With the Hollywood Foreign Press Association handing out its picks for best films of 2019 last night at the Golden Globes, it’s time to look at another foreign press outlet and see what they think are the best films of the last year. And perhaps unsurprisingly, Cahiers du Cinéma has very different opinions than the HFPA.
Right off the bat, it’s important to know that Cahiers is looking at films that were released in France during the 2019 calendar year, which is why films such as “The Image Book” (the outlet’s #1 film) and “The Mule” (#9) made the cut. Both films were mentioned during the Best of 2018 film lists for some outlets, but Cahiers is a stickler for calendars.
That being said, the rest of the Top 10 is equally surprising. Obviously, “Parasite” was going to be high on the list, coming in at #2, but there are films that didn’t quite make the Top 10 of 2019 for many outlets, such as “Synonyms” (criminally underseen in the US) and “Bacurau.” In addition to those films making the top 10, Bruno Dumont’s “Joan of Arc” and Ladj Ly’s “Les Misérables” are other films that might surprise film fans that didn’t spend much time (or have the opportunity) watching French cinema in 2019.
And yes, the list is rounded out by some of the big names of 2019, such as Todd Phillips’ “Joker,” Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” and Pedro Almodovar’s “Pain & Glory.”
Overall, this is another solid list from Cahiers and definitely an antidote to those that might be bummed after the results of last night’s awards show.
https://twitter.com/cahierscinema/status/1214146422418890752
