The Ciné-Café association has released its traditional ranking of films presented to the public in 2019.
1 – PAIN AND GLORY by Pedro Almodóvar
When will they stop shying away from Almodóvar’s creations!? Come on! A First Gull (pending better recognition) for this new flamboyant opus where image and light serve as a sumptuous setting for illustrating the most unsettling emotions, the most secret wounds, the deepest feelings…
2 – PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE by Céline Sciamma
A dazzling film about the gaze—artists looking at their model, an era’s view of women, characters observing each other, fearing each other, discovering each other… And finally, the gaze of a filmmaker who pursues, through imagery and its resonances in the subconscious, an obstinate quest for the very essence of the seventh art.
3 – PARASITE by Bong Joon-ho
An actual cinematic bomb whose shockwave has shaken the film world. How a film so focused on interiors, both a family drama and a fierce satire, exposes through its masterful sequences all the violence nestled within modern societies. Is Asian cinema our future???
4 – AN OFFICER AND A SPY by Roman Polanski
The best film ever made about the Dreyfus Affair, the most expansive and demanding, with an exceptional cast! A potential source of healthy civic debates on the present’s antisemitic relapses, the insolent triumph of fake news, the failure of institutions, the links between History and Cinema. List non-exhaustive…
5 – LES MISÉRABLES by Ladj Ly
A direct and courageous dive into city life, where everyone has their reasons to act as they do; at the risk of explosion… A masterful suspension of situations and feelings like a call to talk beyond the postures and impostures of the distressing social confrontation…
6 – GREEN BOOK by Peter Farrelly
Set in the heart of the 1960s, a road movie through the segregationist American South, amid lingering stench of state racism and burgeoning civil rights demands… A very beautiful film, academic but endearing, and one that wins over audiences. Calm down, President Spike LEE!
7 – ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD by Quentin Tarantino
Arguably, his most successful film, where he delivers more than just a cascade of cinematic references; here, a true piece of himself, his nostalgias, his anger, his impulses… And what a sublime idea to save Sharon Tate’s life! The graying hippies shout “thank you, Quentin,” and the cinephiles too…
8 – THE TRAITOR by Marco Bellocchio
Fugitive godfathers, assassinated judges, protected informants, collective trials: Marco Bellocchio seizes historical facts to push the boundaries of mafia films and leave his definitive mark on the history of the genre… In his striking and understated manner. Bravo, the Elder!
Best Actor: DAMIEN BONNARD (In the Name of the Land, Les Misérables, Only the Animals)
A face with rugged features, an uncanny earthy presence modulated with unexpected vibrations of sensitivity. He is our male revelation of the year!
Best Actress: NOÉMIE MERLANT (Paper Flags, Curiosa, Portrait of a Lady on Fire)
A devotee of audacious film projects, she invests complex roles with deep resonance with a mix of cold authority and generosity. We want more!
Best Director: AGNÈS VARDA: “I never sought to succeed. I just wanted to make films.” Her entire life and body of work overflow with jovial curiosity for beings and things, for human adventure and l
