The Best Films of the Decade: #6 and #5

Honorable Mention #2: Primer (United States, 2004)
Shane Carruth's nil-budget juggernaut wasn't the only good tech-heavy think piece of 2004, and certainly not of the decade (John Simpson's near-future thriller "Freeze Frame" loaded on the ethical dilemmas in spades; go ahead and forget "I, Robot"...), it deserves much more than being lumped into a mass heap entitled 'clever sci-fi'. A spottily lit attached garage is our entrance into Carruth's 21st century tactile Grimm Tale, and the launching point for our protagonist engineers to stumble upon Man's last great unrealised venture: time travel. Their early trial and error in the discovery process reoccurs later in the form of experimentation in the 'traveling' itself - Aaron and Abe, being entrepreneurs of thought as they are, waste no time in coming up with a plan to turn a profit on their 'service', but that's where the limits of their conception meets the infinite capacity of their situation. Science Fiction as a genre tag doesn't quite cover what Primer completely is; it being a cautionary story in the hubristic vein of centuries old "three wishes" scenarios, or fantasies of omnipotence which usually end up fraught with irreversible consequence. Classic stuff, meticulously woven with with an intensity usually reserved for steeped, excessive dramas. Primer may have since fallen from our collective tongues, but it will continue to live on, at least here, as one of the best.



Number 06: Kairo (Japan, 2001)
I think it's safe to say that before seeing Kairo for the first time my perception of what true apocalyptic horror was was been half-formed and most certainly untested. What it would mean to be utterly neutralised by events beyond one's control and far outside comprehension had been touched on in the past, George Sluizer's "Spoorloos" and Hideo Nakata's "Ringu" explored some pretty savage arenas, yet Kiyoshi Kurosawa brought the world to its knees by positing that the people had become irrevocably distanced from one another and that a condition arose where human beings were not only killing themselves off because of it, but that they would return from the afterlife (unwillingly and only further tortured) to proctor further terminations. The reason Kairo surpasses most every film of this ilk is that Kurosawa, like Sluizer, presents neither solution nor horizon (other than a literal horizon by film's end) to our protagonists; they are last seen free, but their outlook appears bleak; if not for one another; at least for a short time. A stark tale indeed. For that reason I can't help but be moved and shaken, and I can think of no reason it's not only a superior horror film but also a genuinely bold theatrical disquisition.



Number 05: Infernal Affairs (Mou gaan dou, Hong Kong, 2002)
[a tweaking of portions of my original 2005 review] Infernal Affairs begins as young police cadet named Chan Wing Yan (Tony Leung) is being groomed by the highest ranks of Hong Kong's Police Academy to eventually become an inside man. Chan's keen eye and street-worthy demeanor makes him the perfect candidate to infiltrate Triads gangs who are in control of a large portions of the city, as they are wont to do. Unbeknownst to almost everyone, a different road unveiling itself for fellow cadet Lau Kin Ming (Andy Lau). Although we aren't witness to Lau's actual path, he becomes Pacino to Chan's De Niro, or the reverse inside-out, he winds up ill-directing his office to keep Triad boss Hon Sam (a brilliant Eric Tsang) two steps ahead of any police actions. What manifests is one of the best table turning catch-me-if-you-can cop stories ever put to film.

Infernal Affairs is loaded with subterfuge and intrigue. We are privy to both sides of the infiltration equation from the start, but the near misses and natural character evolve to become more substantial and tenser, even as the story itself appears to begin its resolution. To be fair, there is a touch generic cop vs cop to it, with a couple standard stand-offs, but very little mano a mano conflict outside of the former classmates'; the film's confrontations are group against group, good vs bad. The beauty is in the believability of the interactions - these actors immerse themselves fully and the film is assembled flawlessly. You're made to have a stake in that world. As I said, it does has familiar elements, but Infernal Affairs is genuine and sophisticated like no other recent crime drama.