Members of the Filmotomy team agonize over their top ten for the decade (2010-19).
Trying to narrow your favorite films of the past decade to only 10 is a difficult task. There are so many films I found it painful to leave off this list in favour of others. A lot of these films I found to be very reflective and personal for me. Much of them I would describe as quiet and reflective which is like catnip to me. Many of these films whisk me away to contemplation about my own life, and usually make me think about them days after I saw them. I hope my description of these films do them justice, and it goes without saying I highly recommend them. I hope if you seek them out you find just as much pleasure in them as I have.
That being said, I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention films such as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Shoplifters, Paddington 2, Chi-Raq, Stories we Tell, 3 Faces, Clouds of Sils Maria, The Master, Moonrise Kingdom, Personal Shopper, Get Out, Lady Bird, Wonder Woman, Bridge of Spies, Varda by Agnes, True Grit, Midnight in Paris, The Best of Enemies, Ida, Cold War, Before Midnight, John Wick 2, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The Post, Wolf of Wall Street, Arthur Christmas, Blakkklansman, A Ghost Story, and Under the Skin all of which could easily find their way only list at any other time, but for the moment and the purpose of this assignment, here are is my top ten films of the decade.
10. A Hidden Life (2019)
This is the most recent film on this list, but I cannot deny the power and beauty on display here. Director Terrence Malick creates one of the most spiritually profound statements in cinema. The film concerns the plight of a German farmer in World War 2 who is called up to serve the Third Reich, however he refuses to pledge an oath to Hitler.
The film reflects the idea of a quiet hero who is able to stand up against fascism to do what is morally right. However, Malick does not give us easy answers, as displayed in the parallel story of the farmer’s wife who is left at home and must deal with the fact that her husband is considered a traitor among the community. It shows that the right moral choice does have repercussions, and it begs the question if heaven can be found on Earth.
This is also a contemplative film regarding faith, and asks what God would want from us. In this case, A Hidden Life almost serves as a counter argument to one of my other favorite films Silence. Both films ask if martyrdom and suffering is justified, and in the case of Malick’s film, one might say it is necessary in order to keep your humanity.
The film is a visionary masterwork, with the great director at the height of his powers. Inside the poetry of the film lies tremendous performances, and profound thought that leaves you with more questions than answers. Being a fairly new film I haven’t had time enough to sit with it, yet my reaction to it is so engaging, I can only think it will raise with appreciation in years to come. I rich film which I have only scratched the surface of its greatness.
9. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
It’s difficult not to put this on a list of best movies of the decade, as it truly is a feat to behold. Director George Miller concocted the best blockbuster film of the past decade, and while doing it rewrote the rules of action filmmaking. Mad Max: Fury Road is quite simply pure filmmaking at its finest, a basic silent film where we understand the motives, the characters, and the themes of the movie with practically zero dialogue to accompany it.
The film is a non-stop adrenaline fueled chase movie, which hearkens back to the days of Buster Keaton’s The General, and works on the simplest terms. The chase sequences are astounding, and the stunt work is out of this world. It’s easy to see other franchises such as Mission: Impossible or John Wick trying to aspire to what Fury Road is, but it still reigns supreme above all of them. Inside this massive machine of cinematic ideas lies core themes such as feminism, demagoguery, patriarchal vs matriarchal societies which make this film as timely and as timeless today than ever.
8. Taxi (2015)
An ingenious film from Iranian director Jafar Pahani. I have only watched two of his films which are this, and his most recent 3 Faces, a film I strongly debated adding to this list, but I decided to go with the former instead. Pahani’s storied film career is a harrowing account, he has been banned from making films in Iran for 20 years after being accused of spreading unpatriotic propaganda. Since his arrest and film ban, Pahani has made four films, all of them done secretly in a guerilla style.
With Taxi, Pahani masquerades as a taxi driver from Tehran and in a bit of meta-mockumentary style interacts with different passengers which give a rare glimpse of the very repressed political life in Iran. Although the film is very politically minded, Pahani has the ability to show off the humanity of each person he encounters, and the film is full of gentle humour and some very quirky characters.
Yet the film remains unsettling to know how harsh life can be in such a society, and we are even more reminded of it today, as one of Pahani’s real life passengers in his cab, a human rights lawyer named Nasrin Sotoudeh is currently imprisoned in Terhan and is serving a sentence up to ten years. It’s films like these which depict brave social filmmaking at its finest.
7. Carol (2015)
This was a film that sneaked up on me. I had it listed as an honorable mention the year it came out, as it didn’t even crack my top ten. However I ended up seeing it again and again, and the more I saw it, the more I fell in love with it. Perhaps my favorite love story of the decade, as it concerns a romance between a middle aged woman and a younger girl.
Set against a very repressive 1950s aesthetic, yet one full of a bright artifice which hearkens back to the Douglas Sirk melodramas of the same period. Similar to those films, thematically, but updated for a more modern audience, Carol creates a somber tone of big feelings which must be kept hidden for societal reasons.
The film was based on the Patricia Highsmith novel The Price of Salt, and was directed with great precision and understanding by Todd Haynes who is quickly becoming a favorite filmmaker of mine. The film is beautiful, and even has a surprising uplifting ending to it all, something you wouldn’t expect from such a film of its kind.
The performances from Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara are magnificent, and every frame is full of beauty and emotion. The film also contains perhaps my favorite score of the decade by Carter Burwell, a composer who should have about a dozen Oscars by now.
6. The Other Side of the Wind (2018)
The famed lost film by Orson Welles, which saw the light of day for the first time last year premiering on Netflix of all places. When you watch The Other Side of the Wind, it’s as if it wasn’t on solid ground and might float away if you weren’t careful. That’s how delicate this film feels, and its a testament to just how much of a miracle it is that we have it. But there’s more than meets the eye.
This is Welles still flailing his genius at us, creating a collage of moments and characters into something that still feels a bit unfinished like all of his films, but there’s still something deeply moving in it all. Welles seems to be directing off the cuff, which makes each scene feel in the moment and full of spontaneity.
It’s a portrait of a fading director on his birthday, and which will become the last day of his life. He’s self-destructive, alcoholic, and delusional. He’s trying to finish a film but his leading man is gone, and he’s left with images on screen which don’t amount to much. The film is a seething indictment on many things, including the film industry, and Hollywood in general, but it also feels like a final nail in the coffin on film itself.
How can a work of art be considered art, when it has been beaten, bullied, and preversed into something unrecognizable? This film almost feels like a comment on itself, and it’s a bitter pill to swallow. An apocalyptic rallying cry between the dangers of art and commerce, among other twisted things. Welles and his films should now all be looked upon as cautionary tales.
5. Lucky (2017)
Perhaps the most obscure title on my list, Lucky came to me by a fluke, but I’m so glad I happened by it. Quiet and unassuming as most buried treasures are, Lucky is a small portrait of an old man reaching the end of his life. The old man (who’s name is Lucky) is portrayed by classic character actor Harry Dean Stanton, which would be his last film role as he died the year it was released. It’s a wonderful elegy for Stanton, and fans of the actor’s work would no doubt love this film which works as a beautiful tribute.
But the film goes deeper than just an ode to Stanton, and it’s a very well-crafted, quirky tale of a man coming to terms with death. Although he is elderly and is a smoker, death isn’t something that has entered his mind until an incident happens that makes him reflect upon it.
What makes the film special is the nice surreal touches it encompasses, and the very open and honest relationship it has with its subject matter. The character of Lucky goes from fear, to acceptance, and the film captures this revelation beautifully.
Stanton deserved an Oscar for his performance, and the film, which was directed by character actor John Carroll Lynch (Norm Gundersson from Fargo and the main suspect in Zodiac) feels effortless and out of time. David Lynch even pops up and gives a stunning performance as a friend who has lost his beloved tortoise. This film is humble but goes by the beat of its own drum and I lose myself each time I think of it.
4. Lincoln (2012)
I would be hard pressed to think of anything as crowd pleasing, yet as philosophically stimulating as Lincoln, but that’s exactly what it is. The film follows Lincoln’s political struggle to pass the 13th Amendment, which involved much political back door dealing, compromises, and debates.
However, the film becomes a rather entertaining and focused account on a turbulent time in America’s democracy, and something that would define, for many people, the problems the country still grapples with today. This is also a wonderful portrait of a very great man, and no film has captured Lincoln as a human being quite as well as this does. As performed by Daniel Day Lewis who disappears, and is able to find a groundedness to the role, it’s a glorious depiction of someone who comes to the right decision after pondering and thinking on it.
The Euclid speech in this film is a glorious piece of writing (by Tony Kushner) which probably best demonstrates why Lincoln was such a great man. Director Steven Spielberg shows a restraint here, but still brings a flair for classic story telling, composition, and movement within his scenes. This would be the beginning of a Spielberg trilogy concerning America’s relationship with the constitution, along with Bridge of Spies and The Post both of which are just as thoughtful and entertaining, however Lincoln probably remains the most compelling.
3. Certified Copy (2010)
Famed Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami, who died in 2016, was a unique artist with films full of unique ambiguity usually challenging the viewer to contemplate what it all means. Certified Copy feels like a love story set in a jigsaw puzzle, and in the end you still might not be sure if it was a love story at all.
The film follows a writer (William Shimell), who writes a book arguing the idea that art and authenticity don’t matter, as even reproductions have a sense of originality. At a conference, he meets an antique dealer (Juliette Binoche), and the two begin a discussion on the idea of art and authenticity. Pretty soon, the film subtly changes, and you wonder if these two people knew each other before, and are in fact a married couple.
I’ve gone back to Certified Copy multiple times and each time I see it somewhat as a tender intellectual exercise. The ending is one of bittersweetness and melancholia as it remains haunting in my mind to this very day. Juliet Binoche (who should rival Meryl Streep by now as one of the great living actresses) gives my favorite performance of the decade and the film itself is one of the great modern day existential mysteries regarding art, love, and life.
2. Silence (2016)
77 year old Martin Scorsese will be leaving this decade behind with some of his strongest films ever. While a case could be made to include other features such as Shutter Island, Hugo, The Wolf of Wall Street, and even his most recent film The Irishman on a decade’s best list, his most haunting, contemplative, and profound remains his 2016 film Silence.
The movie remained a passion project for Scorsese since he first read the novel by Endo Shusaku over 20 years ago. The film recounts the journey of two Jesuit missionaries (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) in the 17th century, who travel to Japan to find one of their own (Liam Neeson). It is during their plight, they witness persecution towards the Christians living there and must hide out so they would not be found.
The film struggles with the religious challenges people of faith must endure, yet it also begs the question if their struggle is indeed worth it. For such heavy and dense subject matter, the film rewards you with virtuoso, fearless filmmaking which includes some of the most harrowing scenes I have seen in years.
From all of his gangster and genre films, it sometimes gets sidelined that Scorsese is one of our few religious directors around who deal with faith seriously and sincerely. This film should be mentioned along with his already large pantheon of great films.
1. Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
Joel and Ethan Coen create a dark, funny, but melancholic masterpiece about an artist who never gets a break either by making the wrong decisions, or not wanting to compromise his integrity. He’s a folk singer in the early sixties, and while he knows people who have found success, he’s always stuck in his own rut, refusing to change his tune.
In a way, you want to root for Llewyn, hoping maybe he’ll catch a break, but inside the world of the Coens, his reality is too harsh and cruel for him to come out on top. Like so many artists, Llewyn is forced to see his time pass him by without even a thank you or good luck, but rather with a punch in the face.
Seeing this film over again in the past few years since its release, I come to see more in it. Aided by stunning cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel who creates a cold, lonely 60s aesthetic, along with a stunning soundtrack of classic folk songs mostly sung by star Oscar Isaac (who is magnificent in the film), and first rate direction and screenplay by the Coens who carry with them a brave sense of wit in an indifferent universe, Inside Llewyn Davis is a lament to the losers of the world, and it’s shattering every time I watch it.
