BILLY SUTER ASSESSES A DECADE OF FILM

The Noughties has produced some truly marvellous, magical movies. As the decade creeps towards its close, Mercury arts editor Billy Suter calls back the past and compiles some personal favourites. (Courtesy of The Mercury)

The past decade has been one in which, on the film front, musicals, fantasy fare and animation made a major comeback and also broke new ground in their respective genres. It was also the decade in which South Africa raised its head at the Oscars – our first representation coming from Benoni beauty Charlize Theron , who won the 2003 Best Actress statuette for Monster. Then, the following year, we had Darrel Roodt’s compelling Aids drama, Yesterday, in the running for the award for best foreign language film, with Gavin Hood’s Tsotsi actually winning in that same category in 2005.

To compile a list of the finest films of the past 10 years would be too hard a task, especially with so much excellence in so many genres over the past decade. So instead, in providing some personal reflections, I’ve opted to look at film categories, starting with musicals, which came back with a vengeance in the Noughties, the decade opening with a film that paved the way for the big resurgence.

It was Baz Luhrmann’s groundbreaking, brilliant Moulin Rouge which, in 2001,waltzed off with Oscars for costume design, as well as set direction but which, unforgivably, lost the Best Picture statuette to the much lesser A Beautiful Mind. Starring a gorgeous Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor and Jim Broadbent, and featuring an audacious soundtrack of modern songs and superb choreography, Moulin Rouge is a stylish and highly stylised film about a poor poet who falls for a courtesan with whom he collaborates on a musical funded by a jealous duke who lusts after her.

It easily gets my vote as top musical of the decade, followed closely by Rob Marshall’s film version of the Kander and Ebb stage classic, Chicago, which won the Best Picture Oscar in 2002. In so doing, it became the first musical to take top honours at the Oscars since Oliver! 34 years earlier. Other musicals of note this decade were Lars von Trier’s audacious 2000 success, Dancer in the Dark (starring Bjork); the Oscar-winning Dreamgirls (2006) and, of course, the sunny Mamma Mia! (2008), which has eclipsed Grease as the most profitable film musical in history. One looks forward, in great anticipation, to Rob Marshall’s Golden Globe-nominated Nine, which is sure to also make the list of most memorable Noughties musicals.

Animation blossomed beautifully in the past decade, so much so, in fact, that a special Oscar for animated features was introduced in 2001, when it was won, and deservedly so, by the witty and novel Shrek, which has since spawned three sequels. Other standout animated features included Monsters Inc (2001), Spirited Away (2001), Ice Age (2002), Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Happy Feet (2006), Persepolis (2007), Ratatouille (2007), Wall.E (2008) and Up (2009). But my vote for best of the lot is the French delight, The Triplets of Belleville (2003), a film by Sylvain Chomet, which lost the Oscar to Finding Nemo. The story of an old woman and her dog teaming up with the Belleville Sisters – an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire – to rescue her grandson, who is kidnapped during the Tour de France, the film is stylish, brilliantly animated and, featuring unusual music and no dialogue, hugely audacious. But what magnificent entertainment!

The finest comedy of the past 10 years? Standouts, for me, have included My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002), Love Actually (2003), Mean Girls (2004), Borat (2006), Little Miss Sunshine (2006), Knocked Up (2007), Juno (2007), Enchanted (2007) and The Hangover (2009).

My favourite, however, is Sideways, nominated for the Best Picture Oscar in 2004, when it lost to Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby. Alexander Payne’s Sideways is a delight, a story of friendship, love, sex and wine, involving two men reaching middle age with not much to show but disappointment. They embark on a week-long road trip through California’s wine country, just as one is about to take a trip down the aisle.

Spooky films? Hardcore gore was huge this decade and I am among those who sheepishly admits to having found Hostel and the first and second Saw movies compelling, while acknowledging the excessive violence. Also, I thought monster movie Cloverfield (2008) was intriguing and memorable.

My choice of horror highlight for the Noughties, however, is The Others (2001), a clever and captivating film starring Nicole Kidman as a woman who, living in a darkened old house with her two photo-sensitive children, becomes convinced her family home is haunted.

Fantasy and adventure films? There have been many wonderful successes this decade, including the string of superhero films (The Dark Knight takes the top spot), the audacious Sin City (2005), the X-Men and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises, and 2000’s exhilarating and beautiful Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Finest of the lot, though, simply has to be Peter Jackson’s celebrated Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is followed very closely by Benicio Del Toro’s magical and darkly disturbing Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) and the groundbreaking wonder that is James Cameron’s latest adventure, the sprawling Avatar, which takes special effects into a new realm.

Deserved of special mention for being in a class of their own, being weird mixes of fantasy, thriller, sci-fi and drama, are the mesmerising and unforgettable Donnie Darko (2001) and Memento (2000).

Documentary highlights? My favourites include Bowling For Columbine (2002), Super Size Me (2004), Paper Clips (2004), Fahrenheit 911 (2004), Grizzy Man (2005), Sicko (2007) and Man on Wire (2008). Most memorable of all, however, has to be the beguiling March of the Penguins (2005).

And so on to drama. Many goodies from which to choose here – among them Gladiator (2000), Almost Famous (2000), Monster’s Ball (2001), In the Bedroom (2001), Y Tu Mama Tambien (2002), Rabbit-proof Fence (2002), Far from Heaven (2002), The Pianist (2002), Whale Rider (2003), House of Sand and Fog (2003), Monster (2003), Mystic River (2003), The Passion of the Christ (2004), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Crash (2005), Good Night and Good Luck (2005), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Little Children (2006), Babel (2006), Zodiac (2007) and No Country For Old Men (2007).

Unquestionably, for this reviewer anyway, the Brazilian powerhouse that was City of God (2002) is the decade’s highlight. Nominated for four Oscars, the film revolves around two boys who, growing up in a violent neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro, take different paths: one becomes a photographer, the other a drug dealer.

Finally, most outstanding performer of the decade? Put on a high pedestal, please, Meryl Streep who this decade took the lead as the most Oscar-nominated performer of all time (15 acting nominations), presenting us with a diverse range of performances. She opened the decade appearing in the 2002 successes Adaptation, The Hours and (for television) the award-winning Angels in America (2003). Then came The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), Prime (2005), A Prairie Home Companion (2005), The Devil Wears Prada (2006), Lions For Lambs (2007), Doubt (2008), Mamma Mia! (2008) and Julie & Julia (2009). Streep will next be seen in Nancy Meyers’s romantic comedy, It’s Complicated with Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. Is there anyone who can even come close to her versatility and excellence? Long may she reign! – Billy Suter