2010 Film Triad

The three best films of the year were directed by three of the most innovative current directors. They are Christopher Nolan’s Inception, David Fincher’s The Social Network, and Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan.  All three of these directors are at the top of their game, directing the familiar psychological thrillers we’ve become accustomed to (Nolan did Memento & The Dark Knight, Fincher did Se7en & Fight Club, Aronofsky did Pi & Requiem For A Dream).  It’s hard to choose which is the best film of 2010 overall, but I’ve given the edge to Black Swan. 

Inception was the first to come out, and it took the summer by storm.  I believe it was the top-grossing film of the summer, which is highly unusual for a psychological thriller. Of the three this was the longest, the most visually captivating, and the most difficult to follow.  It’s about a spy undergoing corporate espionage inside the dreams of the enemies of those who hired him. The intellectual engagement and intensity is a solid 10, and there’s an incredible fight scene in which the camera revolves around a room that is synchronizing time lapses with altered states of consciousness.  These dream adventures were highly intriguing to me personally because it reminded of the different states of astral projection.  Astral projection was not mentioned in the film, but the methods of attaining dream infiltration were the same.  The ending was good and open to interpretation, but a couple weaknesses in this film were the mediocre acting and the ultra-in-your-face-conceptuality-blowout that isn’t ever balanced with emotional relaxation.  Too much emphasis is placed on the concept of the story and not on the emotional aspect. 

The Social Network came out next, and it was also a blockbuster hit.  This may have been more of a drama than a psychological thriller, but the plot was still interesting enough to keep me guessing.  Like Inception it was very fast paced (the dialogue was intentionally fast to cement the originality of the film) and had an in-your-face intensity, but it was the acting in this film that really made it shine.  The guy who plays Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, will probably win an Academy Award for best actor.  But considering the intellectual engagement of Inception I don’t judge The Social Network to be quite as good.  To me the ending wasn’t very strong, and there’s too much foul behavior and backstabbing to savor my taste the way Inception did, but the way it’s presented is still a riveting interpretation of the one of the most influential people of our time.  Even though I didn’t fancy the film, I have a lot of respect for it and I may watch it again for the witty dialogue and great acting. 

Black Swan is currently out in theaters (just saw it a few days ago), and this one barely edges out Inception, only because the ending comes together more nicely.  The two films are generally similar in that they are both intensely psychotic with plethoras of altered-state experiences.  Yet they are thematically different in that the artistry and emotional engagement of Black Swan complements the intellectual, conceptual ambience of Inception.  I chose Black Swan because it more clearly depicts the archetypal struggles in female psychology than Inception depicts, well, frankly an unrealistic issue, unless corporations eventually do master astral projection, which shouldn't surprise me!  Like The Social Network, Black Swan had some really good acting- I’ve never seen Natalie Portman do a roll so well.  Even though the ending was predictable (the film’s only weakness), it was executed to perfection and I’ll never forget it. 

I haven’t seen Toy Story 3 yet, which I’ve heard was also one of the best films of the year, but I chose to write about these three because of their stylistic proximity.  A hundred years from now 2010 might be remembered for these similar, stellar films by legendary directors that all came out at roughly the same time.  Unfortunately Black Swan has not gotten the marketing that it deserves, so it will probably be a cult classic like Pi.  Aronofsky might be the most underrated director in Hollywood.