TIFF Cinematheque's Best of the Decade
by scottyb522 | created - 07 Dec 2014 | updated - 4 months ago | PublicHighly Recommended Recommended Worth a Look
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1. Syndromes and a Century (2006)
105 min | Drama
Story about director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's parents, who were both doctors, and the director's memories about growing up in the hospital environment.
Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul | Stars: Nantarat Sawaddikul, Jaruchai Iamaram, Sophon Pukanok, Jenjira Pongpas
Votes: 4,602 | Gross: $0.02M
2. Platform (2000)
154 min | Drama, History
A theatre troupe from rural Fenyang struggles under the decline of communism and rise of popular culture in China in the 1980s.
Director: Zhangke Jia | Stars: Hongwei Wang, Tao Zhao, Liang Jingdong, Tian-yi Yang
Votes: 3,077
3. Still Life (2006)
Unrated | 111 min | Drama
A town in Fengjie county is gradually being demolished and flooded to make way for the Three Gorges Dam. A man and woman visit the town to locate their estranged spouses, and become witness to the societal changes.
Director: Zhangke Jia | Stars: Tao Zhao, Zhou Lan, Sanming Han, Lizhen Ma
Votes: 7,308 | Gross: $0.07M
4. Beau Travail (1999)
Unrated | 92 min | Drama, War
An ex-Foreign Legion officer recalls his once-glorious life of leading troops in Djibouti.
Director: Claire Denis | Stars: Denis Lavant, Michel Subor, Grégoire Colin, Richard Courcet
Votes: 14,600 | Gross: $0.25M
5. In the Mood for Love (2000)
PG | 98 min | Drama, Romance
Two neighbors form a strong bond after both suspect extramarital activities of their spouses. However, they agree to keep their bond platonic so as not to commit similar wrongs.
Director: Kar-Wai Wong | Stars: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung, Siu Ping-Lam, Tung Cho 'Joe' Cheung
Votes: 167,022 | Gross: $2.73M
Highly Recommended
6. Tropical Malady (2004)
Not Rated | 118 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A romance between a soldier and a country boy, wrapped around a Thai folk-tale involving a shaman with shape-shifting abilities.
Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul | Stars: Banlop Lomnoi, Sakda Kaewbuadee, Huai Dessom, Sirivech Jareonchon
Votes: 6,318
7. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005)
R | 153 min | Comedy, Drama
Mr. Lãzãrescu, a dying old man, is shuttled from hospital to hospital by a loyal paramedic as doctors refuse to operate and no one can agree on a diagnosis.
Director: Cristi Puiu | Stars: Doru Ana, Monica Barladeanu, Alina Berzunteanu, Dorian Boguta
Votes: 15,928 | Gross: $0.08M
8. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
Not Rated | 145 min | Drama, Mystery
A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.
Directors: Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky | Stars: Lars Rudolph, Peter Fitz, Hanna Schygulla, János Derzsi
Votes: 15,982 | Gross: $0.03M
9. In Praise of Love (2001)
PG | 97 min | Drama
An author works on a project on the subject of love, and, in the process, crosses paths with a former love in his life.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Bruno Putzulu, Cécile Camp, Jean Davy, Françoise Verny
Votes: 3,021 | Gross: $0.25M
10. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama
A woman assists her friend in arranging an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania.
Director: Cristian Mungiu | Stars: Anamaria Marinca, Laura Vasiliu, Vlad Ivanov, Alexandru Potocean
Votes: 63,310 | Gross: $1.19M
Highly Recommended
11. Silent Light (2007)
Not Rated | 136 min | Drama, Romance
In a Mennonite community in Mexico, a father's faith is tested when he falls in love with a new woman.
Director: Carlos Reygadas | Stars: Cornelio Wall, Miriam Toews, Maria Pankratz, Peter Wall
Votes: 6,841 | Gross: $0.05M
12. Russian Ark (2002)
Not Rated | 99 min | Drama, Fantasy, History
A 19th century French aristocrat, notorious for his scathing memoirs about life in Russia, travels through the Russian State Hermitage Museum and encounters historical figures from the last 200+ years.
Director: Aleksandr Sokurov | Stars: Sergey Dreyden, Mariya Kuznetsova, Leonid Mozgovoy, Mikhail Piotrovsky
Votes: 21,829 | Gross: $0.04M
13. The New World (2005)
PG-13 | 135 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of the English exploration of Virginia, and of the changing world and loves of Pocahontas.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Colin Farrell, Q'orianka Kilcher, Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale
Votes: 89,924 | Gross: $12.71M
Highly Recommended
14. Blissfully Yours (2002)
125 min | Drama, Romance
The story of a love affair that begins during a picnic on the Thai-Burmese border.
Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul | Stars: Kanokporn Tongaram, Min Oo, Jenjira Pongpas, Sa-gnad Chaiyapan
Votes: 2,695
15. The Son (2002)
103 min | Drama, Mystery
A joinery instructor at a rehab center refuses to take a new teen as his apprentice, but then begins to follow the boy through the hallways and streets.
Directors: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne | Stars: Olivier Gourmet, Morgan Marinne, Isabella Soupart, Nassim Hassaïni
Votes: 10,095 | Gross: $0.07M
16. Colossal Youth (2006)
Not Rated | 156 min | Drama
With the destruction of Fontainhas nearly complete, the old man Ventura wanders around a bleak housing project and the ruins of the slums, meeting with his kids and old friends.
Director: Pedro Costa | Stars: Ventura, Vanda Duarte, Beatriz Duarte, Gustavo Sumpta
Votes: 1,744
17. The Gleaners & I (2000)
Not Rated | 82 min | Documentary
Varda films and interviews gleaners in France in all forms, from those picking fields after the harvest to those scouring the dumpsters of Paris.
Director: Agnès Varda | Stars: François Wertheimer, Agnès Varda, Jean La Planche, Bodan Litnanski
Votes: 8,811 | Gross: $0.15M
18. Songs from the Second Floor (2000)
Not Rated | 98 min | Comedy, Drama
Where are we humans going? A film poem inspired by the Peruvian poet César Vallejo. We meet people in the city. People trying to communicate, searching compassion and get the connection of small and large things.
Director: Roy Andersson | Stars: Lars Nordh, Stefan Larsson, Bengt C.W. Carlsson, Torbjörn Fahlström
Votes: 20,354 | Gross: $0.00M
19. Caché (2005)
R | 117 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A married couple is terrorized by a series of surveillance videotapes left on their front porch.
Director: Michael Haneke | Stars: Daniel Auteuil, Juliette Binoche, Maurice Bénichou, Annie Girardot
Votes: 85,277 | Gross: $3.63M
Highly Recommended
20. A History of Violence (2005)
R | 96 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A mild-mannered man becomes a local hero through an act of violence, which sets off repercussions that will shake his family to its very core.
Director: David Cronenberg | Stars: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, William Hurt
Votes: 252,968 | Gross: $31.49M
Highly Recommended
21. Mulholland Drive (2001)
R | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
After a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Jeanne Bates
Votes: 384,102 | Gross: $7.22M
22. Three Times (2005)
Not Rated | 120 min | Drama, Romance
Three stories set in three times, 1911, 1966 and 2005. Two actors play the two main characters in each story.
Director: Hsiao-Hsien Hou | Stars: Shu Qi, Chang Chen, Fang Mei, Shu-Chen Liao
Votes: 6,155 | Gross: $0.15M
23. Kings & Queen (2004)
Unrated | 150 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Parallel storylines tell the current state of affairs for two ex-lovers: Nora's a single mother who comes to care for her terminally ill father; holed in up in mental ward, Ismael, a brilliant musician, plots his escape.
Director: Arnaud Desplechin | Stars: Emmanuelle Devos, Geoffrey Carey, Thierry Bosc, Olivier Rabourdin
Votes: 4,017 | Gross: $0.29M
24. Elephant (2003)
R | 81 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Elias McConnell, Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson
Votes: 97,290 | Gross: $1.23M
25. Talk to Her (2002)
R | 112 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
Two men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Rosario Flores, Javier Cámara, Darío Grandinetti, Leonor Watling
Votes: 117,536 | Gross: $9.36M
26. The Wind Will Carry Us (1999)
Not Rated | 118 min | Drama
Irreverent city engineer Behzad comes to a rural village in Iran to keep vigil for a dying relative. In the meanwhile the film follows his efforts to fit in with the local community and how he changes his own attitudes as a result.
Director: Abbas Kiarostami | Stars: Behzad Dorani, Noghre Asadi, Roushan Karam Elmi, Bahman Ghobadi
Votes: 12,334 | Gross: $0.21M
27. Yi Yi (2000)
Not Rated | 173 min | Drama, Romance
Each member of a middle-class Taipei family seeks to reconcile past and present relationships within their daily lives.
Director: Edward Yang | Stars: Nien-Jen Wu, Elaine Jin, Issei Ogata, Kelly Lee
Votes: 28,452 | Gross: $1.14M
28. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
R | 118 min | Drama, Fantasy, War
In the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú
Votes: 703,327 | Gross: $37.63M
Highly Recommended
29. The Child (2005)
R | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Bruno and Sonia, a young couple living off her benefit and the thefts committed by his gang, have a new source of money: their newborn son.
Directors: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne | Stars: Jérémie Renier, Déborah François, Jérémie Segard, Fabrizio Rongione
Votes: 19,402 | Gross: $0.65M
Highly Recommended
30. The Heart of the World (2000)
Not Rated | 6 min | Short, Action, Fantasy
A scientist chooses a wealthy man over her two lovers but must heal the earth's core to save humanity.
Director: Guy Maddin | Stars: Leslie Bais, Caelum Vatnsdal, Shaun Balbar, Greg Klymkiw
Votes: 3,605
31. I Don't Want to Sleep Alone (2006)
115 min | Drama, Romance
A day laborer is badly beaten, and a young man nurses him back to health.
Director: Tsai Ming-liang | Stars: Kang-sheng Lee, Shiang-chyi Chen, Norman Atun, Pearlly Chua
Votes: 2,418 | Gross: $0.02M
32. Star Spangled to Death (2004)
402 min | Documentary, History
Star Spangled to Death is a 2004 experimental film directed by Ken Jacobs, consisting almost entirely of archive footage, depicting the history of the United States in film.
Director: Ken Jacobs | Stars: Jack Smith, Jerry Sims, Gib Taylor, Bill Carpenter
Votes: 173
33. The World (2004)
Not Rated | 143 min | Drama
An exploration on the impact of urbanization and globalization on a traditional culture.
Director: Zhangke Jia | Stars: Tao Zhao, Taishen Cheng, Jue Jing, Zhongwei Jiang
Votes: 3,490 | Gross: $0.06M
34. Café Lumière (2003)
108 min | Drama
The story revolves around Yoko Inoue, a pregnant woman in search of a cafe that was frequented by a Taiwanese composer whose life she is researching.
Director: Hsiao-Hsien Hou | Stars: Yo Hitoto, Tadanobu Asano, Masato Hagiwara, Kimiko Yo
Votes: 3,331
35. The Headless Woman (2008)
Unrated | 87 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
After hitting something with her car, a bourgeois Argentine woman's life slowly descends into paranoia and isolation, as she fears she may have killed someone.
Director: Lucrecia Martel | Stars: María Onetto, Claudia Cantero, César Bordón, Daniel Genoud
Votes: 5,732 | Gross: $0.10M
36. The Intruder (2004)
Unrated | 130 min | Drama
An emotionally cold man leaves the safety of his Alpine home to seek a heart transplant and an estranged son.
Director: Claire Denis | Stars: Michel Subor, Grégoire Colin, Yekaterina Golubeva, Bambou
Votes: 2,146 | Gross: $0.04M
37. Millennium Mambo (2001)
R | 119 min | Drama, Romance
The ethereally beautiful Vicky recalls her romances with Hao Hao and Jack in the neon-lit clubs of Taipei.
Director: Hsiao-Hsien Hou | Stars: Shu Qi, Jack Kao, Chun-hao Tuan, Jun Takeuchi
Votes: 6,763 | Gross: $0.01M
38. My Winnipeg (2007)
Not Rated | 80 min | Documentary, Comedy, Drama
Fact, fantasy and memory are woven seamlessly together in this portrait of film-maker Guy Maddin's home town of Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Director: Guy Maddin | Stars: Darcy Fehr, Ann Savage, Louis Negin, Amy Stewart
Votes: 5,635 | Gross: $0.16M
39. Saraband (2003)
R | 107 min | Drama, Music
Marianne, some thirty years after divorcing Johan, decides to visit her ex-husband at his summer home. She arrives in the middle of a family drama between Johan's son from another marriage and his granddaughter.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Liv Ullmann, Erland Josephson, Börje Ahlstedt, Julia Dufvenius
Votes: 8,518 | Gross: $0.65M
Recommended
40. Spirited Away (2001)
PG | 125 min | Animation, Adventure, Family
During her family's move to the suburbs, a sullen 10-year-old girl wanders into a world ruled by gods, witches and spirits, and where humans are changed into beasts.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Daveigh Chase, Suzanne Pleshette, Miyu Irino, Rumi Hiiragi
Votes: 850,264 | Gross: $10.06M
Highly Recommended
41. I'm Not There (2007)
R | 135 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Ruminations on the life of Bob Dylan, where six characters embody a different aspect of the musician's life and work.
Director: Todd Haynes | Stars: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw
Votes: 61,202 | Gross: $4.02M
42. Gerry (2002)
R | 103 min | Adventure, Drama, Mystery
A friendship between two young men is tested when they go for a hike in a desert and forget to bring any water or food with them.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Casey Affleck, Matt Damon
Votes: 19,705 | Gross: $0.24M
43. Distant (2002)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama
After his wife leaves him, a photographer has an existential crisis and tries to cope with his cousin's visit.
Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan | Stars: Muzaffer Özdemir, Mehmet Emin Toprak, Zuhal Gencer, Nazan Kesal
Votes: 22,907 | Gross: $0.10M
44. Dogville (2003)
R | 178 min | Crime, Drama
A woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town she finds out that their support has a price.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, Lauren Bacall, Harriet Andersson
Votes: 158,741 | Gross: $1.53M
45. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Drama
The eccentric members of a dysfunctional family reluctantly gather under the same roof for various reasons.
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Anjelica Huston, Ben Stiller
Votes: 313,341 | Gross: $52.36M
Highly Recommended
46. Alexandra (2007)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama, War
An elderly woman takes a train trip to visit her grandson at his army camp inside Chechnya.
Director: Aleksandr Sokurov | Stars: Galina Vishnevskaya, Vasily Shevtsov, Raisa Gichaeva, Andrei Bogdanov
Votes: 2,745
47. Demonlover (2002)
R | 129 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A French corporation goes head-to-head with an American web media company for the rights to a 3-D manga pornography studio, resulting in a power struggle that culminates in violence and espionage.
Director: Olivier Assayas | Stars: Connie Nielsen, Gina Gershon, Chloë Sevigny, Charles Berling
Votes: 6,416 | Gross: $0.23M
48. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001)
R | 172 min | Drama
The telling of an Inuit legend of an evil spirit causing strife in the community and one warrior's endurance and battle of its menace.
Director: Zacharias Kunuk | Stars: Natar Ungalaaq, Sylvia Ivalu, Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq, Lucy Tulugarjuk
Votes: 6,861 | Gross: $3.79M
49. Goodbye, Dragon Inn (2003)
82 min | Drama, Comedy
On a dark, wet night a historic and regal Chinese cinema sees its final film. Together with a small handful of souls they bid "Goodbye, Dragon Inn".
Director: Tsai Ming-liang | Stars: Kang-sheng Lee, Shiang-chyi Chen, Kiyonobu Mitamura, Chun Shih
Votes: 6,181 | Gross: $0.03M
Highly Recommended
50. Sehnsucht (2006)
88 min | Drama, Romance
A metalworker and volunteer firefighter, who is content with his marriage to his childhood sweetheart, sees his life turn upside down when he falls in love with an attractive waitress from a nearby town.
Director: Valeska Grisebach | Stars: Andreas Müller, Ilka Welz, Anett Dornbusch, Erika Lemke
Votes: 709
51. Secret Sunshine (2007)
Not Rated | 142 min | Drama
A woman moves to the town where her dead husband was born. As she tries to fit in, another tragic event overturns her life.
Director: Lee Chang-dong | Stars: Jeon Do-yeon, Song Kang-ho, Lee Dong-yong, Lee Hee-joon
Votes: 9,583
52. Vai~E~Vem (2003)
175 min | Comedy, Drama
João Vuvu, lives alone in a house that requires regeneration but due to being alone he is unable to do the work. On his son's release from prison and João's ensuing deception triggers a series of somber events.
Director: João César Monteiro | Stars: João César Monteiro, Rita Pereira Marques, Joaquina Chicau, Manuela de Freitas
Votes: 731
53. Far from Heaven (2002)
PG-13 | 107 min | Drama, Romance
In 1950s Connecticut, a flustered housewife faces a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in the outside world.
Director: Todd Haynes | Stars: Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, Patricia Clarkson
Votes: 49,331 | Gross: $15.85M
Highly Recommended
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