The Whistlers (Corneliu Porumboiu)
Both a rollicking, trickily structured crime film and an absurd study of language and communication, Corneliu Porumboiu’s atypical
The Whistlers proposes that these two strands are inseparable: the operative image is that of a finger perched in a mouth in the trigger position. There’s a marked emotional resonance that develops slowly, but the droll humor, the cool precision of its characters’ actions and Porumboiu’s shameless references to various antecedents have a pleasure all their own.
9. Vitalina Varela (Pedro Costa)
Making the leap from DV to HD, Pedro Costa’s hushed, immaculate images reach an even greater state of beauty in
Las mejores películas de 2020 elmanana.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from elmanana.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
“
Thank you for the days / those endless days, those sacred days you gave me” So begins the classic 1968 single by the Kinks, and Tsai Ming-Liang has an apposite poster tagline here if he needs it. But altering any one element of this immaculate comeback feature––say, putting this very track against the closing credits––would be heresy, especially when it already contains a beautiful use of diegetic music in the theme from Chaplin’s
Limelight. I was lucky enough to see his tender, spellbinding new film at BFI London’s in-person, distanced screenings, and strongly hope others are afforded that pleasure when things open again in 2021––when it will most certainly appear on TFS’s list for the second year running. –