Legend:
-
 :
Best of the crop. I usually pick 5 movies at the end of the year to receive
this mark. By clicking on the icon you get to the list of the selected movies
for this year.
 :
Films I really recommend. I am not so much choosy, so quite a few movies
receive this mark.
 :
Films that you should really avoid. I am rather tolerant, so not very many
movies get awarded with it.
-
The 6th day
(31th December)
- A typical Schwarzenegger movie. He is cloned by the bad guys, but since
the clone is the exact replica of the original, he is a good guy and the two
Arnolds join their forces. Of course two Arnolds are even stronger than one,
so the bad guys face difficulties and around the end of the movie they
eventually lose. Until next time.
-
East is East
(30th December)
- Yet another British working class comedy. This time it is about the
difficulties of living in a multicultural family. The Pakistani father has
seven children. He wants them to follow his traditional (Islam) way of of life
but they want to live their lives in the British way (whatever that
means in the early 70's). Funny and bitter moments mix in this movie, which I
can recommend to everyone.
-
Glamour
(28th December)
- Although this movie has some excellent and touching moments, frenetic
gags and some good acting, it gets lost in details and it is definitely too
long.
-
Tuvalu
(15th December)
- A love story in a strange surrealistic world which in many details
resembles post-Communist Eastern European reality, but it probably tells us
something more generic about our modern life. Not much talk, but powerful
story with strange characters (good acting), beautiful photography and an
imaginative world.
-
Portugál
(9th December)
- I did not expect too much from this movie and it was a very nice surprise.
It is a simple and satirical story based on a theatre play, which you can
still check out in
Katona József Színház
if you happen to speak Hungarian. The scene is a small village in the
backyard of Hungary, where rarely happen things. Not much (and nothing
unexpected) happens in the story either, but the acting sells the movie.
Although most of the actors are rather unkown even in Hungary (except Ági
Szirtes, who plays an alcohol-addict housewife and was praised by the critics)
most of them perform extremely well.
-
Vatel
(2nd December)
- Vatel is a spectacular account of what life in the court of Louis XIV
could have been like. Although it is an enjoyable movie, I suspect that its
splendid grandeur will fade away soon. The story and the acting is correct,
but it did not really impress me.
-
Farewell, Home Sweet Home
(27th November)
- A movie by Otar Ioseliani, another director from a post-soviet country
(Georgia). However, he has been living in France for a long time and I feel
his movies are a unique blend of French charm and Georgian wisdom and humour,
including a bit of Soviet life-experience. This film is almost as excellent
as my favourite Ioseliani movie, the Butterfly Hunt (1992). I appreciated
its fine humour and I felt its passions about the pour and the rich and
their lifestyles. A wonderful movie!
-
Million Dollar Hotel
(18th November)
- A movie by Wim Wenders. I did not enjoy wathcing it at all (due to mainly
my own sleepiness) but in retrospect I am learning to appreciate the
story and some of the characters. Still, I think that the movie was "too
stylish" and this time I felt that this style was an overkill.
-
Luna papa
(11th November)
- A movie from a post-soviet Central Asian republic: it reminded me very
much to some Kusturica movies (Underground,
Arizona Dream) which explains why I liked this film so much.
-
Mifunes sidste sang / Mifune's Last Song
(20th October)
- A movie by Sören Kragh-Jacobsen. The third movie directed according to
the principles of Dogma95. A touching story
that I particularly liked: about a carreerist who suddenly realizes that his
idea of leaving his wretched family behind and starting a new life is wrong,
about a hooker who is trying to escape from the harrassing phone calls by an
aberrant and their brothers who are also miserable and helpless. As the story
develops these people manage to realize that even though they cannot change:
the harshness of their life, relying on each other's empathy and love can make
things easier. As the hooker says at one point (no guarantee on the exact
words): "Life is shit and you will taste it with large spoons every day,
but this is not an excuse to hurt the ones who are close to you". The happy
ending suggests that there is hope for these people: I would be inclined to
believe so...
-
Potop I.
(23th September)
-
-
Pan Wolodyjowski
(22th July)
- I was driven to see these old-timers after seeing
Ogniem i mieczem,
and I was not disappointed. Just like their
more recent companion, based on a precious literary work, played by excellent
actors, these movies are a must for those who like costume epics!
By the way, the background of these movies is the following:
Henryk Sienkiewicz, the famous Polish writer (awarded with Nobel prize
in 1905) wrote a trilogy set in XVII. century Poland. [The country entered
the period - starting in 1648 - as one of the great powers in Europe, but then
it was torn by uprisings, feudal anarchy and destructive wars with the
Russians, Swedes and Turks. Although the country survived the ruinous interval
with minor territorial losses, the population had been nearly halved by war
and disease, the economy suffered and the then famous Polish religious
tolerance was gone. This episode contributed heavily to the subsequent fall
of Poland.] Sienkiewicz published the novels of Ogniem i mieczem
[With Fire and Sword], Potop [The Deluge] and Pan Wolodyjowski
[Pan Michael] in 1884, 1886, and 1888 respectively. The trilogy soon became a
classic and extremely popular piece of Polish literature. So, it was quite
natural that the idea of adapting it to films emerged. Director Jerzy Hoffman
filmed the last two parts of the trilogy (starting with the last one, for some
strange reason not known to me) in the sixties and seventies. He intended
to adapt the first part as well, but this was postponed until the late
nineties. The 1999 premiere of Ogniem i mieczem was probably the most
awaited movie event in Poland and soon 6 million Poles crowded to see
the film.
-
Breakfast of Champions
(9th September)
- Kurt Vonnegut definitely belongs to my favourite writers, but his novels
do not easily yield to the big screen. So it must take a lot of ambition and
self-confidence to film his work. This movie had some touching moments
mostly due to the excellent acting by some characters (not Bruce Willis...).
Despite these moments, my overall judgment is rather negative. You'd better
read the book.
-
Love's Labour's Lost
(28th August)
- A funny blend of Shakespeare and a parody of a musical of the 30's.
Enjoyable, but very far from being as good as previous pieces by Brannagh.
Sometimes I had the feeling of watching a too much shortened
version that lost most of its power during the process.
-
The Patriot
(23th August)
- AKA Braveheart 2: William Wallace reincarnates as Benjamin Martin and once
again stands up against the bloody British. This time he wins. (The movie is
not as good as Braveheart, but still quite OK.)
-
The Castle
(22th August)
- This film is as simple as the family it presents. Enjoyable piece, but
nothing special.
-
Underground
(14th August)
- This film definitely belongs to the best movies I have ever seen. It is a
shocking and surrealistic story about the history of Yugoslavia and it
shows the charming but self-destructive temperament that is so characteristic
to the people of the Balkan (unfortunately I cannot claim that Hungary
would be entirely free from this madness, although my prideful countrymen
get usually offended if anyone dares to suggest that we have anything common
with the Balkan). After seeing the movie I browsed through the related
IMDB user comments.
Not surprisingly the film wakes strong sentiments and controversial opinions
among the viewers, especially among those who come from the region. One
statement expressed by many is that you need to live in the Balkan to
understand (and appreciate) the story. I disagree with this: the magic of this
movie is strong enough to capture you, whatever background you may have. Your
interpretation may depend on your background, but that is always the case
with any piece of art. (To add a somewhat ignorant and cynical remark:
maybe non-locals are not be able to understand the movie, but locals
definitely don't seem to be able to learn from it.)
-
The Cup
(13th August)
- This film is supposed to be a simple but charming story. However, this is
the kind of movie that has a long term effect: I was obviously not in the
right mood on the spot as I found too much simplicity and too little charme,
but as I recall the story after one day, I am learning to appreciate
its wise philosophy and also some of the characters.
-
Asterix and Obelix
(2nd August)
- Well, despite some funny moments, this turned out to be a rather
mediocre movie. The source of the problem is the primitive (and
rather boring) script.
-
Festen
(20th July)
- A Danish movie by Thomas Vinterberg. The first piece directed according to
the principles of Dogma95. It is powerful
story about a wealthy Danish family, where the father's dark secrets spoiled
his children's life. These secrets come to light during a dramatic birthday
celebration.
-
Dogma95
- Dogma95 is not a movie: it is an initiative by some Danish
(hm, at least I think they are all Danish) directors. It is about
making movies without "cheating": the basic idea is not to allow special
effects when making the movie. The meaning of "special effect" is driven to an
extreme end and includes not only those computer generated "Star Wars
effects" visible only in the most expensive Hollywood movies, but
also the everyday effects present in every film: music, lighting, studios,
costumes, camera stands, and so on. This principle is taken seriously: the
director of the third Dogma movie confesses that once he covered a window
with a black drape and (as being a "lighting effect") he considered this as
a breach of the rules. I think the basic idea is that a good story
and good acting is what counts, not some fancy effects that amaze you for
the moment but in fact cover an empty and meaningless film. I do not think
that following Dogma's rules is the only way to make good and meaningful
movies, but I certainly find it a honorable effort (well, the only way I can
actually honour the idea is that I will look for Dogma movies).
Dogma does not seem to be an initiative that is spreading like wildfire.
At the moment there are only three movies with Dogma certificate, all of them
directed by persons who originally invented the rules. Still, these films
are all very remarkable and internationally acclaimed pieces collecting
awards. This will probably keep the idea alive for a while and bring
us some good pieces of cinema.
-
Mission to Mars (9th July)
- Just like Apollo 13 and Contact, this movie is part of
Hollywood's latest campaign to promote space research. This is an intent
I very much agree with, but this movie is far from being a memorable piece.
Although it has
some good moments (the scene when the rescue crew has trouble with
micrometeorites is really good), the story is extremely weak: it is
packed with very conventional cliches which makes the whole movie very
calculable. Also, it is very disorganised: it has several threads, like
personal dramas (that was probably the worst thread: I felt
especially bored when I had to watch pathetic scenes with characters
overcoming their private tragedies and thus becoming wonderful heroes),
intellectual challenges, exciting actions. Unfortunately none of these
threads are properly elaborated, resulting in an unfocused mess.
-
The Ninth Gate (1st July)
- A thriller by Roman Polansky: good craftmanship, but not something you
would remember for long.
-
Ogniem i mieczem / With Fire and Sword (28th June)
- This is the second costume epic I have seen recently (see
Gladiator).
However, this one comes from Poland and I find it superior to the
(financially probably much more successful) Gladiator-stuff. The reason is
that it is based on a wonderful novel from the famous Polish writer
Sienkiewicz and the story captures the soul of a nation. The film manages to
convey this to the audience. I enjoyed every moment of this romantic but also
humorous movie! Go for it, if you can!
-
Belle Maman (24th June)
- A French comedy, exhibiting the famous French interest (and tolerance)
towards the strange ways of love. Nice movie.
-
Lola rennt / Run Lola Run (23th June)
- A German movie in Trainspotting-style, also building on the
Sliding Doors pattern (i.e. what would happen differently if you
acted differently in important moments of your life). Quite good.
-
The Gladiator (27th May)
- If it's about science-fiction movies or costume epics, my usual criticism
towards Hollywood production is strongly reduced: I love the genre
and I am willing to accept the lack of originality and catharsis in exchange
for some spectacular effects and scenes, provided that the story and the
acting is not worse than average. The Gladiator meets these requirements, so I
was satisfied with it. However, the story was really close to the lower edge
of what I could tolerate: everything was extremely predictable and the end
was definitely too pathetic.
-
Plunkett and Macleane (19th May)
- The adventures of two XVIII. century "highwaymen" (i.e. robbers). Rather
naturalistic (i.e. probably much closer to the reality of the period than
"non-naturalistic" movies), spiced with Trainspotting-style, including
the actors. A bit trendy, bit I liked it.
-
The End of the Affair (30th April)
- A good movie based upon a Graham Greene novel. While being "yet another"
love story, it also touched a (to me, at least) interesting and somewhat
sensitive issue: the ultimate question of religion (the existence of God)
from an ateist's point of view.
-
Kisvilma (29th April)
- The last piece of the "Diary" series by Márta Mészáros. I felt it less
powerful than the earlier ones, but this may also be due to the lack of
political excitement (the earlier Diary-movies were made back in the
80's, when the Communists were still in power but something was already in the
air, whereas today this is all history and people have other problems to worry
about). There was however a striking contrast between the beautiful mountains
(the location is set in Kirgizia) and the dark story.
-
Agnes Browne (23nd April)
- Although the story-patterns used in this movie are age-old and rather
simple, some nice performances and an enchanting blend of Irish and female
humour makes this movie very enjoyable indeed!
-
American Beauty (22nd April)
- The late Oscar winner is a surprisingly good movie from Holywood. It is
not only the well-written script and the very fine performances (with the
well-deserved Oscar for Kevin Spacey in the lead): this time there is
some catharsis at the end. This movie wants to tell you something and
it even manages to do so.
-
All about my mother (15th April)
- This is a recent Oscar winner (Best Foreign Language Film) by
Pedro Almodóvar
and indeed a wonderful movie! The story is less extravagant than in former
Almodovar films, but the female characters are dominant as usual. This is a
must!
-
Buena Vista Social Club (10th April)
- This is a documentary about the people behind the Grammy-winner
Buena Vista Social Club album. Three components make this movie excellent:
the wonderful music, the glamourous characters (almost all of them old,
forgotten Cuban musicians) and the enchanting pictures of the wonderful but
extremely poor and neglected city of Havana. The contrast between Cuba's
closed (and despite all misery somewhat idyllic) world and the glitters
of the busy western world adds special spices to this movie.
-
Jadviga párnája /
Jadviga's pillow (3rd April)
- Based on a best-seller, this movie got the jury's special prize on the
annual Hungarian Film Festival. It is indeed a nice effort that has very
good moments, but in overall I found it bit too long.
-
A napfény íze /
Ein Hauch von Sonnenschein /
Sunshine (26th March)
- This is a well-directed and beautifully photographed epic film. The story
is definitely exciting (and also quite painful for a Hungarian) although
sometimes I felt it was a bit didactic. For non-Hungarians it may be
interesting to know that most characters of the Sonnenschein/Sors family
are based on real persons (although they did actually belonge to different
families).
-
Anna and the King (12th March)
- Nice photography and good acting from the main characters, but I had the
feeling that the view of the story was too much "western".
-
Taxi (4th March)
- I always hated taxi drivers. Let's kill all those bloody bastards!
...Sorry, this was a bad joke: this is a serious movie is about racism. It is
also a love story. Far from being the best I've ever seen, but a good one.
-
Lautrec (3rd February)
- A good movie about the famous painter. A bit too long, or perhaps I was
too exhausted after a long and tiring day.
-
The Messenger (30th January)
- A spectacular movie from Luc Besson that builds on Milla Jovovich.
Good.
-
Waking Ted Nevine (29th January)
- Can a dead man win the Lottery Jackpot? Of course. An enchanting story
from Ireland...
-
Za Shto? / What for? (January)
- The story is based on a short novel by Tolstoy about a young Polish
officer exiled in Southern Russia (Kazakhstan, I guess) and his hopeless
effort to escape. I was drawn to this movie by the surprising fact that
it was produced in coproduction by the Poles and the Russians, which is
probably the most positive thing I can tell about it. Otherwise it was a
bit boring: the original story is probably too short for a full-length
movie and the acting wasn't very impressive either.
-
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1st January)
- Yet another Shakespeare movie from Holywood. I usually like them, and
I also liked this, although it was not the best of the crop.
See the list of movies I liked best in
2000!
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