2014 was the year that film fought back against those who pronounced its demise in the face of television. The absence of shows like Breaking Bad left a place nothing seemed to be able to fill, whilst the triumphs of last year’s new titles like House of Cards or Orange is the New Black have now eased gently into place with their core audiences established and the aura of zeitgeist-defining entertainment which both once possessed, no longer as applicable as it once was. It was a year in which younger directors fought to save physical celluloid from being lost forever whilst older masters like Godard and Scorsese released new films to the delight of fans worldwide. Cinema also continued to demonstrate its ability to provoke debate and discussion, with (at the time of writing) the consequences of the chaotic fallout from Seth Rogen and James Franco’s The Interview still unclear. Moreover, the top ten I have listed here offers some truly original, ground-breaking and enjoyable cinema.
It has been a year marked, not necessarily by the releases of auteur heavyweights, but of newly discovered gems and unexpected victories, and this list of the top 10 best English language films of the year stands as a testament to this idea. It was also a brilliant year for British film, with 5 out of 10 films listed below being directed by British talent. An honourable mention should also be given to Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla in this regard.
The films chosen for this list were all released in the UK in 2014, but I have excluded any films which received a lot of attention at award ceremonies like the Oscars earlier this year, after being released in the USA in 2013. For example, whilst it had a January 2014 UK release, I can’t help but consider Scorsese’s energetic The Wolf of Wall Street a film from 2013 given the amount of commentary the film prompted in the lead up to the new year. As you will have noticed, I have also decided to separate English-language films and foreign language films. This I have done for a number of reasons, including the difficulty posed when attempting to place a film like Winter Sleep in relation to star heavy blockbusters like Interstellar or The Grand Budapest Hotel. Practically, however, it gives me the chance to share 20 of my favourite films from 2014, rather than just 10!
Here’s my Top 10 English language films of 2014. Check back for my forthcoming post on the Top 10 Foreign language films of 2014.
10. Only Lovers Left Alive
In Only Lovers Left Alive Jim Jarmusch combines his established style, wit and intellect with the mythology of the vampire, bringing back to life a genre which seems to continually fluctuate between the heights of recent films like Let Right the Right One In or the forthcoming A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, and the lows of Dracula Untold or the Twilight Saga. Bathed in an ultra-cool ambience located somewhere between the noir and gothic horror genres and boasting an extraordinary cast (Tilda Swinton, Tom Hiddleston, John Hurt and Mia Wasikowska), Jarmusch’s unique approach to cinema proves once again to be an artistic force unlike anything else.
9. Exhibition
Netflix
Joanna Hogg’s Exhibition, a quiet, almost meditative take on the sudden deterioration of a marriage under pressure, is a showcase for the director’s undeniable talent as a chronicler of familial strain and personal anxiety. Propelled by a troubling yet unclear tension, the lives of ‘H’ and ‘D’ are put under the microscope for us to inspect, becoming something of an exhibition themselves in the fish tank-like home which provides the film’s primary setting. Exhibition is a subtle but mesmerising drama of a home on the brink of destruction.
8. Blue Ruin
Earlier this year, Blue Ruin came out of nowhere and made thriller fans fall in love with its exquisitely executed revenge drama, which revolved around the inept vigilante Dwight (Macon Blair). Upon learning that the man who killed his parents has been released from prison, Dwight sets out take his revenge only to be confronted by the eye-for-an-eye logic of misguided retaliation and vendettas. A marvellous indie gem, Blue Ruin announces director Jeremy Saulnier as one to watch.
7. Nightcrawler
A thrill ride indictment of bloodthirsty news ‘journalism’, Nightcrawler is a haunting reminder of the darker corners of the American dream. Gyllenhaal’s performance as the ghostly Lou Bloom, a sociopathic opportunist, is front and centre in a narrative which journeys to some grisly places and sheds light on a number of harsh truths about our 24-hour news culture. Whilst its story is compelling enough, it is Gyllenhaal’s powerhouse, perhaps career-defining performance which makes Nightcrawler a film to watch as soon as you can.
6. The Double
Amazon Prime Instant Video
One of two prominent adaptations of Dostoevsky’s work to be released this year (Lav Diaz’s take on Crime and Punishment, Norte, the End of History has a prominent place in my round-up of this year’s top foreign language films) The Double is a film, like Nightcrawler, which is built around its central performance, or in actuality, performances. Jesse Eisenberg plays both Simon and James in Richard Ayoade’s darkly funny take on the Russian novella. In the seemingly everlasting night of a cold, industrial metropolis reminiscent of David Lynch’s Eraserhead, director Ayoade squares off double against double as each try to pin down what remains of their fractured identities in a film which wears its cinematic influences lovingly on its sleeve.
5. Under the Skin
Read more on Under the Skin here
Love it or hate it, Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin made a sizeable impact on the cinematic landscape when it touched down earlier this year. A deeply enigmatic film, it follows some sort of being/creature/alien played masterfully by Scarlett Johansson, as she seduces men in order to harvest them. What such victims are being harvested for, however, remains a mystery, as does much of the film’s narrative and the central character’s motives. Hypnotic, beautiful and ominous, Under the Skin offers a cinematic experience unlike anything seen in recent years, one which makes commonplace locations and people as alien to us as Johansson’s character views the world she preys upon.
4. Interstellar
The general consensus seems to be that Christopher Nolan’s most recent work Interstellar did not manage to reach the heights of Stanley Kubrick’s epic 2001: A Space Odyssey, a feat made all the more difficult by the inevitable hype built up around the film prior to release and the early comparisons made to the aforementioned 1968 masterpiece, which also received a British re-release this year. Nonetheless, Interstellar is still a phenomenal film, boasting a superb cast, breathtaking special effects and one hell of an emotional roller-coaster for a narrative. More than that, it’s a film which really emphasises how some experiences simply can’t be duplicated at home: an example of epic, intelligent blockbuster film-making at its finest.
3. Frank
Whilst the first two thirds of the film are a riveting exercise in ‘Spinal Tapian’ comedy, Frank‘s real accomplishment is its third act, when the film you thought you were watching is suddenly turned on its head and the facts of the titular character and the music he creates with ‘The Soronprfbs’ are laid out for all to see and comprehend properly. For a film which at first glance looks like a quirky mindless comedy, its concerns are fundamentally human, with Michael Fassbender’s performance as Frank being a heartbreaking and poignant embodiment of that sentiment.
2. Boyhood
What else can be said about Richard Linklater’s monumental accomplishment Boyhood? It is a film which will surely go down in the history books as a unique and significant cinematic venture. But despite the grandiose context of its production, Boyhood finds beauty and even poetry in life’s quieter moments. This isn’t a chronology of the defining moments of Mason’s life, but a collection of its fragments, the moments which actually make up real life in between the snapshot picture frame memories that social media now erroneously foregrounds as the defining elements of our existence. A simply beautiful film about childhood and the inevitable demands of growing up.
1. The Grand Budapest Hotel
Read more on The Grand Budapest Hotel here
In my opinion, Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel is by far the best film of 2014. A magnificent blend of lively comedy, madcap action and genuine emotion, Anderson’s latest is a near perfect marriage of form and content, documenting the history of the titular hotel and its colourful staff and guests. It’s imaginative use of the visual properties of cinema is simply entrancing – its perfectly constructed compositions, its bold colours, its daring use of different aspect ratios and the manner in which it ties such choices to brilliantly realised on-screen gags. It features a phenomenal cast at the top of their game, ranging from pros like Harvey Keitel to newcomer Tony Revolori who plays Zero, whilst Ralph Fiennes steals scene after scene as the flamboyant hotel concierge Gustave. All that needs to be said is: if you haven’t seen The Grand Budapest Hotel yet, make it your top priority!
Notes from the Multiplex 