See the full list here.
Kore-eda has a lot to say about family and class and social survival, and his most recent film is as humane and piquant as any I’ve seen. It’s funny and lively and beautiful, and concludes with one of the most heartbreaking and life-affirming final shots of the decade. Of the many ironies masterfully displayed here is the resilience of the family unit in the face of modern entropy, albeit a family unit comprised of unrelated individuals whose lack of choices forced them to choose love and loyalty for themselves. The film itself is a performance of love in the broadest sense, humanizing those who slip through the cracks and ruefully critiquing the social disrepair that begets generational dysfunction.
Honorable Mention: Little Women (d. Greta Gerwig, 2019)
You’ve probably heard of Greta Gerwig, an actress who was almost always the best part of the mostly-indie films in which she appeared, and whose combination of craft, talent, and taste in Lady Bird and Little Women have made her one of the most vital young filmmakers working today. Without any attachment to the source material, I must say that between her two solo features, Little Women scratches that particular itch for me: an impeccably well-wrought, lively period piece about people who are fundamentally decent but who still struggle with the flaws in themselves and their world. The canvas is huge and the tone is intimate, and the pleasure is twofold: it’s both a great story well told and a great storyteller sinking her teeth into worth material.
Categorical Reflections
Great family dramas are, I think, pretty rare. Some filmmakers lionize the efforts of characters who struggle to free themselves from the burden of their families. Some filmmakers are too assiduously dedicated to the proposition that family is the most important thing. Then there are stories like these, which live, play, and thrash in that liminal space between those two dispositions, ultimately recognizing the vital emotional core of family — whatever that is — and finding a voice for broader human concerns through that age-old framework. ☕️
Catecinem 