Walter's Top Ten Films of 2023

 If you’ve read my top ten lists over the past years, you may recall recent struggles to find ten movies good enough to list. Thanks to a west coast visit in which my son, Daniel, treated me to a VIFF pass, I didn’t have any trouble finding ten films this year. We watched eight (and chose well!), and half of them made it on my list. Thanks, Daniel!

Honourable Mentions: I won’t say anything about them here, but two films nearly made my list: My Sailor, My Love and Past Lives.

10. The Holdovers: I’ve only seen this once, and I know that there is a chance that one of my places of resistance to this film in the first half might be different on second viewing – i.e. I felt the lead student role was poorly acted and/or oddly scripted. But the second half may well vindicate that it was done right all along. Haven’t decided. And I think I’d hoped for funnier. But I liked lots about this film, particularly that it made the main characters more human and likeable (without those characters actually changing all that much).

9. Oppenheimer: It’s been quite a while now since I saw this, and sometimes my memory is not fair. I know I expected to rank this movie higher after I first saw it, but for some reason it hasn’t sat all that well in my memory. I think the missed potential – to really reveal something profound about the world-changing moment when human atomic potency became a reality – stayed with me longer than what did work for some reason. But I felt like the acting was brilliant all around, and it was a creative and interesting – if too long – biopic about a fascinating person. If only biopics about musicians could ever be made that were remotely as creative. (That is not a reference to Maestro, which is certainly more creative than most, but didn’t make my list.)

8. The Old Oak: I loved this film. I loved the setting and main character. In terms of simple enjoyment, I may have liked it better than any Ken Loach film. Yet maybe I even missed the Loach knack of drawing painful reality into full view. I wondered if, unusually, he felt like he needed to add a heartwarming touch that felt good, but he made it just a tad too much like other films. But I can’t say that I didn’t appreciate that touch anyway!

7. Evil Does Not Exist: I suspect that few readers will have had a chance to see this, though you may know the writer/director (Hamaguchi) from Drive My Car. The Japanese rural setting was unique and added interest that got me through the slow scenes. But what helped even more were the occasional scenes of rich dialogue (like the town meeting) that were wonderful. And then the ending…. Does it work? For me, not quite, but it’s certainly a thought-provoking film.

6. The Quiet Girl: I think I’ll post a short review that I started but didn’t finish in a week or two in which I’ll say more about why this quiet and simple film rates this high. Coincidentally, (thanks to a gift from my friend, Agnes!) I read the novella on which it's based, just a month or two before seeing the film – and it’s a good adaptation. Some will find it too simple and slow, but I felt like its main effect on me was powerful and needed. Recommended for those who certainly don’t need action (and can handle subtitles because most of it is in Irish).

5. One Summer: This Quebecois film felt like a film festival bonus because we saw it on the plane on the way home. In some ways this felt like the opposite of The Old Oak because this one started like a more predictable film, but ended up with more richness and complexity. Highly recommended for everyone.

 

4. Fallen Leaves: The source of my affection for this film are a bit unconscious, and I feel like I am only guessing at all the allusions. It’s a quirky Finnish rom com with constant deadpan humour. It could be light teasing between friends, sarcasm with some bite, or utterly serious boundary-setting, and it’s all served with calm, emotionless statements. The protagonists are people who’ve fallen between the cracks (fallen leaves?) of a depressing and lifeless society reminiscent of Soviet era industrialism. Can a little love and faithfulness restore some life?

3. Anatomy of a Fall: This is a very fascinating and well-made French film that is unique and thought-provoking. Speculations about guilt, both criminal and otherwise, can keep one reflecting on this film for ages. The acting and directing is all brilliant. Deserves the Oscar nod for best picture, though I doubt it will happen. Much more deserves to be said – but tough without spoilers. When I re-watch this film, I might post a spoiler-filled review to share some thoughts.

2. The Teacher’s Lounge: My favourite pic from VIFF is a German film that turns relatively ordinary school tensions into a gripping drama as we’re invited into the frustrations of the protagonist who, imperfectly, is trying to get things right among contemporary pressures and expectations. The screaming pic often representing this film may not be a natural draw to the film, but it depicts the most satisfying minute of the whole film festival for me. The VIFF audience may not have screamed out loud, but in our hearts we were.

1. Living: This was the earliest movie that I saw on this list, and I knew it would stay on top. I loved the way it was crafted so consistently. I loved the adaptation of Tolstoy’s Death of Ivan Illich (a favourite), and if I was more familiar with Kurosawa, I probably would have appreciated those roots. And, of course, I loved Bill Nighy as I usually do, but this time more so. Meaningful and unique, creatively and beautifully done. What more could you ask for? See this film.

 Traditionally, I’ve ended with a “spilled coffee list” – the biggest disappointments of the year. For me, the two films – both highly reputed by critics who clearly look for different things in films than I do – were EO (a 2022 film about a donkey) and Godland (a film designed to make you think that you don’t really want to live in Iceland no matter how beautiful it might be). Clearly these films were both trying to do something significant, but neither found any point of engagement in me to make me care or believe.

And, finally, deserving of mention, is a film I missed in 2022: A Man Called Otto, the American re-make of the Swedish, A Man Called Ove, which was a big favourite of mine. This isn't quite up to the original, but whether or not you’ve seen the Swedish film already, it’s worth watching Tom Hanks reprise the role.