10  We Don't Live Here Anymore (John Curran)

For all the talk about Mike Nichols Closer, it's a wonder that Curran's film, superior on almost every level, was overlooked this year.  The films world is insular, but given the remote location and the characters occupations, it's never contrived.  Focusing on two couples whose marriages have already begun to crumble,  it explores the vast array of emotions experienced by each character and the multitude of options that await them.  Criticized by some for its overbearing pessimism, I have to wonder what it is someone would want out of a film about marital dissolution and crucial mid-life choices.  The direct approach is intense and powerful, always remaining focused on the sacrificial and hypocritical nature of marriage, without exploiting the characters through over exaggerated situations or overdoses of melancholy.

9  The Manchurian Candidate (Jonathan Demme)

I was among the many who expressed their discontent at the thought of Frankenheimer's classic political thriller and now it's time to eat crow.  While Demme modernization doesn't top the cold, satirical 1962 version, replacing the Communists with global capitalists and corporate-controlled media outlets makes it more politically and socially relevant to our times.  The script is fresh, adding plenty of new ideas without replacing the core of the original, and the cinematography and direction create a gritty atmosphere full of deceit and paranoia keeping it dramatically exciting, yet behind all of the science fiction, oedipal mother-son relationship, and chilling dream sequences, there's always an uneasy feeling that it is firmly grounded in reality.

8  Secret Things (Jean-Claude Brisseau)

Brisseau's erotic, tawdry, and over-the-top dark comedy lost much of its audience during its Eyes Wide Shut-esque finale and while it doesn't necessarily follow its theories to their logical conclusions, I respect it for going into such a bizarre and exciting direction.  Few films so boldly explore sexual politics, the roots of desire for money and power, and the desperation behind seemingly innocent emotional games.  It illustrates that by defying social norms to achieve a sense of freedom, you'll often end up trapped in a different kind of prison.  The girls uninhibited sexual attitudes lead to a false sense of liberty and once faced with someone of superior power, the feelings of domination and empowerment quickly morph into those of complete submission.  Despite their valient efforts, the natural human instinct to love and be loved cannot be avoided.

7  Kill Bill, Volume 2 (Quentin Tarantino)

The change of pace from the viscerally charged, frenetically paced Volume 1 was a bit disorienting at first, but Volume 2 achieves its own rhythm and sense of purpose.  Tarantino shifts the focus from action to dialogue, yet the Leone-inspired western landscapes make for an equally intriguing atmosphere as the Japanese-inspired environment of the first.  There is no director more confident in his ability to combine pastiche with his own unique vision and like his other films, this one stands up to arguments that he is merely ripping off the directors and films he admires.  For all the talk about its style, Kill Bill carries its fair share of thematic weight, tapping into feminist theory (past the phallic symbols) in a clever and unpretentious manner.  The Bride's uncontrollable rage meets her inner woman as her instinct to kill meets her instinct to create life stressing the duality of her journey and the rift between her death quest for Bill and desire to reunite with her daughter.

6  Oasis (Lee Chang-dong)

Devastating to a degree that only Lars von Trier surpassed this year and with subject matter that has been unfairly dealt with by hacks for years, it's refreshing to see Lee challenge, rather than pander to, his audience.  Moon So-Ri's slightly over-the-top performance as Gong-Ju, who suffers from cerebral palsy, forces the audience to confront our preconception of what it is to be different and how we view those not like us internally even when our external reaction is sympathetic.  By constructing the story around the developing relationship between Kyung-gu, the dimwitted outcast, and Gong-Ju, Lee subtly stresses the cruel and negligious behavior that is often acceptable towards those who are "inconveniently different" without unjustly vilifying individual characters.  By the end, So-Ri's performance (and Jong-Du Hong for that matter) and Lee's unblinking portrait at humanity's ability to collectively justify such monstrous behavior reaches a level of transcendence that forces the audience to confront their own demons.  Lee peers deeper into humanity's core showing the selfishness that at some points controls our thoughts, if not our actions.  The love story is remarkable on a different level - a completely selfless and unjudgmental relationship between two people who not only accept each others flaws, but fall in love because of them.

5  Before Sunset (Richard Linklater)

That the years most romantic film is also the most laid back and naturalistic is a feat that only Richard Linklater could accomplish.  Of course, without the chemistry between Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy, who gives one of the years best performances, the almost accidental magic of the film could not exist.  Despite the fact that the characters are almost completely self-absorbed, everything from their dialogue to their body movements and glances create not only a feeling that these people could exist, but the illusion that we are actually watching Celine and Jesse, not Hawke and Delpy.  It is more well-rounded than Before Sunrise and larger in scope giving its characters greater depth and the actors more room to develop their rapport.  Beautiful and touching in its simplicity, it is among the most pure and honest films of the year.

4  The Corporation (Jennifer Abbott & Mark Achbar)

While 2003 marked the return of the documentary, 2004's The Corporation is best and most important one of the decade.  Consisting of interviews with luminaries such as Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky to business owners, corporate spokesmen, and political analysts from both sides of the aisle and everywhere in between, it hits every angle of the arguments it brings up, giving equal time to the opposing side even when it's clear where the filmmaker's sympathy lies.  In 2 1/2 hours, Abbott and Achbar have crafted an astounding portrait of the "dominant institution of our era".  It's only fault seems to be that it offers no solution to many of the problems it addresses, but its purpose is to spark political interest, responsible activism, and begin a revolution against the predominant source of imperialism and oppression in the world today.  More than any other documentary of its kind, it is comfortable in looking at the issues from all sides since, at least the filmmakers believe, the evidence is in line with their own political agenda.  Focusing on the history of the corporation as well as its place in contemporary society, The Corporation is a fascinating and educational film that will, at the very least, force you to second-guess your views of the current state of global capitalism.

3  I Heart Huckabees (David O. Russell)

The flurry of ideas and concepts are as disorienting as they are delightful and for as intelligent as the film is, it's amazing how it breezes by.  I Heart Huckabees first challenges our perception of reality, then its characters, then its own, then veers up, down, and all around, never settling down or allowing us to classify one world view or lifestyle as more legitimate than the next.  It's a whirlwind of philosophy and psychobabble, giving equal time to obviously inane ideologies as it does to ancient religions, never supporting or denying the intrinsic value of any of them.  It is the very fact that the film cannot be defined or restricted to a single set of ideas that makes it so great.  Perhaps some people would prefer something didactic, straightforward, and single-minded in its ideological perspective, but I wish more films were as anarchic, free, and all over the place as Huckabees.  Ffffuckabees!

2  Millennium Mambo (HouHsiao-hsien)

After my first two viewings, I was certain no other film would top this list, but a recent viewing brought it back down to earth, even though it's still the best Hou film I've seen.  Formally dazzling and ethereally beautiful, the long, slow tracking shots (complements of the world's most talented cinematographer, Mark Ping-bin Lee) run counter to the fast-paced life of Taiwan's youth culture as Vicky's life passes her by in drug-induced haze.  There are moments of clarity, but she is stuck in a destructive circular pattern that lead to her inevitable returns to her abusive boyfriend.  The film's rhythm keeps the beat of the techno culture, gliding along gracefully as she repeatedly stumbles trying to find herself in an oppressive world.  The moment in the snow with the new guy she meets is pure transcendence; a time where she has the freedom and time for introspection, wisely shot in bright white tones that work as a stark contrast to the frantic, out of control club life where her youth was lost.

1  Dogville (Lars von Trier)

Love him or hate him, you can always count on Lars von Trier to deliver a divisive, controversial, and thought-provoking (or perhaps only provoking) film.  With Dogville, easily the best of the miniscule four films I've seen from him, he has crafted a complex and gut-wrenching portrait of the oppressive and deceitful nature of man.  Using only a stage with a chalk-drawn set, the minimalist approach is deceptively simple as the characters are always shifting loyalties and Grace is forced to constantly reevaluate her quandry as the townspeople move from quietly invasive to overwhelmingly controlling.  von Trier makes it clear that they not only justify their actions towards Grace, but honestly see no change on their treatment of her.  Each additional task, hour of work, or freedom taken away from her is justified by the fact that they allow her to stay at all.  Her fate soon seems inevitable and if everything in von Trier's world is pre-destined, is her final act one of redemption or condemnation?  It is not a matter of whether she was justified, but whether it was a Godlike act of vengeance or an act against God and the nature of mankind.  Dogville may look simplistic at a first glance but each impending scene adds a new layer of complexity making it more difficult to define its purpose and further developing its religious and political undertones.

Runner's Up: The Aviator (Martin Scorsese), Vera Drake (Mike Leigh), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (Wes Anderson)

Best of the Decade (so far...)

1) Mulholland Dr. (David Lynch)
2) Code Unknown (Michael Haneke)
3) Punch-Drunk Love (Paul Thomas Anderson)
4) Werckmeister Harmonies (Béla Tarr)
5) In Praise of Love (Jean-Luc Godard)
6) Yi Yi (Edward Yang)
7) 25th Hour (Spike Lee)
8) Mystic River (Clint Eastwood)
9) Dogville (Lars von Trier)
10) Cremaster 3 (Mathew Barney)

Derek Smith - March 1, 2005