A rousing crowd pleaser about psychological damage and emotional healing? Silver Linings Playbook only seems oxymoronic because it is the rare film that understands how closely related each point in the vast gauntlet of human emotions are, and that creating an atmosphere of insight, spontaneity, and authenticity will always resonate strongly on levels dramatic, humorous, or tonally intertwined. We are unaccustomed to a film with such broad audience potential that explores the hearts and minds of its characters so deeply, or has such obvious understanding and affection for the community they inhabit.
Assisted by tremendous performances from Bradley Cooper, Robert DiNiro, and especially Jennifer Lawrence, director David O. Russell has crafted a film that feels truly alive; when a filmmaker achieves cinematic immersion this total, we are bound to love the experience, for we see ourselves and our own complex feelings on screen, feelings so raw and genuine that they blur the line between comedy and drama, reflecting instead our specific realities in all their infinite intricacies.
Silver Linings Playbook is currently playing in theatres nationwide.
5. The Secret World of Arrietty
This quiet and evocative animated masterpiece from Japan’s Studio Ghibli arrived in the United States last February, and to say it absolutely floored me would be an understatement. First-time director Hiromasa Yonebayashi may be working off a script by the legendary Hayao Miyazaki, but he establishes a bold and distinctive artistic voice all his own, crafting a magnificent visual palette defined by softly stylized character and line work, inviting storybook backgrounds, and vivid, painterly colors.
Combined with Cecile Corbel’s stunningly beautiful music, Arrietty is an aesthetic marvel, but what pushes it into 2012’s upper echelon are the wonderful characters – the titular heroine is one of Ghibli’s best – and powerful storytelling. Miyazaki and Yonebayashi have taken the bare essentials of Mary Norton’s classic novel The Borrowers and reconstituted them for a tender and poignant story about the nature of isolation and the resilience of the human spirit. The film may be aimed at children, but it offers viewers of all ages more insight, introspection, and mesmerizing cinematic wonder than nearly every other theatrical release of 2012, and absolutely deserves its high spot on this list.
The Secret World of Arrietty is currently available on DVD and Blu-Ray.
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