3) Drowning by numbers
Directed by Peter Greenaway I think this film holds a special place in my heart because it was the first Greenaway film I had seen. It was not surprising to me to learn that he that he studied as a painter before becoming a director. If you watch some of his other films: The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover, The Pillow Book, Nightwatching, they are all incredibly visual films which warrant multiple viewings to capture the totality of what is going on. Floating feathers, sparkling rockets, rockets, ripe fruits dripping with juice, the film is a Dutch still life brought to cinema.
Visuals don’t overshadow the plot either.
Its the story of a mother, daughter and granddaughter who all drown their philandering and boorish husbands with the duplicit help of the local coroner.
Madgett, the coroner is also a habitual game player who along with his son Smut make up the rules of various unusual games played by the characters.
Starting with a girl jumping rope and counting the stars; the film carries in the scenes and in the dialogue numbers from one to a hundred which keep popping up. I have seen the film several times, and never accounted for all of them, yet another game.
4) Totoro
This is Myazaki’s magnum opus which brought him to the attention of Hollywood and the West. Princess Mononoke or Spirited Away might be better known here in North America but it’s Totoro that really captures Myazaki’s genius.
It is a deceptively simple story of two young girls who move with their father into the country to be near their ailing mother. Their country house is filled with Soot-sprites and Totoro and all sorts of benign spirits. After befriending these spirits they have all sort of magic adventures including a Chestshire Cat-bus. (Don’t ask just watch the film) We never find out what ailment the mother has, but it’s not really important either. The film is also very Japanese for example, there is a scene where the girls jump into the bath with their naked father, something not normally portrayed in the West.
The film embraces themes of wonder and childhood innocence. But there is a strong overtone of environmentalism and the importance of green space frequent in Myazaki’s films. To say nothing of the incredible craftsmanship and artistry in this film. The illustration and animation is amazing. While intended to be a kids movie it is a something most adults will enjoy as well.
5) Red Violin
This film is a contender for number one on my list for so many reasons, the plot, the music, the visual imagery. Most importantly it stars Samuel L. Jackson and he doesn’t say “fuck” once. (Can you imagine?)
Jackson plays an antiquities investigator who must find out about a collection of musical instruments found in the house of an old Chinese music teacher.
What makes this so appealing is the story wraps on itself numerous times telling of a red violin as passes through the centuries and the hands of many people.
The film takes place in modern day with the famous (or infamous) violin being up for auction. In the investigation to prove the piece’s providence we are taken back in time to when the violin is first made by Italian master Nicolo Bussotti for the birth of his first child. His wife is having the fortune of the baby told an old maid. And this the vehicle for the telling is set.
The story continues though time to an 18th century Austrian monastery, gypsies, a 19 century English Virtuoso, to China and the Cultural revolution and back to where we began, with a collection of musical instruments found in the house of an old music teacher.