The Best Films of the 00s: 2009

by Tony Dayoub

2009 proved surprisingly robust in its cinematic offerings. It yielded two films which you'll see tomorrow when I wrap this up with my look at the Best of the Decade. In the meantime, this should prove to be a highly debatable list, as these lists often are when they are created so soon before any serious critical consensus has been achieved. Some reminders: I cannot judge movies I haven't seen, so if you feel a film you like was unjustly left out, it might be that I haven't seen it; also, I've included a link back to the original review for each film.

And now, in alphabetical order, the best films of 2009...

NYFF09 Movie Review: Das weisse band (The White Ribbon)

by Tony Dayoub



The best new work I've seen at the festival so far is Michael Haneke's Das weisse band (The White Ribbon). That shouldn't surprise me too much since it did win the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year. The film is a meditation on the cycle of violence that begets more violence in a small German village just after the turn of the (20th) century. Handsomely mounted in crisp black and white, part of the reason it is so remarkable is because of Haneke's deftness at eliciting consistently strong performances from his entire cast. Not that one shouldn't expect it from a major director, but when the cast is as large as this one, and a significant portion of the actors are very young children, it is even more conspicuous.