Misc: Mark Leeper's Top Ten Films of 2006

My Top Ten Films of 2006
(a film review by Mark R. Leeper)

2005 was a banner year for cinema and I looked forward to what we
would see in 2006. Sadly, 2006 just did not have the impressive
quality films of 2005. While there were several films that were
very engaging, nothing really stood out as being particularly
powerful. There is a major film missing from this list. I
almost certainly would have Guillermo del Toro's PAN'S LABYRINTH
on the list if I had a chance to see it. This is what I get for
living in the wilds of New Jersey. I will treat it as a 2007
film (just as 2005 films I did not see until 2006 are included
here).

1) WATER
In India in 1938 a seven-year-old girl who does not even remember
her arranged marriage and who never knew her husband is suddenly
told that she is a widow and has to go live with other widows the
rest of her life. Widows in India could die with their husbands
or lead a penitent life in seclusion the rest of their lives.
Here a very young girl through no fault of her own falls into
this fate. The story is tragic, but it makes a strong statement
for Gandhi's reforms. The photography of Varanasi is just
beautiful. WATER is a real work of art.

2) THE PRESTIGE
Toward the end of the 19th century two rival stage magicians
compete and battle for dominance. This is a thriller, an
education in stage magic, a mystery, and even a bit of a science
fiction film. Christopher Priest's novel is brought to the
screen by co-writer and director Christopher Nolan in a wonderful
adaptation. This is a film that may be more enjoyable on the
second viewing once you know its intricate secrets.

3) SOPHIE SCHOLL: THE LAST DAYS
The German-language film SOPHIE SCHOLL: THE LAST DAYS tells the
powerful and moving true story of the arrest, interrogation, and
trial of an anti-government student and activist, one of the
founders of the White Rose resistance movement, in Nazi Germany.
It takes the story from her last day of freedom to her execution.
Sophie Scholl's courage and personal morality in standing up to
the evil and the force of the Third Reich make this film a moving
experience.

4) NOTES ON A SCANDAL
In this the strong and disturbing story of two school teachers
Barbara (Judi Dench) befriends and subtly controls her Sheba
(Cate Blanchett). When Barbara discovers Sheba's indiscretion
with one of her students she is able to make Sheba a puppet
without Sheba ever realizing it. This is a real departure for
both actresses.

5) THE HIDDEN BLADE
In Japan 1861 a minor samurai is torn between his responsibility,
his desires, and his morality. With this film Yôji Yamada
follows up his TWILIGHT SAMURAI, also set in the mid-19th Century
against the backdrop of the dying order of shoguns and samurai.
It is a story of a man who must choose between his duty and what
he thinks is right. The film is less one of bloody martial arts
and more a study of a personal conflict in a society at once
overly ordered and rapidly changing. Yamada's film is strong and
poignant, though perhaps it will be more so with Japanese
audiences who better understand societal pressure. The film is
powerful, though it fails a little in the final few scenes.

6) CASINO ROYALE
Daniel Craig is probably the best James Bond on film and this is
probably the best James Bond film. Craig's James Bond is gritty
and mean and a lot more real, albeit still too much a superhero.
He has human fallibility and he gets hurt. The story, closer
than usual to the novel for a Bond film, has the feel of a
serious spy novel and is less like a children's television show
than previous films in the series. Now what I would like to see
is all the Fleming books redone in order with Craig as James Bond
as he was written in the books. I wonder if we will see that.
In any case, this film gives us a chance to rediscover James Bond
on the screen for the first time.

7) MUNICH
Following the terrorist murder of eleven Israeli athletes at the
1972 Munich Olympics, an Israeli Mossad officer is asked to lead
a five-member counter-assassination squad to track down the
Munich terrorists and eliminate them. Eric Bana leads a cast of
major actors in a tense but realistic looks at the dirty business
of undercover work. This film takes place in a world devoid of
warmth. The story has the feel of authenticity, though the
events of the book it was based on have not been and cannot be
confirmed. Still, the story is as intriguing and tense as
anything written by John le Carre is.

8) THE DEPARTED
Martin Scorsese surprises us with a film that is more of a
thriller than his previous efforts. THE DEPARTED is a close
remake of a very good Hong Kong crime film, INFERNAL AFFAIRS.
The police Special Investigations Unit, unable to bring down
gangster Frank Costello, places a mole into his organization.
But Costello (Jack Nicholson) has his own mole in the police SIU.
Each mole tries to determine who the other is. Leonardo DiCaprio
and Matt Damon play the two spies. The film takes a while to get
going, but when it does it really holds the viewer. While this
is one of Scorsese's most entertaining films, I have to say much
of the credit goes to INFERNAL AFFAIRS. THE DEPARTED is the
bigger film in many respects, but INFERNAL AFFAIRS is the better
film. Scorsese added only modest value in return for taking
someone else's plot.

9) THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA
When a Mexican illegal alien is killed, his employer and friend
Pete Perkins (Tommy Lee Jones, who also directs) is unsatisfied
that the authorities are going to do anything. Perkins finds the
killer is a trigger-happy new border patrolman and decides that
some justice will be done. Perkins forces the patrolman to
execute the dead man's final wish. This is a modest, low-budget,
and low-key film but Jones shows a sure hand and real directing
power with handling his actors. THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES
ESTRADA is a simple, likable portrait of the personalities one
find near the border. There is some anger at the American law
enforcement officers but the film's main thrust is not anger for
the Americans but respect for the aliens who come over the border
looking to improve the lives of their families.

10) THE NEW WORLD
Terrence Malick writes and directs the classic story of John
Smith and Mataoaka (nicknamed Pocahontas) and later John Rolfe.
Malick's script reinforces some of the unlikely myths like
Mataoaka's romance with John Smith and Mataoaka dramatically
risking her life to save Smith's life. But like most Malick
films it is also a finely painted portrait showing the smallness
of man in nature. This is a strong, mesmerizing, and authentic-
feeling view of a time and place lost to history. Malick's
pacing is a taste I have not quite acquired and his history has
some faults. But the film is a memorable experience for anyone
with a healthy curiosity about the feeling of history.


Mark R. Leeper
mleeper.RemoveThis@optonline.net
Copyright 2007 Mark R. Leeper