Another month, another wrap-up, albeit one that is a week late. Thanks to the godsend that is Netflix Instant Watch, I can actually keep this series going; the November wrap-up will be particularly good, I promise.
Mark Romanek's adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel didn't exactly blow me away, but seeing as it was my only trip to the theater in October, it's my default winner. Even though I gave the film a B-, it does have its strong points, namely the performances (with Keira Knightley as the film's surprise MVP). Unfortunately, the overall effort lacks the weight of Ishiguro's quietly moving novel, and the film's big scene is off its mark in terms of timing and editing, wasting a perfectly solid performance by Charlotte Rampling. At the same time, this is a quietly affecting film when it works, featuring a mostly good score from Rachel Portman and beautifully composed images by director of photography Adam Kimmel. A nice effort, but with one too many faults, that ends up feeling slight.
Runner Up: None
Best Film (DVD/Rental): Lilya 4-Ever
Lukas Moodysson's hard-hitting 2002/3 film begins with a jarring opening: a frantic looking girl running along a highway while heavy metal music blares in the background. She reaches a pedestrian walkway, and prepares to jump down into the traffic, before the film cuts to black and rewinds. Even so, the film doesn't get any happier. Set mostly in Estonia, the film follows Lilya (Oksana Akinshina), a 16 year old girl left behind by her mother basically to fend for herself. Her only friend is a young boy named Volodja, and the two eventually make plans to flee Estonia for Sweden with a new acquaintance. While not exactly something to make you smile, Moodysson's film is a powerful and moving piece that doesn't pull any cheap shots; it is frank and unpleasant, yet never delves into the realm of "misery porn." Led by Akinshina's wonderful breakthrough performance, Moodysson's bleak tale isn't meant for light/casual viewing, but it deserves to be seen.
Runner Up: Black Narcissus
Best Director: Lukas Moodysson - Lilya 4-Ever
The story of a young girl's life going from bad to worse could have been an easy opportunity for Lukas Moodysson to lay the suffering on thick. Thankfully he refrains, and instead crafts (he also wrote the screenplay) a painful but never exploitative look at the way a young girl sells her body to survive, first by choice and then out of obligation. A scene involving close-ups of half a dozen "clients" in the film's last half hour isn't visually graphic, but it gets to point across to horrifying and slightly nauseating effect. This is a tough story told with grace and maturity, forgoing shock value for brutally honest narrative construction.
Runner Up: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger - Black Narcissus
Best Actor: Andrew Garfield - Never Let Me Go
Never a particular favorite of mine ever since his unbelievably annoying US debut in Lions for Lambs, 2010 seems to be the year that Garfield redeemed himself to me as an up and coming talent. Along with The Social Network, Garfield created his second sympathetic character of the year without feeling like a repeat. As Tommy, the occasionally volatile but mostly well-intentioned friend of Kathy H (Carey Mulligan) and Ruth (Keira Knightley), Garfield is subdued and sweet without ever being cloying or feeling like a non-entity. The scene in which he climbs aboard an abandoned fishing boat on the beach is a moment of quiet magic; the way he conveys the characters joy and awe amid his internal pain is wonderful, and makes me want to reconsider my initial opinion of him.
Runner Up: None
Best Actress: Zoe Kazan - The Exploding Girl
Bradley Gray's quietly, eerily realistic film about a young girl's relatively aimless summer vacation gets its heft from its star, Zoe Kazan. Her cute, slightly cherubic face is a delight to watch in this ultra-low-key drama, but what really makes the performance work are her eyes. Kazan's ability to convey so much through her looks - sadness, regret, happiness, and even anger - gives the film its emotional center. And when Kazan's charcter finally "explodes," (in a nicely shot, almost understated scene) you feel for her. Too often these sorts of films feel weightless and empty, but Gray's strong ear for natural-sounding dialogue (I feel like I've heard some of these conversations before) and the performance of his leading lady come together to create a lovely little performance that deserves to be seen.
Runner Up: Keira Knightley - Never Let Me Go
Best Screenplay: Bradley Rust - The Exploding Girl
As mentioned above, part of what makes this small film work is the way Rust perfectly captures his characters through their understated, seemingly banal dialogue. The build up to the "explosion" is steady without being boring, and the relationship between Ivy (Kazan) and Al (Mark Rendall) is sweet and believable, even if it follows a somewhat expected arc. And when this laid back character study is complete, Rust concludes the film perfectly, with a scene that could have so easily been cheesy, but instead feels tender, warm, and well-earned.
Runner Up: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger - Black Narcissus
Best Ensemble Cast: Never Let Me Go
Whatever the flaws of Romanek's direction and Garland's screenplay may be, it's hard to deny the strength of the casting of Never Let Me Go. The central trio in particular are perfect, even if Mulligan is (strangely) my least favorite, and they're backed up by small-yet-valuable turns by Sally Hawkins, Charlotte Rampling, and Nathalie Richard. Credit should also go to the child actors who play Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy as children, and perfectly match their grown-up counterparts.
Runner Up: Black Narcissus
Best Cinematography: Jack Cardiff - The Red Shoes/Black Narcissus
In his back-to-back collaborations with directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, director of photography Jack Cardiff earned two Oscars, both of them richly deserved. In Black Nariccus, he engagingly and mysteriously photographs the Himalayan palace-turned-monastery with wonderful angles and camera movements, all while making beautiful use of the matte-painted backgrounds for some of the mystical landscape shots. But perhaps more impressive is his work on the ballet tale The Red Shoes. In conjunction with the art direction and costume design teams, Cardiff masterfully shoots the film's central ballet sequence, which spans more than 10 minutes of screen time. From its smaller opening images, to its grandiose backdrops and eerie lighting, it's a masterpiece of cinematic photography. But the shining moment may be its smallest. The lead ballerina (Moira Shearer), having donned the show-within-the-film's titular shoes, can't control her dancing, because a pair of shadows are grabbing at her feet. Describing it doesn't do it justice, but suffice it to say that it's one small moment in a staggering work of visual genius.
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