It's that time of year again,
when the media fills with up reviews and best-of lists reminding
us of the political and cultural highlights of the past
twelve months. Thinking with our souls, let's take a look
back at the best bits of 2007 on the big screen. If we managed
to withstand the deluge of Pirates, Transformers, Simpsons,
a Shrek, a Spiderman, and a Potter, we may well have enjoyed
some of that elusive delicacy - cinematic spiritual sustenance.
The heavily anticipated 'Christian'
film, Amazing Grace, on the life of William Wilberforce,
turned out to be well told, well acted and irresistibly
inspiring. Michael Moore was on a more modern crusade in
Sicko - an exposé of healthcare access in the US
- which likewise reminded us that in a world of absurd injustice,
the fence is not a place we should be found. Meanwhile,
Blood Diamond brought to the world's attention the shadowy
links between diamond-buying in the West and civil conflict
in Africa. Here, as in so many works of fiction, Africa
is a symbol of our dark and sinful hearts; but it's a place
where redemption is always possible.
Our favourite amnesiac assassin,
Jason Bourne, made a welcome return in The Bourne Ultimatum
which, like the first two Bourne films, refreshingly eschewed
the traditional might-is-right values of the action genre.
Bourne's modus operandi is fisticuffs, yes, but also mercy
and forgiveness (and, admirably, public transport). Another
angst-ridden hero was Michael Clayton, a dodgy and jaded
lawyer who discovers that his firm has been defending an
even more dodgy chemical company. This is a story of human
beings struggling with the toxic anxiety that comes with
ruling empires built on the sand of lies and power. Clayton,
for one, chooses life.
He and Bourne might have
benefited from a sojourn at the secluded French monastery
featured in Into Great Silence, a beautifully shot, almost
wordless documentary of repetitive but God-drenched monastic
life. This was a unique cinematic experience; so too was
Once, a simple tale of a busker and an immigrant set on
the streets of Dublin. Once's effect is almost beyond description,
perhaps because it is first and foremost a film about music
- not musicians or the music industry - music, and who of
us comprehends music's mysterious, spiritual power? The
many scenes in which a few people play a song together are
somehow more gripping than any million-dollar action sequence.
Finally, my choice of best
film of the year - the Oscar-winning The Lives of Others.
Set in 1980s East Berlin, it tells the story of a barren
life transformed by the contagiousness of truth and beauty.
Wiesler, an icy, ruthless officer in the secret police (known
as the Stasi) is assigned to spy on a noted playwright and
his arty friends to uncover any seditious activity. In this
wonderfully plotted thriller, the spiritual and political
are entwined as the soul-destroying oppression of the state
- represented by Wiesler - crumbles in the face of unquenchable
humanity.
So there you go: if, with
the twin afflictions of Christmas shopping and Christmas
television upon us, you find yourself, in the next few weeks,
either scouring Amazon for the loved one who has everything
or browsing to rent in the DVD shop, you know what to look
out for…
David Mitchell
