Captura de Pantalla 2020-02-07 a la(s) 1

25

VICTORIA

Dir. Sebastian Schipper

Germany, 2015

During this decade, digital cinema stopped being an alternative to celluloid and became the norm. Among the benefits it brought to filmmaking was the possibility of getting longer shots, and if several filmmakers toyed with the possibility of films made of a single take, it was Schipper who came with the most accomplished one-take film ever made (plus is that it didn't had to fake it through editing, like Iñárritu or Mendes). There's as much care put in the screenplay as in the camera work, and we are able to transit in that one take through many emotional states, so the method is consequential with the story to show how 2 hours can entirely transform a person's life.

24

L'INCONNU DU LAC

(Stranger by the Lake) Dir. Alain Guiraudie

France, 2013

2013 was the year of the exploration of explicit sexuality in cinema, but if La Vie d'Adèle and Nymphomanic are a straight man's vision of women's sexuality, L'Inconnu du Lac is male homosexual desire as seen by a queer man; an erotic thriller that explores how desire is able to blur our vision and distort our conceptions of right, wrong, safety and danger. The camera acts as a voyeur, making us complicit rather than judges, so there's room for a complex character development free of moral opinions. What starts as an erotic naturalist drama, soon challenges genre conventions and derails in a dark and twisted thriller about the overlapping of sex and death.

23

EL CLUB

(The Club) Dir. Pablo Larraín

Chile, 2015

After a very necessary trilogy about the Chilean dictatorship, Larraín kept targeting rotten power structures, now taking a look at the Catholic church. An intimate film about a group of exiled priests who committed different crimes (most of them, children abuse), El Club is a film that explores faith and the possibility to redeem our sins, but that is merciless signaling the faults of the Church as an institution. It is a claustrophobic film, that uses closed framing, slow rhythm, and cold atmospheres to create a sense of tension, almost getting to thriller grounds. There's a high influence of Bergman and Von Trier in this conflict of men vs God, and gives space to a deep moral questioning.

22

GET OUT

Dir. Jordan Peele

United States, 2017

Peele bends gender structures to point out one of the most worrying issues right now: the new rise of white supremacism. Even if it is one of the best horror movies in recent years, you wouldn't really find yourself jumping in your seat very often. Instead, it will creep in your brain and haunt you because the source of fear in this film is something very real. Peele is great at making social statements while constructing a dark tale full of tension; he takes time with the characters and knows the exact dose of information to be revealed. We know there's something wrong in that house but we discover it along with the protagonist; each twist is surprising and truly plausible.

21

ZIMNA WOJNA

(Cold War) Dir. Pawel Pawlikowski

Poland, 2018

Pawlikowski delivers a tribute to classic cinema relying on very formal techniques, both in its narrative and aesthetics, exploring the impossibility to love within a totalitarian regime. Focused on the two main characters, developing their emotions in a way that makes us think of Kieslowski, but also chic and sexy in the best Fellini style, it is a reminder on how less is much more, just the power of good storytelling and the impact of perfect images. Over all, it is a sophisticated and smart film, and a masterclass in composition and use of light for a black and white film. it is short and focused; every dialogue, every camera movement, every musical note is there for a very well thought reason.

20

HER

Dir. Spike Jonze

United States, 2013

Her might not look like a science fiction film, there are now big special effects or intense persecutions on the outer space; it is a simple indie film about a guy who falls in love with the voice of his phone's operational system. But like the best films of the genre (from 2001 to Eternal Sunshine), Her understands that sci-fi shouldn't only about the technological advances, but about what they say about our society. Jonze makes an exploration of how the mobile devices have alienated us emotionally, but the approach he makes is anything but cynical, there's so much warmth, tenderness and empathy for his characters, that is even palpable in the lovely visual style.

19

PINA

Dir. Wim Wenders

Germany, 2011

3D was the new toy of Hollywood throughout this decade, and it became the norm for every blockbuster to have a 3D version that promised to be revolutionary, but that, being honest, most of the time only gave us headaches. Pina might be the first film that ever got 3D right and explored the possibilities of that technology to tell a story and create a visual style, here there's a real artistic purpose for those images that stick out of the flat screen. A documentary about the work of the late avant-garde choreographer Pina Bausch, we are facing a beautiful homage to her legacy, a testament of the magic of moving bodies and the emotional impact that art can have on us.

18

NELYUBOV

(Loveless) Dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev

Russia, 2017

Loveless is a cold view at Russian society, where Zyvaginstev shows a steady growth as a master in the film language, matching powerful images with an existential tale about a splitting couple that hates each other but has to team up to look for their missing child. The smart storytelling makes the narrative actions go forward while it digs in the characters more and more, revealing how is it that society forces us to grow up as entities unable to form connections and love anybody else, not even our own family. It is a suffocating film, but it also give us a deep introspection on our relationships at a micro and a macro levels, with beautiful and very sad images of the Russian taiga.

17

UPSTREAM COLOR

Dir. Shane Carruth

United States, 2013

Shane Carruth moved the concept of authoral cinema to a new level; he is the director, screenwriter, cinematographer, music composer, editor, producer and lead actor of Upstream Color. After nine years from his debut, Carruth surprised with a film that defies our notions of what cinema can be, and by transcending narrative, he proposes a new film language, one that is perceived by our senses, rather than our intellect. With a crafty cinematography full of extreme close-ups and tight shots, a clever editing rhythm, and an extreme care in the sound design, the experience of Upstream Color is so vivid, that it enhances our sensorial perception of the world.

16

ROOM

Dir. Lenny Abrahamson

Ireland, 2015

It was Brie Larson who won the Oscar for her performance in Room, but the real heart and soul of this film is 8 years old (back then) Jacob Tremblay, who might make it with ease to the top film performances by a child ever. The story of a woman who is held hostage in a tiny cottage with the son she had from her rapist, and their escape from there, could have been easily a cheap melodrama, but Abrahamson is very careful to never cross the fine line that transform emotional depth into sentimental manipulation. It is claustrophobic not only in its portrayal of the small room, but also in the emotional quest to recover (or discover) your identity and your dignity.

15

THE SHAPE OF WATER

Dir. Guillermo del Toro

United States, 2017

Guillermo del Toro has proved several times that he is able to create fantasy worlds that transport us outside of our reality to inhabit in them for a few hours. For The Shape of Water, he goes for a dark fairytale very rich in its metaphors towards otherness, and the hate speech that people with power use to subject those who are not like them; a political statement in times where walls, bans and brutality are making a resurgence in world politics. Every single scene is meticulously crafted so a visual feast was deployed in front of our eyes; there's a "submerged" environment thanks to his superb use of the color green, both in the tinted cinematography, and in the production design.

14

NEBRASKA

Dir. Alexander Payne

United States, 2013

Payne has a nice catalogue of modest indie comedies that became critics' darlings, but nothing he did before (or after, at this point) comes close to Nebraska, his take in Beckettian absurd comedy, and the most philosophical of his films. Following an old man from Middle America who believes has won a millionaire prize in his road trip to collect something that everyone around believes is a scam. A superb screenplay that is charming and bittersweet in its exploration of grasping to a mirage to give sense to our life, and superb performances by Bruce Dern and June Squibb that show how rewarding it is to write substantial roles for veteran actors and actresses.

13

PORTRAIT DE LA JEUNE FILLE EN FEU

(Portrait of a Lady on Fire) Dir. Céline Sciamma

France, 2019

Delicate, subtle and with an astonishing pictorial beauty, Portrait de la Jeune Fille en Feu is a serious contender for the best romantic film of the decade. Sciamma understands the power of furtive glances and measured dialogue and contact to inflame the passion of her characters. With a cast where all the characters are female, we get important topics on womanhood: economic independence, sorority, reproductive rights, and sexual freedom; it is a film that it's as important in its portrayal of feminism and queer identities, as it is beautiful to watch. An exquisite cinematography, by female D.P. Claire Mathon, recreates classic styles of painting in the use of light, color and composition. It is a rewarding film both in the intellectual and the emotional fronts.

12

THE LOBSTER

Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos

Greece, 2015

Many people have claimed that Yorgos Lanthimos might be the worthiest successor of Stanley Kubrick, and The Lobster might be his dystopian equivalent to A Clockwork Orange. In a world where people who are not on a couple get a last chance to find love before being turned into animals, Lanthimos offers a sinister and Kafkian magical realism, and his detached cold clinical gaze transform us into perverse voyeurs. In spite of being a nihilist exploration of loneliness and the formation of bonds, it is in the end a dark comedy that is harsh on its criticism of social vices and ideologies and will give us several disturbing moral topics to think about.

11

120 BATTEMENTS PAR MINUTE

(B.P.M.) Dir. Robin Campillo

France, 2017

As the title suggests, this is a pulsating film, where the political statements are as strong, if not more, than the personal stories of loss and suffering. Following a group of unorthodox AIDS activists in the early 90's Paris, Robin Campillo hits strong from the opening scenes and never slows down for its entire length. For a film that is charged with that many discussions, strong scenes and personal drama, it has an amazing sense of rhythm: it is almost an action film but with its human side very present; loud and aggressive when it has to be, but deep and moving when it needs to, even extremely erotic at some points. A unique film where heart and guts are at the same level.