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Top 10 Films of 2016

It's that time of year again so here are my favourite films seen in the cinema this calendar year:




Julieta : the latest Almodovar is stunning and intensely moving. If this tale of a lost daughter is inspired by the myth of Demeter and Persephone, you can see the pomegranate seeds of guilt and loss in each generation.




Embrace of the Serpent : I can report that my serpent was, so to speak, fully embraced. Bracing, evocative, heart rending, psychedelic and beautifully photographed and directed.




Arrival : It was remarkably  emotional watching a film about the empathy of the alien in a dark and depressing week in which a narcissistic sociopath was elected to be the next President of the US. Forget the plot holes, this is a tour de force; Amy Adams is stupendous and the film gives us a faint glimmer of hope for humanity.




Manchester By The Sea (which hasn't opened in the UK yet) : the third great film by Kenneth Lonergan (after You Can Count On Me and Margaret - the latter probably one of my all time favourite films). A study of misery and guilt which packs a huge emotional punch.




Paterson : 'A bus driver who likes Emily Dickinson. Cool.' The quiet poetry in the everyday. Even more amazing, the usually monumentally annoying Adam Driver is absolutely brilliant in this wonderfully understated film.




Victoria : One of the most heart-poundingly intense films I've ever seen and one that reinforces the old adage that you should never underestimate someone who can play a note perfect version of the Mephisto Waltz at 5 in the morning after a night out clubbing.



Summertime : I really loved this: the dynamics that are explored in terms of gender, class, urban and rural culture, sexual orientation and age are familiar but this is a very engaging treatment with stellar acting all round. It's heart warming and heart breaking in the best manner.




Tale of Tales : Wonderfully realised. These are folk tales 'curated' in the early17th century with all of the weird, unsettling, shape shifting quality of a different time, their own often violent logic and delight in grotesques, a focus on bringing into the light things that lurk in the dark both of the imagination and human conduct. As with most fairy tales and folk tales they are deeply psychological. I loved it.




Things To Come : another Isabelle Hupert acting masterclass. It's never too early, or too late, for philosophy. The director Mia Hansen-Love bang back on form after the disappointment (to my mind) of 'Eden'.



Mustang : it may have elements of a fairy story but it is also bitingly realist in tone and completely absorbing.


Bubbling under the top 10 were:

Childhood of a Leader

A Bigger Splash

Baden Baden







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