As the new year quickly approaches us, we have decided to set out our new year’s resolutions for 2019. As we are all about the world of cinema here at Filmotomy, our new year’s resolutions are film related. These are a selection of films that we have always set out to see but until now, we have never got around to doing so. Please keep checking back with us through out the year to see whether we managed to keep our new year’s resolutions.
following words by Robin Write
I guess the default New Year’s Resolution for film journalists / cinephiles / critics / bloggers / movie nuts* (delete as appropriate) is to watch the new movies. All the new movies. Well, within reason and accessibility.
Of course, we miss some of those films. And often the years drag on by. The decades. And still those missed movies remain unfaded when we log into Letterboxd. And this very assignment (thanks Bianca) addresses those net-slippers of the motion picture world.
Personally, I immediately thought of those great filmmakers I’ve loved for as long as I can remember. And made a bet with myself that I’d not seen significant titles by said film directors. A bet I would no doubt lose. And this film- related New Year’s Resolution is a perfect way to resolve that. So, my three choices, of films I have not yet had the pleasure to view, ought to add further gusto to my admiration for these worldly filmmaking talents.
Thirst (2009) directed by Park Chan-wook
South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook has had a flourishing near-two-decades with a collection of powerhouse, gorgeous, kinetic motion pictures. His last film, The Handmaiden, was my top film for 2017 (given UK release dates), and saw him continue his venture into period cinema. A dazzling achievement. Chan-wook might also be well-known for the Vengeance Trilogy – Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002), Oldboy (2003), and Lady Vengeance (2005).
Somehow, his 2012 passionate vampire flick, Thirst, has eluded me. Pretty shameful, as I consider myself an avid fan of the director. Another example of Chan-wook’s vigorous, vivid visual style, he proves himself over and over to be a prolific filmmaker, all the while dabbling into other worlds and stories. I am super-eager to see Thirst, and will certainly not be waiting for any Halloween-themed series at Filmotomy to watch it.
Ponyo (2008) directed by Hayao Miyazaki
I know, like my other two choices, that Ponyo is a failry recent release in the grand scheme of things. Given cinema’s hundred-plus years in the business. Hayao Miyazaki’s eighth film with the revolutionary Japanese Studio Ghibli, which he was an instrumental pioneer, Ponyo dwells on the majestic friendship between a boy and a goldfish. You read that right. This is Miyazaki, a master of an animation story-teller.
Miyazaki has had my heart since his early works like Castle in the Sky, My Neighbor Totoro, and Kiki’s Delivery Service, to more recent modern classics The Wind Rises, Princess Mononoke, and the Academy Award winner for Best Animated Feature, Spirited Away. His audience is vast, and guaranteed to be both entertained and educated in the wonderful world of the cinematic arts.
Like Someone in Love (2012) directed by Abbas Kiarostami
We sadly lost the great Abbas Kiarostami a couple of years ago. And with the death of master filmmakers comes that realisation we shall never see a new film by them again. The Iranian film director and screenwriter, was also something of a poet and a photographer – and these elements certainly showed in his works. Kiarostami was one of the most culturally enrapturing story-tellers in cinema. His Iranian tales were so telling, so pure, so moving.
The boy who just wants to help a classmate get his homework back in Where Is My Friend’s House? The poignant planning of a suicide in Taste of Cherry. Or even the remarkable Ten, a chaptered narrative set entirely in a car. Kiarostami also proved his excellence outside of Iran. With the brilliant Certified Copy set in Italy, which I have seen, and Like Someone in Love, from Japan, which I have not. But will very soon.