Well. It's been a year.
Since the "Death of Cinema" has been so big a theme amongst the cultural intelligentsia for so long, I am not yet convinced that 2020 will actually be the literal death of movie theaters as we know it. Nonetheless, this was an absolutely shitty year that is definitely going to have massive ramifications for global cinema in the years to come. Which made it all the more heartening to see that, in spite of this, there was still some really awesome stuff that managed, one way or another, to come out and remind us of the good stuff people are capable of.
Given, well, EVERYTHING that seemed determined to drown us in misery over the past 12 months, it is wholly understandable if any (or all) of the films I'm about to beat the drum for passed you by. Hopefully this year will allow us all to catch our breaths and catch up on what we missed out while we were trying to stave off the literal death of democracy and human decency.
Now let's get this out of the way so I never have to contemplate 2020 ever again.
Honorable Mentions: Tenet, A Whisker Away, The Invisible Man, I'm Thinking of Ending Things, Dancing Mary
10. Birds of Prey (and the Fabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), dir. Cathy Yan
This was the last major film to come out before shit really started hitting the fan, prompting quite a few people to joke that this would be the only film eligible for any Oscars, and thus win everything. It won't quite pan out that way, obviously, but this was still a damn good film that way too many people slept on. Margot Robbie continues to define her own world and shows off just how potent her star power can be with one of her most fun, committed performances to date. I know, it's still in fashion to hate on DC movies, but this sleeper had me convinced there was life to be found on this particular planet.
9. Soul, dir Pete Doctor
The marketing had me worried that this would mostly be a retread of Inside Out, but thankfully I was quite wrong on that account. It is refreshing to see that Pixar is still capable of taking its animation in new directions, particularly in regards to how it portrays the afterlife and the otherworldly beings that occupy it. Pixar may not be the industry-defining trend-setter it once was, but it can still astound and amaze.
8. Makuko, dr. Keiko Tsuruoka
Getting only a limited release via this year's digital Nippon Connection film festival in Frankfurt, Makuko tells the story of a boy about to hit puberty whose maturation is, in part, sparked by the arrival of a strange girl in his village who might be an alien, or maybe just super strange. This is one of the few films I've encountered that is able to really tackle some of the more awkward physical aspects of growing up, specifically as it relates to boys, without ever oversimplifyng or downplaying anything. It is remarkable well-balanced in this regard, and it made a deep impression on me as a result.
7. Matthias & Maxime, dir. Xavier Dolan
This film was my introduction to the world of Xavier Dolan, and I am better for it. A story of long-hidden love between two lifelong friends, this movie effortlessly captures so much of what it feels like to reach that point in your life where you are directly straddling between carefree youth and the weight and responsibilities of adulthood. There are some powerful emotions wrapped up in this part of one's life, a yearning for what was and an uncertainty about what's to come, and the journey the two main characters take mirrors this perfectly.
6. Emma., dir. Autumn de Wilde
Before Anya Taylor-Joy captivated the world with her leading role in The Queen's Gambit, she was supposed to have captivated us with her leading role in de Wilde's gloriously-costumed adaptation of this Jane Austin novel. Sadly, while Birds of Prey managed to land in theaters in the nick of time, this film's release was wholly upended by the onset of the pandemic, and it took awhile before it was generally accessible via streaming.
It was worth the wait though; once I was finally able to see it, I loved it every bit as much as I assumed I would when I first saw the trailer. Taylor-Joy is note-perfect as the effortlessly arrogant/clueless rich girl getting a kick out of messing up everyone else's love lives, only to have to forcefully reckon with her actions by the end of the film. The colors and vibrancy of the film's visuals are a treat to behold, but the film doesn't stop there; the cinematography and editing are used to provide lots of little instances where the background servants are shown silently commenting on what they really think of the petty dramas their employers fill their days with.
5. The Assistant, dir. Kitty Green
It's hard- really, really hard- to effectively use the language of cinema to convey the many, thousand intangible factors that enable climates of abuse. It's far easier to go the direct route and depict a rape, or real physical abuse, using the extreme to make a point. This makes The Assistant all the more potent and notable for how it avoids any and all direct depictions, or even direct mentions, of the actual acts of sexual abuse that are so heavily implied during the film's short (yet astoundingly economic) runtime. You have to look and listen very closely to pick up all the information the film lays out for you, but if you stick with it, it is an incredibly thought-provoking experience. More than anything, this movie is able to make it painfully clear how institutions and companies and even whole societies manage, one way or another, to coopt everyone involved in letting things slide and not challenging the structures of power, even when things beneath the surface are so clearly, awfully wrong.
4. Ainu Mosir, dir. Takeshi Fukunaga
A quiet and meditative film on the struggles of growing up as the member of a forgotten minority, this Japanese-Netflix production explores the challenges of balancing conflicting identities through the eyes of a young Ainu boy who is having a hard time coming to terms with his father's recent passing. While he does find solace in some of the traditions of his people, the film also engages thoughtfully with the very real conflicts indiginous communities face in having to balance their desires to preserve tradition with the very real economic need that can force either the abandonment or commodification of things that were meant to be personal.
3. Totally Under Control, dir. Alex Gidney, Ophelia Harutyunyan, and Suzanne Hillinger
In a time defined by the global pandemic, there is no story from 2020 more horrifying and sickening than the wholesale abandonment of any effort or responsibility on the part of the Republican Party to do even the bare minimum to protect human life. There is simply no other comparison from the past 12 months of a government so completely abandoning its own citizens to suffer and die without remittance. It is an albatross of shame to be hung around the neck of every member of the GOP from now until they die.
In a remarkable bit of filmmaking, the team behind this film were able to gather crucial testimony as to how, exactly, the US government systematically failed at every step to prepare and respond to the coming deluge. There will be a lot of movies about this year to come out, but this one will remain essential viewing for years to come.
2. Corpus Christi, dir. Jan Komasa
I was raised as both a Catholic and a liberal, making my own personal thoughts on faith and spiritually particularly unique. As such, it takes a very specific combination of things for a film about faith, particularly Christian faith, to strike a chord with me. This Polish film about a passionately religious convict who basically stumbles into becoming the parish priest of a small town, hits all the right notes for me in how it examines the nature of faith, especially within a community setting, and challenges more "typical" notions of what roles faith, religion, and figures like priests should fill. The climax this all builds to is absolutely unforgettable.
1. Hamilton (live, original cast recording on Disney+)
Yeah yeah yeah, I hear you all bitching about how this isn't a "real film" and how this is cheating, and how dare I put this over a modern masterpiece like Corpus Christi?
Well, I guess what; I don't give a FUCK, because 2020 was HORRIBLE from start to finish, it's my list, and I will put whatever I damn well please in my Numer One Spot. I spent most of the year feeling utterly dead inside and convinced that humanity pretty much had no reason to continue existing. Then the live recording of the original cast of Hamilton was released on Disney+, I watched it with some family, and felt alive like I hadn't in fucking MONTHS. I remembered what it felt like to have joy in my heart and not just cold hatred, every reason I have devoted so much of my life to the theater came rushing back at once, and after months of feeling drier than the Sahara I was able to CRY. Honest, actual tears came out of the stone mask that had become my face. In the midst of all that had happened, that did happen, and that is still happening, that moment was more precious and more life-saving than I can begin to quantify.
Plus, I would honestly fight anyone who claims that there is nothing "cinematic" about a live recording of a Broadway show, because I honestly found the filming and editing choices used for this to be extremely effective at not only capturing the energy and emotion of a live theater performance, but even elevating it, since most seats in a theater are not able to get you as close to the action as the camera could in a few pivotal moments. Is it a "movie" in the strictest sense of the term? No, of course not. But it was exactly what I needed at one of my lowest points of one of the lowest years ever, and for that, this recording deserves to be etched onto eternity itself.
And that's it. I did it. I managed to squeeze a Top Ten list out of 2020. Now let's all do a Kylo Ren and let the past truly, finally die.
Death to Fascism.
-Noah Franc
