For me the year 1996 will be remembered as the year Hollywood blew it. Because it was such a long time ago some movie fans may not quite remember what happened, as far as cinema is concerned, that year. At the Academy Awards show, celebrating the films of the year, very few mainstream Hollywood films managed to get nominated. It was a complete washout for the industry. It was the year of small budget independent films. Finally the Hollywood industry would embarrass itself and the public would see just how worthless and meaningless Hollywood can sometimes be. Even members of the Academy refused to celebrate the garbage they had pushed upon the public.
The five nominees that year for "Best Picture" were Mike Leigh's "Secrets & Lies", "Shine", the Coen Brothers' "Fargo", Cameron Crowe's "Jerry Maguire" and the eventual Oscar winner Anthony Minghella's "The English Patient". With the exception of "Jerry Maguire" which had Tom Cruise in it, nothing had the push of a Hollywood star in it.
We wouldn't experience a year as pitiful as 1996 until 2000 and more recently 2006, though it should be noted 2008 is turning out to be one of the worst years for movies as well. The surprise hits of the year were the Coens' "Fargo" which Siskel & Ebert named the best film of the year and expressed it is the reason they go to the movies. And Wes Craven's teen horror film, "Scream". The mainstream public started talking about directors they previously hadn't heard of. Suddenly Mike Leigh, Neil Jordan and Lars von Trier was on everyone's lips.
It proved to be a year of strong literary adaptations. Half of my list is filled with adaptations ranging from Jane Austen, Henry James and Shakespeare.
As someone who simply detest the Academy and all it stands for, it was a great year to see Hollywood fall on its face. Here are my picks for the best films of the year!
1. THE PORTRAIT OF A LADY (Dir. Jane Campion; UK/U.S.) - Normally such a film would not top my list. In all honesty in a better year it probably wouldn't even had made my list. But, because 1996 was such a sorry excuse for movies this was the film which most affected me and kept me involved. Campion had just come off success for her previous film "The Piano". This Henry James story however keeps more in touch with her feminist ideals following in the tradition of her films such as "An Angel At My Table". The film has a wonderful literary quality to it and sadly has been dismissed by movie goers. Perhaps they are unable to acknowledge she has ever made anything worth seeing after "The Piano". But the movie showed amazing detail in its production and costume design. These type of films are usually "Oscar bait". The terrific cast is headed by Nicole Kidman, who was still under the shadow of her husband but was starting to emerge on her own after having appeared in "To Die For" and "Batman Forever" the previous year. Her performance here is much more subdue than the others though. The rest of the cast consist of John Malkovich, Mary-Louis Parker and Barbara Hershey, who was nominated for an Oscar for her work here as was the costume design.
2. BREAKING THE WAVES (Dir. Lars von Trier; Denmark) - Von Trier emerged strong on the cinematic scene with this powerful film about love, relationships, faith and God, even though he had been around for a while making movies before releasing this film. Many mainstream audiences had been unaware of the Dogma style of filmmaking but it managed to catch on rather quickly, mostly finding its way in several parodies. Still the performances given by Emily Watson and Stellan Skarsgard feel genuine. Watson is superb. She rightfully received an Oscar nomination for her performance.
3. SHINE (Dir. Scott Hicks; Australia) - Based on the true story of pianist David Helfgott who suffered a nervous breakdown due to the abuse he received from his stern father (Armin Mueller-Stahl, who was nominated for an Oscar) went on to become a critically successful pianist in the later years of his life. Geoffrey Rush won an Oscar for his work here and he may have never given a better performance than he does here. He becomes totally believable as Helfgott. In a time when numerous musical bios are being made covering everyone from Johnny Cash to Ray Charles here is one of the truly great bio's made in the last 15 years.
4. A SUMMER'S TALE (Dir. Eric Rohmer; France) - The third part in Rohmer's charming "Tale of Four Seasons" series is one of the master's best films. The only entry in the series which comes close to this is "A Tale of Winter" but that one was more romantic, "A Summer's Tale" is more playful as a young man finds himself caught between three beautiful girls during a vacation and can't chose between them. It is a typical example of the complexities of young love as only Rohmer can show us.
5. MY FAVORITE SEASON (Dir. Andre Techine; France) - Techine's best film in my opinion (perhaps only with "Strayed" coming in a close second). The film stars Catherine Deneuve and Daniel Auteuil as brother and sister who have lost touch over the years. With their mother in ill health the two start to relive bitter memories of the past. Here is a powerful film which shows us sometimes family isn't always the answer but many times is the problem.
6. MICHAEL COLLINS (Dir. Neil Jordan; UK/U.S.) - Described by Jordan himself as the most important film he ever made here is the true story of the man who fought to make Ireland a free state as played by Liam Neeson. Michael Wilmington, then of the Chicago Tribune, called it the best film of the year. This is one of Jordan's most powerful films.
7. HAMLET (Dir. Kenneth Branagh; UK/U.S.) - As someone who struggles understanding the great Shakespeare this has to be one of the greatest modern adaptations of his work with Branagh as the "Prince of Denmark". The film has a roll call of great actors in various cameos. Watch for Richard Attenborough, Julie Christie, Billy Crystal, Robin Williams, Jack Lemmon, Judi Dench and Gerard Depardieu. Nominated for 4 Oscars the film won one for "best adapted screenplay", which was written by Branagh.
8. EMMA (Dir. Douglas McGarth; U.S.) - Another adaptation! This time the writings of Jane Austen is given the modern treatment. McGarth may not be known to many film fans but he is a frequent collaborator with Woody Allen. The two co-wrote "Bullets Over Broadway". McGarth has also appeared in "Celebrity", "Sweet and Lowdown" and "Small Time Crooks". Here though, on his own, he proves he is capable of writing and directing on his own. Just don't watch his comedy "Company Man". Gwyneth Paltrow stars and gives one of her best performances as the carefree and innocent Emma. The film won the Oscar for "best musical score".
9. THE ENGLISH PATIENT (Dir. Anthony Minghella; U.S.) - The kind of movie "best picture" Oscars are made for. A soaring, heartbreaking love story. Minghella may be trying to duplicate David Lean here, and while he may not succeed in doing that he does make one epic romance as Ralph Fiennes stars as a wounded Hungarian and Kristen Scott Thomas the woman he loves. The movie was nominated for an amazing 12 Oscars, winning 9 including "best picture", "director" and "supporting actress" (Juliette Binoche). Fiennes would later play another Hungarian in Istvan Szabo's masterpiece "Sunshine (A Napfeny ize) ".
10. SCREAM (Dir. Wes Craven; U.S.) - A guilty pleasure of mine. Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williams redefined the teen horror genre which was on life support at the time. This was a hip film. It put Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and Rose McGowan on the map. Not to mention a brilliant opening scene with Drew Barrymore. For a while after this film, Williams was a hot property creating the TV show "Dawson's Creek" and working on "I Know What You Did Last Summer".
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