THE 25 BEST FILMS OF 2020
| Published date | 19 December 2020 |
| Date | 19 December 2020 |
| Author | Donald Clarke, Tara Brady |
| Publication title | Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland) |
Look closer and you will discover that, for the first time, we are admitting features that debuted on streaming platforms. (Take it up with the good people at the Oscars, who are doing the same thing.) The clearing away of blockbusters opened up space for quirkier independent films to stretch their less pricy wings on smaller screens. What extraordinary variety we ended up with.
A 19th-century literary adaptation, an Irish animation, a Chilean dance extravaganza, a surprising amount of horror - arguably seven out of 25 - and a contender for the most disturbing art film ever screened at a major film festival. All life was here. And a film not in English won the best picture Oscar for the first time in the Academy's history. Allow poor 2020 to be a landmark year in a few good ways.
1
The Personal History of David Copperfield (Armando Iannucci
)
A miracle of adaptation, Armando Iannucci's take on Charles Dickens's favourite child - famously cast with actors of all races - somehow nodded to every corner of the source novel without seeming remotely compromised. It is the best big-screen Dickens translation since David Lean's classics of the 1940s. Dev Patel is effortlessly charming in the title role. Hugh Laurie standout in support.
2
The Painted Bird (Václav Marhoul)
They were, apparently, fleeing the Venice screening in droves. This disturbing take on Jerzy Kosi nski's semi-factual novel about a young middle-European refugee during the second World War - is nonetheless a profoundly responsible drama.
3
Parasite (Bong Joon Ho
)
What more need be said? An instant classic that merged social commentary with hell-for-leather farce to thrilling effect. The first "foreign-language" film to win best picture Oscar.
4
Bacurau
(Kleber Mendonça Filho
)
Bizarre, angry, politically astute pseudo-western whose plot takes in flying saucers, odd bikers and a fascist manhunt. Yet it remains a searing political commentary on neoliberal Brazil.
5
Uncut Gems (Josh and Benny Safdie
)
The busy camera? The hurtling plot? The sheer noise of the thing? The Safdies' diamond-district thriller made great use of Adam Sandler.
6
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Céline Sciamma
)
Breathtakingly passionate 18th-century drama concerning the romance between a noblewoman and the woman commissioned to...
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