Video Game Cinema

“Video Game Cinema” doesn’t only refer to movies based on video games but instead applies to movies which are constructed and edited like a video game. Video games have come a long way from the 1980’s style arcade action and shoot’ em games. Contemporary video games can be divided into multiple genres, contain numerous characters & complicated plots and often include a cinematic sequences called cutscene, which fills in the backstory about characters and their mission. Also, with the rapid evolution in computer graphics, most games feature life-like characters modeled after actors whose movements and facial expressions are captured to create authentic video game replicas. 

Although, as video games get more complicated and involve multiple role playing characters, most video game movies follow an arcade style plot where a single character achieves small goals leading to a final mission completion sequence. The Resident Evil series, Raid: The Redemption and the two Crank movies are examples of such video game cinema which feature a single character moving from one crisis to another. Gamer is also an example of a video game cinema but it is the only one in this spotlight which contains a richly defined complicated world with multiple characters competing for control in a single frame.

Part I of this spotlight looks at all five Resident Evil movies while Part II will cover the cinema of Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylor.

---

Resident Evil Movies

Any discussion about video game cinema has to start with Paul W.S Anderson. He directed Mortal Kombat in 1995, at a time when video game movies rarely made their way into cinemas. In 2002, he directed the first Resident Evil movie and has written all the movies in the series and directed 3 of the 5 movies so far. He will also direct the 6th movie in the series due in 2014.

Resident Evil (2002, Paul W.S. Anderson)

Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004, Alexander Witt)

Resident Evil: Extinction (2007, Russell Mulcahy)

Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010, Paul W.S. Anderson)

Resident Evil: Retribution (2012, Paul W.S. Anderson)

The movies are based on a video game and for the most part, all 5 features follow a video game format where one central character, Alice (Milla Jovovich), moves from one action sequence to another. The first movie contains the most dialogue as it outlines the origins of the T-virus and how the infection ended up getting released from the Umbrella Corporation's underground facility (Hive).

Each movie recaps prior events so a viewer does not need to worry about seeing all the previous movies. Subsequent movies provide a little more information about Alice's past but for the most part, the movies are about Alice killing infected and mutated creatures. The subtitles in the movies refer to the creatures as zombies but that word is never used to describe the flesh eating walking dead in any of the movies.

The on-screen action is kept simplistic like an old fashioned arcade game where there are easily classifiable targets that have to be taken out. Once Alice or her allies kill the creatures, then they proceed to the next frame where more creatures await. Resident Evil: Extinction has some outdoor shots in the desert where multiple characters try to kill the zombies but usually Alice and just an additional character is present to do the killing. Alice finds new helpers as the movies progress with Claire (Ali Larter) doing her part in Extinction and Afterlife and Ada Wong (Bingbing Li) in Retribution. This is also a rare series where woman take centre stage both in terms of heroes and villains. The villain of the first four movies is the Umbrella Corporation headed by Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts) but the fifth movie finally reveals that the Red Queen computer, shown in the first movie, has gone rogue and taken over. As the name indicates, Red Queen is a female and her personification is a little girl. 

Throughout the series, villains often become allies to Alice in taking out a bigger threat. Or characters that were dead often return back in different roles. Each movie has a well defined end goal that must be reached and the returning characters either assist or stand in the way. The last two movies Afterlife and Retribution are basically cliffhangers that end by revealing that a bigger threat lays waiting.

The 5th movie, Retribution, so far is the high point of the series video game look and feel. By showing the computer as the villain, characters are given a clue as to where their next threat will come from.

For example, as Alice and Ada move through the city simulated landscape (New York), Red Queen’s voice indicates that the New York sequence has been initiated, alerting Alice and Ada that threats are on the way.

The audience also gets their cue as to a fight will take place. Also, just like in a video game, the music changes when a villain is about to enter the frame. Basically, Retribution feels like seeing a video game in demo mode.

All the movies don’t get good reviews because if one treats them as conventional movies, then it is frustrating to watch repetitious sequences over and over. On the other hand, if one sees the movies as simply live video games, then it allows one to get through them. Also, one can see the influence of some shots from this series in The Walking Dead. The Resident Evil movies feature overhead shots showing cluster of zombies narrowing on a target. Such shots can be found in Season One of The Walking Dead. Of course, the TV series has more focus on character development and dialogue driven scenarios whereas Resident Evil strips most of the dialogue out.

Other reading

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky.

R. Emmet Sweeney and Dave Kehr.

Universal Soldier

Like most friends, I saw the first Universal Soldier (1992) and ignored all subsequent sequels, including the official ones (three after 1992) and two TV movies. However, intrigued by some of the critical traction that Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning got in 2012, I decided to see both of the Universal Soldier films directed by John Hyams and revisited the first film to put everything in context.

Universal Solider (1992, Roland Emmerich)
Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009, John Hyams)
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012, John Hyams)

Universal Soldier starts off in the Vietnam war, a starting point for many cinematic stories over the years, where a fight between two soldiers Luc Deveraux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) and Scott (Dolph Lundgren) results in both of their deaths. Both dead bodies are indoctrinated into a US military program and brought back as Universal Soldiers or UniSols, android fighting machines. The concept of UniSols follows the Robocop pattern in reanimating a dead character to fight justice. In Robocop, Murphy is meant to fight crime on the streets and keep civil justice. Whereas, UniSols are meant to safeguard nationalistic interests. Both Murphy and Luc are also united by their desire to return home. Despite the efforts of scientists to erase both Murphy & Luc's memories, a tiny portion of their past lingers on and manages to guide their moral compass. This makes both of these characters heroes, who try to do some good despite being programmed to kill without question. At the end of Universal Soldier, Luc does reach home. But a happy ending in Hollywood is never a guarantee for conclusion and Luc was called into action in 1999’s Universal Soldier: The Return.

Two TV movies filled the gap without JCVD and Dolph Lundgren until John Hyams resurrected the series in 2009. Hyams rightly decided that both JCVD and Dolph Lundgren are not as young as they once were and instead made Andrei Arlovski’s UniSol the central character. Arlovski’s character is a pure representation of what a Unisol was originally meant to be as he has no moral compass and is free to kill without any filters. Regeneration is certainly a major improvement over the 1992 movie and takes the series into a much darker territory. Still, the 2009 film cannot predict the direction that Day of Reckoning jumps towards.

If Regeneration showed shades of darkness, then Day of Reckoning is a full blown nightmare that is only connected to the Universal Solider series in name. The 2012 film does feature Luc Deveraux and Scott but Luc is nothing like the past films. He is more like Tony Todd's Candyman character who appears either inside John’s (Scott Adkins) head or in his house. The Candyman sequence is shown early in the film and follows a point of view nightmarish start reminiscent of Gaspar Noe’s Enter the Void. Day of Reckoning then stitches a David Lynch feel and mood throughout the film and includes nods to conspiracy stories and a few horror films along with the way, such as the famous axe breaking door scene of The Shining. It is impressive how many diverse ideas and sub-plots Day of Reckoning incorporates and it might have been better if the film had shed the Universal Soldier tag. As it stands, the UniSol reference will prevent others from checking out the film. The open ended nature of Day of Reckoning suggests a future possibility of another film but more importantly, it will be curious to see what John Hyams directs next.

Related Reading

The following three articles played a big part in my viewing these films.

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky's excellent mubi review.
Ian Buckwalter's review in The Atlantic.
Bilge Ebiri.

Lisandro Alonso

Some quick notes on all four of Lisandro Alonso’s features.

La Libertad (2001)
Los Muertos (2004)
Fantasma (2006)
Liverpool (2008)

All four films focus on a lonely male as he navigates his way through an environment. With the exception of Fantasma, the environment in the three other films is nature, free from the reach of any city, ranging from farmland, forests and mountains.

For a brief moment at the start of Liverpool, the camera is in a confined space but once Farrel leaves the ship, the camera soaks in the open spaced surroundings like it does in La Liberdad and Los Muertos.

Fantasma is the only film where a character, Argentino Vargas, the actor from Los Muertos, wanders within a confined space.

Argentino walks in a cinema hall before settling to watch a special screening of Los Muertos. The cinema hall setting is also the only city location depicted in any of Alonso’s films. However, the city is only viewed in tiny glances through the glass panels in the cinema’s lobby. Even this tiny glimpse of city life is a shocking aspect to find in an Alonso film. Lisandro’s other three features are devoid of people rushing from one place to another so it feels unnatural to see people walking at a brisk pace through the glass panels in Fantasma.

Fantasma

Even though Fantasma stands apart from the other three journey features, it forms a closed loop with Alonso’s first 2 features. Both the actors of La Libertad (Misael Saavedra) and Los Muertos (Argentino Vargas) are present in Fantasma while the cinema hall is playing Los Muertos. If Liverpool had not taken place in an open space, then Fantasma would have formed a natural trilogy with La Libertad and Los Muertos. However, in terms of location and style, La Libertad, Los Muertos and Liverpool form a natural trilogy. La Liberdad, Los Muertos and Liverpool evoke Bresson by depicting emotionless characters and stripping out any irrelevant details from the frame. The following quote from Robert Bresson applies to these three features:

One does not create by adding but by taking away.

Alonso’s films have removed any distractions from the frame thereby allowing an intense focus on a singular character.

Fantasma also deviates from the style of the other three features. The cinema hall in Fantasma evokes Tsai Ming-liang’s Goodbye, Dragon Inn and the large glass panels in the lobby and stairs remind of Tati.

Fantasma

Tati in Playtime

James Quandt’s excellent essay outlines this Tati connection in splendid detail:

But, oddly, it is Tati who most comes to mind in surveying the San Martín’s modernist horror of malfunctioning elevators, confounding staircases, and harshly lit hallways, rooms too ample or cramped, humanity subjugated to decor, architecture, mazes, and machinery. Like Tati, Alonso sees in this surrounding a kind of elegant inutility, a vast contraption in which people stumble, turn back, retrace their steps, push buttons that don’t work, tentatively position themselves in spaces not designed for their being, much less comfort. And, again like Tati, he embeds this vision of errant modernity in a musique concrète of mechanical sound: outside traffic; the whoosh, buzz, and hum of elevators; a computer whirring to life; an incessant, unanswered telephone; the squeal of an unoiled door; the roar of the projector showing Vargas the rural world of Los Muertos, with its contrasting quiet and cacophony of birds.

Alonso's new film (2014)

At first, the casting of Viggo Mortensen in Alonso's new film seemed to indicate a continuation of the lonely men journey structure but the following synopsis on imdb indicates otherwise:

A father and daughter journey from Denmark to an unknown desert that exists in a realm beyond the confines of civilization.

Related Reading

James Quandt’s article.

Michael Guillen’s interview.

Srikanth (JAFB) on the films of Alonso.

Cinema Scope’s interview.

Gabe Klinger’s 2005 article anticipated the rise of Alonso.

Paul Verhoeven

It is easy to label Paul Verhoeven’s films as a cinema of excessive sex, blood and violence. However, these tags just refer to the surface of the films. Revisiting the following three films revealed the presence of multiple layers underneath:

Robocop (1987)
Total Recall (1990)
Starship Troopers (1997)

Robocop and Starship Troopers are razor sharp satires that are packed with social, economic and political commentary. On first glance, these references are overshadowed by over the top sequences which grab all the attention and become the film’s major talking points, such as the extremely violent killing of Officer Murphy (Peter Weller) in Robocop. Murphy’s killing is brutal but it fits in the film’s context of portraying a society where violence is used to drive all social, economic and political policies. For example, brutal force is used to evict the poor out of their homes in order to build a safer and cleaner new Detroit. And the residents have no choice but to use violent means to fight back. The rise of violence & crime is in turn used to justify the need for building more destructive killing machines so that peace can finally be achieved. RoboCop shows a society that is constantly in war with itself and depicts how once the war machine is started, it will never stop. The faces making the political decisions will change but an endless cycle of building bigger weapons will continue. In this regard, the film correctly anticipates the rise of private corporations in getting lucrative government contracts to protect society.

RoboCop not only targets private security firms but throws its net over all corporations. The appropriately named Omni Consumer Products (OCP) has its hands in every aspect of society and citizens can’t escape its influence. OCP not only thrusts its products down citizens throats but also creates weapons for them to kill or be killed. The media is not spared either and the hilariously depicted fake newscasts in both RoboCop and Starship Troopers shows how a culture of fear is created and controlled by a small group. When RoboCop was released back in 1987, news channels didn’t run 24 hours / 7 days a week. So the film can be credited as correctly predicting the state of contemporary news channels which repeat the same stories over and over again.

RoboCop and Total Recall also show that policies which deny basic equality to all citizens will force the have nots to fight for their rights. And when these citizens demand their rights, they will be labelled as troublemakers and attempt to be crushed by those in power. The enforcement of force is made possible by a collusion between government, corporations and certain elements of the police.

Even though Paul Verhoeven didn’t direct RoboCop 2 and RoboCop 3, those later films continue the story, themes and style explored by Verhoeven’s film. For example, in RoboCop 2 Murphy’s programming is altered by those in charge to make him more friendly so that he is not seen as a cold killing machine but instead a friendly killing machine. This example is another piece of witty satire which shows how corporations use media spin and public relations to shift public opinion.

Other related reading

Aaron Light has an excellent essay about Verhoeven & his "Cinema of Excess".

Robert Koehler’s interview with Paul Verhoeven.

Remake

It is not surprizing that the remake of RoboCop (2014) will be directed by José Padilha whose Elite Squad films contain a biting social commentary about violence between the poor and the police. Padilha’s films don’t feature any satire so his selection appears to indicate that the remake will be a more serious and darker examination of society.

Nacer Khemir's Desert Trilogy

Nacer Khemir’s Desert Trilogy:

Wanderers of the Desert (1986)
The Dove’s Lost Necklace (1992)
Bab’Aziz: The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul (2005)

All three films have a wonderful myth + fable structure which incorporates motifs of journey and death. Music is also a key component and plays the biggest part in Bab’Aziz, a film infused with Sufi music. As the title of the trilogy indicates, the films are set against a desert background. In an interview, Nacer Khemir explains the beauty that comes with filming in a desert:

There is a Tuareg proverb that says: "There are lands that are full of water for the well-being of the body, and lands that are full of sand for the well-being of the soul." The desert is a literary field and a field of abstraction at the same time. It is one of the rare places where the infinitely small, that is a speck of sand, and the infinitely big, and that is billions of specks of sand, meet. It is also a place where one can have a true sense of the Universe and of its scale. The desert also evokes the Arabic language, which bears the memory of its origins. In every Arabic word, there is a bit of flowing sand. It is also one of the main sources of Arabic love poetry. In all of my three movies, which form a trilogy, The Wanderers of the Desert, The Dove’s Lost Necklace, and today, Bab’Aziz, The Prince Who Contemplated His Soul, the desert is a character in itself.

The Wanderers of the Desert

A bus drops a teacher off in the middle of the desert. The village that he is looking for doesn’t appear to exist.

But it does. The village exists even though it is mostly empty because the village men often disappear to wander off in the desert for days on end.

The concept of a journey is a key ingredient in The Wanderers of the Desert where characters yearn to leave for far-off lands, especially for Cordoba which is seen as the ultimate pilgrimage.

 
Myths and fables are found in almost every frame as the film feels similar to the multiple layered structure of One Thousand and One Nights. In fact, at certain moments, fairy tales manifest themselves into reality such as the appearance of Sinbad’s boat:

The Dove’s Lost Neckless

Hassan (Navin Chowdhry), a calligrapher, queries many wise men to gain their wisdom about the meaning of love. One elder tells Hassan that the Arabic language has 60 different words to describe love. At first, Hassan believes the discovery of all 60 words would bring him closer to an understanding of love. Unfortunately, he remains stuck at 35 words but his hopes are boosted by finding a single partly burnt page from a book about love. That page makes makes him yearn for the “Princess of Samarkand”, who haunts his dreams. He goes on a quest to find the book and perhaps his princess along the way.

The film is garnished with many thoughtful philosophical dialogues:

The Beginning is easy but the end is hard.

The above words are applicable to life and stories in general but they also perfectly describe the structure of all three films. The beginning of each film appears to be simplistic but the complexity of life is only revealed as the characters undertake a physical, emotional and spiritual journey. At the end of each journey, death greets one of the characters. But this death is not meant to be a final stop but just one of the paths in a cosmic journey that spans generations.

People often run after a dream. One day they run across it and don’t recognize it.

A basic truth where a person often loses sight of their goal during an exhaustive quest.

Bab’Aziz: The Prince who Contemplated his Soul

Unlike other trilogies, the third film of the Desert trilogy, Bab’Aziz, is the strongest work.

This is because the desert’s beauty comes through in virtually frame of Bab’Aziz. Also, the Sufi music against the background of giant sand dunes makes for a calm and mesmerizing experience.

Once Upon a Time....

These four words have started countless stories but they appropriately describe the Desert Trilogy as well. Each film contains scenes of story telling that peels off multiple layers of fables, myths or reality. Often, a character is mesmerized by a story they are listening to and slowly find themselves drifting into the realms of myth, where they in-turn become characters in stories that will be narrated to future generations.

Nacer Khemir deserves a lot of credit for creating a visually rich form of an ancient story telling tradition that is mostly lost in contemporary cinema.

It also seems appropriate that I came across two films in the trilogy in an old fashioned way by flipping through DVD racks in the library. With the disappearance of almost all rental DVD stores in the city, finding new films is down to online digital files. But my discovery of The Wanderers in the Desert and Bab’Aziz evoked memories of a time when DVD stores and the library played a big part in discovering gems. “Once Upon a time....” indeed!

Essential Reading

Chale Nafus, Director of Programming for the Austin Film Society, perfectly describes The Wanderers in the Desert, including the Arabian Nights references.

The Right IP Address

A few years ago, Verena Paravel and J.P. Sniadecki’s Foreign Parts got some critical love and was a must-see film. The documentary’s setting in the Queen’s auto parts lanes besides the New York Metz stadium was also the setting for Ramin Bahrani’s Chop Shop, a film which made it across Canada. However, Foreign Parts has remained foreign and not touched my local Canadian shores theatrically or rental DVD. Currently, Amazon.com streams the film for $2.99 (USD), a few weeks ago that price was $2.35. The website also sells a digital copy of the film for $9.99. But one can only rent or buy this digitial film if they live in the US. The only legal option for me to view Foreign Parts is to buy the film's DVD. Amazon.ca sells a DVD of Foreign Parts in Canada for $29.71 (CAD). Hardly a fair differential to view the same film but people in Canada are used to paying more for everything. Even Canadian oil is cheaper in the United States than in the Canadian spots that extract the crude variety out of the ground.

Often excuses of tariffs, taxes, population and currency disparity is used to explain the price difference. None of these excuses matter when it comes to a digital streaming file which does not have to travel across a physical border. In fact, the price difference feels worse when it comes to streaming a digital file from a remote server which may be located in one common location. For example, iTunes US rents most new releases for $3.99 (USD) while the same film costs $4.99 (CAD) in iTunes Canada. At the current currency rate, USD 3.99 = CAD 4.09. And this ignores the fact that for most of last year, the Canadian dollar was on par or above the American dollar.

Then there are the lack of legal streaming options in Canada compared to the US. Fandor and Hulu don’t stream in Canada while Netflix.com has almost 10,000 more titles than Netflix Canada. SundanceNOW also has more streaming films in the US than in Canada. Licensing rights are blamed for lack of film availability in Canada. But there are many titles that have no distributor or rights holder in Canada. To make matters worse, in a few cases Amazon.com won’t ship a DVD to a Canadian postal code even though there is no place in Canada that sells the DVD. I ran into this problem last year when Film Movement confirmed in an email that they don’t have legal rights to sell The Country Teacher in Canada. As a result, Film Movement and Amazon.com won’t ship a DVD of The Country Teacher to a Canadian postal address.

When seeking reasons for the lack of film title availabilities in Canada, some say it is due to the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) regulations. But the CRTC can’t be blamed in all cases. Regardless of who is to blame, the fact remains that many films remain unseen.

If one followed the legal path, then one won’t have access to most films. But if a computer has the right IP Address, an American one in this case, then one has access to a world of films. But if a computer has a Canadian IP Address, then one must continue to be frustrated and see the message that the film is not available.

Best Films of the Decade: 2003-12

Compiling a best of the decade list using only top 10 film lists from 2003-12 resulted in omissions from many of the best directors in the world. That meant no films from Claire Denis, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Pedro Costa, Béla Tarr, Manoel de Oliveira, Wang Bing, Terrence Malick, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Jia Zhangke & Nuri Bilge Ceylan. In most cases, it took me a few years to catch up with the forenamed auteur’s work thereby making the film ineligible from an end of the year list. On a few occasions, worthy films narrowly missed out on the top 10. For example, Syndromes and a Century placed #12 in 2008, Uncle Boonmee.. was #15 in 2010 and The Turin Horse grabbed #18 in 2011.

In order to come up with a more complete best of the decade list, I put together a collection of stellar films that I caught a few years after the film’s release. Also, I included some films that were initially cut from my top 10 but placed in an end of the year list. The final tally of this collection ended up being a staggering 181 titles. These 181 titles combined with the original 100 more accurately reflects some of the best films of 2003-2012.

List 1 (reproduced here): 100 films from 2003-2012 top 10 lists

List 2 (in alphabetical order below): 181 films that were delayed viewing or narrowly missed out on the top 10.

12 (2008, Russia, Nikita Mikhalkov)
12:08 East of Bucharest (2006, Romania, Corneliu Porumboiu)
15 Park Avenue (2005, India, Aparna Sen)
2046 (2004, Hong Kong co-production, Wong Kar-wai)
35 Shots of Rum (2008, France, Claire Denis)
4 Months 3 Weeks 2 days (2007, Romania, Cristian Mungiu)
5x2 (2004, France, François Ozon)
A Town Called Panic (2009, Belgium co-production, Stéphane Aubier/Vincent Patar)
A Useful Life (2010, Uruguay, Federico Veiroj)
After this our exile (2006, Hong Kong, Patrick Tam)
Agrarian Utopia (2009, Thailand, Uruphong Raksasad)
Alamar (2009, Mexico, Pedro González-Rubio)
Alexandra (2007, Russia/France, Aleksandr Sokurov)
Apocalypto (2006, USA, Mel Gibson)
Applause (2009, Denmark, Martin Zandvliet)
Attenberg (2010, Greece, Athina Rachel Tsangari)
Avenida Brasilia Formosa (2009, Brazil, Gabriel Mascaro)
Away from Her (2006, Canada, Sarah Polley)
Baixio das Bestas (2007, Brazil, Cláudio Assis)
Ballast (2008, USA, Lance Hammer)
Before I Forget (2007, France, Jacques Nolot)
Between Two Worlds (2009, Sri Lanka, Vimukthi Jayasundara)
Black Butterfly (2006, Peru, Francisco J. Lombardi)
Blind Shaft (2003, China co-production, Yang Li)
Blockade (2006, Russia, Sergey Loznitsa)
Broken Flowers (2005, USA, Jim Jarmusch)
Bug (2006, USA, William Friedkin)
Café Lumière (2003, Japan/Taiwan, Hou Hsiao-heien)
California Dreaming (2007, Romania, Cristian Nemescu)
Carcasses (2009, Canada, Denis Côté)
Certified Copy (2010, France/Iran/Italy, Abbas Kiarostami)
Children (2006, Iceland, Ragnar Bragason)
Chronicles of an Escape (2006, Argentina, Adrián Caetano)
Citizen Havel (2008, Czech Republic, Miroslav Janek/Pavel Koutecký)
Climates (2006, Turkey, Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
Closer (2004, USA/UK, Mike Nichols)
Colossal Youth (2006, Portugal, Pedro Costa)
Continental: A film without guns (2008, Canada, Stéphane Lafleur)
Crane World (2003, Argentina, Pablo Trapero)
Crime and Punishment (2007, China, Zhao Liang)
Crimson Gold (2003, Iran, Jafar Panahi, Writer -- Abbas Kiarostami)
Curling (2010, Canada, Denis Côté)
De Muze (2006, Holland, Ben van Lieshout)
Delta (2008, Hungary, Kornél Mundruczó)
Departures (2008, Japan, Yôjirô Takita)
Dirty Carnival (2006, South Korea, Ha Yu)
Dogtooth (2009, Greece, Giorgos Lanthimos)
Dogville (2003, Denmark co-production, Lars von Trier)
Duck Season (2004, Mexico, Fernando Eimbcke)
Election (2005, Hong Kong, Johnnie To)
Elephant (2003, USA, Gus Van Sant)
Enter the Void (2009, France co-production, Gaspar Noé)
Euphoria (2006, Russia, Ivan Vyrypaev)
Exit Through the Gift Shop (2010, USA/UK, Banksy)
Good Bye Dragon Inn (2003, Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang)
Happy New Life (2007, Hungary, Árpád Bogdán)
Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi (2003, India, Sudhir Mishra)
Helvetica (2007, UK, Gary Hustwit)
Hunger (2008, UK, Steve McQueen)
I Wish I Knew (2010, China, Jia ZhangKe)
Import Export (2007, Austria/France, Ulrich Seidl)
In Memory of Myself (2007, Italy, Saverio Costanzo)
Independencia (2009, Philippines, Raya Martin)
Inland Empire (2006, USA co-production, David Lynch)
In the Pit (2006, Mexico, Juan Carlos Rulfo)
Invisible Waves (2006, Thailand, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang)
Iraq in Fragments (2006, USA, James Longley)
It’s Winter (2006, Iran, Rafi Pitts)
I’m Not Scared (2003, Italy co-production, Gabriele Salvatores)
Japanese Story (2003, Australia, Sue Brooks)
Julia (2009, France/USA/Mexico/Belgium, Erick Zonca)
Khadak (2006, Belgium/Germany, Peter Brosens & Jessica Hope Woodworth)
Khamosh Pani (2003, Pakistan co-production, Sabiha Sumar)
Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003, USA, Quentin Tarantino)
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005, USA, Shane Black)
La France (2007, France, Serge Bozon)
Last Life in the Universe (2003, Thailand/Japan, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang)
Let Each One go Where He May (2009, USA/Suriname, Ben Russell)
Like you know it All (2009, South Korea, Hong Sang-Soo)
Lion's Den (2008, Argentina co-production, Pablo Trapero)
Look At Me (2004, France/Italy, Agnès Jaoui)
Los Angeles Plays itself (2003, USA, Thom Andersen)
Los Muertos (2004, Argentina, Lisandro Alonso)
Lourdes (2009, Austria/France/Germany, Jessica Hausner)
Love Exposure (2008, Japan, Shion Sono)
L’Appolinde (2011, France, Bertrand Bonello)
L’Enfer (2005, France co-production, Danis Tanovic)
L’Intrus (2004, France, Claire Denis)
Machuca (2004, Chile, Andrés Wood)
Manufacturing Landscapes (2006, Canada, Jennifer Baichwal)
Memories of Murder (2003, South Korea, Joon-ho Bong)
Miami Vice (2006, USA, Michael Mann)
Mildred Pierce (2011, USA, Todd Haynes)
Milk of Sorrow (2009, Peru/Spain, Claudia Llosa)
Mirage (2004, Macedonia, Svetozar Ristovski)
Mithya (2008, India, Rajat Kapoor)
Mo & Me (2006, Kenya, Roger Mills/Murad Rayani)
Moolaade (2004, Senegal co-production, Ousmane Sembene)
Moon (2009, UK, Duncan Jones)
My Joy (2010, Ukraine co-production, Sergei Loznitsa)
Mysteries of Lisbon (2010, Portugal/France, Raoul Ruiz)
Mystic Ball (2006, Canada/USA, Greg Hamilton)
Mystic River (2003, USA, Clint Eastwood)
No Smoking (2007, India, Anurag Kashyap)
Notes on a Scandal (2006, UK, Richard Eyre)
Of Gods and Men (2010, France, Xavier Beauvois)
Oki’s Movie (2010, South Korea, Hong Sang-soo)
Oldboy (2003, South Korea, Chan-wook Park)
Our Beloved Month of August (2008, Portugal, Miguel Gomes)
Oxhide (2005, China, Jiayin Liu)
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006, Mexico, Guillermo del Toro)
Paprika (2006, Japan, Satoshi Kon)
Paradise Now (2005, Palestine co-production, Hany Abu-Assad)
Paraguayan Hammock (2006, Paraguay co-production, Paz Encina)
Paranoid Park (2007, USA, Gus Van Sant)
Parents (2007, Iceland, Ragnar Bragason)
Poetry (2010, South Korea, Lee Chang-dong)
Putty Hill (2010, USA, Matthew Porterfield)
Rapt (2009, France/Belgium, Lucas Belvaux)
Requiem (2006, Germany, Hans-Christian Schmid)
Rhinoceros Eyes (2003, USA, Aaron Woodley)
Rumba (2008, France/Belgium, Dominique Abel/Fiona Gordon/Bruno Romy)
Secret Sunshine (2007, South Korea, Lee Chang-Dong)
Shame (2011, UK, Steve McQueen)
Shut up & Sing (2007, USA, Barbara Kopple/Cecilia Peck)
Siddharth: The Prisoner (2008, India, Pryas Gupta)
Sideways (2004, USA, Alexander Payne)
Silent Souls (2010, Russia, Aleksei Fedorchenko)
Songs from the Second Floor (2003, Sweden, Roy Andersson)
Spare Parts (2003, Slovenia, Damjan Kozole)
Still Life (2006, China/Hong Kong, Jia ZhangKe)
Summer Wars (2009, Japan, Mamoru Hosoda)
Sun Spots (2009, China, Heng Yang)
Syndromes and a Century (2006, Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
Synedoche, New York (2008, USA, Charlie Kaufman)
Take Shelter (2011, USA, Jeff Nichols)
The Barbarian Invasions (2003, Canada/France, Denys Arcand)
The Box (2009, USA, Richard Kelly)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007, France/USA, Julian Schnabel)
The Edukators (2004, Germany/Austria, Hans Weingartner)
The Ghost Writer (2010, France/Germany/UK,Roman Polanski)
The Girl Cut in Two (2007, France, Claude Chabrol)
The House of Sand (2005, Brazil, Andrucha Waddington)
The Inheritance (2003, Denmark, Per Fly)
The International (2009, multiple, Tom Tykwer)
The King and the Clown (2005, South Korea, Joon-ik Lee)
The Machinist (2004, Spain, Brad Anderson)
The Man’s Woman and other Stories (2009, India, Amit Dutta)
The Middle of the World (2003, Brazil, Vicente Amorim)
The Mosquito Problem and Other Stories (2007, Bulgaria, Director Andrey Paounov)
The New World (2005, USA/UK, Terrence Malick)
The Russian Dolls (2005, France/UK, Cédric Klapisch)
The Strange Case of Angelica (2010, Portugal co-production, Manoel de Oliveira)
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005, USA, Tommy Lee Jones)
The Tiger Factory (2010, Malaysia/Japan, Woo Ming Jin)
The Tree of Life (2011, USA, Terrence Malick)
The Turin Horse (2011, Hungary co-production, Béla Tarr/Ágnes Hranitzky)
The Wind Journeys (2009, Colombia co-production, Ciro Guerra)
The World (2004, China co-production, Jia Zhang ke)
The Wrestler (2008, USA, Darren Aronofsky)
The Year My Parents Went on Vacation (2006, Brazil, Cao Hamburger)
There Will be Blood (2007, USA, Paul Thomas Anderson)
Three Times (2005, France/Taiwan, Hou Hsiao-hsien)
Tinker Tailor Sailor Spy (2011, UK co-production, Tomas Alfredson)
Todo Todo Torres (2006, Philippines, John Torres)
Tony Manero (2008, Chile/Brazil, Pablo Larraín)
Torremolinos 73 (2003, Spain, Pablo Berger)
Tropical Malady (2004, Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010, Thailand co-production, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
Undertow (2009, Peru co-production, Javier Fuentes-León)
United 93 (2006, USA co-production, Paul Greengrass)
Used Parts (2007, Mexico, Aarón Fernández)
We Own the Night (2007, USA, James Gray)
West of the Tracks (2003, China, Wang Bing)
Whisky (2004, Uruguay, Juan Pablo Rebella, Pablo Stoll)
White Material (2009, France, Claire Denis)
Win/Win (2010, Holland, Jaap van Heusden)
Woman on Fire Looks for Water (2009, Malaysia/South Korea, Woo Ming Jin)
Woman without a Piano (2009, Spain, Javier Rebollo)
You, the Living (2009, Sweden, Roy Andersson)
Z Channel: A Magnificent Obsession (2004, USA, Xan Cassavetes)

---

Top 10 of the decade, 2003-12

1. L’Intrus (2004, France, Claire Denis)

2. Tropical Malady (2004, Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul) 

3. Colossal Youth (2006, Portugal, Pedro Costa) 

4. West of the Tracks: parts I, II, III (2003, China, Wang Bing)

5. Crimson Gold (2003, Iran, Jafar Panahi) 
6. The Strange Case of Angelica (2010, Portugal co-production, Manoel de Oliveira) 
7. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005, Romania, Cristi Puiu) 
8. Three Times (2005, France/Taiwan, Hou Hsiao-hsien) 
9. Foster Child (2007, Philippines, Brillante Mendoza) 
10. Los Muertos (2004, Argentina, Lisandro Alonso)

Runners-up: 

Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures (2005, Brazil, Marcelo Gomes)
Liverpool (2008, Argentina, Lisandro Alonso)
Syndromes and a Century (2006, Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
My Joy (2010, Ukraine co-production, Sergei Loznitsa)
The Turin Horse (2011, Hungary co-production, Béla Tarr/Ágnes Hranitzky)
Climates (2006, Turkey, Nuri Bilge Ceylan)

---

The comparison of List 1 & List 2 is further proof that it often takes a few years to catch up with all the worthy films from one calendar year. And I am certain the above 278 titles still don't cover everything. I have missed many films over the last decade, including those by Lav Diaz, and need to catch up with a few 2011 & 2012 titles. So the above best of decade could still change in 2014.

---

Update Log

Entry #1, Feb 13: Less than a few hours after posting this list, I realized that I left out The New World from the above list. So List 2 grew from 178 titles to 179. I am certain the list will grow in upcoming weeks, so I will gradually update this page and modify the top 10 as needed. But for now, the top 10 stays unchanged.
Entry #2, Feb 16: Hard to imagine I left out the wonderful Mexican documentry In the Pit. Also, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly deserves its place. Total titles in List #2 have been modified from 179 to 181.

---

Best Films of the Last Decade

I have always refrained from assessing whether a particular year had a good cinematic output mostly because a majority of foreign films were out of reach for me. This meant I was a few years behind in catching all the newest film titles and as a result, many excellent titles missed my end of the year list. For example, past omissions have included personal favorites such as The Strange Case of Angelica, Mysteries of Lisbon, My Joy, West of the Tracks and Pedro Costa’s Colossal Youth. I had a 2 year delay for the first three films and it was almost 4 years before I finally saw the Costa. But ultimately at the end of the day, I can only judge what is available to me. With that in mind, I decided to tally up my top 10 film lists from 2003 - 2012 to determine a personal best cinematic viewing year. I cut down lists from some years which had more than 10 titles, such as 23 films in 2009.

A quick rundown of lists from 2003 - 2012.

Top 10 films of 2003

1. Lost in Translation (USA/Japan, Sofia Coppola)
2. And Now...Ladies and Gentlemen (2002, France/UK, Claude Lelouch)
3. Mr & Mrs Iyer (2002, India, Aparna Sen)
4. Teen Deewarein (India, Nagesh Kukunoor)
5. Adaptation (2002, USA, Spike Jonze)
6. 21 Grams (USA, Alejandro González Iñárritu)
7. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002, South Korea, Park Chan-wook)
8. Gangaajal (India, Prakash Jha)
9. Haasil (India, Tigmanshu Dhulia)
10. Saathiya (2002, India, Shaad Ali)

Top 10 films of 2004

1. Exiles (France/Japan, Tony Gatlif)
2. Monsieur Ibrahim (2003, France, Francois Dupeyron)
3. Kontroll (2003, Hungary, Nimrod Antal)
4. Samsara (2001, India co-production, Pan Nalin)
5. Carandiru (2003, Brazil co-production, Hector Babenco)
6. Kopps (2003, Sweden/Denmark, Josef Fares)
7. Control Room (USA, Jehane Noujaim)
8. About Baghdad (USA, Sinan Antoon & 4 other directors)
9. Checkpoint (2003, Israel, Yoav Shamir)
10. Before Sunset (USA, Richard Linklater)

Top 10 films of 2005

1. Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures (Brazil, Marcelo Gomes)
2. Yes (2004, UK/USA, Sally Potter)
3. L’Enfant (Belgium/France, Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne)
4. Sepet (2004, Malaysia, Yasmin Ahmad)
5. Cache (France co-production, Michael Haneke)
6. Mountain Patrol/Kekexili (2004, China/Hong Kong, Chuan Lu)
7. Head-On (2004, Germany/Turkey, Fatih Akin)
8. Brokeback Mountain (USA/Canada, Ang Lee)
9. Good Night, and Good Luck (USA/France/UK/Japan, George Clooney)
10. Turtles Can Fly (2004, Iran/France/Iraq, Bahman Ghobadi)

Top 10 films of 2006

1. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005, Romania, Cristi Puiu)
2. Dosar (2006, India, Rituparno Ghosh)
3. El Violín (2005, Mexico, Francisco Vargas Quevedo)
4. Tzameti (2005, France/Georgia, Géla Babluani)
5. The Bet Collector (Philippines, Jeffrey Jeturian)
6. Khosla Ka Ghosla (India, Dibakar Banerjee)
7. The Descent (2005, UK, Neil Marshall)
8. The Lives of Others (Germany, Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck)
9. Election 2 (Hong Kong, Johnny To)
10. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (2005, South Korea, Park Chan-wook)

Top 10 films of 2007

1. Foster Child (Philippines, Brillante Mendoza)
2. Dans la ville de Sylvia (Spain, José Luis Guerin)
3. Slingshot (Philippines, Brillante Mendoza)
4. Children of Men (2006, USA/UK, Alfonso Cuarón)
5. Black Friday (2004, India, Anurag Kashyap)
6. The Bourne Ultimatum (USA, Paul Greengrass)
7. Zodiac (USA, David Fincher)
8. Rendition (USA, Gavin Hood)
9. Ratatouille (USA, Brad Bird)
10. Drained (2006, Brazil, Heitor Dhalia)

Top 10 films of 2008

1. Rachel Getting Married (USA, Jonathan Demme)
2. Happy-Go-Lucky (UK, Mike Leigh)
3. Wonderful Town (2007, Thailand, Aditya Assarat)
4. The Fall (2006, USA/India, Tarsem)
5. Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye! (India, Dibakar Banerjee)
6. Gomorra (Italy, Matteo Garrone)
7. Silent Light (2007, Mexico, Carlos Reygadas)
8. Tell No One (2006, France, Guillaume Canet)
9. Rock On (India, Abhishek Kapoor)
10. WALL·E (USA, Andrew Stanton)

Top 10 films of 2009

1. Be Calm and Count to Seven (2008, Iran, Ramtin Lavafipour)
2. Breathless (2008, South Korea, Yang Ik-June)
3. Wendy and Lucy (2008, USA, Kelly Reichardt)
4. Police, Adjective (Romania, Corneliu Porumboiu)
5. Buick Riviera (Croatia, Goran Rusinovic)
6. Call If You Need Me (Malaysia, James Lee)
7. Karaoke (Malaysia, Chris Chong Chan Fui)
8. Birdsong (2008, Spain, Albert Serra)
9. Everyone Else (Germany, Maren Ade)
10. Milk (2008, Turkey, Semih Kaplanoglu)

Top 10 films of 2010

1. Kill the Referee (2009, Belgium, Y. Hinant/E. Cardot/L. Delphine)
2. Liverpool (2008, Argentina, Lisandro Alonso)
3. El Pasante (Argentina, Clara Picasso)
4. The American (USA, Anton Corbijn)
5. R (Denmark, Tobias Lindholm/Michael Noer)
6. Manuel De Ribera (Chile, Pablo Carrera/Christopher Murray)
7. The Robber (Austria/Germany, Benjamin Heisenberg)
8. Carlos (France, Olivier Assayas)
9. Shutter Island (USA, Martin Scorsese)
10. The Life and Death of a Porno Gang (2009, Serbia, Mladen Djordjevic)

Top 10 films of 2011

1. Le Quattro Volte (2010, Italy co-production, Michelangelo Frammartino)
2. Do Dooni Chaar (2010, India, Habib Faisal)
3. Drive (USA, Nicolas Winding Refn)
4. A Separation (Iran, Asghar Farhadi)
5. Dhobi Ghat (India, Kiran Rao)
6. Another Year (2010, UK, Mike Leigh)
7. Nostalgia for the Light (2010, Chile co-production, Patricio Guzmán)
8. Aurora (2010, Romania co-production, Cristi Puiu)
9. The Kid With a Bike (Belgium co-production, Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne)
10. Melancholia (Denmark co-production, Lars von Trier)

Top 10 films of 2012

1. Holy Motors (France, Leos Carax)
2. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011, Turkey, Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
3. This is Not a Film (2011, Iran, Mojtaba Mirtahmasb/Jafar Panahi)
4. The Master (2012, USA, Paul Thomas Anderson)
5. Gone Fishing (2012, Argentina, Carlos Sorin)
6. The World Before Her (2012, Canada, Nisha Pahuja)
7. Found Memories (2011, Brazil co-production, Lucia Murat)
8. The Bright Day (2012, India, Mohit Takalkar)
9. Unfair World (2011, Greece/Germany, Filippos Tsitos)
10. Sleeping Sickness (2011, Germany co-production, Ulrich Kohler)

Best overall year

All the years contain many strong films but 2009 has the best overall selection with 10 outstanding entries. On top of that, there are 13 other worthy selections in 2009 that would have made an adequate top 10 substitute.

The Storm (Turkey, Kazim Öz)
Border (Armenia/Holland, Harutyun Khachatryan)
In the Loop (UK, Armando Iannucci)
The Limits of Control (USA, Jim Jarmusch)
Zidane (France, Douglas Gordon/Philippe Parreno)
Ain’t No Tomorrows (Japan, Yuki Tanada)
The Happiest Girl in the World (Romania co-production, Radu Jude)
The Hurt Locker (USA, Kathryn Bigelow)
The Class (France, Laurent Cantet)
District 9 (South Africa/New Zealand, Neill Blomkamp)
Katalin Varga (Romania co-production, Peter Strickland)
I Killed My Mother (Canada, Xavier Dolan)
The Prophet (France, Jacques Audiard)

2010 and 2011 are the next two best years with the highest number of personal favourites.

Top 10 from 100 films

In order to pick 10 titles from these quality 100 films, I ignored the previous year’s ranking and threw all 100 films into one big pot so that all entries were on equal footing. Even though the final list consists of films from 10 different directors and 9 countries, all the films either feature a journey or are shot in a verite style.

1. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005, Romania, Cristi Puiu)

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu is called a dark comedy but it is entirely possible to view it as a bloodless horror film where the audience is given a front row seat in witnessing the slow disintegration of the title character. Even though Mr. Lazarescu is slowly edging towards his death, no one around him seems to notice because they are all weighed down by a bureaucratic system and can’t look up to see the obvious.

2. Foster Child (2007, Philippines, Brillante Mendoza)

In 2007, Brillante Mendoza pulled off a unique feat by making two powerful films, Slingshot and Foster Child, in the same year. The two works share many production similarities as both are shot in roughly the same amount of time (10 and 11 days respectively) in locations next to each other and utilize a verite style where actors are integrated with the slum residents to create a unique mixture of fiction and reality. However, the two film differ by their focus on the resident’s lives. Slingshot looks at how corruption and politics mixes with poverty while Foster Child looks at foster care in Philippines and individuals who adopt children and look after them. Foster Child smartly balances both the macro and microscopic view by depicting the larger hierarchal structure of adoption and the tender individual relationships that form between the children and those that care for them. As a result, the film is heart-wrenching and leaves a lasting emotional impact.

3. Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures (2005, Brazil, Marcelo Gomes)

Johann is a traveling salesman who cleverly uses cinema to sell aspirin. As engaging as his encounters are, what elevates this work is the director’s decision to overexpose the film negative. This gives each frame a yellowish tint which perfectly conveys the heat and brutality of the almost endless Brazilian landscape. The overexposed film shatters the fourth wall and ensures the audience gets a sense of Johann’s struggles thereby making them a passenger on his journey. The film also smartly shows how people’s idea of freedom varies and what makes one person happy can be torture for another.

4. Liverpool (2008, Argentina, Lisandro Alonso)

Farrel, a lonely man, leaves a ship’s confined space and heads off into the vast open land in order to seek closure from his past. Alonso’s flexible camera film allows one to breathe in the environment and take in all the sights and sounds while observing the weight drop from Farrel’s shoulders as he makes his way through snow covered paths to his goal.

5. Exiles (2004, France/Japan, Tony Gatlif)

Exiles follows two characters who leave Paris and head to Algeria to find their roots. Since this is a Tony Gatlif movie, flamenco musical sequences are present but this time a touch of Rai music is added to the mix. The music, which consists of a hypnotic 11 minute trance segment near the finale, heightens the emotions thereby ensuring an immersive work.

6. Samsara (2001, India co-production, Pan Nalin)

A beautiful soulful film that explores the philosophical question "How do you prevent a drop of water from drying up?". A Buddhist monk renounces his religious life for the worldly pleasures of sex and love. But despite getting married, he begins to realize that satisfying one desire always leads to more desires. The movie highlights his spiritual journey but more importantly, it tackles the spiritual question from a woman's point of view as well. It is always men who are willing to get up and leave for the mountains. But what about the women they leave behind? Did anyone ask what happened to Buddha's wife?

7. Be Calm and Count to Seven (2008, Iran, Ramtin Lavafipour)

This stunning poetic film opens with fast boats landing on a beach, followed immediately by burqa covered women hurriedly unloading goods off the boats and disappearing into mud houses. The contents of those bags are revealed later on in the film but both the contents and act of smuggling are minor details. The most important aspect of this film is observing the way of life on a tiny beautiful island in the Persian Gulf. If the character’s didn’t speak Farsi, then one would imagine the fishing village setting was Yemen or North Africa . But the film is Iranian and shows a rarely seen side of the Persian country.

8. Holy Motors (2012, France, Leos Carax)

Leos Carax creatively captures the essence of cinema from the silent era to contemporary times while paying homage to key genres throughout.

9. Dans la ville de Sylvia (2007, Spain, José Luis Guerin)

Guerin beautifully strips cinema down to its bare essence capturing every sound found in a vibrant European city, right down to a bottle rolling down a cobblestone street, in following a man's return to the city where he met the lovely Sylvia 6 years ago. It is clear that the man is haunted by memories of Sylvia and seems to encounter her ghost in every female he crosses.

10. Breathless (2008, South Korea, Yang Ik-June)

Breathless draws a direct line from domestic abuse to a gangster life. In doing so, the film clearly depicts the dangers of a violent life, both in a household or in a gang, and demonstrates that there is a consequence to every violent action even if sometimes that consequence takes two generations to manifest itself. Yang Ik-June’s debut film is a rare film that has a purpose for every brutal violent scene and as a result film makes a strong case for leading an anti-violent life.

Children of Men and Once Upon a Time in Anatoalia were very close to making the top 10 and are worthy runners-up.

Countries represented

There are 30 countries represented but 3 nations make up 43% of all films, with USA having 21 films, India with 14 and France 8. Here is the list of nations arranged by inclusions:

USA: 21
India: 14
France: 8

Brazil, Germany, Iran, UK: 4

Argentina, Belgium, Malaysia, Philippines, Romania, South Korea: 3

Chile, Denmark, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Turkey: 2

Austria, Canada, China, Croatia, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Serbia, Sweden, Thailand: 1

Note: in the case of co-productions, the primary country is selected.

Film distribution breakdown of all 100 films

Total number of films seen due to film festivals: 53
Multiplexes: 20
DVDs: 18
Arthouses/indie cinemas: 8
online streaming: 1

The high percentage of titles from USA, India and France is not surprizing as these three countries have a prolific film industry and an established distribution scheme which ensures their works are easily available around the world. This is especially true in Canada where American, Indian and French films are quite accessible via cinemas and DVD/online streams. In fact, for a better part of the last decade, French films were more easily available than Canadian films which were mostly found only at film festivals.

However, the difficulty of seeing films from other countries becomes an issue if film festivals are taken out of the equation. For example, all three Filipino titles came from attending VIFF for two years. So now that I am not attending VIFF, my access to quality Filipino titles has declined drastically. Another decline has come from the closure of a local indie DVD store that specialized in carrying classic and contemporary Asian films of all genres. Therefore, many titles from Hong Kong, China, Japan and South Korea have fallen completely out of my regular viewing schedule. Plus, the shutdown of some mail rental stores such as Videomatica in Vancouver has also hurt in getting access to foreign films. The online film streaming sites in Canada do not have a fraction of the collection that worthy arthouse/indie DVD stores carried previously.

It seems that every year I am forced to repeat similar words about the difficulty of seeing global cinema but the truth is the foreign film distribution model in North America is broken, unless one lives in New York. Foreign film distribution is similarly in bad shape around the world but no such distribution problems exist for substandard Hollywood productions which are available in every part of the world.

A few other observations

2012 is the only year when all 10 films came from 10 different countries.
2003 contains the lowest number of countries represented with 4.
2009: 9 of the 10 films were made available due to film festivals.

Best Films of 2003

Another end of the year list put together from scribbled notes written a decade ago. A quick glance at my 2003 viewing notes confirmed that I once used to have much better options to view foreign films locally through the different arthouse cinemas and a selection of independent DVD stores. For example, I could always catch the newest Johnny To film a few months after its release unlike waiting 1-2 years now. Still despite a rich selection of films to choose from in 2003, I managed to miss many high profile releases which would have altered this end of the year list. Films such as Mystic River (likely to take #1 spot), The Barbarian Invasions, Distant (Nuri Bilge Ceylan), The Son (Dardenne brothers), Dogville, Kill Bill vol.1 and Oldboy would have featured prominently in this list.

Top 10 films of 2003

1. Lost in Translation (USA/Japan, Sofia Coppola)

2. And Now...Ladies and Gentlemen (2002, France/UK, Claude Lelouch)

Patricia Kaas’s soothing vocals coupled with the Moroccan visuals made this a very seductive cinematic experience. On top of that, And Now...Ladies and Gentlemen has one of the best film soundtracks solely due to Kaas’ jazzy notes.

3. Mr & Mrs. Iyer (2002, India, Aparna Sen)

Aparna Sen smartly uses a bus to highlight the cultural diversity of India and show how simple differences can constantly divide the nation or can sometimes bring people together. Konkana Sen Sharma, Aparna Sen’s daughter, steals the show with one of the most memorable acting performances seen in Indian cinema over the last decade.

4. Teen Deewarein (India, Nagesh Kukunoor)

Despite the prison setting and a murder case, Teen Deewarein has a peaceful flow and is packed with poetic words. At first, the three completely different characters appear to have nothing in common but a few clues tucked along the way create enough doubt and ensure that the ending does not appear as a complete surprize.

5. Adaptation (2002, USA, Spike Jonze)

6. 21 Grams (USA, Alejandro González Iñárritu)

7. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002, South Korea, Park Chan-wook)

8. Gangaajal (India, Prakash Jha)

A simmering film set in India’s political hotbed of Bihar against the background of corruption. After being constantly frustrated at seeing their hard-work go down the drain, the local police force take matters into their own hands and dish out their own holy justice.

9. Haasil (India, Tigmanshu Dhulia)

Tigmanshu Dhulia makes an impressive feature film debut with a thoughtful work that shows how the grassroots of political battles is lit early in the college years.

10. Saathiya (2002, India, Shaad Ali)

Top 10 Canadian Films of 2012

2012 was a really good year in Canadian cinema as demonstrated by the titles below but also by a few that narrowly failed to make the list such as Kim Nguyen’s Rebelle (War Witch). Any other year, Rebelle would have been in this list. Also, there are quite a few attention worthy films that I missed seeing last year such as Xavier Dolan’s Laurence Anyways, Peter Mettler’s The End of Time & Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell.

Top 10 Canadian Films of 2012

1) The World Before Her (Nisha Pahuja)

A perfectly balanced and insightful film that examines two very different camps of thought in India. The two camps, beauty pageants vs fundamentalism, contain the essence of issues that are dividing and ruining India. Given the recent brutal crime in Delhi, The World Before Her is one of the year’s most relevant films which should kick-start a debate about improving women’s rights in India.

2) Take This Waltz (2011, Sarah Polley)

Perfectly etched characters depicted in a beautiful fluid manner. Plus, Leonard Cohen's title song elevates the film emotionally.

3) I’m not a Rockstar (Bobbi Jo Hart)

Bobbi Jo Hart has edited over 4 years of footage to craft a documentary about the struggles and journey of a young girl, Marika Bournaki, to become a pianist. There are few scenes which show Marika’s natural talent but for the most part, the film shows her relationship with her father and the sacrifices the father makes for her success. This focus on father-daughter is why the film works so well as we get to know both of them better and even listen to things that we should not have access to. The subject matter applies to all arts in general and highlights pitfalls that can trip up young artists.

4) Mallamall (Lalita Krishna)

A highly relevant Canadian documentary that looks at India's economic rise via the countless malls being constructed there. The film also highlights a Canadian connection crucial in developing these mega stores, something that is hardly ever seen in any newspaper headlines.

5) Lowlife (Seth Smith)

This unique film follows two characters who get high on slugs. Their repeated usage of slugs blurs the line between reality and their slug induced nightmares. The drug visions are shown in black and white while reality is shown in color but as the film progresses that changes, especially with a jaw dropping ending.

6) Midnight’s Children (Deepa Mehta)

Midnight’s Children is such a dense rich novel that it seemed too difficult to ever adapt into a film. Of course, if anyone could accomplish this feat, it could only be Salman Rushdie himself. He has used his story telling strengths along with his well documented love of cinema to carefully adapt segments which contain the novel’s essence while providing a smooth cinematic flow. Huge credit also goes to Deepa Mehta for smartly using Rushdie’s narration to smoothen over the decade long gaps in the story without losing a beat. Rushdie’s voice comes across like a wise story teller preparing us for events we are about to see before our eyes. Also, the presence of many actors, regardless of their screen time, enhances the film as each actor adds a distinctive ingredient to the overall flavor.

7) Cosmopolis (David Cronenberg)

This carefully constructed Cronenberg limo was cruising towards the #2 spot on my year end list until it hit a roadblock. That caused the driver to get out of the car and inquire the damage. However, the young passenger Eric Parker got frustrated and jumped from back of the limo into the driver’s seat. He sped the car past the roadblock and made it to his destination in an impressive manner. Unfortunately, he arrived a little bit too late for the end of 2012 party. Still, Eric didn’t realize that his quick thinking allowed him to narrowly edge past another Cronenberg vehicle hot on his tails.

8) Antiviral (Brandon Cronenberg)

An absolutely juicy debut film that one can sink their teeth into. Antiviral looks at a not too distance future where society’s obsession with celebrity culture results in people lining up to buy meat grown from celebrity cells and happily injecting themselves with a celebrity’s virus. Given current addiction to anything celebrity related, such a scenario is not entirely unbelievable so full credit to Brandon Cronenberg for extrapolating the present in such a thoughtful film.

9) Mars et Avril (Martin Villeneuve)

Martin Villeneuve adapted his own graphic novel for the poetic and meditative Mars et Avril. The film is a labor of love and demonstrates that beautiful visuals can be made on a tight budget and a sci-fi film can be made without any horror or mindless action scenes.

10) Bestiaire (Denis Côté)

At first, this Denis Cote documentary looks like a peaceful observation of animals in a zoo. However, that perception is quickly shattered when the first agonizing sounds of animals wanting to break free from their cages are heard. The camera angles also emphasize the struggles most animals have in coping with a harsh winter which restricts their roaming space. Once summer arrives, Cote smartly frames his camera to give the appearance that it is the humans who are in cages and are observed by the animals. This shift of just who is the real observer coupled with the indoor winter shots raise plenty of burning points about caging of animals.

---

Interestingly, Antiviral & Mars et Avril also extended the cinematic family tree of two famous Canadian names. Brandon is David Cronenberg’s son while Martin is Denis Villeneuve’s brother. However, it is good to see that both Brandon and Martin have successfully made their own mark with their debut feature films.

Best Films of 2004

I started publishing my end of the year list from 2005 onwards but I compiled a list for 2004, which I am now putting up in order to gather some stats.

Top 10 films of 2004

1) Exiles (France/Japan, Tony Gatlif)

An emotional journey packed with mesmerizing music including an 11 minute trance segment near the end. The story involves two characters who leave Paris and head to Algeria to find their roots. Their journey consists of heading through Spain and finally sneaking into Algeria as the Algerian border is closed. Since this is a Tony Gatlif movie, flamenco musical sequences are present but this time a touch of Rai music is added to the mix.

2) Monsieur Ibrahim (2003, France, Francois Dupeyron)

It is refreshing to see Omar Sharif (who plays a Turkish shop owner) given a charming role which he plays to perfection. But the real gem of this movie is the young actor, Pierre Boulanger, who gives a virtuoso performance as the 14 year old Momo. Boulanger’s expressions are priceless, feisty when they have to be and innocent when needed.

3) Kontroll (2003, Hungary, Nimrod Antal)

The movie follows the lives of the underground subway metro staff on their daily routines which involves dealing with insanity, inner turmoils, strange passengers and playing male power games. The first half is hilarious but the second half explores shades of darkness lurking beneath the surface.

4) Samsara (2001, India co-production, Pan Nalin)

A beautiful soulful film that explores the philosophical question 'How do you prevent a drop of water from drying up?'. A Buddhist monk renounces his religious life for the worldly pleasures of sex and love. But despite getting married, he begins to realize that satisfying one desire always leads to more desires. The movie highlights his journey but more importantly, it tackles the spiritual question from a woman's point of view as well. It is always men who are willing to get up and leave for the mountains. But what about the women they leave behind? Did anyone ask what happened to Buddha's wife?

5) Carandiru (2003, Brazil co-production, Hector Babenco)

A ruthless film based on a real life incident in a Brazilian prison where riot squad massacred unarmed prisoners for purely political reasons. The movie is divided into two segments with majority of the first segment looking at the prisoners and their lives from the point of view of the prison doctor. The second segment outlines the prison massacre.

6) Kopps (2003, Sweden/Denmark, Josef Fares)

A small peaceful Swedish town is about to have its only police station shut down due to lack of crime. Faced with the prospect of losing their jobs, the local Kopps decide to boost the crime rate themselves. A hilarious film with memorable characters.

7) Control Room (USA, Jehane Noujaim)

This eye-opening documentary shows that despite all the negative media coverage, Al Jazeera might be the only remaining democratic media outlet on the planet which has tried to show stories objectively. In doing so, it has drawn criticism both from the Arab and Western world. A channel that manages to get all sides upset at the same time must be doing something right.

8) About Baghdad (USA, Sinan Antoon & 4 other directors)

A rare film that gives Iraqi people a true voice. Sinan Antoon left Iraq after the first Gulf war and returned in 2003 to see what was left of his country. He wanders the streets of Baghdad and captures the feelings and thoughts of everyday people, taxi drivers, café owners, students, writers, poets, artists, librarians, tortured victims, government employees, etc. Along with Control Room, one of the most relevant docs of the year.

9) Checkpoint (2003, Israel, Yoav Shamir)

This must-see Israeli documentary looks at the everyday drama that takes place at some of checkpoints between Palestinian and Israeli zones. Shamir simply places his camera on the side and watches the activities objectively. What at first seems like a dark satire is the harsh everyday reality for these people.

10) Before Sunset (USA, Richard Linklater)

Before Sunset starts off 9 years after Before Sunrise and catches up with Ethan Hawke & Julie Delpy’s memorable characters. Like the first film, Delpy’s character is far more interesting and some of the camera work that follows her is a delight.

Honorable Mentions roughly in order of preference

Nathalie (2003, France/Spain, Anne Fontaine)

The Passion of the Christ (USA, Mel Gibson)

Memories of Murder (2003, South Korea, Joon-ho Bong)

Primer (2004, USA, Shane Carruth)

Kill Bill Volume 2 (USA, Quentin Tarantino)

Saw (USA, James Wan)

Close Your Eyes (2002, UK,Nick Willing)