Top 10 films of 2009

What’s in a list? Probably little more than an opportunity to show off, indulge in a some lazy cultural showboating and maybe even a chance to stir up a dash of barroom provocation. Perfect. So, in no particular order, here is my attempt to do just that. Any disagreements, disputes, outraged contempt, please feel free to comment…..

1.       The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke)

Haneke’s latest masterpiece. Beautifully scripted, shot and acted it is a glorious examination of the potential for human cruelty and moral collapse, issued down from one generation to the next. Bleak, disturbing but staggeringly beautiful.

2.       A Serious Man (Joel & Ethan Coen)

Only the Coen brothers could make the hopelessness of life seem so funny. We can only laugh at our impending demise in this retelling of the story of Job.

3.       A Prophet (Jacques Audiard)

Audiard, channelling the very best of Jean-Pierre Melville and the Nouvelle Vague, shows he is a director so far ahead of the pack that we can only watch in awe. After Read My Lips and The Beat That My Heart Skipped he is redefining French (and European) cinema and showing the Americans exactly what they should be striving for. Utterly brilliant. Utterly French. And utterly, utterly cool.

4.       Soul Power (Jeffery Levy-Hinte)

Soul music, African-American politics, James Brown, The Detroit Spinners, Miriam Makeba, Don King, BB King, uptight whitey, Muhammad Ali. What’s not to like?

5.       The Hurt Locker (Katheryn Bigelow)

Bigelow takes us into the claustrophobic heart of modern warfare and, in doing so, to the heart of a very special brand of adrenaline-fuelled masculinity. A film about people not politics and the defining war movie of the era.

6.       Fish Tank (Andrea Arnold)

Stark and uncomfortable in parts, gripping and poetic throughout. Arnold’s wonderfully directed and edited exploration of a society and generation on the edge was a triumph.

7.       Broken Embraces (Pedro Almodovar)

A film only the Spanish maestro could pull off as he ascends to a new cinematic language entirely his own. Gloriously over-the-top, acutely funny, heart-breaking and beautifully directed. And Penelope Cruz…..

8.       Mesrine Killer Instinct/Mesrine Public Enemy No. 1 (Jean-Francois Richet)

Flawed, frantic and French. Over four thrilling hours in the company of a mesmeric anti-hero the gangster biopic genre is given a distinctly Gallic, and welcome, shot of adrenaline. Epic European cinema.

9.       Il Divo (Paolo Sorrentino)

Sorrentino proves once again he is a director with a masterful hand in this visually stunning examination of political mystery and corruption.

10.   The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (Terry Gilliam)

Inevitably inconsistent and damaged and I’m not even sure I liked it, but few other directors have such a wonderfully and utterly liberating approach to creativity. Completely unencumbered by conformity, this was nothing less than flamboyant and magical storytelling. Gilliam gets a terrible beating at the hands of critics, some of it deserved, but film would be a lesser, duller place without him.

Honourable mention (because no list is ever long enough….)

The recent  re-release of Powell and Pressburger’s resplendent Technicolour masterpiece The Red Shoes

Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)

Public Enemies (Michael Mann)

In The Loop (Armando Iannucci)