On December 7, Time magazine released its 2021 Top 10 List of Best Movies, brought by Time magazine critic Stephanie Zacharek.
Stephanie Zacharek also mentioned that 2020 is "a dark and long winter" for the film industry, and 2021 is much better, plus in fact, many films themselves have been postponed from 2020 to this year's release or launch, "after months of darkness, we ushered in the season of light."
It is worth mentioning that compared with the list of previous years, this year's TOP10 has not been released in the mainland, and even most of them have not appeared in everyone's discussion, which will be a good list of films to check and fill in the gaps (now it is almost possible to prepare films in advance for the New Year's Day holiday and the Spring Festival holiday).
Directed by Ryusuke Hamaguchi and starring Hidetoshi Nishijima, Toruko Miura, and Shosei Okada, the film is based on the novel of the same name from Haruki Murakami's 2014 short story collection Men Without Women.
Not many of Haruki Murakami's novels have been seriously made into movies (the difference between the previous "Burning" and Murakami Haruki's "Burning Barn" is still very large), and "Driving My Car" is a very original film that retains the content and atmosphere of the original work.
The film won awards such as "Best Screenplay" at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and "Best Picture" at the 87th New York Film Critics Association Awards earlier this month. Previously, the film has been confirmed to represent Japan in the Oscar, and the New York Film Critics Association Award is also considered to be one of the Oscar weather vanes, and the possibility of "Driving My Car" winning the Oscar "Best International Film" is not small.
9th: The Tragedy of Macbeth
Directed by Joel Cohen, starring Denzel Washington and Francis McDormand. This is indeed the theme of countless times made into a movie or stage play, but this black and white film also presents a unique, highly stylized performance, it has the old drama bones of the soaring, while the soundtrack, light and shadow, camera scheduling are very good, the overall classical taste is full.
The film previously premiered at the New York Film Festival, followed by December 25 in North America, at Apple TV+ (apple-funded films) at the beginning of next year. According to the feedback of fans who have seen the film so far, this may be the best response in the TOP10.
It's another black-and-white film, directed and written by Mike Mills and starring Joaquin Phoenix. The plot is actually very simple, but the story is so comfortable and warm to tell, so that people can easily fit in.
Stephanie Zacharek says, "No one can paint beautiful family ties and those beautiful and shiny moments better than Mike Mills."
Ranked 7th in the top 10, the Indian film "The Apprentice" tells the story of a young man who strives to become an Indian classical music singer. Stephanie Zacharek describes the film as "quiet and bright", in which director Chaitania Tamhani "explores the significance of pursuing artistic dreams so fanatically, even if real life has taken a back seat".
Based on the novel of the same name by Nella Larsen (though the novel's domestic translation is "Beyond the Line"), Imposter Skin is about skin color and racial identity. The film was directed by Rebecca Hauer and starred Tessa Thompson and Ruth Nega. The film has many attempts at shooting methods and presentation methods, and its core is as heavy as the original novel.
It is worth mentioning that this is also Rebecca Hauer's first time as a director. However, at present, the film rating is not high.
Another of Almodóvar's films, which premiered at this year's Venice Film Festival, was released in Spain in September. Through the film, Almodóvar explores the power of women and mothers, while also continuing to review and reflect on the impact of heavy histories such as the Spanish Civil War on the country and the people.
The film originally had a more sensitive poster. However, the current "mosaic" poster can also be regarded as an expression of attitude
4th Place: The Souvenir: Part II
Directed and written by Joanna Hogg, the film is a sequel to 2019's The Souvenir (which is also good for two films to watch together), with Tilda Swinton and other original casts returning. Stephanie Zacharek says the film captures the imprint of a young man of an era through a deceptively simple story.
The film (also translated as "Summer Souls") chronicles The Harlem Cultural Festival in Harlem Park in 1969 – a festival that took place in the same year as the famous Woodstock Festival (only 100 kilometres apart) and was attended by more than 300,000 people, but with little media coverage, "it was like it never existed".
The documentary hopes to bring back to the forgotten and even deliberately overlooked event, a video recording of what has been known as the "Blackwoodstock Festival" that has been sleeping for half a century before being presented to the world, and that festival and the documentary "look like a miracle."
No. 2: Verdens verste menneske (Verdens verste menneske)
The film tells the story of 30-year-old Julie facing her own life choices, and in Stephanie Zacharek's view, director Joachim Tyre uses a gentle comedy to "remind people to find the light in the midst of loss".
The film premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival and won the "Best Actress" award in the main competition section, in addition to winning the "Best Foreign Language Film" at the 87th New York Film Critics Association Awards.
The final no. 1 in the top 10 was "Canine Power", which was produced by Netflix, directed and written by Jane Campion, and starred Benedict Cumberbatch, Kstin Dunst, Jesse Plemont and others.
The film is based on Thomas Savage's 1967 novel of the same name. Jane Campion won "Best Director" at this year's Venice Film Festival and "Best Director" at the 87th New York Film Critics Association Awards for this film, and Curly Fu and Curtie Smit-McPhee also won "Best Actor" and "Best Supporting Actor" at the New York Film Critics Association Awards, respectively.
Stephanie Zacharek spoke highly of the film, saying, "It's a film as wide as the sky, and the delicate human emotions are as sharp as blades of grass."