2020 in film
For all of us, 2020 has been the year of absence. Personally, in the very midst of it all, I would have traded every single pub, coffee shop and hairdresser to go to the cinema. The second that The Glasgow Film Theatre opened its doors, I was as close to my usual seat as I could get (in light of social distancing) with a quivering lip as the CEO thanked the patrons who had supported them during the year. The future of film is uncertain and, to be frank, many cinemas have no hope at all. However, what we can all do in the face of losing these cultural centres is remind ourselves of the value of film by reflecting on the successes that have occurred in this unprecedented time.
So, in the spirit of optimism, I have reflected on a few of my favourite films that made their way to our screens, big and small, over the course of this year. With many blockbusters opting for year-delayed releases, the ‘smaller’ releases have taken centre stage. I’m cautious when suggesting silver linings, but I see it as only positive that the absence of high-profile releases has made way for filmmakers often shadowed by the likes of Bond and Marvel. Plus, the transfer to streaming services has increased the accessibility of many films which many of us may not have considered until they were in our suggestion boxes on Prime and Netflix.
The former half of the year was dominated, quite rightly, by Parasite fever. Directed by Bong Joon-Ho, this witty and tragic lens into the class divide in South Korea changed the face of cinema forever. Bong is famous for emphasising the meaninglessness of the ‘one-inch barrier’ of subtitles in order to diversify our access to cinema. I have absolute faith that the legacy of this film will last, inspiring many to cast their minds past the English language as the only way to absorb their entertainment.
Before our cinemas shut, we were also lucky enough to experience Portrait of a Lady on Fire on the big screen; Celine Sciamma’s third part of an unofficial trilogy on female experiences. I would highly recommend watching both Tomboy and Girlhood, but Portrait makes way for a new type of cinema that amplifies the beauty of lesbian relationships while breaking free from a fetishized image of female sexuality.
Due for release on the 19th of March, Bacarau was released on Mubi at the cusp of lockdown. A prime example of a film I may not have accessed unless locked in the house, Bacarau defies your expectations at every turn. Dystopian and socially charged, this high concept, yet low budget, piece from Brazilian directors Kleber Mendonca Filho and Juliano Dornelles depicts a remote town’s defiance against all odds. Unexpected and brilliant, I could not recommend this film enough if you are looking for something fast paced and thought provoking.
Another fantastic streaming service release was The Assistant, directed by Kitty Green. The slower pace of 2020, with at-home working and furlough schemes, has caused many people to reflect on the imbalance of work and life that we hail as the norm in the twenty-first century. The Assistant delves into the exploitative undertones of these professional expectations, following junior assistant Jane (played by Julia Garner) through a typical working day for a big-shot movie producer in New York. Garner’s performers teeters on a knife edge between timid and exasperated, as she experiences a variety of interactions that will be disturbingly relatable to many office workers and employees. Not one to watch if you’re already on edge, but an intelligent film that contemplates power and professional structures with thrilling flair.
In June, amidst the wave of Black Lives Matter activism on social media, Oge Egbuonu released (In)visible Portraits. As a filmmaker, Egbuonu describes herself as ‘a filmmaker focused on disruptive inspirational storytelling’. In this poetic and beautiful feature-length documentary, Egbuono reclaims the narrative of black women, in defiance of the ubiquity of the content that others them, through handing the mic back to those under oppression. The film gives room for the rich history of black women while dismantling the false images that surround this community in the present day. Celebratory and critical, (In)visible Portraits is the unsung hero of this year’s shift in perspective around race.
The impetus for this whole article, and possibly my favourite release of this year, is the eerie 80-minute masterpiece St Maud. A directorial debut from British filmmaker Rose Glass, St Maud is an exploration of loneliness through the lens of Maud - a recently converted palliative nurse assigned to a hedonistic ex-dancer dying of cancer. Not a single shot is wasted in this compact, yet effective, film, that uses horror more sparingly than its trailer may suggest. Maud and her patient are antithetical characters on the same path, both struggling with loneliness but handling it in ways that are equally destructive. Overall, the scariest part of this film is not the nail-biting tension, or the wincing scenes of self-punishment from Maud, but the notion that any of us could end up this way if drowned in emotional isolation.
Another Halloween release was His House on Netflix, directed by Remi Weekes. This socially charged horror presents South Sudanese couple who are in England as asylum seekers, placed in a house by the government and left to wait. A ghost story depicted with the backdrop of a deeply relevant context His House forces us to think about our privilege and the structures which exploit asylum seekers in a space where they are meant to be ‘safe’.
This small selection only scratches the surface of what has entertained me this year. Honourable mentions include Horse Girl, written by Alison Brie, fascinating Netflix release that played with perspective and temporality, inspired by Brie’s Grandmother’s experience of living with schizophrenia. South Korean zombie thrilled #Alive from Cho Il-Hyung was another apt release, depicting a young man played by Yoo Ah-In stuck on his own in an apartment during a zombie apocalypse. Da 5 Bloods also came out just in time for the Black Lives Matter momentum, reclaiming the rehashed narrative of the Vietnam War for the black veterans that fought there. If you’re going to go for just one of my choices, I would say St Maud is the star of 2020 for me. Not only is a from a female filmmaker on the cusp of what will, no doubt, be a fantastic career, but it speaks to issues that many of us can relate to in a way that has never been done so succinctly, and so scarily.
In time, we will return to cinemas. But, in the interim, we can continue to have conversations about the films that are happening despite world events. If you are interested in widening your access to film past the usual blockbusters, I would recommend giving alternative streaming services a try. Mubi is fantastic, containing a small selection of films at one time from a variety of independent and marginalised filmmakers. The BFI Player has also been a great resource for me this year, with categories that go far past the usual genres of film, such as ‘near the jugular’, ‘film Africa’ and ‘classic American indie’. You also don’t have to be a member of BFI to make the most of their very reasonably priced rentals.
The calibre of films that we access is widening, both as the platforms available diversify and as we begin to fight back against the gatekeepers that have handed us the same type of film for too long. And, I’ll say it again – in the spirit of optimist I am excited to see what happens next.
Rachel Baker is the Editor-in-Chief for Mxogyny and a freelance writer contributing to various publications. She is interested in film, TV and theatre that contributes to a discourse around consent, feminism, and activism, as well as writing general reviews on her blog- A Baker’s Opinion.