Do you have a ranking of the films you liked the most this year? Time magazine does. Find out what are the ten feature films the prestigious American magazine has selected as the best ones.
19 december 2016
1. Moonlight, by Barry Jenkins.
About this film, we can find references such as “the film is attractive in many levels, but it is also an amazingly delicate work, a film that drags you like a gentle wave to leave you in a place you never expect [...] Every little detail counts in this enthusiastic film.”
For those who do not know the synopsis, Moonlight is a 111-minutes drama starred by young Chiron, from Miami, who is discovering his homosexuality in the middle of the drug war that is taking place in the suburbs of the city.
Throughout the year the film has won at least 13 awards or nominations, among which stand out the Gotham Awards for best film, screenplay and cast or the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA) for best international film.
2. Paterson, by Jim Jarmusch
In this case we find references such as “Adam Driver offers a wonderful performance [...] Jim Jarmusch has written a love letter to our confusing and impressive cities in the United States, and shows how the things we do in our free time can even define who we are.”
Paterson is a drama about a bus driver and amateur poet named Paterson, who lives in Paterson, New Jersey. The feature film had three nominations for the Gotham Awards for Best Film, Screenplay and Actor.
3. Loving, by Jeff Nichols
“Nichols' precise approach makes ‘Loving’ feel immediate and vital. The film reminds us that changes often occur at the margins of society.” So does Time mention this feature, a drama-romance based on the true story of Mildred and Richard Loving, a couple who married in Virginia in 1958. The interracial couple was arrested, jailed and exiled and kept fighting for a decade for their right to return home.
4. Elle, by Paul Verhoven
Time points in this case that “the film is a minefield [...] Verhoeven and Isabelle Huppert move within the limits of good taste (and perhaps overstep them) in their exploration of the savage ignorance of female sexual desire. This is one of the most challenging and daring movies of the year, and when you least expect it, it is also one of the funniest.”
Elle is a thriller-drama about a successful videogame company executive who after being violently assaulted at home by an intruder is seeking revenge. It has been selected by France to represent the country at the Oscars!
5. Silencio, by Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese shines with Silence, a drama set in the second half of the 17th century. Two Portuguese Jesuits travel to Japan to find a missionary who has renounced his faith after being persecuted and tortured. The two Jesuits will live the martyrdom with which the Japanese receive the Christians.
The American Film Institute (AFI) has also incorporated this feature in the Top 10 - Best Films of the Year.
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6. Manchester frente al mar, by Kenneth Lonergan
This independent American drama tells the story of Lee Chandler, a plumber from Boston who returns to his hometown to take care of the 16-year-old son of his brother, who recently passed away.
These are some of the references that can be found: “The way in which Lonergan and his actors accurately capture the manner of speaking and the yearnings of the characters is almost Dickens-style. As in every Lonergan film, we live with the characters until we feel like we know them.”
7. Tower, by Keith Maitland
This 82-minute animated documentary takes place on 1 August 1966 and reconstructs the first mass shooting in an American educational centre. This documentary that combines animation with archive images has been nominated for best documentary in the Gotham Awards.
8. La La Land, by Damien Chazelle
This musical film, which has won seven Golden Globe nominations, tells a frantic romance between two young and ambitious dreamers struggling to achieve their dreams. Mia is an aspiring actress who serves coffee to movie stars and Sebastian is a jazz musician who survives playing in dirty bars. They fall in love after unexpected meetings and the struggle to get what they want threatens to separate them.
9. Todos queremos algo, by Richard Linklater
This American comedy, nominee for best film in the Gotham Awards, is a spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused and is starred by a group of baseball players who are about to enter university. Aware of the already unavoidable obligations of adulthood, they intend to enjoy the days meeting girls, going to parties and making friends.
10. Infierno Azul, by Jaume Collet-Serra
The American thriller tells the story of a young woman who tries to overcome her mother’s death. One day, as she is surfing in an isolated beach, she becomes trapped in an islet that is just a hundred meters from shore and a great white shark stands in her way to the beach.
