Best of World Cinema 2017 (10+1List)

Best of World Cinema 2017

written by Souranath Banerjee

Best of World Cinema 2017: Every year before making this list I have this strange feeling of missing out some good ones, films which I may not have seen or even not know of. And this year is no exception!

And on top of that 2017 has such a variety of good Cinema to choose from, brilliant directors across the globe covering so many genres and what amazing films!

But finally I have made my choices, do let me know if you agree with me (or not). And here is my list of Best of World Cinema 2017. Enjoy!

10. Thelma

Language: Norwegian

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgQMHG9SGlU

Best-Of-World-Cinema-2017A strictly raised religious girl explores life on her own for the first time – but little did she know that her subconsciously controlled psychokinetic powers will soon change everything around her!

Directed by Joachim Trier, a unique concept based around a lesbian love affair. Brilliant performance by Eili Harboe, certainly the best fantasy mystery of the year!

9. The Square

Language: Swedish, English.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKDPrpJEGBY

Best-Of-World-Cinema-2017

“The Square” – a unique contemporary show that has gained huge popularity but what does it say about our current society?

Swedish director Ruben Östlund (of Force Majeure fame) has made a brilliant satirical drama, absurd and surreal but entertaining!

Along with many other wins the film swept away the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival.

8. Okja

Language: Korean, English.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nhz9ctHR0k

Best-Of-World-Cinema-2017On the surface a simple story of the friendship between a young girl (Seo-Hyun Ahnand her pet Okja – an oversized pig. But then this movie is so much more complex and layered, and very much socially relevant for today’s world.

Tilda Swinton, Paul DanoJake Gyllenhaal all at their best. From the acclaimed South Korean director Joon-ho Bong, probably the most powerful and important film of this year!

7. The Florida Project

Language: English.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwQ-NH1rRT4

Best-Of-World-Cinema-2017

Set up just in the outskirts of Disney World this is the story of a mischievous 6-year old (Brooklynn Prince) and her friends, her mother, her neighborhood – basically the world around her!

Directed by Sean Baker (of Tangerine fame), and also featuring Willem Dafoe and Bria Vinaite, a film that focus on human relations – the innocence and the complexities of it. Absolutely brilliant to watch! 

6. On Body and Soul

Teströl és lélekröl (original title). Language: Hungarian.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gZw6GVf2eY

Best-Of-World-Cinema-2017

Is it possible for two people to dream the same dream?

The setting being a slaughter house, this is an exceptional love story between two ordinary people wrapped in identical dreams.

A unique script and such brilliant performances, directed by Ildikó Enyedi, this Hungarian film has won the prestigious FIPRESCI Prize and the Golden Berlin Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival!

5. A Gentle Creature

Krotkaya (original title). Language: Russian.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sun3D8VqkGY

Best-Of-World-Cinema-2017

Nominated for Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, this Russian film is the story of a woman who investigates a return of a parcel that she sent to her husband who is serving prison time in an isolated town in Siberia.

Directed by Sergei Loznitsa, this one is an perfect example of superlative acting and brilliant story-telling, a slow yet highly cinematic experience.

4. The Shape of Water

Language: English.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFYWazblaUA

Best-Of-World-Cinema-2017An amphibious creature in a hidden high-security government laboratory gets to befriend a lonely janitor (Sally Hawkins) but their friendship will be tested soon.

Directed by Guillermo del Toro, emotional and highly engaging, a fantastic story and powerful performances – overall a visually stunning fairy tale like never before!

3. Call Me by Your Name

Language: English, Italian.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rgO_TyyOoU

Best-Of-World-Cinema-2017

‘Call me by your name and I’ll call you by mine.’

An erotic love affair between two men, a visiting student and the young son of the American professor.

Premiered at Sundance Film Festival, directed by Luca Guadagnino, the film is a heartfelt yet heartbreaking story of two people in love on a hot summer somewhere in a small town of Italy!

2. The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Language: English.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQFdGfwChtw

Best-Of-World-Cinema-2017The concepts of Revenge and Redemption have always been the favourite themes for movies but this film manages to twist these notions into a whole new level of awesomeness!

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (of The Lobster fame), a dark psychological thriller that takes its unique stand on morality and justice! Highly odd yet satisfying – just like the previous works of the director.

  1. Loveless

Nelyubov (original title). Language: Russian.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLegoO4NdD8

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The film that won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, the ARRI/OSRAM Award at the Munich Film Festival and was nominated ‘best film’ at the London Film Festival this year!

Directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev, this one is about a couple who must team up to find their missing son although they are going through a nasty divorce.

Official submission of Russia for the ‘Best Foreign Language Film’ category of the 90th Academy Awards in 2018.

and (The ‘+1’ film is not necessarily the best but certainly the most innovative one. A must watch)

+1. The Other Side of Hope

Toivon tuolla puolen (original title). Language: Finnish

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtiFG6utst8

Best-Of-World-Cinema-2017

A Finnish man who opens his own restaurant and a Syrian guy who comes to Finland in order to start a new life. Two stories finally converge and give us one emotional and often hilarious drama!

Realistic yet with a comic touch, acclaimed filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki won the Silver Berlin Bear at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival in the Best director category!

Similar Interest: Best of 2017 you may have missed!

Poster courtesy: www.imdb.com.

Call Me by Your Name – BEST OF 19TH MUMBAI FILM FESTIVAL 2017!

Call Me by Your Name (2017)

written by Souranath Banerjee

Call Me by Your Name Review: Intoxicatingly romantic, intensely erotic and definitely the best ‘Coming-of-age love story’ of our time! 

My Ratings: 4.3/5

‘Sexual awakening’ is a tried and tested theme and some brilliant movies in the past like Moonlight and Blue Is the Warmest Color have portrayed the typical indecisiveness of the young curious mind in the most engaging and cinematic ways possible.

But then Call Me by Your Name though delving with the similar adolescent dilemma hits the audience as the fresh morning air and takes away our breath by the sheer beauty and subtleness of the story and its charming characters!

Set in early 1980, surrounded by the dreamy countryside of Northern Italy, stands a picturesque villa in the midst of lush green valleys, fruit orchards and blue lagoons, and there blooms an illicit love story – an irresistible chemistry between a seventeen year old boy and a man in his mid twenties that finally oozes into one of the most emotionally captivating relationships painted on celluloid!

‘Call me by your name and I’ll call you by mine.’ 

Elio (Timothée Chalamet) the young son of an archeology professor meets Oliver (Armie Hammer), a handsome American graduate student, who visits as an intern for the summer – and those six weeks Call-Me-by-Your-Nameof summer changes their lives forever. Especially Elio’s as the story is being told mostly from his perspective – not only does he discover love but he also reinvents himself.

Now the genius of director Luca Guadagnino (famous for the films I Am Love and A Bigger Splash) is not only in unfolding passion in the most lucid and eloquent manner (almost as if in slow motion) but also for treating the characters with electric erotism and yet never being carried away to the extent of indelicacy.

Never objectifying the central characters, never categorising their desires (both the leading men are shown with relationships with women as well), titillating but always with an uncanny sense of Call-Me-by-Your-Namespontaneous sophistication – both James Ivory (writer) and Luca Guadagnino (director) have adopted André Aciman‘s novel and made it into something very special and ageless!

And kudos to the exceptional performances by Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet – they have managed to perfectly portray the volatility of their relationship. And a special mention to Michael Stuhlbarg specially for his brilliant father-son dialogue delivery towards the end of the movie. Classic!

Poetic, alluring and ageless, as beautiful as the nude Greek male torsos that keep appearing in the film at regular intervals – probably the symbol for the eternal signature of love and passion.

Certainly one of the best films of the year!

Poster courtesy: www.imdb.com

Best of 2017 you may have missed! (10+1list)

Best of 2017 you may have missed!

written by Souranath Banerjee

Best of 2017 you may have missed: 2017 has been a year of some real good movies and a bliss for Cinema lovers like us!

But there is always a possibility that you may have overlooked a few, missed out the underrated ones which mind you are definitely worth your time.

So here is a list that will ensure that you have covered all the best of 2017. Thank me later!

10. Good Time

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrR-SbCRgCU

A heist gone wrong but that’s not the only thing that doesn’t go according to the plan. In order to save his mentally challenged brother a thug has the misadventure of his lifetime in one night span!

Directed by Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie, a rollercoaster ride of intense drama and Robert Pattinson breaks away from his Twilight zone and gives a super cool performance.

9. I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore.

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WBV7q_1DgQ

A woman burdened and bored by her life to the point of depression finds new purpose when she is robbed and vows to take revenge on the thugs. Her next-door neighbour becomes her partner in crime!

Written and directed by Macon Blair, with Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood giving their best – mostly a comedy and that too very well made, but I am sure the ending will surprise you!

8. Brawl in Cell Block 99

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hfAExhHTMM

Vince Vaughn is back – not in some romcom but with a tough-guy-role in this cool and violent crime drama.

A drug dealer who goes to prison after a sore deal and realises that he has landed in the midst of a battleground!

Directed by S. Craig Zahler, this action drama has extreme violent scenes that can be disturbing for some people.

7. Lucky

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KLLkj84GAo

‘There’s a difference between lonely and being alone.’

A comedy drama centred around a ninety-year-old atheist who is forced to get out of his comfort zone and view life from a different perspective.

Directed by John Carroll Lynch and a performance of a lifetime by Harry Dean Stanton (his last role before he passed away). Also starring David Lynch!

6. Mudbound

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPRj3egUHb8

Adjusting to life after war is always tough and dealing with racism is even tougher. Two young men fresh from war zone had to deal with all this and much more!

Directed by Dee Rees, this is one brilliant movie, highly underrated but awesome acting and storytelling at its best.

Garrett Hedlund‘s performance is definitely an award winning one.

5. Molly’s Game

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu4UPet8Nyc

A former professional skier who ran world’s most exclusive high-stake poker-games in Los Angeles and New York and soon came into the radar of FBI.

A biography made on the life of Molly Bloom, brilliantly played by Jessica Chastain.

Directed by Aaron Sorkin, the story of the ultimate hustler and her mysterious and thrilling life!

4. Lady Bird

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNi_HC839Wo

A coming of age drama of a senior high school girl, a young artistic mind who wants to go to the east coast and live her life to the fullest!

Written and directed by my favourite actor/director Greta Gerwig, the film is so realistic and well told that you instantly feel a connection to it.

Saoirse Ronan is superb in the central character – so natural and vulnerable and yet so perfect.

3. Buster’s Mal Heart

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL4WSUwqhho

Rami Malek (from Mr. Robot fame) has given a great performance as a mentally unstable man who keeps warning others about a certain mysterious upcoming ‘Inversion’!

Written and directed by Sarah Adina Smith, powerful visuals and a bizarre concept that unfortunately is a bit open-ended and often unexplained but surely this psychological thriller manages to hold your attention till the very end.

2. A Ghost Story

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxLHP2IpBXw

A ghost shrouded in a white-sheet with two eyes cut out  – this is the ghost of a recently expired man who returns to his home and tries to connect with his lonely wife.

Directed by David Lowery, this film is not to be taken as a typical horror/ghost movie. It is an arty type, slow, emotional, sad and yet beautifully poetic.

Brilliant performances by Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara.

  1. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jit3YhGx5pU

In order to challenge the local authorities to find her daughter’s murderers a mother puts up three billboards by the side of the road to provoke and taunt the police!

A black comedy directed by Martin McDonagh, this is a brilliant movie with superb storytelling and awesome performances by top-rated actors like Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell.

and (The ‘+1′ film is not necessarily the best but certainly the most innovative one. A must watch)

+1. Gerald’s Game

Film trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twbGU2CqqQU

At a remote lake house a girl finds herself in a terrifying situation when her husband handcuffs her as part of their sex game but unfortunately have a heart attack and dies leaving her chained!

Superbly directed by Mike Flanagan and Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood gives their best. One of the very rare Stephen King novel adaptations that is probably even better than the book!

Similar Interest: Best of World Cinema 2017

Poster courtesy: www.imdb.com.