Chennai International Film Festival 2011
I made this list so that I'd be able to compare and choose movies better. This was never meant for 'public consumption' especially as I didn't want people to throng the screens for movies which I was interested in, which also happen to be the good ones. But here it is, out for everyone to see. The first 24 are the ones that made any sort of noise in the festival circuit, so make them your priority. Do watch them other movies as some haven't had the chance to get reviewed at all, and so we do not know how good they are.
In the order of liking (After Day 5):
A Separation
The Tree of Life
Love Like Poison
Elena
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Sleeping Sickness
Habemus Papam
Amnesty
Heliopolis
Restless
17 Girls
Good Men, Good Women
Sleeping Beauty
The Truth of the Lie
The Monk
In the order of liking (After Day 5):
A Separation
The Tree of Life
Love Like Poison
Elena
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Sleeping Sickness
Habemus Papam
Amnesty
Heliopolis
Restless
17 Girls
Good Men, Good Women
Sleeping Beauty
The Truth of the Lie
The Monk
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- DirectorAsghar FarhadiStarsPayman MaadiLeila HatamiSareh BayatA married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.Winner - Golden Bear, Silver Berlin Bear for Best Actor and Best Actress - Berlinale; Best foreign film - BIFF, NBR; Most likely to win the best foreign film at this year's Academy Awards. Most celebrated foreign film of the year.
#1 on Ebert's 20 best films of the year list.
In other words, Roger Ebert's favorite film of the year. - DirectorTerrence MalickStarsBrad PittSean PennJessica ChastainThe story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.Winner - Palme d'Or - Cannes Film Festival; Winner - Best Film - Gotham Awards; Winner - Best Actor, Cinematography, Supp. Actress - New York Film Critics Circle Awards
#3 on Ebert's 20 best films of the year list. - DirectorAki KaurismäkiStarsAndré WilmsBlondin MiguelJean-Pierre DarroussinWhen an African boy arrives by cargo ship in the port city of Le Havre, an aging shoe shiner takes pity on the child and welcomes him into his home.Nominated - Palme d'Or - Cannes Film Festival. Another strong contender for best foreign film at this year's Academy Awards.
#9 on Ebert's 20 best films of the year list. - DirectorJean-Pierre DardenneLuc DardenneStarsThomas DoretCécile de FranceJérémie RenierAbandoned by his father, a young boy is left in a state-run youth farm. In a random act of kindness, the town hairdresser agrees to foster him on weekends.Winner - Grand Prize of the Jury - Cannes Film Festival
- DirectorWim WendersStarsPina BauschRegina AdventoMalou AiraudoA tribute to the late German choreographer Pina Bausch, as her dancers perform her most famous creations.I dislike 3D and find it unnecessary. This movie, I hear, makes best use of the technology. I am hoping this gets screened in 3D.
- DirectorNanni MorettiStarsMichel PiccoliNanni MorettiJerzy StuhrA story centered on the relationship between the newly elected Pope and his therapist.Nominated - Palme d'Or - Cannes Film Festival
- DirectorLech MajewskiStarsRutger HauerMichael YorkCharlotte RamplingThis movie focuses on a dozen of the five hundred characters depicted in Bruegel's painting. The theme of Christ's suffering is set against religious persecution in Flanders in 1564.#19 on Ebert's 20 best films of the year list.
- DirectorAleksandr SokurovStarsJohannes ZeilerAnton AdasinskyIsolda DychaukA despairing scholar sells his soul to Satan in exchange for one night with a beautiful young woman.Winner - Golden Lion - Venice Film Festival
- DirectorJulia LeighStarsEmily BrowningRachael BlakeEwen LeslieA haunting portrait of Lucy, a young university student drawn into a mysterious hidden world of unspoken desires.Nominated - Palme d'Or - Cannes Film Festival
- DirectorPablo GiorgelliStarsGermán De SilvaHebe DuarteNayra Calle MamaniReluctantly, a dour long-distance truck driver agrees to give a lift to a Paraguayan single mother and her five-month-old daughter to Buenos Aires. Can the palpable silence soften up the taciturn trucker's sullen heart?Winner - Golden Camera - Cannes Film Festival
- DirectorMarkus SchleinzerStarsMichael FuithDavid RauchenbergerChristine KainFive months in the life of a pedophile who keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement.
- DirectorBertrand BonelloStarsNoémie LvovskyHafsia HerziCéline SalletteAt an elegant Parisian bordello at the dawn of the 20th century exists a cloistered world of pleasure, pain, hope, rivalries--and, most of all, slavery.Nominated - Palme d'Or - Cannes Film Festival
- DirectorAndrey ZvyagintsevStarsNadezhda MarkinaAndrey SmirnovAleksey RozinWhen a sudden illness and an unexpected reunion threaten dutiful housewife Elena's potential inheritance, she must hatch a desperate plan ...Winner - Un Certain Regard Jury Prize - Cannes Film Festival
- DirectorXavier DurringerStarsDenis PodalydèsFlorence PernelBernard Le CoqA look at French president Nicolas Sarkozy's rise to power.
- DirectorRobert GuédiguianStarsAriane AscarideJean-Pierre DarroussinGérard MeylanA union pensioner and his wife are robbed, but find that merely getting the assailants brought to justice is not enough for their consciences.
- DirectorChristophe HonoréStarsCatherine DeneuveLudivine SagnierChiara MastroianniIn London, a mother and daughter navigate their respective romances: Madeline rekindles an affair from thirty years earlier, while her daughter Vera is caught between a musician who cannot commit and her ex, who still pines for her.
- DirectorCéline SciammaStarsZoé HéranMalonn LévanaJeanne DissonA family moves into a new neighborhood, and a 10-year-old named Laure deliberately presents as a boy named Mikhael to the neighborhood children.
- DirectorOliver HermanusStarsDeon LotzCharlie KeeganMichelle ScottPortrait of a closeted gay husband/father living a life of quiet middle-aged desperation who becomes fixated on a friend's handsome collegiate son, leading to an incident.
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsMia WasikowskaHenry HopperRyô KaseThe story of a terminally ill teenage girl who falls for a boy who likes to attend funerals and their encounters with the ghost of a Japanese kamikaze pilot from WWII.
- DirectorBrad FurmanStarsMatthew McConaugheyMarisa TomeiRyan PhillippeA lawyer defending a wealthy man begins to believe his client is guilty of more than just one crime.
- DirectorLarysa KondrackiStarsRachel WeiszMonica BellucciVanessa RedgraveA drama based on the experiences of Kathryn Bolkovac, a Nebraska cop who served as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia and outed the U.N. for covering up a sex trafficking scandal.
- DirectorSion SonoStarsShôta SometaniFumi NikaidôTetsu WatanabeAfter two teenagers from abusive households befriend each other, their lives take a dark adventure into existentialism, despair, and human frailty.
- DirectorUlrich KöhlerStarsPierre BokmaJean-Christophe FollyJenny SchilyA German doctor (Pierre Bokma) battling Sleeping Sickness in rural Cameroon fears that he will be a stranger in his own country as the end of his post draws near, and he prepares to move back home with his wistful wife, and their teenage daughter.
- DirectorBujar AlimaniStarsLuli BitriKarafil ShenaTodi LlupiConjugal visits unite two strangers visiting a prison to meet their incarcerated spouses. During these visits, Elsa and Spetim find the companionship missing from their lives. But a prisoner amnesty soon threatens their fragile bond in this contemplative drama. An official selection of the prestigious Global Lens Collection presented by the Global Film Initiative. (Albanian w. English subs)
- DirectorAleksandr MindadzeStarsAnton ShaginSvetlana Smirnova-MartsinkevichStanislav RyadinskiyA group of friends and bandmates look to escape from the Chernobyl disaster.