In the year marked by the pandemic, creativity has not been diminished. We recommend five films before the end of 2021.
Oskar Belategui
It was the hand of God
Paolo Sorrentino escaped dying intoxicated like his parents due to the burning of a fireplace because he stayed in Naples to watch a Maradona game. The terrible anecdote helps the director of ‘The Great Beauty’ to look back on his particular ‘Amarcord’, an intoxicating description of eccentric and at the same time close human types, the dream of a city and a way of being in the world that pours tenderness, joy and joie de vivre. Don’t miss it on Netflix.
The most suggestive film of the year is a debut feature, the work of the Swedish filmmaker Ninja Thyberg. ‘Pleasure’ is as fascinating as it is uncomfortable. His portrait of the current porn industry, without value judgments, exposing what there is, through the journey of a young woman who seeks to be a celebrity, does not leave indifferent. Cinema X is the excuse to talk about gender roles, a world dominated by men, obsessions with new technologies and isolation.
Josu Eguren
Question of blood
Despite not being among those selected by the American critics’ associations or having entered the race for the Oscars, I risk affirming that ‘A Question of Blood’ will endure over time as the most accurate and clairvoyant metaphor for the role of the United States on a global board where other powers have begun to question their hegemonic power and the worth of their leadership. The anthological interpretation of Matt Damon, and a masterful staging that although it seems to be related to Clint Eastwood claims its own style, elevate Tom McCarthy’s latest feature film to the category of generational milestone.
Saioa Echeazarra
The last duel
Trial in the France of the XIV. With a powerful narrative and a touch of ‘Rashomon’, Ridley Scott travels in this production to France in 1386 to relate the confrontation between the knight Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) and the squire Jacques LeGris (Adam Driver), when accusing the first to the second of abusing his wife. King Charles VI authorizes a duel to the death. Joining the cast is Ben Affleck, also a screenwriter alongside Damon, in the role of Count Pierre d’Alençon.
Olatz Barriuso
A promising young woman
More than one of revenge. Emerald Fennell’s debut feature, Camilla Parker from ‘The Crown’, does not leave anyone indifferent. No longer because it puts the finger on the sore of the herds, the sexual consent and the social indifference towards the suffering of the victims. Not even for the Carey Mulligan recital. It impresses because it articulates a speech as sharp as it is uncomfortable without giving up a sparkling frenzy, colorful and somewhat ‘kitsch’ with Paris Hilton playing in the background. A prodigy.
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