Between serious men, call girls, bomb dismantlers and foxes, 2009 has showcased a gamut of peculiar characters — ones that have shaken the very fabric of the traditional protagonist. Here are some of the best:
10. Antichrist
In perhaps Danish auteur Lars von Trier’s most audacious work, “Antichrist” is a horrifying tale of a couple grieving the death of their young son. “Antichrist” boasts electrifying performances from Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe and an ending that will leave you paralyzed in your seat.
9. Sugar
Miguel Santos, nicknamed Sugar, leaves a professional baseball academy in the Dominican Republic to play for a minor league team in the Midwest United States. A raw, objective interrogation of the American dream, “Sugar” slams it out of the park with fierce intelligence.
8. The Girlfriend Experience
Chelsea, played by porn star Sasha Grey, ain’t your normal call girl. The subject of Steven Soderbergh’s latest low budget artistic exercise, “The Girlfriend Experience,” Chelsea makes $2,000 an hour around Manhattan. It’s a disjointed, haunting tale of capitalism, sex and everything in between.
7. A Serious Man
In a peculiar follow up to “No Country for Old Men,” the Coen Brothers’ “A Serious Man” is a tart tale of Professor Larry Gopnik’s despair as his life falls apart. Beneath the film’s quirky, nostalgic artifice lurks a sinister statement on human nature, which manages to be devastating, sidesplitting and provocative, often all at once.
6. Inglourious Basterds
Led by a band of “Natzi-huntin’” vigilantes, Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” is as reckless a war movie as they come. Christopher Waltz is best in show as a strudel-eating, gun-toting Nazi whose docile bullying will leave you in stitches and with chilled bones. It’s a perverted fantasy that marries Tarantino’s two obsessions: revenge and cinema.
5. Adventureland
In this sweetly melancholy coming-of-age tale, we follow the misadventures of James Brennan, a college graduate who is forced to move home in 1987 for financial reasons. Timely, huh? “Adventureland” is a nostalgic account of transient young adulthood that is equal parts funny, sweet and poignant.
4. Where the Wild Things Are
Adapted from Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s story, “Where the Wild Things Are” exhibits the most consistent child-perspective in film history. Director Spike Jonze has truly struck gold: he has created a piece of art that matches the creativity of its source material and modernizes its powerful, emotional undercurrent.
3. An Education
As the precocious Jenny, Carey Mulligan brings a subtle grace to her role as a young girl caught between two worlds: the isolation of her parent’s home and mod 60s London. “An Education” is a stirring tale of an old soul trapped in a young body — one hindered by the era’s scarce avenues of female liberation. By the time Jenny chooses her direction, the compassion you feel for her is unparalleled.
2. The Hurt Locker
Charismatic James is new to a highly-trained bomb squad and recklessly throws his subordinates into danger without the slightest fear. With death lurking around every corner, Bigelow utilizes her austere desert rubble background as a template for consolidating the audience’s suspense to the pressing of a button or the movement of a finger. It’s conceptual art-meets-the-battlefield – and it works to grueling, brilliant extents.
1. Fantastic Mr. Fox
Of all the films to tackle issues of identity, family and love, the finest emerges from a foxhole within Wes Anderson’s fable “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” After years of a complacent existence with a steady job and family life intact, Mr. Fox yearns to tap into his animal instincts. He and a friend sneak off to steal from local malevolent farmers, which renders the whole animal community in danger. Anderson crafts a visionary world of make-believe through stop-motion animation that is both a vivid recollection of Roald Dahl’s book and a decidedly Wes Anderson-flavored movie. Set in an enchanting atmosphere where clay puppets meet meticulous set design, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is a masterpiece of brain and heart.
You can reach this columnist at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
