I see a trend that instead of top ten, people start
to compose top 10, 15, 20, 25, or whatever number films of
2012. However, I am going to stick with ten, for no reason.
During the entire calendar year of 2012, I
watched 310
feature films. Again, my top ten films are selected
from the films I saw during the calendar year of 2012, not
based on when they are released in the theaters. That is
how I define "a film in 2012" for me. Allow me to explain
the reason behind this: we are living in a small and more
complicated world now. If I fly to Beijing or Europe and
see a film that has not opened in San Francisco or New
York City, does this film belong to 2011, or 2012, or
2013? Why should a film's year be based on a US release
date?
Here are the top ten best feature films I saw in 2012.
I
Wish (奇跡 | Japan 2011 | in
Japanese | 128 min. | My
review)
Blended with gentle humor, renowned Japanese
writer/director Hirokazu
Koreeda (是枝 裕和)'s
delightful family drama
"I Wish,"
beautifully depicts
how children perceive this complicated world while growing up.
After the award-winning "4 Months,
3 Weeks and 2 Days" (4 luni, 3
săptămâni şi 2 zile | Romania
2007), acclaimed Romanian director Christian
Mungiu tells another unforgettable story
in "Beyond
the Hills," an engrossing, poignant, and
unflinchingly realistic portrait of lives in Romania.
Acclaimed auteur Paul
Thomas Anderson's sixth feature
film "The
Master" is the most anticipated film in
2012 among cinephiles. This exquisitely beautiful
film achieves a new height in the art of filmmaking,
featuring a fantastic performance
by Joaquin
Phoenix and Philip
Seymour Hoffman.
Director Ben
Affleck's masterfully crafted third
feature "Argo"
is an awesomely entertaining political
thriller about a grand escape scheme for six
Americans hiding in Iran in 1979.
Two decades after filmmakers Ron
Fricke and Mark
Magidson created the
astonishing "Baraka,"
once again, they bring us another visually striking
film "Samsara."
. Even without a single dialogue or any
subtitles on screen, this documentary captivates us
with its magnificent and lavish images that stay
with us long after the movie is over.
Director Thom
Fitzgerald's hilarious
"Cloudburst" is one of the funniest
films I have seen in 2012. It tells a heartfelt
story about a lesbian couple, terrifically played by
Academy Award winners Olympia
Dukakis and
Brenda
Fricker.
Rust and Bone (De rouille et d'os | France/Belgium 2012 | in French | 120 min.
| My review)
Director Jacques
Audiard's brilliant new film
"Rust
and Bone" unflinchingly expresses its
characters' raw emotions yet surprisingly
unsentimental, mostly. It tells a love story
between a mesmerizing couple who become each
other's source for strength and inspiration.
Writer/director Whit
Stillman's outright funny
comedy "Damsels
in Distress" creates a few amusing
characters. The film's witty, quirky, funny dialogue
stands out as the most enjoyable aspect of the
film. Those lines become extremely funny when
absurdity in each line is expressed with absolute
sincerity.
Sister
(L'enfant d'en haut | Switzerland/France 2012 | in
French | 97 min. | My
review)
Director Ursula
Meier offers us a glimpse of the
"under-privileged" in her captivating new film
"Sister."
However, that's not the only focal
point of this film. What's more remarkable is that
while she uncovers that often ignored hush reality,
she skillfully reveals the devastating inner world
of a young boy who desperately longs for love, a
family, and a future.
