The Best Films of 2013

These are the ten best films I saw in 2013.

10. The Hunt 

Thomas Vinterberg’s best film since Festen features Mads Mikkelsen as Lucas, a kindergarten teacher accused of molesting one the children – his best friend’s daughter. Mikkelsen, so chilling in Hannibal, displays admirable versatility. Since we know Lucas is innocent of the crime right from the start, Vinterberg derives much tension from how – if at all – Lucas convinces others of his innocence, and from the paranoia he experiences from colleagues, friends and townspeople.

9. Beyond the Hills

Two young Romanian women reunite after years apart; one has relocated to France, while the other has become a nun. It is clear that their relationship had a sexual nature, and the desire of these women – one desires the other, while the other desires God – makes for captivating viewing. Director Christian Mungiu’s film is slow but rewarding, and some of his shots are pure cinematic poetry: the film has one of the best closing shots I saw in a film all year. 

8. Django Unchained 

Tarantino’s slavery vengeance fantasy is very nearly the equal of his previous film Inglorious Basterds. Yes, I know, Django is maybe too indulgent, but I’m happy to be a guest in a world as intricate and dynamic as Tarantino’s. As for the performances, Samuel L . Jackson is a scene stealer. 

7. Lincoln

Spielberg’s biopic is a magisterial, beautifully written piece of historical fiction. Of course Daniel Day-Lewis got most of the attention for his award winning performance as one of America’s greatest presidents, but the real stars are screenwriter Tony Kushner (who previously collaborated with Spielberg on Munich), cinematographer Janusz Kaminski who weaves wonders with light and shadow, and Spielberg himself, here redeeming himself for his over-cooked Amistad with a far more restrained epic.   

6. Lore

Lore is a harrowing family drama set against the backdrop of the demise of Nazi Germany. The film opens shortly before Hitler’s death, with a Nazi-sympathetic German family suddenly having to flee their home. It is up to the eldest child, Lore (Saskia Rosendahl), to deliver herself and her younger siblings (including a baby brother) safely to their grandmother. Director Cate Shortland’s film is breath-taking character piece.

5. Rust & Bone

Jacques Audiard follows up his acclaimed work The Prophet with the sensitive survivalist romantic drama Rust and Bone. This is a film for those who avoid mainstream approaches to romance because romance seems to be far from the characters’ minds. Starring Matthias Schoenaerts and Marion Cotillard.

4. Holy Motors 

Writer-director Leon Carax loves cinema, loves it, and this film is both an elegy for the cinema as well as a demonstration of its innovation. At the center is actor Denis Levant, who is, simply, a force of nature. I’m going to skip a plot synopsis and rather mention that this is the first time Kylie Minogue’s given me goosebumps. 

3. The Act of Killing 

Joshua Oppenheimer’s documentary is nothing short of astonishing: the film follows two men responsible for mass killings during the military take-over in Indonesia in the 1960s, and Oppenheimer (the military men, Anwar and Kotto, often mention ‘Joshua’ as if he’s a friend) allows/guides them to recreate some of their crimes using amateur actors and props. The result is a film that is disturbing and mesmerising. That the film exists is itself a miracle. 

2. Gravity

Gravity is the most spectacular film I’ve seen in a long time, and the single best argument for why 3D has cinematic value. Even without the additional dimension, the film is still a technological marvel, and a feat of economic storytelling. If American studio films have a future, Gravity is it; it’s what happens when big Hollywood stars (Sandra Bullock, George Clooney) end up in the hands of a visionary filmmaker, Alfonso Cuaron. 

1. Amour

The best film of the year is Michael Haneke’s sensitive drama Amour. Haneke, known for his disturbing material (the Funny Games films, The Piano Teacher) and politically charged narratives (Hidden), here delivers a deeply personal film that is every bit as meticulously crafted and intelligent as his other work. In addition, I found Amour to also be an acutely emotional film, given Haneke’s delicate depiction of old age, illness and debilitation.

God of Carnage

Zack Snyder (with some assistance from Christopher Nolan) does some interesting things with one of the most archetypally America superheroes, Superman, in Man of Steel. While movies have traditionally presented Superman as the icon of Truth, Justice and the American Way, Man of Steel gives us a questioning hero, a drifter who has not yet defined himself in relation to his environment even if he has an idea of inevitability.

The film opens with an extended segment set on Krypton, home planet of Jor-El (Russell Crowe) and his wife Lara Lor-Van (Ayelet Zurer). Unfortunately, Krypton is also home to the militant General Zod (Michael Shannon), and in the time honoured fashion of clearly differentiating the good guys from the bad, Jor-El speaks in an English accent while Zod is unmistakeably American. We soon find out that Krypton is doomed, but Jor-El’s baby boy Kal-El is saved from planetary destruction and sent into space to eventually land on earth.

Grown-up Kal-El, going by the name of Clark Kent (Henry Cavill), occupies himself with odd jobs whilehe tries to figure out Who He’s Meant to Be. Much of the film is about Clark’s road to awareness as told in flashback, which is where we meet the Kents as played by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane. Early on, the themes of sacrificing for the greater good and the recognition of accountability are outlined, and I was surprised – and impressed – by how much time Snyder and screenwriter David S. Goyer were willing to spend solely on investing in their main character.

Along the way, the film introduces a spirited Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and weaves her into Kal-El’s search for himself (it sounds cornier than it is). Many critics have commented that there’s little spark or chemistry between Cavill and Adams as romantic leads, but honestly, the film doesn’t pitch these characters as possible lovers as much as colleagues. The film is so Kal-El centered that romantic subplots are briefly spun off at best. By the time Zod and his cronies make it to earth, having all survived the destruction of their home planet, Kal-El is ready to do what needs to be done.

In completely rebooting the Superman story, Man of Steel gets a few things right, and many things wrong. There are character moments strong enough to make me want to revisit the film on Blu-Ray, and say what you will of Snyder’s work, but he’s a fantastic visualist. In 300 he demonstrated his ability to craft impeccable big-screen carnage, and in Watchmen he took on one of the most daunting directorial challenges of the past twenty years and, in my view, pulled it off. In addition, Nolan’s involvement favours a ‘realistic’ approach to the character, with even the red underpants falling away.

Yet for a film so intent on presenting some sort of realistic take on the superhero, Krypton is strangely fantastical, complete with flying creatures. And for someone who’s excelled at clear, convincing combat in some of his earlier the films, Snyder prefers the fashionable accelerated aesthetics for most of the fight scenes, especially those early in the film. As a result, it’s hard to see who’s doing what to whom, and the 3D only makes it worse. The repeated punch-ins on objects lose their novelty quickly.

Much has been made of the messiah-like character of Kal-El, as if it’s some sort of revelation. The Christ-like character of the hero is nothing new, but Snyder handles it as if the audience won’t get it unless it’s hammered, repeatedly, into their heads. That is Snyder’s approach in general, for most of the film: why show someone getting punched if you can show them getting punched, bounced, and dribbled? Why have a villain verbally express his anger if you can rather show him pick up a car and throw it through someone’s house?

Like it or hate it, Snyder’s visuality, often focusing on movement and using filmic techniques that emulate movement , gets results. In this case, Man of Steel showcases quite possibly the most jaw-dropping action in any superhero movie. For Snyder, less is simply less. The destruction and debris filled finale makes The Avengers seem cute, and I had to wonder about the actual death toll such a battle would have. Overall the film is also a strangely humourless affair, possibly in a misguided attempt to keep things realistic and serious.

Less is less for the characters too, unfortunately. Cavill certainly looks the part of the hero, but he delivers dialogue like a low-rent Michael Fassbender at best. It doesn’t help that the dialogue is seldom imaginative and often overly familiar. Much of what Cavill has to say are clunkers, and would come across as such regardless of who says it. On the other side of the spectrum, Shannon follows the Pacino approach to villainy: shout, and if in doubt, squint and shout some more.  

Man of Steel delivers spectacle in spades, even if it lacks the deep thought that made Watchmen so compelling, even if it skims over the moral quandaries that made the Dark Knight so interesting. While Man of Steel is far flashier, bigger and meaner, it doesn’t have the heart that Superman Returns had (and that’s a sentence I never thought I’d type).