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Exposing excellence
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune, 24.12.2006
The best American films of the year disturbed the peace and spoke to our anxious historical moment. "United 93" beat "World Trade Center" to the theaters and found precisely the right cinematic approach to an all-too-recent tragedy. "Little Children," as co-adapted and directed by Todd Field, went out of its way to have one of its most unsettled characters discuss the meaning of the phrase "homeland security." Opening in Chicago next month, "Letters From Iwo Jima," directed by Clint Eastwood as a bookend to "Flags of Our Fathers," transcends the revenge-minded ethos that guided Eastwood to superstardom as both actor and director. It is the best war film in years, and the most sobering.
One film, from Turkey, for me rose above the others and felt like a true discovery, even though its director, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, has made several features prior. It is called "Climates" ("Iklimler") and compared with virtually any other film you can name, it will not draw much of an audience. (It plays the Music Box in February.)
Ceylan is an accomplished photographer as well as a director. (Check out nuribilgeceylan.com; in particular, go to his "Turkey Cinemascope" gallery in the photography section for some mouth-watering images.) He and his wife, Ebru Ceylan, portray long-term lovers on the verge of a split. He's a professor; she's an art director. What's special about the film lies not in its narrative but in its evocation of perilous emotional states and a dangerous sort of romantic nostalgia. The film is the work of an artist, poet and merciless dissector of a certain kind of male psyche. Ceylan shoots here in high-definition digital video, and without allowing "Climates" to become merely ravishing to the eye, it most certainly is ravishing to the eye.
I hate to oversell it, but what can you do? When you love a movie you don't care if it's for everybody, whoever "everybody" is. And if you want a fine film that is for everybody, there's always "The Queen."
TOP 10 PICKS
1. "Climates," or "Iklimler"
Turkey; directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
In a year when more films responded to political anxieties here and abroad, Ceylan's gorgeous and fiercely personal rumination on the end of an Istanbul affair was the one that lingered. A limited run at the Music Box Theatre opens Feb. 16.
2. "United 93"
U.S.; directed by Paul Greengrass
Too soon? Not for a film this alert, shot with nervous hand-held cameras canvassing an awful day's chaos without exploiting it.
3. "Little Children"
U.S.; directed by Todd Field
A startling improvement on a good novel, this tale of parents and children and forbidden desires makes "American Beauty" and its ilk look sick.
4. "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu"
Romania; directed by Cristi Puiu
We're all going to die. We all should be so lucky to go with the hard-won poetic panache of Puiu's one-of-a-kind farewell.
5. "Letters From Iwo Jima"
U.S.; directed by Clint Eastwood
Shot back-to-back with "Flags of Our Fathers," this is infinitely the richer and more lasting work. Opens Jan. 12.
6. "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan"
U.S.; directed by Larry Charles
Fearless, manipulative beyond measure, cheap in every regard and the comedy of the year.
7. "The War Tapes"
U.S.; directed by Deborah Scranton
Scranton gave video cameras to several fighting men in Iraq. Her resulting collage burrows into the heart of a very large mess like no fiction film ever could.
8. "Casino Royale"
U.S.; directed by Martin Campbell
The summer hit that didn't show up until November, this was the best Bond since Hector was a pup and I was in high school.
9. "The Queen"
U.K.; directed by Stephen Frears
A lovely high comedy of manners masquerading as a docudrama, Helen Mirren portrays Queen Elizabeth II in her hour of conflicted grief following the death of a controversial princess.
10. "Hidden," or "Cache"
France/Austria/Germany/Italy; directed by Michael Haneke
An icy international sensation over a year ago, Haneke's portrait of a family falling apart under a videographer's scrutiny made it to Chicago too late to quality for last year's list. So here it is.
Runners up, ETC.
"I Like Killing Flies"; "Children of Men"; "Thank You For Smoking"; "Half Nelson"; "Inland Empire"; "Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story"; "Shut Up & Sing"; "Our Daily Bread"; "Three Times"; "L'Enfant."
And if I had an 11th runners-up slot: "Lassie."
Worst picture of the year: "London"
Worst aftertaste left by a film not incompetently made: "Apocalypto," also known as "The Mayan Chainsaw Massacre."
Worst hypocrites on the planet: The Motion Picture Association of America ratings board, which wins this award every year by awarding "R" ratings to things like "Apocalypto" while getting all fussed up about nudity and rough language. That's America: Bloodthirsty yet easily embarrassed. It makes me so mad I wanna sic Mel Gibson on 'em.
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