The Most Watchable Films of 2013

In this list I would like to share the films made and seen last year that we found to be good, based on the principle that they spoke to us from a philosophical, literary-historical or purely visually enjoyable perspective. I would not wish here to retell the content of each film (a summary of each film can be found on imdb.com, for instance), but rather to write a couple of sentences about what exactly appealed.

Usually one casts a glance at such lists to reassure oneself that everything on it has already been seen. So be it. For me again it is interesting as a register of tendencies at precisely this time, in this society, at this beginning of the new century.

1. "After the Dark" / "The Philosophers" (2013)

The filmmakers philosophise about the idea: if one had to choose 10 representatives of humanity fated to survive after an atomic catastrophe, while the rest of the Earth's population was doomed to perish, what kind of people would they be - the physically and mentally healthiest, in order to successfully continue the human race physically and start everything from the beginning, from the age of cave-dwellers; or the intellectually developed, to promote progress and the rebirth of humanity in one form or another (possibly also genetically or technologically transformed); or perhaps the survival of human beings as such holds no significance?

For the 21st-century person, nothing matters except how they feel at precisely this moment. Enjoying life with all the senses to the full. Two types of person confront each other: the structural person - analytical, guided by moral and ethical norms, constrained by religious dogmas, the intellectual - and the emotional, sensitive, intuitive person, also primitive to a degree, for whom the old values do not exist (neither has the family as a social unit any value, nor personal space, nor knowledge or skills, nor ultimately life itself). The scenarios are many. Which is the right one? Which is our future scenario?

Still from the film "The Philosophers" (2013)

2. "The Butterfly's Dream" (2013)

Interesting if only because it is not a Hollywood production and does not have the cultural or historical backdrop we are accustomed to (the 1940s, Europe on the eve of war, but in Turkey). A dramatic and apparently true story about two young men, aspiring poets and literary figures - Muzaffer Tayyip Uslu and Rüştü Onur.

Through the biographical story of these young strivers, the filmmakers discuss the poet's calling. Write not because you want to express yourself or tell society your opinion, your story, your pain; not because you are inclined to rhyme verses; not because you have the opportunity to express yourself - but because you cannot not write. Everywhere and always. In joy and in deep pain. With a typewriter, with a short stub of pencil, on paper, on walls, in graphite, in ink, in blood. Until you fall asleep for eternity.

Still from the film "The Butterfly's Dream" (2013)

3. "The Best Offer" (2013)

Of course, actor Geoffrey Rush in the lead role already means that the film will not be trivial but will carry a certain philosophical weight. At its core is a discussion of those "subtle ailments" so aptly described by the Latvian writer Ēriks Ādamsons - an obsession with perfect cleanliness (the main character always wears gloves), a passion for collecting, the search for the ideal woman, and social phobia.

But in the end it is revealed that behind all of this lies a simple human vanity, raised to divine heights and so easily touched, offended. How fragile it is - such that as it shatters into tiny shards, the very essence of a human life shatters too. But does the person himself shatter?

Still from the film "The Best Offer" (2013)

4. "The Great Gatsby" (2013)

A visually very enjoyable, magnificent film (what can one do - the 1920s–30s are my weakness). At its core, the familiar pain of the American prose writer F. Scott Fitzgerald - all women are heartless creatures who make poor men ruin their lives.

A classic that ought to be seen, if only because in school one may not have paid sufficient attention to the required reading.

Still from the film "The Great Gatsby" (2013)

5. "Hannibal" (2013)

This is a series, whose first season of 13 episodes was screened in 2013, with a continuation to be expected. The theme begun by American writer Thomas Harris is continued - the character of Hannibal Lecter (films: "Hannibal" (2001), also known as "The Silence of the Lambs," with Anthony Hopkins in the lead role, & "Hannibal Rising" (2007), also known as "The Rise," with Gaspard Ulliel in the lead role) and his at first glance inhuman treatment of his victims - dissection, evisceration and subsequent cannibalism. Later it emerges that this was a childhood trauma that formed a "distorted" understanding of the victim-perpetrator relationship.

This time it is a modern American thriller with a chain of mysterious murders, FBI involvement, psychotherapists and an entire team of pathologists. Pleasing is the fact that the main character is nevertheless not "ruined" (played by contemporary Danish cinema star Mads Mikkelsen) - composed, refined, an intellectual, an observer of traditions, a sharp-minded person, an excellent culinary artist, a connoisseur of wines, an aesthete.

For the highly visually impressionable I do not recommend it, as the scenes are beyond all competition in terms of bloodiness and repulsiveness (in the tradition of horror). If it were not connected to the subtleties of human psychological deviation, the film would be unwatchable. Otherwise - it is interesting.

Still from the series "Hannibal" (2013)

6. "Mr Selfridge" (2013)

Also a series. I watched the first season's 10 episodes, as they say, "with great relish" - in practically two sittings. As with Gatsby, this is my favourite period, but this time it is Britain, and the story of a shopkeeper, a charismatic and inexpressibly ambitious entrepreneur. In close-up: the real personality of Harry Gordon Selfridge.

The film very clearly shows the differing roles and callings of men and women in life, as well as their interaction with social values and prejudices. Moreover, the main character and four female archetypes are particularly well drawn. All are vivid personalities.

Still from the series "Mr Selfridge" (2013)

7. "The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman" (2013)

The film "gets you" with its Romanian charm - the completely disordered environment but childlike sincerity, which is intertwined with the harsh realities of life. No moralising or ratiocination; following some vague visions, hallucinations that lead to a fateful encounter.

Each of the aforementioned and following films has an aftertaste. This film's aftertaste is an all-encompassing sense of freedom. Freedom to live, freedom to die, freedom to leave home, possessions, a person; freedom to find home, possessions and a person - one's own person.

Still from the film "The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman" (2013)

8. "Night Train to Lisbon" (2013)

I will not repeat myself - I have devoted a whole article to this film >> http://www.iinuu.lv/en/dziveszinai/kino/nakts-vilciens-uz-lisabonu-2013

9. "Möbius" (2013)

Likewise for this one >> http://www.iinuu.lv/en/dziveszinai/kino/spiegu-filma-mobius-2013

10. "Elysium" (2013)

A simulation set in the year 2154. As in the currently popular "The Hunger Games" (The Hunger Games, 2012), here too society is physically and socially divided into two parts - the lower and upper social strata. Moreover, the latter not only lives in luxury and prosperity but has also developed to such a technological level that it is capable of regenerating tissue, curing any disease and living life to the full. This is only possible by completely isolating oneself from the "riff-raff" - this time on an artificially created space station.

The filmmakers allow themselves to discuss not only the now well-worn theme of inequality, but also the floodgates which, if opened, could destroy this well-constructed and harmonious world. Moral and ethical norms turn out to be no longer the floodgates - only brute force can stop people who lack food, health and independence.

Still from the film "Elysium" (2013)

11. "Open Grave" (2013)

If the previous film was pure science fiction, then this is science fiction with elements of horror. A simulation of a biological catastrophe and the possibility of averting it. But at its core is a discussion of what a human being actually is - can one call a being without memory a human? Will a person become the same person again when memory returns, or will it be someone else? How short human memory is! If we ignore this fact, can humanity even survive?

Naturally, an unpleasant aftertaste - many corpses, zombies, frightening darkness. But is it pleasant to remember everything in life? The human mind is well-designed to block out and forget the unpleasant. But what if you forget even who you yourself are. That is where the real horror lies.

Still from the film "Open Grave" (2013)

12. "Beautiful Creatures" (2013)

This film could be described as a fairy tale for adults. There is an inexperienced young man, an aspiring young witch and an old house practically on chicken legs. But as is known, every fairy tale has a moral. Every fairy tale in reality addresses the everyday problems faced by growing people - adolescents. Why am I different from others? How should I react to peers' teasing and mockery? How do I leave home, my native city, my parents, in order to find my own path in life? All of this requires great inner strength, resolve, even a certain enchantment.

It will appeal to those captivated by films about vampires, witches and wizards, or to those who enjoy magnificently illustrated fairy tale books. The film smells slightly of mothballs, but that is the lot of all old and mystical things.

Still from the film "Beautiful Creatures" (2013)

13. "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013)

Leonardo DiCaprio was made for roles like this - without brakes. This time: a phone stock-trading guru. A lesson in how one can become a millionaire (outside the law) without creating, producing or building anything. One might even call it an amoral comedy that allows you either to laugh heartily or to fume at total permissiveness and the transgression of all norms (depending on taste).

Still from the film "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013)

Interestingly, there is still some aftertaste. At least the song is properly catchy. Enjoy! :)