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The Best Films of the 2000s Decade
The greatest films of the 2000s, from the Korean New Wave to the resurgence of the fantasy genre.
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Far From Heaven (2002)
It is an unassumingly bold move from Todd Haynes to dig deep into the antiquated conventions of classic Sirkian melodramas in Far From Heaven, as through gentle long dissolves and saturated autumnal colour palettes he delicately expresses the emotional sensitivity of his middle-class characters quietly rubbing up against the racial prejudices, homophobia, and class structures…
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Bad Education (2004)
The reunion of young film director Enrique with old childhood friend Angel at the start of Bad Education is complicated when fraudulent identities come to light, warping Pedro Almodóvar’s transgressive melodrama of child sexual abuse and corrupt religious authorities into a twisted yet vibrantly colourful neo-noir of elaborate lies and murder.
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Amores Perros (2000)
Within a remarkably ambitious narrative structure exploring the collision of three strangers’ lives in a devastating car crash, Alejandro Iñárritu dedicates Amores Perros to sorting through the subsequent chaos, its violent effects rippling outwards in an urban ecosystem of disloyalty, cruelty, and decay.
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Talk to Her (2002)
After two pairs of men and women suffer strikingly similar twists of fate in Talk to Her, twin storylines of comatose hospital patients and their carers intertwine, through which Pedro Almodovar’s expressive melodramatic touch offers a sensitive, complex examination of the thin line dividing love and obsession.
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Zodiac (2007)
The obscure mystery at the heart of Zodiac is made all the more frustrating by the pinpoint precision with which David Fincher attacks his plotting, cinematography, and characterisation, shifting the focus away from its fruitless puzzles and onto a study of psychological obsession.
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24 City (2008)
Jia Zhangke remains as engaged in the globalisation of industrial China as ever with his foray into documentary filmmaking, as 24 City’s experimental blend of authentic and scripted interviews suggest a shift into an uncertain, postmodern future where luxurious, high-rise apartments displace tight-knit working communities.