How do you measure success in the film industry? Is it based on box office and streaming revenue? The number of people who viewed a film? As cinephiles, we think that success is measured by the quality of the films themselves. There is no question that 2023 was a successful year for movies at the box office. “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” alone made over 3.75 BILLION dollars worldwide, and that figure doesn’t include streaming revenue. There were 63 films that grossed over $100 million dollars each.
When writing about our favorite films of 2023, it would be easy to jump on the bandwagon of the most successful and critically lauded films of the year. But what’s the fun in that? Here’s our take for the best movies of 2023, most of which you probably haven’t seen… yet.
Take One
Sliding in and out of arthouses this spring was “A Thousand and One” by first-time director A.V. Rockwell. Set in New York City as it transitions out of the crack epidemic and into its current playground for the uber-wealthy, the camera zooms in on Inez de la Paz, a single mother raising her son as the city gentrifies around them and through them. But this is no generic poverty porn spectacle a la “Precious”(2009) or “Hillbilly Elegy”(2020). Rockwell’s film is deeply rooted in genre, and just when you think the drama is quickening, it turns funny, and once you start laughing, it turns frightening. Mega-popstar Teyana Taylor, in a breakout performance, commands every second of the film in this jaw-dropping debut.
France’s favorite courtroom drama was edged out of the Oscar race this year by the genteel period piece “The Taste of Things,” featuring breathtaking performances by real-life former lovers (with a notoriously acrimonious breakup), Benoît Magimel and Juliette Binoche. Here, they play cooks in the household of Magimel, a renowned provincial chef, who is constantly reckoning with an ever-industrializing world and food culture. But the real star of the film is the food they make, which sizzles, bubbles, steams, broils, freezes, oozes, and crackles its way past your eyes through cascading camera angles and long takes. All organized by the masterful hands of director Trần Anh Hùng. Try to see it with an audience, and with a dinner reservation immediately following. When I saw it, the theater patrons gasped in awe at one particularly stunning reveal. Coming to theaters during Oscar season.
And finally, I’d recommend Ira Sachs’ “Passages” for any and all persons in a transitory period of their lives. The doomed love triangle central to the film (sided by three luminous performances by Franz Rogowski, Ben Whishaw, and Adèle Excharpoulos), exposes something that all of us know too well: that in struggling to place ourselves, within our own lives, we often end up hurting those close to us. It’s painful, yes, but so is love. The film’s very explicit sex scenes caused some controversy at Sundance this year, but their tenderness is undeniable.
Take Two
As an attorney, I normally do not watch or review courtroom dramas. I know too much and can usually spot errors in the story or courtroom procedures. But the French film “Anatomy of a Fall,” by director Justine Triet, is a low-key, realistic whodunit that will keep you guessing long after the credits roll. Successful writer Sandra, married to unsuccessful writer Samuel, must prove her innocence when her husband falls from their isolated three story alpine chalet and is found dead by their 12-year-old, visually-impaired son. Was it an accident? Suicide? Or murder? Sandra’s prickly, often righteous, personality does not aid in her defense, but speaks volumes about the biases of the French legal system. The acting is uniformly excellent with Sandra Hüller as Sandra, Milo Machado Graner as her son, Daniel, and Swann Arlaud as her relentless defense counsel. The film just won two Golden Globes for Best Foreign Language Film & Best Screenplay.
I must admit I’m not a fan of romantic dramas. But director Celine Song’s “Past Lives” may be the best film I’ve seen in the past year. Based on incidents in Song’s life, it is the story of two Korean pre-teen classmates that develop a bond that endures distance: the 7,000 miles separating Seoul, South Korea and New York City, as well as time: over 25 years. Greta Lee stars as Nora Moon, and she is a complete revelation. It’s rare when a performance jumps off the screen and captivates the viewer for an entire film. Lee’s co-stars, Teo Yoo as Hae Sung, the possible love of her life, and John Magaro as… (I’ll let you find out!) are both exceptionally cast. If you don’t have a lump in your throat, at the end of this movie, you better check your pulse.
All films except “The Taste of Things” streaming on Amazon Prime.
This column is written jointly by a baby boomer Denny Parish, and a millennial, Carson Parish, who also happen to be father and son.
