Roughly a year ago I compiled a lengthy list of my favourite films of 2006; I’m back at that point again, but it still feels like a first. See, January 2007 saw a significant change for me. It’s then when I gained media accreditation, meaning I finally had access to press screenings of upcoming movies.

Press screenings differ from “normal” film showings in many different ways. For one, you get to view a movie up to a month before it even starts playing in cinemas for the “normal” audience. This is of course simply to give film journalists time to pen their reviews to coincide with the start of the movie’s theatrical run.

But more beneficial to me, as banal as it sounds, is the fact that you don’t pay admission fees to press screenings. Attending a screening is considered part of your job; in turn what you write later raises the film’s awareness among potential movie-goers. So it’s a win-win situation for both the theater managers and us movie writers.

What this boils down to is that for the first time in my life, my meagre student’s budget wasn’t a determinating factor in which movies I went to see. For the first time, being strapped for money didn’t force me to forgo films that held some interest for me but weren’t my top priority.

So while previously - having been a cinéphile for as long as I can think back - I made a point of seeing about fourty releases a year (including films I caught up with on DVD at year’s end), between January 1st and December 31st 2007 I made my way inside the cinema exactly one-hundred-and-four times. After which I caught up with about twenty more movies on DVD.

So this now is the first time that I’m really confident about compiling such a best-of-the-year list, because I feel that I have a fair overview of the bulk that played in our moviehouses in 2007. There are still a few films that I regret to have missed and was thus not able to consider for this list, but that number is infinitely smaller compared to last year and before.

Like last year though, I had to hold back compiling this top-twenty chart until late January. Most of the major film studios feel the need to release their best films as late in the year as possible (to maximize their awareness come award season) - but to to judge how these potentially most important works of the year really measure up to the rest of the year, I felt I needed to view them from a critical distance that simply isn’t there yet mere days after watching a film.

Now before I get to the meat, here are a few movies (in alphabetical order) that I really enjoyed (in parts or in full) but wasn’t able to include in the list below because they weren’t quite as extraordinary as those entries: 2 Days in Paris, 3:10 to Yuma, Beowulf, The Darjeeling Limited, Death at a Funeral, Enchanted, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Hors de Prix, INLAND EMPIRE, Hot Fuzz, The Kite Runner, La stelle che non c’e, Lions for Lambs, Michael Clayton, The Namesake, Ping Pong, Sicko, Spider-Man 3, Stardust, Sunshine, and Zodiac.

Finally, I must say that I had a difficult time determining my number one film for the list. Last year was different, because Pan’s Labyrinth to me stood head and tails above anything else released in 2006 and so was an easy pick. While I didn’t see anything this year that knocked me off my feet as much as Pan’s Labyrinth did, the ratio of great movie to good movie was much higher.

I considered all films in my top five as my potential number one; five masterpieces that I will hold dear and watch over and over again. In the end it wasn’t more than a couple of minuscule details that made the difference between ranks five, four, three, two and one.

So without further ado, here are the twenty movies I consider to be the cream of the crop of 2007:

20. Knocked Up
Of the three great comedies released last year (Hot Fuzz and Death at a Funeral being the other two) I opted for writer-director Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up on this list because it made me laugh the hardest and the most. What makes this truly hilarious film even better is that the jokes don’t come across as stilted, in the same way as the quite vulgar story feels completely natural. Gender stereotypes and sexism? Yes, but let’s not pretend we didn’t recognize a bit of ourselves and our best friends in the characters and their actions.

19. The Host
I believe many of us have started feeling tired of Hollywood-produced monster movies reemploying the same basic formulas and structures over and over again. I know I have. What a welcome surprise then was The Host, South Korean director Bong Joon-Ho’s imaginative genre-hybrid that effortlessly mixes scares with quirky humour and the heart of an off-beat dysfunctional family trying to hold it together. Now South Korea’s highest grossing film of all times, the festival favourite and cult hit has its own geek following. And the not-very-flattering-but-inevitable prospect of a Hollywood remake.

18. This Is England
What I really admire about Shane Meadows’ skinheads film is how it doesn’t fall into the trap of being black-and-white (no pun intended). When his young outcast protagonist is taken under the wing of a band of older skinheads, how easy would it have been to just demonize the subculture altogether? But Meadows admirably shows how the initially non-racist skinhead movement is perverted by the rise of white power nationalists during the Falkland Wars in the 1980s, and the ramifications of this on the boy who is swept up by the racist alpha male. To tragic effect.

17. Lust, Caution
Ang Lee’s Chinese espionage thriller somehow fell under the radar and Lee’s name seems to be missing from many best-of lists it otherwise frequents. But while Lust, Caution doesn’t quite measure up to Lee’s masterpieces like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon or Brokeback Mountain, it doesn’t change the fact the the movie is expertly directed. In fact, the movie is perfect on every technical and formal level, and Tony Leung and screen debutante (!!) Tang Wei turn in brilliant acting performances; the film’s only glaring weakness is the generic storyline, which is based on Chinese author Eileen Chang’s short story from 1979. I’m of the belief that Lee excels on everything he does; but like with Hulk (2003), I once again question his choice of source material.

16. Away From Her
One of the most surprising aspects of sleeper-hit Away From Her, a story about an old couple coming to terms with Alzheimers, is that it was written (and directed) by 28-year old Sarah Polley. Better known for acting parts in films such as The Sweet Hereafter and Dawn of the Dead, the young Canadian shows a surprising amount of maturity and understanding in tackling the issues of her central characters. Without laying on the drama too thickly, the film goes from depressing to bittersweet, an atmosphere that is enhanced thanks to the gravity of its two leads Gordon Pinsent and Julie Christie (who’s lost none of her charm and beauty in her advanced age).

15. Gone Baby Gone
I’ve given up on Ben Affleck as an actor, but I have zero gripes with him working on the other side of the camera. His directorial debut Gone Baby Gone, which stars his younger brother Casey Affleck (the superior actor by far), is a crime drama set in Boston with a strong sense of community. It’s impressive to watch how Ben Affleck lets the story unfold right on the edge of morality. It’s a border he unflinchingly has his characters cross on various occasions - and suffer the consequences. Despite one or two plot twists too many, the themes the film touches upon (and how it does so) imbues it with social relevance.

14. Eastern Promises
Master of bodily-horror David Cronenberg has given us his most accessible film to date, the strong and immediate screen presence of Viggo Mortensen (as a Russian mafia hitman) and Naomi Watts (as a London midwife) be thanked. I know that many people left the theatre disappointed because there was no resolution to Mortensen’s Nikolai character. While a valid point, Steven Knight’s smart script made that choice deliberately. What you get is a powerful sense of something bigger and uglier going on, something we’re only allowed a brief glimpse at during the time the life of Watts’ character intersperses with that of Nikolai. That to me is what really creates the film’s underlying horror.

13. Curse of the Golden Flower
Zhang Yimou’s Curse of the Golden Flower is another of those films that seems to have slipped many a moviegoer’s attention because it allegedly doesn’t compare with the director’s previous work. Hero and House of Flying Daggers were innovative and exciting martial arts epics, after all, while this new one is more of a court drama. But unlike in the case of Ang Lee, I’d say that Curse of the Golden Flower is in fact superior to Yimou’s preceding movies. It’s less colourful, but just as beautiful to look at thanks to intricate costumes and set designs, but what really makes this film stand out is that Yimou adds a lot more substance to his story, which takes on an epicness of Shakespearean proportions.

12. La Vie En Rose
Olivier Dahan’s biopic about French chanteuse Édith Piaf is one of the best films not in the English language that screened last year. The fractured and non-linear storytelling may seem like a mess, but I can’t deny that they imposed on me an intense and puzzle-like sense for the great rise and decline of this French icon. Marion Cotillard in the leading role turned in what to me was the best performance by an actress last year, not just playing Piaf but embodying her - sacrificially - across all stages of her turbulent life right up to the point when Piaf literally decays.

11. Persepolis
Forget Ratatouille, the best animated film of the year is Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s Persepolis, a coming-of-age tale based on Satrapi’s autobiographical comic. The story of how young Marjane experiences her native Iran going from bad to worse when the Shah’s dictatorship is toppled by the Islamic Revolution is told in beautifully designed black and white pictures. Coupled with a witty narrative that gives us a rewarding access to Marjane’s inner world, this makes for a gripping and heartfelt film that manages to be both artistically accomplished as well as politically meaningful.

10. Sweeney Todd
Normally I hate musical adaptations with a passion. There’s something intrinsically American - the singing, the glamour, the spectacle - about it that I just can’t relate to. Plus, I always have the feeling that the simplistic and repetitive songs get in the way of moving the story forward. For some reason, Tim Burton’s adaptation of the Steven Sondheim musical struck me as bloody marvellous though. Maybe I’m just a sucker for Burton’s dark and gorey style and characters. I didn’t care much for the songs - they didn’t distract me, and that’s a plus. But what I really appreciated about this film (aside from Johnny Depp’s brilliant interpretation of the demon barber) is how Burton tells this very simple revenge story with such focus. Not one scene in this film, not one frame is wasted.

9. Juno
Jason Reitman’s film about a teenager who gets pregnant is a true indie jewel: impeccably filmed, a crop of diverse and lovely characters, quirky humour, witty dialogue and a great soundtrack make for a very different kind of teen comedy that is sage beyond its years. It’s astounding how light-footed Diablo Cody’s script deals with issues paramount to both teenagers and adults, and how these issues relate and conflict. Ellen Page’s titular character is such a unique figure, her mannersisms, the way she thinks and talks is so different from what we’re used to seeing on screen. The young Canadian actress is simply delightful in her play, and I felt she really brings across how Juno is both naive and wise, and is so not succeedingly but simultaneously. 

8. The Bourne Ultimatum
It’s not often that you find an action film being a testimony to a director’s filmmaking craft, but then Paul Greengrass isn’t your typical director and the Bourne films aren’t your typical action series. The trilogy deftly defies notions that action films feature condescending narratives and get weaker as the series progresses. The Bourne Ultimatum is the successful finale to a great trilogy of raw action and energetic storytelling. Brilliant and meaningful editing really reinforces how much of an important filmmaker Greengrass is, who’s directing skill enhances the film with some ingenious tricks. Half a year on I’m still in awe of the brilliantly staged scene at the Waterloo trainstation.

7. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
New York-born director Julian Schnabel convinced the studio to let him shoot The Diving Bell and the Butterfly in French (as opposed to in English), so as to remain faithful to the unique tale of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the editor of Elle magazine who suffered a stroke and succumbs to the rare locked-in-syndrome. Paralyzed from neck to foot and no longer able to speak, Bauby (played by the new James Bond villain Mathieu Amalric) has retained all of his mental capabilities - but the only way he can communicate is through blinking his one good eye. Together with legendary cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan) Schnabel captures the final months of Bauby’s life in visionary pictures. Despite the tragicness of it all, the film - told from Bauby’s perspective - retains a wonderful sense of humour and impresses on us as a powerful striving for life.

6. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Director Andrew Dominik’s sophomore effort is not the high-octone Western its wordy title seems to promise. His film instead is a careful deconstruction of mythical figures; Brad Pitt’s Jesse James is not portrayed as the fabled American outlaw, but as a flawed and paranoid character who’s shortcomings become all too apparant in his starstruck partner Robert Ford (geniusly acted by Casey Affleck) who fails to come to terms with the real person Jesse James. Robert Deakins’ engrossing cinematography bathes the film in a melancholic quality new to the Western genre; together with Dominik’s contemplative narrative and Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’s beautiful score the film conjurs up a trance-like quality that makes for a captivating film experience.

5. Once
The surprise hit of the year, John Carney’s universally loved film shows just how much can be achieved with the most modest of means. Shot on a budget of only $160′000 and featuring non-actors in the leading roles, Once is Lost in Translation stripped down to its bare essentials. The poignant tale of a chance meeting between a Dublin street-musician and a Czech immigrant that leads to a life-changing friendship and a beautiful musical collaboration is so full of life and love. Everything about this movie feels authentic, a fact that really drives home the beauty of the simple story. Once is quite simply the best music film to come out this side of the millennium - and it’s probably better than a whole lot that was released way down the other side of it, too.

4. Into the Wild
Christopher McCandleless was a young tween who seemingly had everything. Wealthy parents, a great education, Ivy League colleges beckoning. But choosing to forsake all material goods, he starts tramping through America on a journey to find himself. Writer-director Sean Penn skillfully adapted Jon Kraukauer’s novel about McCandleless’s real life adventure that reached all the way to the Alaska, perfectly capturing the free-spirited feeling of going out into the wilderness - a sense amplified through Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder’s fitting soundtrack. Grand pictures and a non-linear narrative (that jumps between McCandleless’s actual adventure, his preparations and his motivations) give this film amazing lyrical grace, at the heart of which stands Emile Hirsch sacrificial acting performance - a real promise for the future.

3. Atonement
As lauded as Joe Wright’s directorial debut Pride & Prejudice was, not many would have thought he could jump from promising talent to masterful director in the step of one movie. Not least after it became clear that Wright was attempting to adapt the “unfilmable” Ian McEwan bestseller Atonement. But with the help of screenwriter Christopher Hampton, Wright succeeded in crafting one of the best literary adaptations of the past few years. Together they found a way to translate the novel’s many shifting perspectives not just adequatly but geniusly onto the screen, and sequences like the five-minute tracking shot on the Dunkirk beach impressively put Wright’s fortitudes on display. The epic story is supported by a great acting ensemble (Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Saoirse Ronan and Vanessa Redgrave in particular), beautiful production design and costumes and Dario Marianelli’s amazing score. The end product is a devastating film experience.

2. No Country for Old Men
Much has been said about Joel and Ethan Coen’s magnificent adaptation of the Cormac McCarthy novel. It’s a return to form for the writer-director brothers, who take up their favourite themes of chance and predetermination in this story about a the aftermath of a drug-deal gone wrong. Typically Coen, the movie is full of fascinating supporting characters, the prime example being Anton Chigurh. Javier Bardem plays this unforgettable assassin, the eerie embodiment of death and chance itself. It’s this unsettling feeling that marks the film, which foregoes grand gestures in favour of near silent, beautifully shot and perfectly composed scenes. The film builds up to an incredible showdown, a promise which it doesn’t keep. While that will come as emotionally disappointing to some, it makes perfect sense thematically and distinguishes No Country for Old Men from all those movies which strive to give us the ending we want just for the sake of it.

1. There Will Be Blood
I’ve seen There Will Be Blood come a close second to No Country for Old Men on very many critics’ lists, and I agree that these are the two best movies of 2007. Both films are products of the most visionary filmmaking of the year. But Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece gets my nod as number one over the Coens’ film for its emotional punch. The best way I can describe this film is that I found it to be an unbelievably intense experience. The story is set in turn-of-the-century California, where oil speculant Daniel Plainview goes head to head with a power-hungry religious zealot who’s community has granted Plainview permission to drill for oil. The film is a parabol on how the successful drilling unearthes far more than just oil. What makes Anderson’s movie so extraordinarily intense is its focus on Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays Plainview with a frightening brilliance that goes right under your skin (by far the best acting performance of the year). This raw intensity is further enhanced by the geniusly atonal and disharmonic music provided by (Radiohead guitarist) Johnny Greenwood, which strikingly shows how film music carries the narrative, and how there are far different ways of achieving this than we’re used to. The film’s rising tension explodes in a powerful climax that does the movie title justice, and it’s this parallelity of form and content (both on a literal and a symbolical level) that struck me as so utterly brilliant that I’ve picked There Will Be Blood as my film of the year.

Now obviously lists such as this one are a very personal matter, often times reflective of the person who compiled it and certainly always up for debate. We invite you thus to share your own cinematic assessment of 2007 and tell us all about your favourite movies from last year in this thread on the X-Boards.

Posted by Tai in Commentary, Movies • Add to del.icio.us Add to Digg