The first of only a handful of films from the U.S. makes its appearance in the Top 20, paired with an Australian film featuring a long-time favorite actress. Other countries represented in the Top 20 include Thailand, Uruguay, South Korea, France, Belgium, Canada, Taiwan, Bolivia, Argentina, Serbia, and Rwanda.
#18) Nitram, directed by Justin Kurzel – NITRAM is one of those stories that tries to examine the events leading up to an horrific act and make sense of behavior that seems incomprehensible. Based on the events that took place in the 1996 Port Arthur massacre on Tasmania, the film follows the awkward, lonely Nitram living with his Mum and Dad with few friends and fewer social graces. He gets involved with an eccentric, older woman of means and breaks from his parents somewhat stifling home but is never able to mature, whether due to neglected mental illness, or environmental factors, which the film, fortunately hints at but doesn’t try to use as an explanation. The film is dark for sure, but compelling viewing, made especially powerful by performances from the magnificent Judy Davis as Nitram’s Mum, Caleb Landry Jones (THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE OF EBBING, MISSOURI; THE FLORIDA PROJECT; GET OUT), as Nitram, and Essie Davis (THE BABADOOK; THE JUSTICE OF BUNNY KING), as his eccentric friend, Helen.
#17) The Man in the Woods, directed by Noah Buschel – While not quite as accomplished as THE VAST OF NIGHT, this nostalgia-focused thriller set in 1963 hits some similar marks, and surprised me at its cleverness and strong writing, after a slightly awkward start. The budget is clearly a lot less, and while the largely black & white cinematography is beautiful, the production design is a little sparse. In addition to the sharp, yet somewhat familiar screenplay, about a teenaged, prep-school girl who goes missing in the woods, the performances particularly by the bohemian Literature professor brought to sparkling life by Marin Ireland (star of last year’s Buried Treasure winner, LIGHT FROM LIGHT) and the Headmaster’s long-suffering, firecracker of a wife played by the accomplished Jane Alexander, really elevate this film to something worth notice. Additional kudos to William Jackson Harper (MIDSOMMAR; PATERSON) as the railroaded, black police officer, and Odessa Young (SHIRLEY) as the wisest of the missing girl’s friends showing off her investigative journalist skills as the head of the school newspaper. It’s heavily stylized, and surprisingly witty, but showing the darker side of the past often concealed by nostalgia.
Madeline Miller has a new fan. I’ve always been fascinated by mythology, and the tales of haughty, impervious gods, and heroic, foolish mortals, and their interactions. But it’s the goddesses and heroines, who are lesser characters usually, that are the most fascinating. Miller’s novel, Circe, explores the life of a lesser goddess, daughter to a Titan and a nymph, and a witch, whose great powers come not from her divinity, but her will. In this compact, yet sprawling novel, we follow Circe’s troubled youth, leading ultimately to her exile, where she comes into her own, mastering both her fiery spirit, and her formidable powers. Other notable figures of Greek myth surround her, including the monstrous Scylla, the clever Daedelus, the horrific Minotaur, and the mighty Odysseus. Then there are the gods themselves, Hermes, Athena, Helios, and Zeus, whose uncaring, manipulative ways are in stark contrast to Circe’s compassion.
#3) Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr – I’m reading a run of lengthy novels that span multiple eras, this one being over 600 pages, and a significant improvement over the last. Anthony Doerr has created a science fiction epic that reached back to fifteenth century Constantinople, through present-day Idaho, to an interstellar starship decades from now to celebrate books, and libraries. The characters Doerr creates are so unique, and so enchanting, that whether they be an orphan girl/turned thief, an animal-loving outcast spurned because of his cleft palate, a Korean war veteran who missed his chance for love, a lonely, misguided boy turned domestic terrorist, or a young girl who will spend her life on a starship headed to a destination that will not be reached until long after her death, they come alive and resonate in your heart; each one bringing tears to your eyes as they reach the end of their journeys. This one is worth the time and effort and it takes you on a journey much like the ancient codex for which the novel is named.
#2) The Overstory by Richard Powers – Richard Powers won the National Book Award for this epic tale that blends activism and protest with environmentalism, ecology, and the mysterious life of trees. How often have I thought about the wisdom of trees, to exist for so long, and to cover so much of the earth. What I had never thought about was the interconnectedness of these mysterious life forms; both with each other, and with the other lives that swirl around them. Powers writes a compelling story that admittedly, takes a little time to get off the ground as he introduces about ten characters whose paths we will follow throughout this 500 page book. Once I realized that this was not going to be just a series of unrelated vignettes, but a tale of lives entwined with these majestic beings, both beautifully written and massive in scope I was fully captured. An epic tale rooted in science, lofty in thought, but firmly exploring humanity at its best and worse.