Monday 17 December 2012

my films of 2012 (2)

38 Temoins (38 Witnesses), Nicole Garcia,, Yvan Attal, directed by Lucas Belveaux. Great stuff. Set in an atmospheric Le Havre. A woman is murdered outside an apartment block. Thirty-eight people could have witnessed the killing. Which of them did? Why are they so silent? In French.

Margin Call, Kevin Spacey and others, directed by J.C. Chandor. Twenty-four hours in the life of an investment bank at the start of the financial crisis. Gripping stuff, stylishly done. This film seems to have been forgotten, unjustly so.

W.E. Andrea Riseborough, directed by Madonna.  The critics hated this, but I enjoyed it. Edward and Mrs Simpson, we know the story - but told from HER point of view, which I do not think has been done in film.

Moonrise Kingdom, directed by Wes Anderson, with Bruce Willis as you may never have seen him before. Two very young lovers and a hurricane in New England. A strange and charming vision, and very funny in places. Something completely different.

De Rouille et D'Os (Rust and Bone), the lovely and wonderful Marion Cotillard, and the hot Belgian Matthias Schoenaerts, directed by Jacques Audiard. In French, but there is an English version now I believe. The underclass, kind of. Killer whales at a water park, bare-knuckle fighters, passion and pain. This one will stay with you, if only for the special effects when Marion Cotillard loses her legs (not a spoiler).

On The Road, the lovely Kristen Stewart, directed by Walter Salles. Every bit as dull and misogynist as the book.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

so glad you feel that way about "on the road" I recently attempted to read it and found it repellent. Presumably appeals to a certain sort of desperately insecure adolescent male. Couldnt get through it. Abandoned halfway, which I do not do lightly. I suspect its reputation will diminish to cultural footnote before long.

Was said...

Moonrise Kingdom - something original?

It's effectively a remake of S.W.A.L.K. (AKA Melody) 1971. Written by Alan Parker before he was famous.

janestheone said...

OK if you wish. I didn't see that one. But what I say here is just how it seems to me, it does not attempt to be history of contemporary cinema.