Films of 2006

My top three in order:

1) Red Road

Andrea Arnold's debut is a stark feature set on the poverty line in Glasgow as seen through the modern phenomenon of the CCTV world. A bold and novel film played with engaging realism by all involved. The film follows CCTV operator Jackie's identification of a face from her past and her slow coming-to-terms with a terrible tradegy. I was hooked from beginning to end and sympathetic for all involved. I found myself musing on this film for weeks afterwards. Simply flawless.

2) Pan's Labyrinth

An intelligent and darkly refreshing take for the fantasy genre. Guillermo del Toro's beautiful film is set to the backdrop of the end of the civil war in 1944 Spain. 12-year-old Ofelia's despairing real-life prospects are supplanted by her discovery of a ruined world, to which she may be the saviour. This is a powerful work with some important messages with regard to the vitality of ideals and the imagination, but for me, two small points ensured that Red Road wasn't challenged for the top peg. The first is that towards the end there is a point-of-view shot from one of the adults seeing Ofelia talking to one of the characters from her fantasy world, except that the character isn't there in this P-o-V shot. To me, this took away the choice that the audience had in whether to fully believe Ofelia's version of events or not. It felt insulting to me, as for the rest of the film this choice was maintained, and I believe it reduced the effect of the end of the film. The second, much more minor point, is to do with the editing. Midway through the film, a fantasy character and Ofelia have an argument and it's threatened that Ofelia will have no further access to the world. There then proceeds, I felt, an excessively lengthy 'real-world' section of the film, which made me start to question whether the fantasy involvement had indeed ended. Small points both, and still a highly recomended film!

3) Little Miss Sunshine

A very funny and warm film. Here is September's review:

Went to see the excellent Little Miss Sunshine last night and it made me laugh out loud more freely than any film in a while has been able to. The film follows little Olive Hoover and her family as they travel to California so that she can compete in the hideous Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant (for 6-7 year olds!). Each cast member gives in a fantastic performance as their respective member of this fractured family and together with a pretty tight script and wonderful cinematography, it is on the whole a delight to watch, and needless to say I recommend you to do so.

However, it isn't flawless. Sometime about midway through I had to tell myself not to get caught up on some stretches of the premise (no police action by the hospital/car pool people? Horn mysteriously stopping during the emotional bit and whilst parked outside the hotel? Security not taking over in that end scene). Also, the family seems so fractured at the beginning you wonder why their together at all, but then again I know first hand at times that this can be true! It's all minor stuff in any case, as you really are having so much fun (sometimes in the so-painful-but-nice way), and the film nicely avoids any over-the-top emotional sugary end. There you go then, a well-managed and very funny film and one that doesn't make you feel that you're being used in a some boardroom formula. Beautiful.