The 10 Best Films Of 2008 - Page 2 of 3

null7. “Ballast”
Lance Hammer self-distributed this stark, raw, deeply rich and emotional ravaged tale of a fragmented African American family in the poverty-stricken Memphis delta. Mostly unknown actor Michael Smith Sr. gives an outstandingly inward yet profoundly projecting performance as a twin quietly devastated by the suicide of his brother who has lost the will to live, yet has to guide and mentor his troublesome nephew and desperately lost sister-in-law. Pathologically unsentimental, often bleak and unnervingly spare —with the only moments of music being diegetic sound— the fractured poetry of this austere picture is viscerally gut-wrenching.

null6. “Happy-Go-Lucky”
Sally Hawkins gives a fizzy tour-de-force performance as Poppy, a character filled with such bubbly levity she should float off the ground if she weren’t so grounded by the realities of the world around her. Eddie Marsan is as heartbreaking as he is terrifying as Scott, the tightly wound and paranoid driving instructor whose ill will is no match for Poppy’s eternally sunshiney attitude. The dialectic forces of these two actors’ opposing performances explode in the small confines of the car, and director Mike Leigh uses the jumping off point of Poppy’s demeanor to explore some of humanity’s darker and more interesting moments, and gets two of the best performances of 2008 in Hawkins and Marsan. To write off this film as aggressively ebullient is deeply shortsighted.

null5. “Silent Light”
A transcendent, slow-moving tale of adultery set amongst deeply religious Mennonites faced with  fractured morality, “Silent Light” is luminously shot and practically a religious experience in itself. Mexican arthouse director Carlos Reygadas‘ third feature film features all unknown, untrained actors; a meditative and quiet Terrence Malick-ian tone; breathtaking, patient visuals; and a stunning conclusion. Spoken entirely in Plautdietsch, the language of the Prussian Mennonites, this bewitching story of a married man who falls in love with another woman in a small community has not been widely-seen, but it’s worth the effort to track down this heavenly piece of cinema endorsed by Martin Scorsese and given award props at Cannes.

null4. “4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days”
As an abortion-drama, ‘4 Months’ manages not to skimp on either side of the description. Directed by Cristian Mungiu, this raw-nerve, unflinchingly told picture takes place in the late-’80s Communist Romania, following a pair of college students (Anamaria Marinca and Laura Vasiliu), one of which needs an abortion dangerously far into her pregnancy. The harrowing chronicle becomes extra potent through the eyes of the friend trying to assist in the matter but who pays her own heavy psychic toll. As desperation sets in, a roughhewn handheld style not dissimilar from Paul Greengrass‘ docu-drama feel heightens the tension and immediacy of the girls’ situation. Fortunately never falling into the traps of an “issue film,” after the most brutal moments are over (and some of it is hard to watch), the film lets you reflect on the undeniably disturbing events.