Top 10 Films of 2011 by Nir Shalev

by NIR SHALEV

I don’t like making top 10 lists because it makes me seem like a film snob, but I am a film snob, and somehow I still dislike making top 10 lists! Can’t win them all… So seeing that almost everyone else out there has compiled a top 10 (or 20) list, here is my list for the best 10 films of 2011:

10. Rango

Industrial Light and Magic’s first 3D animated film is hilarious, echoes Chinatown brilliantly, and is one of the most beautiful animated films that I’ve ever seen. It defeats many other live-action films that came out last year because it has real imagination, a lovable chameleon protagonist, and it’s a Western. That’s an automatic win.

09. Midnight in Paris

Woody Allen’s best since Match Point (2005) is one of the rare films of 2011 that put a smile on my face from start to end. Owen Wilson delivers a likable and believable performance (as believable as the situation is) and the concept of the film is terrific. I only have two words for you: time travel.

08. The Tree of Life

I love every film that Terrence Malick has made and The Tree of Life is no exception. This film is, magnificently more of an experience than merely a film. We get to live through parts of Malick’s own childhood; the suburbs, the forests, the Sunday church gatherings. We get to experience the creation of the universe for a long while and Malick’s breathtaking approach to showcasing it as an experience, as well. And then we go back to the suburbs to experience life and perhaps, death. This is definitely not a film for everyone but one that more should seek out now that it’s on video.

07. Melancholia

I detested all of Lars von Trier’s films until I watched Antichrist (2009), but with Melancholia I was on board the von Trier train. Melancholia, depicting depression as harsh as it possibly can, has its protagonist in such a terrible state that she summons a giant planet (named Melancholia) that’s on a collision course with the Earth. It’s a breathtakingly gorgeously shot, remarkable, powerful, and maddening film that works with the ideal of being, existing, and nothingness. It’s also quite the experience.

06. The Artist

It’s about time that someone remembered that silent films can be as terrific as talkies. The Artist is not just a terrific film, it also contains a statement on our current culture and how backwards it can seem to be (most people have become lazy philistines). George Valentin (Jean Dujardin, who won Best Actor at Cannes) is an egotistic Hollywood silent film superstar who falls from grace because the talkies have arrived. The Artist combines the central plot of Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and the sad career turn of John Gilbert and still manages to bring a fresh take on the story aspects of the transition from silent films to the talkies and the young taking over from the older. It’s also shot in gorgeous black and white; it depicts the silent and early talkies era with perfection (down to using matte paintings for cityscapes); and it’s shot just like the films were back then. It looks like it was shot on old film stock (I could be wrong, there could be a lot of post production there), seeing that it’s out of focus ever-so-slightly and just where it needs to be, and the actors overact just enough in order to compensate for the lack of sound. The best “silent” performance in the film, aside from Dujardin’s, is John Goodman’s, who plays the big-shot producer. This is a terrific, wonderful and inspiring film (from France of all places!), and don’t forget to look out for the “Love Theme” from Hitchcock’s Vertigo (1958) that plays during the last 15 minutes of the film.

05. Drive

This is my favorite film of 2011. Director Nicolas Winding Refn won the Best Director award at Cannes, and rightly so. Here, his take on the mythology of a “superhero” is harrowing yet brilliant. What we think a hero would be like in real life is depicted in Drive as a sociopath and psychotic who likes to drive around at night for no apparent reason except that that’s what he likes to do. He is the shadow of a man, without real emotions or connections to other human beings and when he makes contact he ends up destroying everything that is worth anything, including a relationship. It’s not the story of self-destruction; it’s about an isolated spirit that wants to be a part of someone else’s life and cannot, for he is a sociopath who has psychotic tendencies. Did I mention that he’s hugely mythological?

04. Hugo

Hugo is one of Martin Scorsese’s best films in the last two decades. Here we have one of the greatest living directors, a living legend tackling the quasi-semi-autobiographical (yeah, I split it into thirds) story of the later years of the wizard of the cinema, Georges Méliès. This is the most competently shot and lit film of the year and every single frame of it is littered with the beauty that can only come from a master of Scorsese’s caliber. Hugo is also Scorsese’s first 3D film and it put every other 3D film ever made to shame (even James Cameron admitted that Avatar has been put to shame), on a technical level and as a film in general. If it’s still in theaters and in 3D, I highly recommend that you watch it. And this is coming from a person that abhors the 3D film process. Hugo and the following three films are some of best films that I have seen in many years.

03. Take Shelter

A harrowing portrait of a man who may or may not be suffering from schizophrenia is told brilliantly here, without thousands of CGI shots. It centers on a man, played brilliantly by Michael Shannon who believes that a storm is approaching but one that seems more supernatural than normal, as if an apocalypse is approaching with the storm. We’re never sure of what’s going on, whether his terrible visions are real or just his psyche playing tricks on him, and Shannon brings his best performance (so far) to the screen. He’s only in the start of his career and already he’s A-list caliber. The other great aspect of the film that sticks with you is the character of the wife, played terrifically by Jessica Chastain, and how she suffers having to put up with the ailments that her husband suffers from. She believes, more than the audience that he’s nuts but she’s never condescending about it and the character herself is brave and is portrayed with great realism. The direction and cinematography are subtle, and the film’s style is that of a slow burn; tension is raised from the start and never lets up. This film is a masterpiece.

02. A Separation

A Separation has the best screenplay of 2011. It starts with the separation of a man and his wife, living in contemporary Iran, and we follow the man more as his life tumbles out of control. The film’s focus is on Iran’s legal system, which is remarkably strict and yet simultaneously broken; religion and how we can actually hurt others due to our strong religious beliefs; taking care of a parent who suffers from Alzheimer’s; and living with parents who are separated. After what transpires in the first 20 minutes, which I won’t ruin, the rest of the film depicts several lives that spiral out of control like a snowball tumbles downhill at an alarming speed. The domino effect is also an accurate depiction of what happens in the film. The storytelling is masterful, complex, and brilliant.

01. Shame

Director Steve McQueen (Hunger, 2008) showcases a straightforward, no holds barred account of a man, Brandon (played partly with subtlety and partly with brilliant anguish by Michael Fassbender) who suffers from sex addiction. Unlike any other film or television series that’s centered on the concept of sex addiction, Shame makes itself almost unbearable to watch. Brandon needs to “relieve” himself several times a day and the worst part is that he can’t control it; it’s become a daily compulsion. He hates that his life has turned into a boring pit of nothingness, filled with hundreds of porno magazines, paid sex websites, and prostitutes galore. He hates that he cannot take pleasure in his own sexual acts and that he hasn’t any feelings, or more correctly the “appropriate” emotions towards others. He can’t live with other people, can’t hold an actual relationship, and can never get married. It’s a tough life and seeing that Brandon is a successful, wealthy New Yorker shows that this can happen to anyone. Here is a man who seemingly has it all: money, looks, and sex appeal and he’s can’t even go on a normal date with a co-worker. Shame is a harrowing, painful, and brilliant depiction of a damaged human being that’s remarkably tough to watch but is ultimately a very rewarding experience. This is the best drama that I’ve seen all year and one of the toughest films that I’ve ever watched. Shame is the best film of 2011. And remember this: If you want to stop watching the film at any point out of utter disgust or out of sadness, then Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender have done their job.