D_Davis' Top Ten For 2007
1. Mind Game - This movie could, in some time, end up being my number one film - ever. It is totally amazing. A moving, emotional, spiritual, and physical experience unlike any film I have ever seen. That it is animated only makes this all the more remarkable. Studio 4C, and director, Masaaki Yuasa, have truly created a vast work of art, straight from the heart and the soul. This is cinema. This is powerful filmmaking. Mind Game is a bombastic explosion of artistry and emotion. It is an expression of life, love, death, and the imagination. Mind Game sunk its teeth and talons into my heart and mind and refused to let loose until it drew blood and brought me to its mercy. Mind Game is a film that demands to be taken seriously, even while it springs and dashes around genre-conventions like a court jester hopped up on goof balls, and coated in maple syrup, powdered sugar, and chocolate covered espresso beans. Mind Game does not exist merely to tell a story. It exists to express ideas and to explore the very nature of humankind. That this is unavailable on DVD outside of Japan should be considered a crime against art.
2. Tekkonkinkreet - Yes, another animated feature film from Studio 4C. I saw this at SIFF this year, and it enraptured me. It is passionate, exciting, and wonderfully made. The animation is top notch - it simply towers above any other example of the medium in terms of pure technical artistry. It greatly benefits from its cross cultural creation. Directed by an American, Michael Arias, who also invented the software that made such animation possible, and illustrated by a team of skilled Japanese, Tekkonkinkreet gets the best of both East and West. It also surprised me in another area. This is the only animated film I have ever seen in which a performance of a voice actor blew me away. As a matter of fact, Yu Aoi's portrayal of the street urchin, White, is my favorite performance of the year. Her raw and powerful emotional delivery is astounding. Again, another work of pure cinematic bliss.
3. Funky Forrest - Like Mind Game, Funky Forest: First Contact is a film that makes me feel happy to be alive; it makes me thankful that I can see and hear. Funky Forrest is first and foremost a celebration of audio and video, an explosion of sight and sound, and a mix-tape from the minds of an insanely creative deejay and emcee super-duo from another galaxy who have come to Earth to teach us how to vanquish our modern cynicism and embrace life with enthusiasm. Funky Forrest consists of a series of short sketches, each celebrating a different facet of humanity, art, and music. It is a celebration of uniqueness, individuality, the heart, and the soul.
4. Taste of Tea - (Wow, four Japanese films in a row!) The Taste of Tea is the companion piece to director Katsuhito Ishii's Funky Forest: First Contact. Made only one year earlier, The Taste of Tea examines many of the same quirky themes, with many of the same actors as Funky Forest, but does so in a much quieter, and far slower fashion. At well over 2-hours in length, The Taste of Tea is long, and is rarely exciting. However this is not to say that the film is boring, or a chore to get through, quite the contrary really. Ishii and the wonderful cast create a hypnotic, whimsical world that pulses along to a subdued and heart-felt beat. While the film is almost completely devoid of music, each long segment and narrative chapter is closed by, and punctuated with, a musical cue or an explosion of color and pizazz. If Funky Forrest is the celebration of music, dance, and art, then The Taste of Tea is the tranquil reflection, the Mono no Aware, on the art, and the calm before the creative storm that erupts in the subsequent film.
5. Exiled - Johnnie To's crowning masterpiece. The best film to come out of Hong Kong in years. It is a love letter written to HK cinema, comprised of the very essence of all the things that make this country's cinema so amazing. Like Once Upon a Time in the West, Exiled has a mystical quality to its narrative. One can tell that there is a powerful force working behind the scenes - a force that is pushing, protecting, and guiding the main characters. I don't know if Exiled represents a turning point for To as a filmmaker. It could easily be the end of one era, or it could be just another example of what he does best - Hong Kong cri-fi. If it is a closing of sorts, it is a damn fine one, a wonderful swan song for a group of filmmakers who have honed this kind of genre filmmaking to its most pure and perfect form. Although, Exiled could also represent a new beginning. While it is full of homage, and familiar archetypes, tropes, and scenarios, it is executed with such visual flare and skill that it all feels fresh and vital; the film represents a huge evolutionary jump for To as a director.
6. Inland Empire - Three hours of pure Lynch. My favorite parts of Lynch's films are always the really weird stuff. Well, here is a reduction of these elements. Everything is boiled away, and all we are left with is the essence of dreams, the calling of the bizarre, and the strange twisted film-logic of Lynch's darkest secrets. I sat in the theatre for three hours, and I hardly moved a muscle. This is not a film to try to understand. To enjoy it you must give completely of yourself to the director, and be willing to be led along down the dark and nightmarish path straight into the heart of a filmmaker letting it rip. Inland Empire is as much of an experience as it is a film, and it is totally unlike anything I have ever seen.
7. Flash Point - Here we are, back in Hong Kong. This film is like a blast from the bast, straight from the good old days of HK action filmmaking. It is action packed, and the action is jaw dropping. Donny Yen actually has to fight for his life in this film because the thugs he faces are almost as dangerous as he is. The final fight between Donny and Collin Chou is something straight out of an action fan's most wonderful dream. It actually reminds me of the part in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World when Jonathan Winters tears apart the gas station. Yen and Chou totally beat the living tar out of one another, expertly, and painfully, using the environment to get the upper hand. This is a true, three-dimensional fight, one in which the use of setting greatly enhances the final product. Wilson Yip is a man to watch; he and Johnnie To are keeping HK genre filmmaking alive and vital/
8. Tears of the Black Tiger - Quentin Tarantino, Willy Wonka, and John Ford walk into a bar. Sitting at the bar, by himself, is Wisit Sasanatieng, a budding filmmaker from Thailand just planting the seeds for his directorial debut. He is sketching a scene on a napkin depicting a lone cowboy blowing into a harmonica while resting against a tree. The picture is drawn with black ink, and the cowboy is clearly a Thai male, although one filtered through the persona of John Wayne. Sasanatieng thinks to himself, “I am going to direct a Pad Thai western.” He then went and made Tears of the Black Tiger. This is a true story.
9. The Mist - The Mist is gross, wet and sticky; the humidity of the lingering moisture can almost be felt, and the nastiness of the twisted invasion is pervasive and unrelenting. It truly is a superior horror film and deftly captures the things that make Stephen King's stories so endearing. King's horror almost always works on two levels - the physical and the spiritual - and here we get to see both in expert fashion. The decent into hell is both frightening and strangely compelling, and as I was drawn into the murky midst, I couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder, even while I cringed at the horrible situations, and experienced true empathy for the characters and their plight. The Mist is a gripping experience, and thanks to its brave ending, it is one that will not quickly be forgotten.
10. King of Kong - It's a documentary about two grown nerds competing for the world record top score in Donkey Kong. Sounds fascinating, right? Well, it is. Until you see it, no words can describe just how captivating, engaging, and entertaining this little film really is. Until seen, you just wouldn't believe the amount of human drama is wrapped up in such a seemingly mundane and menial real life narrative. Back stabbing, conspiracy, marital strife, self worth, personal growth, triumph and heart break - King of Kong has it all.
