When the time comes to scrutinize this decade in film, the emphasis will probably fall on the director. Standing up against the 1980s notion of the blockbuster, the '90s directors created stylized, introspective products that were about emotions, and not explosions.
Tim Burton exhibits this change at the dawn of the new decade. Hot on the heels of 1989's action-filled "Batman," his "Edward Scissorhands" provides a calculated attack on the American ideal in the form of a modern-day Frankenstein. But rather than employ the cynical and sarcastic, Burton infuses romantic, dreamlike qualities into his Tupperware-enclosed world.
Robert Altman's wonderfully self-conscious quasi-parody of the film industry, "The Player," stands out as one the best efforts of the early '90s. The film calls into question where cinema ends and real life begins. Altman's career has been full of up and downs, and when coupled with "Short Cuts" this film marks a definite peak in the work of a brilliant cinematic architect.
Director Atom Egoyan is making the best movies coming out today, and I'm not usually prone to exaggerate or make garish claims for the sake of talking. His 1994 film, "Exotica" laughs in the face of conventional narrative. You're only allowed partial passage into the world of the characters, and yet, you can completely identify with them all. Poetic and entrancing, Egoyan is the master of encapsulating existence on celluloid.
Luc Besson is either a genius or a lunatic, depending on whom you ask. Perhaps he's both. "The Professional," a tale of love between a hitman and a 14-year-old girl, is evidence that, in a decade of Van Damme and Schwarzenegger, action films can be brilliant. The film is not as experimental as his more recent work ("The Fifth Element," "The Messenger"); instead, it's a more subdued and personal effort.
This choice is almost obligatory. Rarely has a movie affected every movie after it. "Pulp Fiction" did just that. Tarantino brilliantly encapsulates the directors, conventions and story lines that came before him into a sinister reaffirmation that movies can have style - that they can, in fact, be defined by style. When this movie came out, it was compared to Scorsese and Coppola. Now, new movies are compared to it.
I don't really need to explain the inclusion of "The Shawshank Redemption" in this list. Everyone loves this movie - and for good reason. This is the most mainstream movie of the list, but it shies away from the usual trappings of conventional drama. Characters aren't predictable and plot situations aren't overly melodramatic. And, it has two of the decade's best actors in Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman.
David Fincher is quickly ascending the A-List of Hollywood directors. "Seven" reveals the truly twisted mind of the most sadistic man in the film industry. The grisly and uncompromising visual style of this film mirrors its brutal subject matter.
"The Sweet Hereafter," Egoyan's 1997 follow up to "Exotica," is about as close as you can get to cinematic perfection. There are no moments that ring false. Every aspect comes together to create an amazing final product. Its two Academy Awards nominations are astounding considering the lack of a significant publicity campaign.
Don't dismiss "Out of Sight" that easily. I saw that it starred George Clooney and I threw it aside like so many other summer action movies. But take into consideration that it has one of the best screenwriters (Scott Frank) one of the most interesting directors (Steven Soderbergh) working today at its helm. Throw in a brilliant score by David Holmes and dead-on acting by Jennifer Lopez and Don Cheadle and you have one of the smartest offerings of the decade. How this movie didn't make $100 million, I'll never know.
"American Beauty" shouldn't have been this good. A first-time director coupled with a first-time screenwriter should have mustered a mediocre product at best. Instead, we have the best movie of 1999 so far. After watching "American Beauty," every other movie seems somehow less funny, less beautiful and less profound.
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