Sight and Sound: The Best of 2008
The highly estimated film magazine Sight & Sound has made its hit list for 2008, to be published in the January 09 issue. Winner is Steve McQueen’s Hunger. This is a clip from what the editor Steve James wrote about the procedure: We asked more than 50 writers around the world which five films seen in 2008 most impressed them (they didn’t all stick to the number). Their answers include more than 150 different titles made in the last two years (and at least 20 more made earlier). Only a cynic would say that the wide choice must reflect a weak year, with our writers looking for consolation prizes. The reason for this large number is surely because cinema is now so rich in variety that opinion is diffused…
To be noticed from a documentary point of view are the many titles that are included from this genre. Among them the following, all written about or reviewed on filmkommentaren.dk: Of Time and The City (Terence Davies), The Lie of the Land (Molly Dineen), Man on Wire (James Marsh), Waltz With Bashir (Ari Foldman), The Beaches of Agnes (Agnes Varda), Z32 (Avi Mograbi).
Can’t help quoting the editor again on his choice of The Lie of the Land, as I agree completely:
The most affecting film about England (with all due respect to Terence
Davies) that I saw this year. So powerful is its gentle examination of
the often brutalising lives of farmers that it’s capable of changing
minds on such divisive issues as animal welfare, fox-hunting and
vegetarianism.
