So today the Sundance Film Festival wraps up for another
year, bringing forth a fine selection of movies that I look forward to catching
later in the year and acting all snobbish when I know what that movie is about
and who made it while everyone else is just hearing about it, but not quite as
snobbish as the select few who attended the festival and saw said movie.
Anyway, for over thirty years now the festival has provided a platform for independent
filmmakers and like any festival is chooses a select few each year to present
with an award.
For Sundance the most esteemed prize it can give is the
Grand Jury Prize, honouring what the year’s jury deems to be the best film of
the festival. In honour of that I thought I would provide a list of my ten
favourite Grand Jury Prize winners in the history of the Sundance Festival. So
without further ado, here it is.
10: Like Crazy
In case you needed reminding just what a tragedy Anton
Yelchin’s death last year was, one of his finest roles came in this drama that
impressed the 2011 Sundance Jury enough to take the top prize. The film tells
the story of Anna played by Felicity Jones, a British exchange student who
falls in love with an American student, Jacob (Yelchin), only to be separated
from him when she is denied re-entry into the United States after staying in
the country longer than her student visa allows. When taking their performances
as they are, each actor is brilliant, sharing excellent chemistry and heart
wrenching nuances when separate. But the story behind the films development
makes you appreciate it even more, with director and co-writer Drake Doremus assembling
a 50 page outline of the story in which Yelchin and Jones improvised almost all
of their dialogue. It’s an extraordinary undertaking and makes for an
emotionally resonant movie.
9: Poison
Before he went on to direct acclaimed features such as ‘Far
From Heaven’, ‘I’m Not There’ and ‘Carol’, Todd Haynes began his career with
this provocative, three-part exploration of AIDS-era queer perceptions and
subversions that established him as a formidable talent and figure of a new
transgressive cinema. It is a remarkably strong and bold debut film, boasting a
stylistically and conceptually audacious piece of filmmaking. Haynes manages to
make each of his three stories distinct and unique in their visual style but
links them with a strong thematic component that gives the film as a whole a strong
impact. Haynes has continued to explore the themes he raised in ‘Poison’ and it
served as the perfect platform from which to launch himself as a bold new voice
in an ever changing world.
8: Welcome to the
Dollhouse
Coming of age films are rarely as painfully hilarious as Todd
Solondz’s surprise hit of 1996. It demonstrates the there are few forms of
torment more cruel than the way unpopular kids are treated at school.
Admittedly some may be inclined to disagree with me on that, but I’d challenge you
to sit through ‘Welcome to the Dollhouse’ without wincing at the intense
honesty with which Solondz recounts his story. It helps that Heather Matarazzo
is fantastic in the lead role as Dawn, an outsider in all walks of life, tormented
at school, excluded from social circles and ignored by her own family. Some
storytellers would show some restraint and sugar coat the material but Solondz
remains faithful to his tone and perseveres in his agonizingly funny feature.
7: Primer
‘Primer’ is one of those films where the audience became so
pre-occupied with the mechanics of the plot (which are mind numbingly brilliant
with its experimental plot and dense dialogue) that they forget to acknowledge the
fantastic filmmaking that is on display. Its low budget does not restrict Shane
Curreth at all, who uses his directorial skills to make every shot meaningful
and weighty. It is dense and innovative in its structure, ‘Primer’ is sure to challenge
viewers on an intellectual level like few other movies ever have. It is
methodical and heavy on technical jargon, but for those willing to listen it
rarely feels overwrought or overtly dense. Whether it infuriates you or
connects with you, it is bound to start a discussion and that is what bold
voices
6: Fruitvale
Station
Perhaps the best thing about Ryan Coogler’s directorial
debut is how it seems to put aside the political aftermath of the story of
Oscar Grant in favour of telling a very personal and intimate portrait. While
this story holds great weight in the discussion of race relations and the role
of police officers, Coogler’s script allows us as an audience to simply hang
out with Grant for a day. We witness his struggles, flaws, hopes, dreams and
triumphs. We empathise with him on an itimate level, brought out more by
Coogler’s delicate direction and a truly terrific performance by Michael B
Jordan. This makes the ultimate, and all true tragedy all the more heart breaking.
Just a few years on Coogler is fresh from his international acclaim after
directing ‘Creed’ and is slated to helm Marvel’s ‘Black Panther’, all thanks to
this expertly crafted independent film.
5: You Can Count On
Me
As we speak, numerous industry commentators are speculating
on how many awards Kenneth Lonergan’s 2016 drama ‘Manchester by the Sea’ will
win. Sixteen years before his recent masterwork premiered at the Sundance Film
Festival, Longeran attended the festival with his directorial debut ‘You Can
Count on Me’. Telling the story of Sammy, played by Laura Linney, a single
mother living in a small town, and her complicated relationships with her
brother Terry, played by a pre-Hulk Mark Ruffalo. Boasting two extraordinarily
tender and heartfelt performances by Linney and Ruffalo its seemingly simple
story is superbly crafted and extremely moving.
4: American
Splendour
In an era when comic book movies reign supreme in almost
every walk of movie life now, one film that seems to have been forgotten in the
shuffle. Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini’s biopic about Harvey Pekar,
the author of the American Splendor comic book series. Pekar’s comic was
autobiographical in itself, chronicling his daily life and frustrations that
were to him, more exciting and invigorating than any superhero. It stunningly integrates
Pekar’s art with his reality, with the script and direction combining the
various elements of his life, all underpinned by an excellent performance by
Pail Giamatti, into a strikingly stylish portrait.
3: Winter’s Bone
Jenifer Lawrence’s popularity may have skyrocketed since
2011 and though I’m a fan of most of her work since then, for me her high point
and best performance can still be found in Debra Granik’s independent film.
Lawrence plays a teenaged girl in the rural Ozarks of the central United States
who, to protect her family from eviction, must find her missing father. It is
bleak and haunting in both its visual style and its themes that deal with
family ties, poverty and self-sufficiency as well as how all are changed next
to the influence of the underworld methamphetamine labs. Lawrence in particular
brings a poignant performance that is punctuated with the rawness and
difficulty of the world she lives in but still retains a sense of hope and optimism
that elevates the film even further.
2: Whiplash
It may be recent but I think I can safely say that Damien
Chazelle’s intense drama will go down as one of the greatest films to ever
screen at the Sundance Festival, let alone win its esteemed Grand Jury Prize.
From the opening frame the psychological intensity and pulsating rhythm of the
film are overtly obvious and maintained for its entirety, right up until that painstakingly
brilliant finale that, dare I say it, stands as potentially the greatest ending
in cinema history. It is easy to talk about ‘Whiplash’ and do nothing but
discuss J.K Simmons frighteningly forceful yet infectiously charismatic performance
that rightly won him an Oscar, but spare some thought for Miles Teller’s
remarkably empathetic lead role. Then there is Chazelle’s masterful direction,
which elevates the already watertight screenplay to the highest levels of
perfection. Given he is now sweeping the awards circuit yet again with ‘La La
Land’ it is not difficult to see why ‘Whiplash’ launched him onto the scene in
such a powerful way.
1: Blood Simple
I am inclined to the argument that ‘Whiplash’ is the
superior film out of these top two, in fact given a few more years where its
legacy can further cement itself into our collective consciousness I might
place it at the number one spot. But when it comes to demonstrating just how
valuable the Sundance Film Festival is in providing new artists with a platform
to launch their careers and go on to achieve greatness, then no other product
of the festival has yet to match that of Joel and Ethan Coen, who arrived at
the 1984 festival with their directorial debut. But even putting that aside ‘Blood
Simple’ is still a truly fantastic movie. The neo-noir is packed with stylish
directorial choices, excellent performances and a tense and thrilling plot that
evokes the likes of Alfred Hitchcock. Like many of the Coen’s films it is as
darkly hilarious as it is brutally violent, balancing each contrasting element
with a strikingly bold visual palette. It introduced the world to a new
generation of filmmakers who have been crafting amazing films ever since.
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