Best Seriously Overlooked Films of 2010
By Tom Houseman
March 16, 2011
BoxOfficeProphets.com
That's why I have started a new tradition on this site: The Best Seriously Overlooked Film of the Year, consisting of only films that made less than $1 million in the US. Last year the winner of the Best Overlooked Film category was The Hurt Locker, which, considering it won Best Picture, was probably seen, at least on DVD, by most of the readers of this site. Meanwhile, I put forward Bronson, a brilliant biopic starring up-and-comer Tom Hardy, as the Best Seriously Overlooked Film, with runners up including Lars von Trier's Antichrist, documentaries Anvil! and The Cove, and The Dardenne Brothers' Lorna's Silence.
This year there were a number of great films that made so little money their box office total wouldn't impress Dr. Evil (yeah, yeah, I made an Austin Powers reference. I'm working on a deadline here; give me a break). My list of the ten best seriously overlooked films of 2010 starts with another pair of documentaries, two films that I only saw due to a stroke of luck. Of the films that the Academy shortlisted for their Best Documentary award, only a handful were available on DVD, and even fewer of those was I able to stream via Netflix Instant Watch, the best tool in the arsenal of a man who tries to see movies nobody else has ever heard of.
William Kunstler: Disturbing the Unvierse, kicks off my list at number ten, and bears similarities to the 2003 documentary My Architect in the way it explores a public figure from a very personal perspective. William Kunstler was a civil rights lawyer who rose to fame defending the “Chicago Seven,” and became a wildly controversial figure, unafraid to challenge courts on issues of race. In his later years, Kunstler became vilified by conservatives and liberals alike when he chose to defend some very unpopular figures, and regularly received death threats. The film is directed by Kunstler's daughters, Sarah and Emily, who examine both their father's public persona and the role he had in shaping them. A touching and honest biodoc, Disturbing the Universe made just over $46,000, a disappointing figure for such a moving film.
GasLand comes in at number nine, another documentary that takes a personal approach to a public subject. Josh Fox chose to make this film after an oil company offered to buy his property, and his insightful look into the horrifying ways the oil industry is destroying our environment in its quest for profits is eye-opening and disturbing. Focusing on a process called fracking, Fox dared to challenge a multi-billion dollar industry and reveal the truth behind some of their more damaging practices. However, with only $30,000 in box office receipts, the message of this film was not heard nearly as loudly as it needs to be.
I wrote in detail about The Disappearance of Alice Creed in my “Don't Overlook It” series, but I'll gladly take the chance to sing its praises again by putting it at number eight on my list. Of the three films that Gemma Arterton starred in last year, two of them were awful and featured her in a dumb part giving a forgettable performance, and one of them was one of the most shocking films of the year, and sees her in a fascinating role giving a brilliant performance. Unfortunately, Clash of the Titans and Prince of Persia both made millions of dollars, while Alice Creed didn't even make it to the $167,000 mark. Arterton is magnificent as the title character, but she is matched by costars Eddie Marsan and Martin Compston. This is a film you truly need to see to believe.
Foreign language films are a sure bet for this category, and my number seven film is the first of four on this list. Wild Grass is one of the strangest, and most beautiful, films of 2010. Directed by Alain Resnais, this almost surreal drama follows Georges Palet as he meets, stalks, and falls in love with a complete stranger. The film veers from disturbing to heartbreaking to absurd without warning all while maintaining a slow, lyrical pace that the French somehow seem to pull off remarkably well. Stars Andre Dussollier and Sabine Azema give stunning performances in complex roles, grounding this film in reality as its story becomes more and more nonsensical. No matter what adjectives you place on it, nobody can deny that Wild Grass is memorable, although sadly it barely made more than $400,000 in the United States.
My number six film is one of the most brutal films of the year, Fish Tank. I never got a chance to see the film in theaters, and despite its January release (during which it made about $375,000) it is still not available on DVD in the US, which meant I had to revert to illegal means to see it. It was completely worth the unlawful action, however, as this portrait of a 15-year-old girl living in the slums of England is as captivating as it is depressing. Katie Jarvis makes her acting debut as protagonist Mia and, under the outstanding direction of Andrea Arnold (who also wrote the script) gives an honest and great performance. Newly crowned indie darling and soon-to-be Magneto Michael Fassbender costars as Mia's mother's boyfriend, and the relationship between him and Mia is both twisted and fascinating. This brutally stark film is reminiscent of similarly overlooked This is England, and I hope you take the chance to see it when it is finally released on DVD next week.
At number five is perhaps the most emotionally draining film on this list, which is quite the superlative, given its competition. While it was hugely successful in its home country, the Korean crime-drama Mother barely made a blip in the US, earning slightly more than $550,000. Joon-Ho Bong, writer/director of the horror satire The Host, takes on a much more human story, exploring the relationship between a mother and a son. The main character is only known as Mother, and when her son is arrested for murder, she is willing to go to any lengths to prove his innocence. Hye-Ja Kim is flat-out brilliant as the title character, and any moment she is on screen is a moment in which you cannot tear your eyes from her.
Made in Dagenham is one of the few light and genuinely uplifting films on this list, clocking in at number four, although its subject matter is just as important as any of the others. Nigel Cole's film is based on a true story, following a group of women working for Ford Motors during the 1960s when they decide to go on strike, demanding pay equal to their male coworkers. Sweet and moving and completely earnest, this film is willing to explore the hardships these women endured, but also find the comedy in their situation. Sally Hawkins stars, giving another wonderful performance, and a great cast makes this film truly delightful. The highest grossing film on this list, Made in Dagenham earned $997,735 in the US, which means that if maybe 250 more of you had seen this movie, it wouldn't have qualified. Shame on you, BOP readers.
We turn back to the emotionally scarring films for number three, the German drama Everyone Else. This is another one that I wrote about in length, so if you read that column and didn't see this movie, you have no excuse. To reiterate: this exploration of a disintegrating marriage is very difficult to watch, but completely worth it, mostly for the performance of star Birgit Minichmayr. While it didn't get the attention of its American counterpart Blue Valentine, this film is just as punishingly honest and just as heartbreaking, and sadly, barely cracked $100,000 at the US box office.
The easiest way to describe Terribly Happy, the second best seriously overlooked film of 2010, to American audiences is to call it Hot Fuzz by way of the early Coen brothers. The most fun way to describe it is crazy Danish deeply disturbing neo-noir amazingness. Henrik Ruben Genz's film is about Robert Hanson, a Danish police officer who gets stationed in a small rural town where everything seems a little... off. He quickly gets embroiled in a complex series of crimes, in addition to beginning an affair with one of the town's strangest residents. Difficult to follow, not just because it is in Danish, Terribly Happy takes all sorts of crazy twists and turns that will certainly keep you guessing, but great performances by stars Jakob Cedergren, Lene Maria Christenson and Kim Bodnia will keep you completely engrossed as you try to figure out what the heck is unfolding in front of you. Sneaking past $170,000 in the United States, I only pray that this film isn't bastardized with an American adaptation of it. Fingers crossed...
So for a list featuring films about environmental destruction, murder, kidnapping, and abusive relationships, what is the perfect topic for the best seriously overlooked film of 2010? Why, Muslim Jihadists, of course. Except, wait, this film is a comedy. Not just a comedy, but a hysterical dark comedy, as great a farce as any Chaplin film, and a satire on par with Dr. Strangelove. Four Lions is, without a doubt, the best overlooked film of the year, and also the funniest film since 2009's In the Loop. Chris Morris's directorial debut follows a group of Muslims living in London, planning to martyr themselves. How is this a comedy, you ask? Clearly you don't understand the comedic potential in four angry but fairly obtuse Jihadists arguing about what they should blow up, as well as exactly where and how to go about doing it.
Featuring some of the most absurd and hilarious dialogue of any film in recent years, you will undoubtedly be shocked by this film, but you will also be rolling with laughter. And like all great comedies, Four Lions has a heart at its center, and its melancholy denouement is quite moving. Considering its subject matter, it is unsurprising that Four Lions only made $300,000 in the United States. But in a year when most of the year's best films did get the attention they deserved, it is disappointing to see how many brilliant movies will never get seen by even serious filmgoers, and this film is a perfect example. Before you watch Inception for the 200th time, track down Four Lions, watch it, laugh uproariously, hate yourself a little bit for finding it so funny, then laugh some more.
To Summarize, the 10 Best Seriously Overlooked Films of 2010:
1) Four Lions
2) Terribly Happy
3) Everyone Else
4) Made in Dagenham
5) Mother
6) Fish Tank
7) Wild Grass
8) The Disappearance of Alice Creed
9) GasLand
10) William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe