The Paper's reporter Cheng Xiaojun
On November 29, local time, the French authoritative film magazine "Cahiers du Cinéma" announced the top ten films of 2021 on its official social media account. More than half of these were works that debuted at this year's Cannes Film Festival. Interestingly, two of the most talked about european films this year, "Titanium," which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and "Happening," which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, were not selected.
The Film Handbook's top ten of the year are usually selected by more than a dozen French film critics, including the magazine's editor, who first formulate their own annual top ten, and the ten films that are most selected are the top ten of the year in the Film Handbook.
Film Handbook Top 10 Movies of the Year
At the top of the list this year is "The First Cow" directed by Kelly Lecat. The film premiered at the 2019 Telluride Film Festival in the United States, and was officially released in North America and other places in July 2020, and won quite a few awards seasons, including the New York Film Critics Association Award for Best Film and the National Critics Association Award for Best Film of the Year.
Poster of The First Cow
It wasn't until October this year that "The First Cow" was released into French theaters. Since the threshold for the top ten films of the year in the Film Handbook is the work that has officially landed in French theaters in the past 12 months, it is not uncommon for "old works" that have been released in the United States and other places the previous year to be famous. However, there are very few examples of such works winning the top ten of the year. This further highlights that 2021 is indeed a "small year" for film masterpieces.
Poster of the Franco-Rite
Five of the ten films on this year's list are entries in the main competition section of the Festival de Cannes, namely "Annette", "Memory", "Driving My Car", "France" and "Madonna". In addition, "French Pie" also premiered in Cannes as an exhibition film.
Among the remaining works on the list, "Southern French Sister" and "The Girl and the Spider" are finalists of the Berlin Film Festival, while "The Card Teller" is a finalist of the Venice Film Festival.
Poster of France
Although two topical works by French female directors have been unsuccessful, there are still three French male directors on the list this year. It is worth mentioning that the list of "France" once again proves that Bruno Dumont is the most important director in the "Film Handbook", and belongs to the "top ten" with closed eyes no matter what is filmed. And the director of the comedy "Southern French Sister" Jiyom Buhak's last work, "Treasure Island", was also shortlisted for the top ten of the year, and it seems that it is expected to become the new darling of "Film Handbook".
Poster of "The Tale of the Southern Sisters"
【Film Handbook 2021 Top 10 (ranked by vote)】
1. "The First Cow" Director: Kelly Lecat
2. "Annette" Director: Leo Carax
3. "Memory" Director: Apichatpong Welashagu
4. "Driving My Car" Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi
5. "France" Director: Bruno Dumont
6. "French Mission" Director: Wes Anderson
7. "The Sister of the Southern Law" Director: Gyolm Buhak
8. "The Girl and the Spider" Director: Ramon Zollcher
9. "The Card Teller" Director: Paul Schrader
10. "Our Lady" Director: Paul Verhoeven
Editor-in-Charge: Zhang Zhe