Chinese Film Report These best European films of the year are definitely not to be missed
Elser: Er hätte die Welt verändert
Elsei: The Man Who Nearly Changed the World is about the assassination of Hitler, but the historical facts in the film predate Hitler by years. In 1939. Hitler was almost killed by a carpenter named Elser. That year, Hitler's power was gradually reaching its peak, and while most people were culting it, Elser became one of the few fighters for justice. Under elaborate planning, he set up a time bomb near the podium of Hitler's speech. Unfortunately, Hitler's speech ended too early, and Hitler was no longer there when the bomb detonated. Elsai was arrested and executed by the Nazis in November of that year. The film tells a thrilling story, and the performances of local actors remain authentic.
Award: Screening at the Berlin International Film Festival
2, 45 years 45 years
As Kate prepares for her 45th wedding anniversary, her husband, Geoff, suddenly receives a message that brings his thoughts back to the past, and the body of his girlfriend, who died in an accident in the Swiss Alps 50 years ago, has been found.
Both Kate and Jeff were shocked in their hearts but were unable to communicate each other's hidden uneasiness. Jeff shuts herself off in a world of memories, Kate struggles to suppress her jealousy and anxiety, and she needs to concentrate on preparing for the party, arranging music, menus, and other things like that.
On the surface, everything seems to be business as usual, but the camera keenly captures the process of the otherwise harmonious coexistence gradually moving towards imbalance. Whether it's breakfast with Jeff or a solo stroll through town, Kate feels more and more like a stranger. The couple in "45th Anniversary" is caught up in unexpected emotions and forced to face feelings that they are unfamiliar with, and in the process, their good old days seem to be gone forever. After living together for 45 years, which emotions will prevail on their wedding anniversary?
Awards: Berlin International Film Festival Film Emperor and Film Queen
3、寒枝雀静 A pigeon sat on a branch and thought about existence
This film is the final chapter of the director's "life trilogy" about human nature. The film has no linear narrative and consists of 39 scenes. The camera follows Sam and Jonathan, a pair of itinerant traders selling funny toys, and accompanies them door-to-door to sell goods, like a tour guide leading the audience through different places and different crowds. The film inherits the director's usual directing style, poetic, gloomy, black humor and full of philosophical speculation.
Award: Venice Golden Lion Award
4. Cheers Aferim!
In Eastern Europe in 1835, two knights crossed the barren lands of central Wallachia. They were the gendarme Costandin and his son. The two are hunting down a gypsy slave who flees from his master's house on suspicion of having an affair with the wife of the noble master's family. The calm Constantine cheered with inspiring aphorisms no matter what the situation was, while his son observed the world in a contemplative way. In their fantastic adventures, they meet people of different faiths from different countries: Turks and Russians, Christians and Jews, Romanians and Hungarians. They have generational prejudices against each other. Even after the final hunt for slave Carfin, their adventures are far from over.
It is a fable about the late period of European feudal society, circulated from historical documents and songs: the power structure and class of society, the people's perception of themselves and others, their interaction with minorities, and the conflicts that arise from it. It is a Western black-and-white film from the Balkans that vividly recreates the harsh tones of the times while expanding the main theme to extend it to modern times.
Awards: Berlin Silver Bear For Best Director
5. Ladder of Spirit היורד למעלה
Haifa. Uri walks down Mount Carmel, to catch a ship and forever leave all the things he loves to despise. He’s evading military reserve service, thus risking jail. Cutting all the strings leaves him wondering about the foundation of his belonging to this place. Moshe is a crumbling man going up the mountain on yet another work day. Will this day mark his collapse? Will the two collide or pass through one another? An existential comedy, where the overbearing mountain with its endless stairs takes control over their destinies, in this unique panorama of the Mediterranean port city.
Awards: Nominated for the Golden Camera Award at the Cannes Film Festival, nominated for multiple nominations for the Israel Academy Film Awards
6. One Thousand and One Nights
Portuguese director Miguel's ambitious trilogy, with nearly six hours of length, uses the story of "One Thousand and One Nights" as a metaphor for the contemporary era.
Award: Cannes Film Festival Director Bi-Week
7. Babai Babai
The story after the Bosnian War, about the trauma of the war on a father and son, the escaped father, and the son who searched for the father
Awards: Best Director Award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, etc
8. Black Soul Anime Nere
Set in the Calabria region of southern Italy, the film tells the story of a family feud related to the Honor Society, a mafia organization. The story tells that Ruchiano lives in the countryside as a farmer who herds sheep and grows vegetables, deliberately staying away from the bloodshed of the local mafia. Years ago, his father, who was also a farmer, was murdered by rival factions. The two brothers chose different paths:
Awards: Venice Best Director Award, Italian David Award for Best Film, Director and other awards
9. Body Ciało
Award: Silver Bear Award for Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival
10. The Island of Crops
In the misty mountains, where the Inguli River flows, the elderly and his granddaughter plant crops on the continent. In 1992, the Abkhaz War broke out, the Inguri River became the boundary river between Abkhazia and Georgia, and gunfire sounded in the quiet mountains...
Awards: Nominated and awarded by dozens of film festivals, including San Sebastian
11. Discipline course Класс коррекции
The story takes place in a Russian secondary school reform class, which specializes in hosting students who are not physically or psychologically mainstream. The beautiful girl With limited mobility, Lina, came to this class, easily blended in, and took the lead in making trouble and confronting the teacher everywhere. She sparked a battle for hormone-fueled boys, with runaway students not having the worst but worse, and growing up at a cost that was unimaginable.
Awards: Winner of awards from several film festivals such as Kalovivari
12、Dora or The Sexual Neuroses of Our Parents
An 18-year-old girl with mental problems, an exploration of sex and love
Awards: Four nominations for the Swiss Film Awards
13 Eisenstein in Guanajuato
In 1931, Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein traveled to Guanajuato to shoot his film Long Live Mexico. There, he was exposed to a whole new culture and their attitude towards death; He also found another change—for himself. Peter Greenaway portrayed Eisenstein as an eccentric artist, and at the same time came to Mexico as an internationally renowned star director. In Mexico, however, he was in trouble because he had trouble getting along with his investor, the novelist Upton Sinclair. At the same time, he began to reassess his homeland and the Stalinist social system in a foreign land that was both joyful and dangerous. This mental journey led him to transform from a film theorist to an artist concerned with the human condition. Under his lens, some of the symbols, imprints, religious and non-religious signs of Mexican culture have been given a completely new interpretation.
The film uses a lot of close-ups, multi-shot shots, and dramatic montages—all to represent the transformation of the big man who thinks he is a magic clown—and Greenaway cleverly exploits and modifies Eisenstein's cinematic language. Step by step, the film approaches Eisenstein, leaving Eisenstein surprised to discover his inner desire.
Award: Nominated for the Berlin Golden Bear
Everything Will Be Fine
Winter nights, village strangers, falling snow, ugly sighting, sudden sleigh strokes from the hillside, slamming on the brakes and still late stopping - everything is silent - the tragedy seems to be unable to be blamed on anyone - whether it is the novelist Thomas, or Christopher, who could have paid more attention to his brother, or Kate, the mother who could have called the children home earlier, Thomas seems to have fallen into the abyss, under the heavy psychological burden, he and his girlfriend Sarah broke up, buried his head in writing to find comfort, He plans to start a family of his own with ann, a single mother with a daughter.
The film focuses on thomas, Kate, and Christopher's three main characters in their new search for meaning in life, until Christopher is 17 years old, on that snowy night that changed everyone's fate, he decides to meet the man he once met. "Everything Will Be Fine" tells a story of guilt and seeking forgiveness in a rigorous and nuanced way, and it is not time that heals everything, but the courage to face and forgive yourself bravely.
Award: Screening in the main competition section of the Berlin Film Festival
15. Mechanical Ji Ex Machina
Gary Smith (Domhnall Gleeson), a programmer who works for a well-known search engine company, is lucky enough to win the grand prize drawn by boss Nathan (Oscar Isaac), who will be invited to spend a vacation with his boss in a villa deep in the mountains. In an isolated villa, Nathan received the employee graciously. In fact, he invited Gary to come for another purpose, which was to assist him in completing the tests of the intelligent robots he had developed. The genius Nathan develops Eva (Alicia Vikander), an intelligent robot with the ability to think independently, and in order to confirm whether she has the ability to think independently, he hopes that Gary can perform the famous "Turing test" for Eva. From the first glance, Galry seems to have been attracted to this robot with a human-like appearance.
In the ensuing exchange, he seems not to be facing a cold machine, but more like a poor girl who has been innocently imprisoned...