Top 50 Films of 2012: The Top Ten

So here we are with my Top 10 Picks of 2012 and as always other opinions are available but these ten just happened to stick with me throughout the year.

Amour
Director: Michael Haeneke

A brilliant portrayal of everlasting love and the tragedy that life begins, Haneke's simple film told the story of Emmanuella Riva's retired music teacher Anne  who started to lose her mind after several strokes while her husband Georges tried to care for her in the best way possible. Setting the majority of the film in the couple's flat Amour relies on simple emotion as Anne's memories start to fade and Georges begins to get more frustrated. Though the opening scene already tells us what's in store it doesn't make the pivotal scene any more shocking and by the end of the film I was emotionally exhausted and for that reason alone Amour gets a place in my Top 10 films of the year.

Argo 
Director: Ben Affleck

Who would've thought that Ben Affleck would one day be one of the most critically acclaimed directors in Hollywood but it's gradually happened and with his third film in the director's chair he has proved himself a talent to be reckoned with. Argo is one of those 'strange but true stories' that is part hostage thriller and part Hollywood satire as Affleck's CIA operative concocts a phony film to get American hostages out of Iran safely and ropes in Alan Arkin's producer and John Goodman's make-up artist to help him. The result is perfect as Argo has some really big laughs but also a tense final act as I was willing the hostages to get out of Iran safely. As it's success on the awards circuit has proven, Argo is certainly a film that has a broad appeal and I personally think it is the best mainstream movie of the year.

Beasts of the Southern Wild 
Director: Benh Zeitlin

I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I first sat down to watch Beasts of The Southern Wild but what I got was a dark fairytale about floods, family and belonging. The film centres on a Louisiana community known as 'The Bathtub' and on five-year old Hushpuppy who lives with her erratic father Wink. Part of the charm of the film is that we see the world through Hush Puppy's eyes and young Quevenzhane Wallis is utterly breath-taking in the lead role giving what I believe to be the performance of the year. Another masterstroke was to cast non-actors in the lead roles therefore Beasts has an all-together realistic quality which counterbalances it's more fantastical elements. All in all a visual masterpiece, that is fantastically acted and stays with you long after you've left the cinema.

Headhunters 
Director: Morten Tyldum

When I was watching Headhunters I thought I knew exactly where the plot was going but then it took me in a completely different direction and that's what I loved about it. Mortern Tyldum's stylish crime movie was part art heist caper and part cat and mouse thriller with some great action sequences but along the way it also retained a sense of humour about it. Askel Hennie's lead character was initially a bit smarmy however as his life starts to unravel we begin to sympathise with him while Game of Thrones' Nikolaj Coster-Waldau was perfect as the powerful antagonist. This was a visually engaging, well-written thriller that had a great ending and once again proved that Scandinavian film-making is currently at its best.

The Hunt
Director: Thomas Vinterberg

Another film that proved this point was Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt which had a simple message at its core namely that 'mud sticks'. This beautifully stylised piece saw Mads Mikklesen's divorced nursery school assistant accused of exposing himself to a little girl which was a lie that spiralled and essentially destroys his life. The film explores the mob mentality of a small-community and sees Mikklesen's character slowly ostracised from his former friends to the extent where he is no longer allowed to shop in the local store. Mikklsen's performance is one of the best I've seen all year and it was great to see him playing the wronged everyman who is just trying to get his life back on track. The final scene perfectly demonstrated that a lie that is told never really goes away and I have to say this was another film that really struck a chord with me emotionally.

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia 
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Initially viewed as a police procedural this Turkish film became much more than that as we followed several characters involved in the hunt for a dead body. Filled with some great cinematography and some very well-drawn characters, Nuri Bilge Ceylan's film wasn't above swerving us and taking us on a completely different journey in the final chapter of the story. The reference to Sergio Leone's films is more than apt as both are beautifully shot and also feature three very different characters who are all involved in the same story for different reasons. A combination of light-and-shade, a great script and terrific central performances made Once Upon a Time in Anatolia stick in my mind for many months and made it hard for me not to put it in this final ten films of the year.

The Raid 
Director: Gareth Huw Evans

While there were a ton of high-octane action thrillers produced by Hollywood this year my favourite action film of the year has to be this Indonesian-effort directed by a Welshman. The Raid has the simplest of premises namely that a SWAT team has to attempt to arrest a slum lanlord by entering the tower block he owns. However this is easier said than done as the landlord sets all of his tenants onto the cops who are picked off one by one until only a few remain. The action was full-on throughout with a mixture of shoot-em-up and old school martial arts being employed to the fullest effect however there was also a story of two estranged brothers that gave a much needed emotional edge to The Raid. I have to say that I was totally engrossed from beginning to end and though we're told that violence never pays it certainly did in terms of this film.

Rust and Bone 
Director: Jacques Audiard

The French cornered the market when it came to believable love stories this year and while Amour was an emotionally draining exercise, Jacques Audiard's film was a much more traditional romance. Audiard is much better known for his male-centric films, such as A Prophet, however here he put Marion Cotillard's whale trainer Stephanie front and centre as a tragic accident means that she has to change her life completely. Over a period of time Stephanie develops a friendship with slightly selfish single father Ali, played by newcomer Matthias Schoenaerts, which develops into something more as the story goes on. Both Ali and Stephanie are believable well-drawn characters and both central actors give stunning performances while, when combined with some great visual set pieces, make Rust and Bone one of the most memorable films of 2012.

Searching for Sugar Man 
Director: Malik Bendjelloul

It's been hard deciding which of this year's documentaries to put into the Top Ten but I finally decided on Malik Bendjelloul's film about a musical odyssey with a surprising twist. The film concerns unknown American musician Rodriguez who, while unheard of in his home country, gained a huge following in South Africa as his songs became the soundtrack of the Apartheid movement. As the story move on two Capte Town natives set out to find out just what happened to Rodriguez and how it was he died with the conclusion being more shocking then either could imagine. This was a great documentary as it was part mystery, part musician profile and part life-affirming story that had plenty of warmth throughout and really made me want to learn more about the enigmatic Rodriguez. 

Shame 
Director: Steve McQueen
The second pairing of Steve McQueen and Michael Fassbender resulted in a film that shines a light on the seedy side of New York as we followed the exploit of Fassbender's sex addict over a number of months. Fassbender's performance alone would be enough to make this film one of the year's best however former artist McQueen's eye for detail meant that this was also one of the most beautifully shot pieces of the year. Add to that the fragile performance by Carey Mulligan as Fassbender's sister and you've got a trio of great reasons why Shame was one of this year's best films and why Fassbender is one of the greatest screen actors working today.

Well there you have it my Top 10 films of 2012 in detail. I'll see you back here in around twelve months' time for the countdown of the best films of 2013.

Review No.135: Once Upon a Time in Anatolia

After a couple of films that haven't really floated my boated it's time for a bit of culture now with the film that co-won the Grand Prix at last year's Cannes Festival, along with the previously reviewed The Kid with A Bike, as I look at the Turkish film Once Upon a Time in Anatolia. Based on the experiences of one of the writers, a former doctor, it explores the search for a dead body as a convoy of three cars journey around at night time in the small Anatolian town of Keskin. The majority of the film is seen from the perspective of Doctor Cemal, who has been bought along in the police car in order to help with the crime scene investigation report, he is for most of the film a casual observer of the more vocal characters namely the warring police chiefs. As well as carrying a numerous amount of policemen there is also Prosecutor Nesret the most important figure in terms of hierarchy he is the person who most of the characters are out to impress however it is his relationship with the Doctor that is the most interesting. I felt that in Once Upon a Time in Anatolia the characters took precedent over the crime itself which was the murder of a man while the suspects of the crime are two brothers the rather dashing Kenan and his mentally-challenged brother Ramazan. Director Nuri Bilge Ceylan focuses as much on the inconsequential conversations between the men in the cars as much as he does on the plot itself as the characters constantly find themselves in the wrong area because Kenan, who was drunk at the time of the murder, can't remember exactly where he buried the body. Eventually the men have to eat and sleep so they go to a nearby village where Kenan reveals something about the crime while later on the Prosecutor and the Doctor argue about an issue that is more important to the former's life than he lets on.

As I previously mentioned Ceylon's film works because of its realistic nature I find completely plausible that a drunk man would forget exactly where he buried about and would only be able to identify by a few distinguishing features such as the type of tree or a nearby bridge. He also likes to work with the confined space of the car which for the majority of the film is where we find Kenan, the Doctor, the Prosecutor, Police Commissioner Naci and his local chauffeur. Gökhan Tiryaki's cinematography also lends itself beautifully to the style of film as very often we see long shots of the cars on the road and hear the conversations rather than seeing them first hand. The camera will also quite often drift off to shoot an unrelated incident such as an apple falling off a tree before floating down a stream or when the group stay at the village we see the Doctor watching a jug rolling over in the wind. Similarly there are the conversations which feel like just things that normal people would talk about such as disgusting-flavoured yoghurt or tasty lamb chops however not all of the conversations are flippant as Naci is obsessed with the hierarchy of the police system while other coppers feel that they are treating the two convicts too well. All the actors work very well together especially the very down-to-Earth Muhammet Uzuner as the Doctor and the imposing screen presence of Taner Birsel as the Prosecutor.The title Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is mentioned by the Prosecutor as a way to open the story he may once tell his children about the incident however for me it harks back to Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West down to both have three central characters in the case of Ceylon's film these are Naci, Nesret and Cemal however there is no shoot-out between the trio. As the film is two and half hours long I did feel it lagging very occasionally but overall the use of light and shade, the brilliant performances, the well-written script and every single shot means that Once Upon a Time in Anatolia is definitely up there on my favourite films of the year so far.

Verdict: Nuri Bilge Ceylan really understands the importance of proper film-making and he has crafted a near masterpiece in Once Upon a Time in Anatolia which gets a very deserving 9/10