In which I talk about the best films of the noughties: Volume 3

2002

8. Road To Perdition (2002)

In America’s depression-era 1930s, a hit man is thrown into a life on the run from his own “family” (oh yes, “family” in that sense of the word) when his son witnesses him and a colleague carrying out an assassination. I can understand when people remark that this is such a cold-looking film, and yet there is so much beauty in almost every aspect: the performances, the visual component, the score, the underrunning theme of death and menace as characters attempt to claw their way out of hell, even as they approach Perdition. Every single thing contributes to the story. I love the cinematography most of all: Daniel Craig’s introduction, the road to Chicago, the reading room, the freaking bead of sweat, the rain…oh my lord, the rain. Just incredible. In the commentary the director refers to a quote by Alfred Hitchcock, advising filmmakers to “treat your love scenes like murders and your murders like love scenes”. If you’ve seen the shootout in the rain, you’ll know what that means to Sam Mendes.

Best scene: the rain soaked street.

“Open your eyes! This is the life we chose, the life we lead! And there is only one guarantee: none of us will see heaven.”

9. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

Yes, you’re going to have to read two more of these. So two of the hobbits continue on their way to destroy the One Ring. The man, the elf, the dwarf and the wizard go off to defend the world of men against a rising evil, and the remaining hobbits discover the world of Ents. They’d have to have been nervous with this one. Nothing like pressure. Here the writers managed to construct a solid film out of what would have been the most difficult of the three to adapt. The second instalment might not have had the wide-eyed magic of the first or the urgency and sheer size of the third, but what it did have was a new and improved Gandalf, an incredibly well-directed battle, and Gollum. In many ways this movie belonged to one character, one scene.

Best scene: the taming of Smeagol.

“We wants it. We needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little hobbitses. Wicked. Tricksy. False!”
“No, not master!”
“Yes, precious. False. They will cheat you, hurt you, lie!”
“Master is our friend!”
“You don’t have any friends! Nobody likes you!”
“I’m not listening! Not listening!”
“You’re a liar. And a thief!”
“Nope!”
“Muuuuuurderer…”

10. The Pianist (2002)

A film that you really shouldn’t go to see by yourself. Live and learn. The most powerful holocaust film since Schindler’s List, this was a harrowing, inside look at the life of Wladyslaw Szpilman, a Jewish-Polish and celebrated pianist. As the world around him descends into the anti-Semitism of a world at war, he finds his very identity decaying as violence and sadism is inflicted on the Jewish people with increasing blatancy. We are taken right inside the ghetto, into the horror. The lengths he goes to in order to survive (this is not a spoiler – the movie is based on this guy’s autobiography) are detailed across the rest of the film. It digs into your very core, this film. Brody is fairly astonishing, and Polanski’s direction – whatever you think of him personally – is masterful. Around this time I heard a reviewer lament that this was “yet another” holocaust film. I think it’s something we need to remember.

Best scene: the encounter with the grand piano: Szpilman’s hands hover with agony above the keys, unable to play for fear of discovery.

“It’s an official decree. No Jews allowed in the parks.”
“Are you joking?”
“No, I’m not. I would suggest we sit down on a bench, but that’s also an official decree. No Jews allowed on the benches.”
“This is absurd!”
“So, we should just stand here and talk. I don’t think we’re not allowed to do that.”

11. Chicago (2002)

Roxie Hart wants to be a star, and when she murders her lover she gets the chance, in the form of the Jazz Age’s best lawyer, Billy Flynn, who knows that the whole justice system is just a three-ring circus: you only have to know how to play. I’ve never been quite easy with Renee Zellweger, but frankly Catherine Zeta Jones and Richard Gere make up for that. Zeta-Jones has never had so much energy, nor so much room to use it, and Gere’s tap dance is one of my favourite cinematic moments. John C. Reilly and Queen Latifah give similarly awesome performances, and it’s difficult to believe that this was director Rob Marshall’s first feature film. The transitions to song and creativity in set pieces are inspired, and other than that it’s just plain fun to watch and engage in.

Best scene: the tap dance.

“They’d love you a lot more if you were hanged. You know why? Because it would sell more papers. That’s Chicago.”

12. Far From Heaven (2002)

In 1950s America, a white woman begins a friendship with a black gardener, while her husband has his own issues to deal with. Both these events will trouble the waters of the picture-perfect, polite society world. This film goes a lot deeper than it at first seems to. On the surface it’s an homage to the golden age of Hollywood: the long, sweeping establishing shots, the orchestral surges and figures through the fog… And that part is lovely. But it’s also a closer look at the feelings and dissatisfactions that bubble under the surface of this All-American couple, and how these are rendered cinematically. The colour palette idea is a nice one – each scene’s lighting, costumes and sets are coloured to depict a particular message or undercurrent. What’s really interesting by the end is what transgressions are forgiven by society and what transgressions are not. It’s technically fascinating.

Best scene: I’m not too sure why, but the part where her scarf flies over the house…beautiful.

“That was the day I stopped believing in the wild ardour of things. Perhaps in love, as well. That kind of love. The love in books and films. The love that tells us to abandon our lives and plans, all for one brief touch of Venus.”