Paul Thomas Anderson, after showing total mastery over conventional storytelling in films like Boogie Nights, dives into the wild and experimental with this film. The Master is unconventional and without a clear structure, but it is far from aimless or unfocused.
The film tells the story of two men and the nature of their complex relationship, along with looking at ideas of faith and destiny. The film is complex and brainfrying but slow and relaxed enough to wash over the viewer. I hate using this term too much because I feel it gets thrown around a lot, but this film is truly an incredible experience.
A Field in England (2013, Ben Wheatley)
Easily the least accessible and hardest to describe film on this list. A Field in England is a drugged out and alienating experience, dripping in horror and comedy alike.Basically, there is not a single other film on this list that comes even close to this films strangeness, yet its power is incredible. The film chills, amuses and utterly horrifies, there are moments from this film that are truly burnt into my memory.
Just, tread carefully with this one.
Her (2013, Spike Jonze)
Spike Jonze interests me. I would personally consider the first two films Jonze directed to be less attributable to Jonze himself and more screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (who also wrote Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind). So when their collaboration ended in the early 2000's, it would be reasonable to assume that Spike Jonze would slip away.However he then comes along with this utter masterpiece, a film so sweeping and intense in it's emotions and so utterly stunning in its visuals that it takes my breath away to even think about. I am deeply sorry for any dismissiveness I or anyone else may have had towards you Spike Jonze.
And an extra mention has to go to Arcade Fire (A band I really like) for creating the best soundtrack in a film in recent years.
Oh, this alongside The Master transformed Joaquin Pheonix into possibly my favourite living actor. He is just incredible.
The Tale of Princess Kaguya (2013, Isao Takahata)
Isao Takahata is one of the all time unsung heroes of animation. I love every single thing about this film, to the point where I don't really want to write about it. Just please see it, please. I have never cared more for a character in my life, by the end of this film I was literally screaming internally for things to turn out ok for Kaguya.Possibly the most beautiful looking film ever made, and dripping with the things that make me love film. Emotion, beauty, poetic storytelling. There is probably no film on this list that I want to be seen more, especially considering that it is the unfortunate swansong to the greatest studio in animation history.
Inside Out (2015, Pete Doctor, Ronnie Del Carmen)
Pixar is a strange entity in the world of animation. Incredibly talented, both artistically and technically, yet somehow a little cold. There is something a little detached and anonymous about them when compared to a studio like Ghibli or even plain old Disney.Inside Out blew me away however, and represents the biggest leap I could have possibly have hoped for the studio. A film as psychosocially intelligent as it is visually stunning, just mindblowing to see on the big screen.
There are films which genuinely have the power to change the world, and that's what I want Inside Out to do. I want, no, demand that the way society views animation (and film on the whole) matures. We need to challenge ourselves in art or we will begin to roll backwards. I believe Inside Out represents a way forward, and with its success, maybe animation will be used for more in the west than a thing to distract children.
By Jack D. Phillips
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