The New Yorker's film critic Richard Brody has put together a list of the best films of 2014 that places the spotlight on French productions.
The typically Anglo-Saxon tradition of publishing the year's "Best of..." has now spread across the globe. These lists can cover music, literature, and, of course, films, as can be seen in the latest list of films published in the highly influential trend-setting cultural magazine The New Yorker, selected by its star critic Richard Brody.
French productions feature in 3rd and 4th positions in this list of 30 films: Goodbye to Language by Jean-Luc Godard and The Last of the Unjust by Claude Lanzmann.
Between the 11th and 30th positions are the following French films (not in any particular order): Jimmy P. (Psychotherapy of a Plains Indian) by Arnaud Desplechin, Life of Riley by Alain Resnais, Stranger by the Lake by Alain Guiraudie, La Jalousie by Philippe Garrel, The Missing Picture by Rithy Panh, and Tip Top by Serge Bozon. One minority French co-production, Story of My Death by Albert Serra also features in the list. No other country is as highly represented as France in this list of films selected from the best offerings from the independent movie scene around the world in 2014.
Just as interesting is the list of Best Undistributed Films (in the USA), which includes three standout titles from the "new" French New Wave: The Rendez-Vous of Deja Vu by Antonin Peretjatko, Tonnerre by Guillaume Brac, and Age of Panic by Justine Triet (with a special mention given to Vincent Macaigne, who plays in all three films).
Richard Brody's selections also include a list of the top cinematographers of 2014, which features three French directors of photography: Darius Khondji (for The Immigrant), Willy Kurant (for La Jalousie), and Claire Mathon (for Stranger by the Lake).
On a final note, actress Marion Cotillard is also crowned as one of the year's best actresses for her role in The Immigrant by James Gray.
