Mansel Stimpson Looks Back at the Year of 2020
In a distressing year and one that has seen a threat to the very future of our cinemas, the films of 2020 have been of higher quality than usual. If my Top Ten are all masterpieces in their own way, the runners-up have been exceptional, too, and they include the following: the splendidly imaginative Latvian animation Away, the German feature Casting cleverly referencing the films of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, the already classic Parasite, Matteo Garrone’s fresh take on Pinocchio, the fine French period drama Portrait of a Lady on Fire, the assured Danish debut by May el-Toukhy Queen of Hearts and the exceptional British film Rocks. No less striking are a whole range of distinguished documentaries (When Lambs Become Lions; Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy; Mike Wallace is Here; Rising Phoenix; Being a Human Person; Ronnie’s; Collective; Markie in Milwaukee; Audrey).
Disturbing as the closures of cinemas have been and important as it is that they should not be lost given that motion pictures are and always have been a communal art form, it has to be acknowledged that on the plus side lockdown restrictions have boosted home viewing via platform services. They may well have encouraged many to be more adventurous in the kind of films they choose to view and when one allows for these sources the number of films that became available to us remains very high indeed. Furthermore, there have been catch-ups: without a service like Mubi we might never have seen a major documentary of 1977, Gay USA, which until now has never had any release here. There is much fresh talent around, too, and for entertainment on film in a year when we needed it, one such piece that stands out appealingly is Days of the Bagnold Summer, very British yet universal in its appeal.
Mansel Stimpson’s Favourites:
1. About Endlessness
2. Little Girl
3. The Woman Who Ran
4. The Great Buster: A Celebration
5. Falling
6. Carmine Street Guitars
7. Love Child
8. Socrates
9. Totally Under Control
10. Isadora’s Children