The Most Talked About Films At This Year’s New York Film Festival

As an Australian film geek based in New York for the last six months, I’ve sadly had to miss the Australian winter film festival circuit and the inevitable bleary-eyed, red wine-fuelled late nights that come with it. However, while a variety of Junkee contributors got to check out the Melbourne International Film Festival and the Sydney Film Festival, I got to experience the 51^st New York Film Festival. So, fair trade?

Just like any other festival, the films were a mix of the brilliant, the terrible, and the ‘yeah, I guess it was okay?’ With several films destined for Oscars and big box office, it’s time to check out some of the movies that earned the most buzz during the prestigious festival.

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The Film That Will Make You Never Want To Step Off Dry Land Ever Again

All Is Lost

Directed by: J.C. Chandor

Starring: Robert Redford

Many will be championing the achievements of 77-year-old Robert Redford, who manages the waters of All Is Lost all by his lonesome (he is literally the only cast member), but the real champion of this surprisingly exhilarating film is writer/director J.C. Chandor, who switches gears big time from the dialogue-heavy ensemble work of 2011’s Wall Street drama, Margin Call (that film saw the first-time filmmaker nominated for an Academy Award). It takes a certain amount of skill to make a film with only one actor and next to no dialogue feel interesting, and he achieves that here.

For fans of: Robert Redford’s weathered face, that episode of The Simpsons where they get lost at sea

Opening in Australia: February 2014

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The Film That Will Make You Look At Your Smart Phone Differently

Her

Directed by: Spike Jonze

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Chris Pratt, the voice of Scarlett Johansson

Spike Jonze’s look at futuristic romance stars Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore, a divorced and moustachioed man who writes love letters for lazy lovers and begins a romance with an Operating System, voiced by the breathy-toned Scarlett Johansson. I liked the way Her presented a world in which this love is actually entirely normal (are we not headed that way?) and, when it’s not adhering to romantic genre conventions, it’s a very enjoyable film. Phoenix is looser and livelier here than he’s been in years — a thankful change of pace to the dour The Immigrant, which also played at the festival — but I could have done without all the forlorn montage sequences set to melancholy Arcade Fire music.

For fans of: Technology, moustaches, Scarlett Johansson’s X-rated voice

Opening in Australia: Late 2013

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The Film That Will Make You Look At The Khmer Rouge (And Clay) A Bit Differently

The Missing Picture

Directed by: Rathy Panh

This conceptually audacious documentary attempts to recreate the Cambodian director’s childhood under the dictatorship of Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge using clay figures where real stock footage ceases to exist. Visually stunning and simply one of the finest documentaries I have ever seen, The Missing Picture is one of the few films in recent times to eke tears out of my (apparently) dried-up tear ducts. This is an important, vital piece of filmmaking, and one that takes the artform to a new and altogether fascinating place. It’s a one-of-a-kind documentary, and a heartbreaking reminder of the horrors that people are able to inflict on others.

For fans of: Interesting documentaries, War and communist history, Todd Haynes’ Superstar

Opening in Australia: Sometime in 2014

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The Film That Will Make You Want To Join A Political Movement

The Square

Directed by: Jehene Noujaim

This pulse-pounding, up-to-the-minute documentary about the dire political landscape of Egypt is yet another film that should make the Tony Abbott fanclub embarrassed about their endless claims of doom and gloom on Australian shores. The subjects of The Square are passionate Egyptians — young and old, male and female — who just want to live in a democracy and will fight tooth and nail to get it. Filmed like an action movie, it never lets up and will surely make audiences want to confront political bullshit up close and personal.

For fans of: Being outraged, political warfare

Opening in Australia: Unknown

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The Film That Will Make Stars Of Adéle Exarchopoulos and Léa Seydoux Are

Blue Is The Warmest Colour

Directed by: Abdellatif Kechiche

Starring: Adéle Exarchopoulos, Léa Seydoux

If you didn’t know who these two young French actresses were before 2013, then you certainly will in 2014. Relative newcomer Exarchopoulos (she’d previously appeared briefly in 2010’s The Round-Up, but little else) and ought-to-be-a-megastar Seydoux (Farewell My Queen, Sister, Wes Anderson’s upcoming The Grand Budapest Hotel) stunned audiences at Cannes, where in a festival first the actors were awarded the prestigious Palme d’Or jointly alongside their director. They’re extraordinary and the biggest reason to see the film, especially the 19-year-old Exarchopoulos. And even when this three-hour portrait of a woman’s first love (which just happens to be with another woman) threatens to fall apart, they never cease to electrify.

For fans of: Long movies about first love, acting, French art, sex

Opening in Australia: February 2014

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The Other French Film That Will Make You Wonder ‘What’s With All The Sex?’

Stranger By The Lake

Directed by: Alain Guiraudie

Starring: Pierre Deladonchamps, Christophe Paou, Patrick d’Assumçao, Jérôme Chappatte

Blue Is The Warmest Colour wasn’t the only gay-themed French drama to feature explicit sex scenes at this year’s New York Film Festival. This slow-burn thriller, which also played at Cannes, is a dark look at sex and what follows when the attractive Franck begins an illicit affair with a handsome, but dangerous stranger at a lake-front cruising ground. Expertly filmed, it’s more a directorial showcase than anything else, but the final 20 minutes are filled with armrest-grabbing tension for the arthouse set.

For fans of: Movies that don’t treat homosexuality as a joke, moustaches (again), sex

Opening in Australia: Yesterday!

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The Film That Will Make You Angry At China Even If You’re Not Quite Sure Why

A Touch Of Sin

Directed by: Jia Zhangke

Starring: Wu Jiang, Vivien Li, Baoqiang Wang and Tao Zhao

Steven Spielberg’s jury at the Cannes Film Festival gave this prickly Chinese drama the award for Best Screenplay. A curious and adventurous choice for sure, A Touch Of Sin is a violent and angry statement about the rampant capitalism, exploitation and lower-class destruction of modern-day China. Jia Zhangke, the world’s finest purveyor of the modern industrial landscape, is back in fine form here and has made a stunning and important film.

For fans of: Political subtext, bloody violence with a purpose

Opening in Australia: February 2014

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The Film That Will Make You Realise Your Life Isn’t Quite So Bad

12 Years A Slave

Directed by: Steve McQueen

Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Lupita Nyong’o, Benedict Cumberbatch, Brad Pitt

Many are already calling Steve McQueen’s powerful 12 Years A Slave — based on the 1853 memoir of Solomon Northup, who was betrayed, kidnapped, and sold into slavery — a shoe-in to win Best Picture at next year’s Academy Awards. Whether it does or doesn’t (it’s a tough watch, featuring recurring torture sequences), McQueen has made perhaps the defining film about the African-American slavery experience.

For fans of: Schindler’s List, American history

Opening in Australia: January 2014

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The Film That Will Make You Purchase A Ticket To America’s Mid-West, And Regret It Immediately

Nebraska

Directed by: Alexander Payne

Starring: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb, Bob Odenkirk, Stacy Keach

The Alexander Payne who made such biting satires as Citizen Ruth (1996) and Election (1999) appears to have well and truly vanished. While his latest exploration of just how terrible the concept of family really is might not be a return to the form of those early surprises, it’s at least a hell of a lot better than his last film, the lazy, misogynistic The Descendants. Gloriously filmed in classical black and white and featuring an ensemble of fun performances, Nebraska is pleasing, but not quite a home run.

For fans of: Bickering families, curmudgeonly grouches, Saturday Night Live actors going serious

Opening in Australia: Boxing Day, 2013

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The Film That Will Make You Question Everything You’ve Heard About American Education

At Berkeley

Directed by: Frederick Wiseman

At four hours long, documentary legend Frederick Wiseman’s latest film is definitely sprawling in scope, if not necessarily in style. At Berkeley is a very reserved look at three months in the life of the University of California, Berkeley. His camera matter-of-factly observes classroom discussions about race and socio-economic politics, student protests, a football game, administrative conflicts, and anything else in between. It’s amazing how captivating all four hours are, and I wasn’t able to take my eyes off of it.

For Fans of: Higher education, documentaries, America

Opening in Australia: Unknown

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The Film That Will Make You Want To Befriend Your Divorced Neighbour

Gloria

Directed by: Sebastián Lelio

Starring: Paulina García, Sergio Hernández, Diego Fontecilla

You know that older lady with the unfashionable eye-glasses who probably drinks too much wine? Turns out she’s a hoot! Filled with delightful pathos-filled comedy about the trivial existence of a middle-aged divorcee and her efforts to re-enter the dating scene, this Chilean drama is poignant, funny, quietly touching, and has a final scene that’s bound to leave everybody with a grin the size of Tasmania.

For fans of: Older actresses getting great roles, South America, Laura Branigan

Opening in Australia: Boxing Day, 2013

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Glenn Dunks is a freelance writer and film critic from Melbourne, and currently based in New York City. His work has been seen online (Onya Magazine, Quickflix), in print (The Big Issue, Metro Magazine, Intellect Books Ltd’s World Film Locations: Melbourne), as well as heard on Joy 94.9.