Spain, Thien An Pham)

An earthy interpretation of Apichatpong’s spiritual cinema.

9. La Cancha (Canada, Mustafa Uzuner)

Mustafa Uzuner lovingly depicts how a community basketball court in Montreal can be a meditation on life and social connections. Pure cinema.

10. Io Capitano (Italy/Belgium/France, Matteo Garrone)

A film that goes beyond the headlines and depicts the perilous journey of its two characters from Senegal to Italy. Garrone also shows how communities spring up and sustain characters in cities/nations that find themselves at centre of migration.

11. Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World (Romania co-production, /Luxembourg/France/Croatia/Switzerland/UK, Radu Jude)

One of the funniest films of the year that manages to take a dig at lengths corporations go to manufacture/sustain their social image. The constant social media attention of main character means she wouldn’t be out of place with the characters in Kho Gaye Hum Kahan.

Honourable Mentions (in order of preference):

Mast Mein Rehne Ka (India, Vijay Maurya)

Samsara (Spain,  Lois Patiño) 

Blackberry (Canada, Matt Johnson)

The Settlers (Chile/Argentina/UK/Taiwan/Germany/Sweden/France/Denmark, Felipe Gálvez Haberle)

About Dry Grasses (Turkey/France/Germany/Sweden, Nuri Bilge Ceylan)

Worthy 2022 films seen in 2024: 

Nanpakal Nerathu Mayakkam (India, Lijo Jose Pellissery)

Trenque Lauquen (Argentina/Germany, Laura Citarella)

The Beasts (Spain/France, Rodrigo Sorogoyen)

Showing Up (USA, Kelly Reichardt)