The Best Films of 1993

                          The Best Films of 1993

                   Copyright 1993 James Berardinelli

A Note on "Film Eligibility":  Movies considered for this article are

not necessarily those with 1994 Academy Award eligibility.  My top ten

list is comprised of films released between January 1, 1993 and

December 31, 1993 in any of the theaters within my typical viewing

area.  Late-1993 films released exclusively in New York and Los Angeles

for Oscar consideration are not eligible for this list.  Several "big

name" films missing are:  PHILADELPHIA, IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, and

SHADOWLANDS.

     While 1993 dawned as one of the weakest movie years in recent

memory, it ended with a flourish that placed it among the strongest.

As always, there was plenty of dross to sift through to find the

quality, but many of those motion pictures that rose to the top were

exceptional.  The crown jewel of all--Spielberg's SCHINDLER'S LIST--is

easily the best film in years--if not longer.

     January began with a number of leftovers from 1992, none of which

were exceptionally noteworthy.  Richard Attenborough's CHAPLIN, the

most anticipated of these, turned out to be overly-ambitious for its

allowed 2-1/2-hour time slot, resulting in a frantic pace that left

little room for secondary character development.  SCENT OF A WOMAN,

while featuring Al Pacino's bombastic Oscar-winning performance, fell

short in the story department.  The best of the remains of the old year

was LORENZO'S OIL, but this was saddled by Nick Nolte's dumb accent.

Still, it's too bad so few people saw this film, because its treatment

of a medical mystery made for fascinating viewing.

     Things started looking up in February, a month not normally known

for worthwhile releases.  The delightful Australian comedy STRICTLY

BALLROOM came to these shores to an enthusiastic reception.  GROUNDHOG

DAY emerged around the same day, garnering a fair amount of praise from

critics and "typical" viewers alike.  While neither of these films

boasted much depth, their frothy, fun attitudes were enough to

momentarily stave off the bleakness of freezing temperatures and short

days.

     SOMMERSBY, which is among the best remakes of all time, arrived in

February.  The decision to focus on the love story rather than the

mystery element made this remake of THE RETURN OF MARTIN GUERRE

memorable--there were enough difference from the original to hold the

attention of those familiar with the premise.  Also helping was a

characteristically strong performance by Jodi Foster and a believable

effort by her co-star, Richard Gere.  Ironically, SOMMERSBY was

released on the same day as the year's most disappointing remake, THE

VANISHING, whose re-worked "happy ending" was a cinematic abomination.

     With the approach of spring, several very good independent films

opened, including the $7000 wonder EL MARIACHI and the screen

adaptation of Edith Wharton's ETHAN FROME (those who enjoyed THE AGE OF

INNOCENCE should check this one out).  Also making its American debut

was the relatively-unheralded LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE which, during

the course of the next six months, turned into the biggest-grossing

foreign language film in U. S. history.

     The March/April time frame also debuted two other wonderful

foreign language films.  From Italy, there was IL LADRO DI BAMBINI

(STOLEN CHILDREN), which featured brilliant newcomer Valentina Scalici

in one of the title roles.  >From France came Agnieszka Holland's

OLIVIER OLIVIER, a dramatic mystery that examined questions of identity

in much the same way that MARTIN GUERRE did.  The strength of this film

is that it kept its audience guessing until the end.

     Some might dub 1993 as the year of the "boy's coming-of-age."

Certainly, there were a number of films dealing with this theme.  One

of the better entries was THIS BOY'S LIFE, a movie that unflinchingly

confronted the subject of child abuse as Leonardo DiCaprio (known

previously only for a supporting role in TV's GROWING PAINS) took the

role of Tobias Wolff is this autobiographical tale.  THIS BOY'S LIFE

possessed an edge that many films in this category lacked.

     The onset of summer normally brings an increase in big-budget,

low-intelligence motion pictures, and 1993 was no exception.  JURASSIC

PARK, undoubtedly one of the most fun movie-going experiences of the

year, worked best for those willing to put their brains into neutral.

CLIFFHANGER, Sylvester Stallone's mega-million dollar romp, worked best

for those willing to turn their brains off entirely.  As for LAST

ACTION HERO...  well, that didn't work at all (although I still

maintain it wasn't as bad as some of its most scathing critics

contend).

     Surprisingly, amidst all this, there was still time for a little

culture, and it came in the form of Kenneth Branagh's

highly-anticipated MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING.  Not only is MUCH ADO full

of laughter and brimming with a thoroughly-infectious spirit, but it

features a number of tremendous performances of both dramatic and comic

nature (although the debate about Michael Keaton's MONTY PYTHONesque

interpretation of Dogberry will rage on).

     The early summer also saw the release of the Hughes brothers'

MENACE II SOCIETY, one of 1993's grittiest and most disturbing motion

pictures, presenting a sort of antithesis to BOYZ 'N THE HOOD.  Here,

it's the lives of the gangsters, not the "good guys", that we're shown,

and the explosive specter of violence takes on a grimmer aspect.

MENACE II SOCIETY is not an enjoyable motion picture, but it's an

important one, and not easily forgotten.

     UN COEUR EN HIVER (A HEART IN WINTER), an emotionally-wrenching

French film, came out in staggered release over the course of the

summer.  In addition to boasting a trio of fine performances, UN COEUR

told a story of tragic love that the French are so adept at.  Amidst

the summer fluff, this movie left quite an impression, and was also the

first of four 1993 movies dealing with the causes and effects of

repressed emotion.

     The rest of the summer wasn't completely devoid of good American

movies.  IN THE LINE OF FIRE, Clint Eastwood's taut action flick, and

Harrison Ford's chase thriller THE FUGITIVE were the best-recognized,

but there were a number of smaller gems as well.  AMERICAN HEART and

KING OF THE HILL, both coming-of-age tales, were standouts.  While

AMERICAN HEART dealt with an ex-con trying to go straight while

getting to know his estranged son, KING OF THE HILL gave a child's

perspective of Saint Louis during the great depression.  Good acting

and fine scripts characterized both of these little-seen motion

pictures.  And Woody Allen proved that off-screen troubles can't stop

good film making, as his delightful MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY presented

one of the season's wittier comedies.

     The arrival of fall started to bring the 1994 Oscar contenders out

of the woodwork.  The first to be released was Martin Scorsese's THE

AGE OF INNOCENCE, the lavish adaptation of Edith Wharton's Pulitzer

Prize-winning novel.  Rightfully, many critics salivated over this one,

touting it as a potential nominee for Best Picture.  It was the second

"repressed emotion" film of the year, and the best of the group.

     Next came THE JOY LUCK CLUB, a motion picture that, while moving,

was overrated.  The script, by Amy Tan and Ronald Bass, tried too hard

to force the audience to care about the characters, and the result was

a manipulative effort.  Parts of this film worked exceptionally well,

but there were too many scenes that rang false, and poor acting

undermined whole sections of the production.

     The longest film of the year was GETTYSBURG, but it was worth

sitting in a darkened theater for 4-1/2 hours.  Sure, there were some

slow moments, as there are bound to be in any epic saga, but the power

of Chamberlain's defense of Little Round Top, and the tragedy of

Pickett's charge more than made up for any deficiencies.

     Cannes boasted co-winners of its top prize, but in my estimation

they were anything but equal.  THE PIANO, while a powerful tale of

passion and its price, was not close in scope or raw emotional power to

FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE.  Chen Kaige's masterpiece epic presented an

uncompromising view of a trio of characters whose lives were

inseparably entwined.  FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE illustrated the impotence

of man when pitted against the tides of history.

     Robert DeNiro's directorial debut, A BRONX TALE, gave yet another

worthwhile entry to the coming-of-age group.  Perhaps the most

accessible of those movies, A BRONX TALE proved that DeNiro is capable

on either side of the camera.  Like all the best gangster movies, this

one worked because it focused on characters and used violence only to

illustrate elements of their personalities.  Ultimately, A BRONX TALE

was about the relationship between fathers and sons.

     SHORT CUTS was Robert Altman's follow-up to his wildly-successful

THE PLAYER.  Making use of an impressive ensemble cast, Altman wove a

fascinating and energetic tapestry based on nine stories and one poem

by Raymond Carver.  Taking liberties with the literary inspiration,

Altman brought the characters and their circumstances together in a

seamless fashion that conjured up memories of his own NASHVILLE

     THE REMAINS OF THE DAY was the third "repressed emotion" movie,

the most remarkable asset of which was indisputably Anthony Hopkins.

His subdued performance far outshone that of every other male actor

this year--and there were a number of memorable ones.  Emma Thompson

was quite good as well, although she did a somewhat better job in MUCH

ADO.

     Shortly after REMAINS came the US release of the fourth "repressed

emotion" film, THE PIANO.  While boasting exceptional acting by Harvey

Keitel and Sam Neill, and an unparalleled performance from Holly

Hunter, the impact of this film, diminished by technical flaws, was

less than that of its three similar predecessors

     Perhaps the most unexpected addition to the group of 1993's best

films came in the form of A PERFECT WORLD, a more-than-worthy

directorial follow-up to Clint Eastwood's Oscar-winning 1992 release

UNFORGIVEN.  Boasting Kevin Costner's most impressive performance to

date, and a with a script that wasn't afraid to tackle a few thorny

issues, this Thanksgiving weekend release surprised with its pathos.

     It was necessary to wait until 11-1/2 months into 1993 for the

best film of the year to arrive.  Steven Spielberg, who scored a huge

financial and popular success in June with JURASSIC PARK, made his

emotional and critical impact with SCHINDLER'S LIST, the true story of

a Nazi businessman who saved more than 1000 Jews from extermination.

As potent in style as in content, SCHINDLER'S LIST will likely stand

unequaled for a long time.

     In many ways, SCHINDLER'S LIST defies description, for there are

no written or spoken plaudits which can do the film justice.  This is

not a movie to be seen--it is one to be experienced.  Few motion

pictures come this close to perfection, and those that do should be

treasured for their rarity.

     So the door on 1993's films has closed.  As is usually the case,

countless titles have already been forgotten, but the memorable ones

shine like beacons.  Movie-goers can only hope that next year brings as

many exceptional examples.

1993's Top Ten

1.  SCHINDLER'S LIST (10.0)

2.  MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (9.5)

3.  FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE (9.5)

4.  THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (9.4)

5.  GETTYSBURG (9.1)

6.  UN COEUR EN HIVER (9.0)

7.  SHORT CUTS (8.9)

8.  THE REMAINS OF THE DAY (8.7)

9.  MENACE II SOCIETY (8.7)

10.  SOMMERSBY (8.7)

- James Berardinelli (blake7@cc.bellcore.com)