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Another year, another list, though once again I’ve opted for the general-purpose “favorite films” and shied away from “best.” Just another hobbyhorse of mine, arguably, except theoretically it’s possible for someone to compile a list of allegedly best films without actually, well, liking—and you can construct that whatever way you choose—any of them. No necessary overlap there, which is something to be avoided at all costs … since if personal whimsicality isn’t the better part what these annual indulgences are for (as opposed to rankings pretending to oracular “objectivity,” an impersonal divining on history’s behalf), then why should we even bother? Because, simply put, it feels good to reconvene the spirits of the titles, like incantatory objects or pleasures familiarly reawakened, in the glossolalic roll of phonemes and syllables: “a e i u o, voyelles“—that kind of talismanic enchantment. And we want to pass it on, as a minimal form of transport, so that others can have these experiences too, if only for the primitive reassurance of a basic community shared. But not too much reassurance, obviously, since we like our “separateness” as well, the differences that supposedly define our individual ways of seeing and enjoying. Which, of course, are mostly illusory—just look at the incestuous lists on IndieWire, everyone blabbing on about the same narrow clutch of films, me too for that matter—but let’s leave it at that for now …
12. THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY, Ken Loach, UK/Ireland 13. I DON’T WANT TO SLEEP ALONE, Tsai Ming-liang, Malaysia/France 14. THE UNTOUCHABLE, Benoit Jacquot, France 15. THE SAVAGES, Tamara Jenkins, USA 16. PRIVATE FEARS IN PUBLIC PLACES, Alain Resnais, France 17. GOLDEN DOOR, Emanuele Crialese, Italy/France 18. SOUTHLAND TALES, Richard Kelly, USA 19. TEN CANOES, Rolf de Heer, Australia 20. SUNSHINE, Danny Boyle, UK OFFSIDE, Jafar Panahi, Iran
