Before I saw what would become my favourite movie for 2022
(though technically it was only released in Canada in 2023), I’d already
decided that I wouldn’t do a “Top Ten” for 2022. For one thing, I’ve
tired of trying to compare apples and oranges, rating vastly different films
against each other. Plus, I’ve continued in my cantankerous direction of liking
fewer and fewer movies, especially those that are “critically acclaimed.”
Hardly any Oscar nominations, for example, are in my collection.
So, I had decided that I would just write about a collection
of top recommendations from last year and not rate them against each other at
all.
Then I saw Women Talking. I knew relatively early on
that this film touched what I look for in a great film in a way that nothing
else had come close to this past year. There are reasons why some of this
enthusiasm may be unique to me,* but I begin with a few words about this
powerful and important film.
In many other films that I liked but haven’t loved, it has
felt like a director’s decisions have frustrated me. With Women Talking, I
am overwhelmed with respect for Sarah Polley’s choices and skill. The decisions
to desaturate the film and distance the setting from its (tragically true)
historical context in an ultra-conservative Mennonite colony in Bolivia allow
the film to gain a universality and surreal tone – befitting the “thought
experiment” that Miriam Toews and then Polley imagine – while still grounding
it in the real experience of specific women.
In spite of the horrific situation, treated with all the
gravity it deserves, the film (and novel) manage to
integrate lighter moments.
The very human, relational struggles of the women, with their caring and their
stubbornness and their pushing through differences in spite of the time
pressure were all transformative. Toews and Polley alike portrayed the women’s
faith to be a source of strength instead of mockery, which was a crucial
decision for the quality of the film. Oh my goodness, so much could be said
about the dialogue on power, on hope, on forgiveness, on relationships, and on
the difference between the cruelty of individual men versus the deadening
violence of systemic patriarchy.
In the back of my mind during any good film is a constant
search for a teachable clip, and I stopped counting after about a dozen. This
movie is potent. By focusing the enemy as cultural and systemic, it enables any
viewer to be caught up in the universal dilemma: when do we stay and when do we
leave? Various leavings and stayings in my own life kept swirling in my mind.
So, without question, Women Talking was my top film.
Now the rest. The first cluster I’ll mention includes some of
the best films that I saw this year but were late viewings of films that are
usually treated as 2021 films. This includes: The Mauritanian, Mass, CODA,
Dune and Drive My Car. All of these are highly recommended and all are
incredibly different films. But since they’re a bit old now, I won’t say too
much about them.
For pure movie watching entertainment in 2022, I would
single out The Duke. Based on a true story of an art heist by a 60 year
old taxi driver, this well crafted and well acted film is clever, funny and gives
you some valuable things to think about. If you haven’t seen this yet, grab
some friends and have a great evening together watching this (on Prime if you
have it).
Another fun film is the The Glass Onion. If
you’re like me and loved Knives Out, you were probably eagerly awaiting
this next Benoit Blanc adventure. I felt this lacked some of the panache of Knives
Out; in its exuberance, it overstepped in places and became silly or garish
(just too much, intentional or not). But the skewering of the so-called
“disruptors” (who are unveiled as those most embedded in all the evils of our
present systems) deserved all the pot-shots, and the theme of smashing things
felt awkward yet understandable at the same time. So, a notch down in the
franchise but still a recommended watch.
Now, mixing the humour with something more serious, we have Vengeance.
Like The Glass Onion, a key theme is waking up the pretentions of a
contemporary influencer – this time a wannabe top podcaster. Alternately
mocking and re-framing perceptions of Texas, this dark comedy-mystery is
fascinating and filled with the energy of B. J. Novak. As details unfold, so is
your thinking meant to get rearranged, even if you don’t like the way it is rearranging.
Great film for discussion.
Now, we’re into more serious territory. I didn’t see many
documentaries this year, but the best of the few I saw was JFK Revisited.
It would take a lot of gullibility to believe that the CIA wasn’t involved in
the death of JFK, and this doc adds newly available evidence to deepen the
case. (My number one rule for assessing conspiracy theories: if the conspiracy
involves the CIA defending American corporations or the military-industrial
complex, it’s likely to be true since there is such overwhelming evidence that
Dulles and crew were involved in so many violent conspiracies.) If you’re a
skeptic, you still may not be convinced, but seriously…
The final two cases are ones that were clearly proven in
court. First, Argentina, 1985 tells the story of the civilian court that
put the military dictators behind the “disappearances” that plagued Argentina
in the 70s on trial. It’s an interesting and well made film that tells a story
that few of us know well enough, and I recommend it. In a somewhat similar way,
She Said tells a more familiar story – in this case that of the
journalists (and the victims who felt able to go public) who broke the story of
Harvey Weinstein’s sexual assaults and harassments. Both of these last two
films give portrayals of what true heroes actually look like in a way so-called
superhero movies never can. Part of that heroism is determination and quiet
courage that is not flashy on screen – but that is exactly the point. So much
of what changes the world is not violent battle or even high drama, but people
doing their job for the sake of justice.
I will follow this up with a post in which I try to get my
head (and my words) around why quality films like Tár, Banshees
of Inisherin, and Triangle of Sadness do not make it in my
collection. Stay tuned.
*I think there are some personal reasons why Women Talking, based on a novel by
Miriam Toews that I read a couple of years ago, may mean more to me than some
viewers. The truly tragic reality (insanely maddening because there are reports of continuing, similar
assaults) took place more than ten years ago in an ultra-conservative
Mennonite colony in Bolivia. This is a community with the same narrow ethnic
roots as my own. In fact, Vic and I “did the math” and figured out that we may
well have 3rd cousins among the victims or perpetrators. Fortunately,
my more recent ancestors did not make the increasingly isolating and
fundamentalist decisions that led that particular community to flee worldliness
by travelling from Manitoba to Mexico to Bolivia over 3 generations. Anyway,
the point is that these are kind of my people – but I’m surely glad I was not born
among them. And my point here is – I know my connections with this film
may run deeper than others.
Another personal reason for me to love this film is that I’ve
always been drawn to dialogue-rich films that are set (like theatre) in very
constrained contexts of time and space. The right dialogue draws me in
emotionally in ways that visuals (and certainly “action”) do not.
Finally, the day before watching the film was a challenging
and emotional day, and that meant I entered the theatre already vulnerable so
that the film had me on the verge of tears most of the way through. That teariness
was also because I kept seeing the women on screen and feeling very much aware
that they represented real women’s recent experiences in Bolivia and, less
directly but quite intentionally, all the so, so many women who experience unthinkable assaults
and deprivations.This is an important film; I advocate much watching and discussing.
