Compiling a list of the best films of the decade naturally leaves one filled with regret, for such a brief list cannot possibly include every movie which profoundly stirred, thrilled and provoked the author. I already mourn the masterpieces for which I have no space (‘United 93,’ ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’) and the comedies which defined my adolescence (‘Superbad,’ ‘Knocked Up), but accept these sacrifices as necessities. Such is the nature of sorting great from greatest.

In formulating a list which requires such prolonged reflection, the gut often overrules the heart in the closest calls, resulting in an exceedingly personal and thoroughly considered list. Mine veritably runs the gamut, encompassing superhero films, controversial documentaries, the Romanian New Wave and martial arts cinema, a variety of which I am very proud. Here’s to the decade.

Here’s to the decade:

10. ‘4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days’ (2007, Cristian Mungiu)

Any viewer preparing to tackle this seminal ambassador of the Romanian New Wave should expect to bear its mark. Set in a Romania not yet cleansed of the Ceausescu regime, Christian Mungiu’s story of a selfless college student (Anamaria Marinca) accompanying her feebleminded roommate as she undergoes an illegal abortion achieves a spellbinding breathlessness which audiences often mistakenly ascribe to action films. With his virtuosic takes that accumulate unbearable suspense, Mungiu is a rare filmmaker with the capacity to shake his viewers to their very foundations without wielding sex, violence or blunt terror as weapons.

9. ‘Collateral’ (2004, Michael Mann)

A major studio production that explodes the artistic boundaries inherently placed on such ventures such as Michael Mann’s ‘Collateral,’ is to be treasured. Brilliantly using the seediness of a darkened Los Angeles as his backdrop for a stubborn cabbie’s (Jamie Foxx) terror-laden encounter with a principled contract killer (Tom Cruise), the picture is a virtual nightmare, with Mann’s trademark visual verve permeating every frame.

8. ‘Lost in Translation’ (2003, Sofia Coppola)

The finest performance of the decade was delivered not by one of Hollywood’s most heralded thespians, but by a world-weary comic most famous for busting ghosts. As an actor lured to Japan to promote a brand of whiskey he cares nothing about, Bill Murray is the soul of Sofia Coppola’s unprecedented masterpiece, an achingly somber, occasionally hilarious romance devoid of love. The film’s final scene, in which Murray bids Scarlett Johansson’s character farewell, is one of the most utterly sublime and unforgettable moments in all of film.

7. ‘Spider-Man 2’ (2004, Sam Raimi)

The best comic book film in a decade defined in part by its dominance, ‘Spider-Man 2’ transcended the modern action spectacle by delving fearlessly into the realm of tragedy. It focused on the unfortunate corruption of its villain, ‘Doc Ock’ (Alfred Molina), Harry Osborne’s (James Franco) primal desire for revenge, and, of course, the increasingly complex relationship between Peter Parker and Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst), all in an entirely unselfconscious manner, yet aware of its source. The first two ‘Spider-Man’ films have rightfully been canonized as pillars of their genre, while the second in the series stands as the most exhilarating entertainment of its kind.

6. ‘Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind’ (2004, Michel Gondry)

If it is near impossible to crown any single actor or director the king of this decade, at least the most accomplished screenwriter is easily identifiable. ‘Eternal Sunshine’ scribe Charlie Kaufman’s astonishingly complex romance, which boasts the talented actress Kate Winslet in the role of a lifetime, may never find an equal in its uniquely cinematic delineation of relationships and the inescapability of love when it’s simply meant to be.

5. ‘Lake of Fire’ (2007, Tony Kaye)

The antithesis of the self-indulgent, extremely popular documentaries of Michael Moore. Controversial filmmaker Tony Kaye’s epic is at times a revoltingly graphic exploration of the abortion debate that does not include a single quip from the director himself . In allotting both sides an equal say – and fittingly remaining behind the camera, – Kaye offers what should stand as the final cinematic word on the subject.

4. ‘Cache’ (2005, Michael Haneke)

Do you love ‘Donnie Darko,’ ‘Fight Club’ and ‘The Usual Suspects’? The climactic twists that define those respective works hold nary a candle to Michael Haneke’s masterpiece. The most complex dissection of 21st-century anger, angst and paranoia that exists in world cinema, this haunting story of a television personality harassed by a voyeuristic stranger who may or may not have played a vital role in his childhood established Haneke as today’s Hitchcock.

3. ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ (2000, Ang Lee)

The sense of wonderment which Ang Lee’s martial arts tale installed in me helped features many of the most thrilling action sequences to emerge from any film released in the last quarter century: The gravity-defying fight scene between Michelle Yeoh and Ziyi Zhang is surely among the greatest of all time – the film’s melding of mythic scope and transformative philosophy is well-nigh overwhelming. Ask me to recount a random passage in the film, and I likely would be of no service; ask me how I felt upon exiting the theater, and I can recall precisely the way in which I stumbled out in a daze that I now hope to re-experience after every trip to the cinema.

2. ‘Mulholland Dr.’ (2001, David Lynch)

David Lynch’s masterpiece may well be the greatest artistic achievement of the decade, a film so thoroughly entrancing and beguiling that stream-of-conscious analysis proves to be the only way of coherently reflecting upon it. A kaleidoscopic psychological thriller of Joycean density, ‘Mulholland Dr.’ tells of the corruption of a wannabe starlet (Naomi Watts) as she worms her way down a rabbit hole of toxic Hollywood intrigue, accompanied by an alluring amnesiac (Laura Elena Harring) with whom she falls in love. ‘Mulholland Dr.’ is the work of a master working at the peak of his powers, and the most brilliant enlivening of the subconscious committed to celluloid in decades.

1. ‘Wendy and Lucy’ (2008, Kelly Reichardt)

The best film to emerge from the movement New York Times critic A.O. Scott refers to as ‘Neo-Neo Realism,’ Kelly Reichardt’s masterpiece continues to haunt me. On her way to Alaska in search of work at a fishery, Wendy (Michelle Williams) finds herself stranded in Portland, Oregon, where she proceeds to lose her beloved dog Lucy in the midst of her burgeoning turmoil. Impoverished and alone in an unfamiliar region, Wendy’s life comes to pieces, but she is not one to bow to the turmoil.

An altogether exquisite examination of the human condition, Reichardt’s heartbreaking work is reminiscent of the great Italian Neo-Realist masterpieces ‘Bicycle Thieves’ (1948) and ‘Umberto D’ (1952), but especially the former in its unflinching depiction of a destitute soul’s search for something of incalculable valuable amidst life’s constant setbacks. It is a near matchless work, a film to be studied and cherished for all time.

smlittma@syr.edu

Published on December 29, 2009 at 12:00 pm