FAVORITE FILMS 2004

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ส่วนอันนี้เป็นอันดับหนังที่เราชอบสุดๆที่ได้ดูในปี 2004

Favorite Films 2004

(in preferential order)

1.  Birth of the Seanema (Sasithorn Ariyavicha, 2004)

This is my most favorite Thai film ever. I think Sasithorn deserves to rank alongside Maya Deren, Marguerite Duras, Chantal Akerman, and Su Friedrich as one of the most talented and uncompromising female filmmakers.

2.  Zmej (Aleksei Muradov, 2002)

3.  Free Radicals (Barbara Albert, 2003)

4.  Un homme, un vrai (Arnaud Larrieu, Jean-Marie Larrieu, 2003)

5.  Seven Days, Seven Nights (Joel Cano, 2003)

6.  School Trip (Henner Winckler, 2002)

7.  O Rapaz do Trapezio Voador (Fernando Matos Silva, 2002)

8.  The Policewoman (Joaquim Sapinho, 2003)

9.  The Barbecue People (Yossi Madmoni, David Ofek, 2003)

10.                   Uninvited (Lee Su-yeon, 2003)

11.                   Ludwig – Requiem for a Virgin King (Hans-Jurgen Syberberg, 1972)

12.                   Little Men (Nariman Turebayev, 2003)

13.                   Tatort – Ausgeklinkt (Sylvia Hoffmann, 1988)

14.                   Everything’s Fine, We’re Leaving (Claude Mourieras, 2000)

15.                   Science Fiction (Franz Mueller, 2003)

16.                   El Evangelio de las Maravillas (Arturo Ripstein, 1998)

17.                   The Hours and Times (Christopher Munch, 1991)

18.                   A Thousand Months (Faouzi Bensaidi, 2003)

19.                   Seawards Journey (Guillermo Casanova, 2003)

20.                   Koma (Law Chi-leung, 2004)

Favourite short films:

1.  Kickflipper: Fragments Edit (Shaun Gladwell, 2000-2003)

2.  Mixed Up (Nadia Fares, 1999) This is a segment in the omnibus film ID Swiss.

3.  For You (Heidi Kocevar, 2000)

4.  Totem (Maider Fortune, 2001)

5.  Isle of Flowers (Jorge Furtado, 1989)

6.  L’Heure de pointe (Antonin Peretjatko, 2002)

7.  Other People’s Dreams of Me (James Lynch, 2003)

8.  Granny (Tatu Pohjavirta, Mark Stahle, 2003)

9.   The Possibility of Utopia (Julio Soto, 2003)

10.                   Let’s Talk About It…Harriet (Carol Duffy Clay, 2003)

Four favorite cinematic trends in 2004:

1.  The Marvel of Thai Cinema

Five great Thai films in 2004 have one thing in common: they are all concerned with homosexuality. Fortunately, they come in different genres. Tropical Malady (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2004) sits in an indefinable area between realism and surrealism. The Adventures of Iron Pussy (Michael Shaowanasai, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2003), which features a gay secret agent, is a musical comedy which parodies the Thai films made many decades ago. Bus-Stop (Tosaporn Mongkol, 2004), which presents a tortuous life of a male prostitute, is as darkly beautiful, puzzling, and esoteric as the second half of Tropical Malady. At first glance, Down the River (Anucha Boonyawatana, 2004) might look like an ordinary romantic gay movie, but the calmness and the religious beliefs infused into this film make it truly outstanding and ‘enlightening’.

The last of the five is My First Boyfriend (Issara Maneewat, 2004), which is a romantic/comedy/tragedy/personal documentary made by a director who had never had any boyfriend before. The film reveals to us quite frankly how the first date in a resort island between the director and a handsome young man who responded to his advertisement turned into a disaster. While most documentaries deal with or are inspired by the events or the relationships which happened prior to the filming, this film reverses the usual process of making documentaries. The romantic relationship in this film would never have existed before or without the filming. They became boyfriends just for the sake of making this documentary. I think this film, along with some personal documentaries directed by Thunska Pansittivorakul, can be seen as a milestone in the history of Thai documentary. Furthermore, both My First Boyfriend and Czech Dream (Vit Klusak, Filip Remunda, 2004), another documentary which reverses the usual process, raise some curious questions about the ethics of documentarians.

Apart from the five films above, ten other Thai films helped turning 2004 into my most enjoyable year of watching Thai cinema. These films are Haunted Houses (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2001), Malady Diary (Teekhadet Vucharadhanin, 2004), Bangkok Loco (Pornchai Hongrattanaporn, 2004), Sooth: His Pure Story (Patana Chirawong, 2003), To Infinity and Beyond (Sompot Chidgasonrnponges, 2004), Hualampong (Chulayarnnon Siriphol, 2004), A Short Journey (Tanon Sattarujawong, 2003), The Overture (Ittisoontorn Vichailak, 2004), The Siam Renaissance (Surapong Pinijkhar, 2004), and The Judgement (Pantham Thongsangl, 2004).

2.  The Excellence of Argentine Cinema

There was so much hype surrounding the Argentine cinema. Surprisingly, five Argentine films have proved to me that the hype was not overblown at all. They are Lo Nuestro no funciona (Ivan Wolovik, Nicolas Alvarez, 2003), Que lo pague la noche (Nestor Mazzini, 2004), The Magic Gloves (Martin Rejtman, 2003), Live-In Maid (Jorge Gaggero, 2004), and Whisky Romeo Zulu (Enrique Pineyro, 2004).

3.  The Success of Documentaries

The greatest documentaries shown in Bangkok in 2004 are Alexei and the Spring (Motohashi Seiichi, 2002), Peterka: Year of Decision (Vlado Skafar, 2003), Dutch Light (Pieter-Rim de Kroon, 2003), The Orphans of Nkandla (Brian Woods, 2004), and Ford Transit (Hany Abu-Assad, 2002).

4.  The Promising Female Directors

I am very impressed with ten films made by up-and-coming female directors, and I hope they will turn into ones of the greatest filmmakers in the near future. Some of these films are unflinching, unrelenting feel-bad movies about women: In My Skin (Marina de Van, 2002), Or (Keren Yedaya, 2004), Monster (Patty Jenkins, 2003). Some are beguiling, sweet, and romantic: Love That Boy (Andrea Dorfman, 2003), Easy (Jane Weinstock, 2003). Some are powerful and realistic: Some Secrets (Alice Nellis, 2002), Jealousy Is My Middle Name (Park Chan-ok, 2002). Some are poetic and enigmatic: Kiss of Life (Emily Young, 2003), Lineage of the Divine (Monika Tichacek, 2002). And one of them is a great documentary about women: Love and Diane (Jennifer Dworkin, 2002).

Guilty Pleasures:

I love films which have strong, determined, indestructible female characters fighting cruel male villains: Bedlam (Mark Robson, 1946), Gothika (Mathieu Kassovitz, 2003), Mindhunters (Renny Harlin, 2004), Toolbox Murders (Tobe Hooper, 2003), The Fifth Reaction (Tahmineh Milani, 2003).