:00:00. > :00:00.Kermode takes a look back for us at the big releases of the year,
:00:00. > :00:00.sorting out the crackers from the turkeys in review 2016: the year in
:00:00. > :00:25.Hello and welcome to this Review of the Year in film.
:00:26. > :00:34.where for the next half now we will be looking back at some
:00:35. > :00:42.of the best movies released in UK cinemas in 2016.
:00:43. > :00:45.2016 was a pretty tumultuous year, what with the "Brexit" vote in June,
:00:46. > :00:48.and the results of the American election in November proving that
:00:49. > :00:51.In the world of politics, uncertainty can be alarming.
:00:52. > :00:54.When it comes to movies, it is the expected which really
:00:55. > :00:57.While the naysayers can blame that movies today are just
:00:58. > :00:59.an endless slew of sequels, remakes and superhero franchise
:01:00. > :01:01.fodder, let's spend some time celebrating the films
:01:02. > :01:04.Which prove that cinema today really is more
:01:05. > :01:35.2016 got off to a remarkable start with Room,
:01:36. > :01:36.Irish director Lenny Abrahamson's film
:01:37. > :01:41.adapted by screenwriter Emma Donoghue from her bestselling novel.
:01:42. > :01:43.Room opened in the UK in January to rave reviews,
:01:44. > :01:52.who went on to win both the Bafta and Oscar for Best Actress.
:01:53. > :01:54.You're going to help me trick Old Nick.
:01:55. > :02:02.Old Nick is going to come and take you outside,
:02:03. > :02:04.and I'm going to be there in your head talking
:02:05. > :02:13.I'm scared. I know.
:02:14. > :02:19.The Oscar for Best picture went to Spotlight, a fact-based drama
:02:20. > :02:22.about the Boston Globe's coverage of a child abuse scandal
:02:23. > :02:32.But the Oscars themselves were mired with headline grabbing controversy
:02:33. > :02:35.when the subject of racism in Hollywood and the Oscarssowhite
:02:36. > :02:46.Of the 20 Oscar nominees for Best Actor, Best Actress,
:02:47. > :02:48.Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting actress, not one
:02:49. > :02:59.Oh, and in the Best Director category,
:03:00. > :03:03.It's a depressing state of affairs and the Academy have taken steps
:03:04. > :03:05.to ensure their membership becomes more diverse, but, despite such
:03:06. > :03:09.embarrassing and, there was one area in which the Oscars got it right,
:03:10. > :03:10.and that was in the foreign-language film category.
:03:11. > :03:13.Having premiered in Cannes, back in 2015, Laszlo Nemes' searing
:03:14. > :03:15.holocaust drama Son of Saul took the Oscar for foreign-language
:03:16. > :03:18.With Claude Lanzeman, the filmmaker behind Shoah,
:03:19. > :03:20.declaring that this Hungarian masterpiece presented a very real
:03:21. > :03:23.sense of what it was like to be in the Sonderkommando.
:03:24. > :03:30.Son of Saul was a deserving Oscar winner, but nominated alongside it
:03:31. > :03:33.were some of the best films to open in UK cinemas in 2016.
:03:34. > :03:35.From director Ciro Guerra, Embrace of the Serpent,
:03:36. > :03:37.a monochrome mix of fact and fantasy, Western exploration
:03:38. > :03:40.and Amazonian myth that earned Colombia its first nomination
:03:41. > :03:54.a tale of Turkish sisters imprisoned in their home
:03:55. > :03:59.Beautifully directed by Deniz Gamze Erguven,
:04:00. > :04:12.who coached vibrant performances from her ensemble cast,
:04:13. > :04:20.Mustang also benefited from a terrific score by Warren Ellis.
:04:21. > :04:31.Ellis is one of modern cinema's most intriguing composers,
:04:32. > :04:39.alongside the likes of Johnny Greenwood
:04:40. > :04:41.alongside the likes of Johnny Greenwood and Clint Mansell,
:04:42. > :04:43.who did superb work on Ben Wheatley's adaptation
:04:44. > :04:45.of JG Ballard's dystopian novel, High-Rise, his woozy,
:04:46. > :04:46.sensuous score heavily capturing the film's
:04:47. > :04:49.I'm so sorry. I'll survive.
:04:50. > :04:51.I thought you were empty. I just moved in.
:04:52. > :04:54.High-Rise opened in UK cinemas in March, where it went head-to-head
:04:55. > :04:57.with the Coen Brothers' splendid throwback Hollywood fantasy, Hail,
:04:58. > :04:59.Caesar!, one of the most delightfully silly
:05:00. > :05:03.Why do you say it like that, why do you say "t'were"?
:05:04. > :05:05.Well, you said "say it like I say it."
:05:06. > :05:07.Yes, but... You seem to be lingering.
:05:08. > :05:09.It's interminable, the word, I'm wondering when it will end,
:05:10. > :05:12.and we shouldn't be wondering, should we, we should be marching
:05:13. > :05:17.When April rolled around, nothing could touch The Jungle Book,
:05:18. > :05:19.Disney's reboot of its classic cartoon which became the real
:05:20. > :05:23.king of the swingers at the UK box office.
:05:24. > :05:28.Billed as a live action affair, The Jungle Book was almost entirely
:05:29. > :05:31.CGI with the young star's Mowgli being one of the very few
:05:32. > :05:33.live-action elements in a movie which cast Idris Elba as a digital
:05:34. > :05:36.Shere Khan, Bill Murray as a lovable Baloo the bear,
:05:37. > :05:38.and Christopher Walken as a gigantic King Louie.
:05:39. > :05:46.and Once director John Carney's Sing Street
:05:47. > :05:51.of a teenager's pop-tastic adventures in the mysterious world
:05:52. > :06:07.Meanwhile, over in France, the 69th Cannes Film Festival
:06:08. > :06:16.offered yet more reasons for rejoicing as Ken Loach
:06:17. > :06:18.won his second Palme d'Or for the social realist
:06:19. > :06:29.Having previously claimed the top prize
:06:30. > :06:31.with The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Ken Loach,
:06:32. > :06:35.won the judges over once again with his blistering tale
:06:36. > :06:37.of Newcastle joiner recovering from a heart attack or finds
:06:38. > :06:40.himself on the wrong end of a bureaucratic benefit system.
:06:41. > :06:42.Superbly scripted by Paul Lafferty, with outstanding performances
:06:43. > :06:44.by Dave Johns and Hayley Squires, I, Daniel Blake is powerful
:06:45. > :06:47.No wonder both Johns and Squires were honoured
:06:48. > :06:49.with trophies at the recent British Independent film awards.
:06:50. > :06:51.What I gather now is the decision-maker,
:06:52. > :06:53.the decision-maker's gonna be sending you a letter
:06:54. > :06:58.My kids have to start school tomorrow, I've got
:06:59. > :07:03.All because you can't just calm down and listen to people when they talk,
:07:04. > :07:07.You know what, I've listened to you, you've created a scene.
:07:08. > :07:10.No mate, if I was going to create a scene, you'd know about it.
:07:11. > :07:16.Do you mind if this young lass signs on first?
:07:17. > :07:25.Now you can go back to your desk and let her sign on and do the job
:07:26. > :07:30.The jury prize at Cannes also went to a British film-maker,
:07:31. > :07:32.Andrea Arnold, whose first US-set feature, American Honey,
:07:33. > :07:34.went on to win best film at the Biffas.
:07:35. > :07:37.Centring on Sasha Lane's Texan teen who hits the road with a number
:07:38. > :07:40.of young magazine sellers, American Honey was shot by I,
:07:41. > :07:42.Daniel Blake's cinematography, Robbie Ryan, who worked wonders
:07:43. > :07:44.with the square Academy ratio frame which is
:07:45. > :08:12.Remarkable, too, to see Transformers star Shia LaBeouf doing career-best
:08:13. > :08:15.work in a film which is the very antithesis of those
:08:16. > :08:18.bloated blockbuster movies which made him a star.
:08:19. > :08:20.Of course, those blockbuster movies continue to thrive.
:08:21. > :08:22.The Transformers franchise was very much in evidence
:08:23. > :08:24.here in autumn as they shot scenes for the forthcoming Transformers:
:08:25. > :08:27.The Last Night, which we can all look forward to in 2017(!).
:08:28. > :08:30.In the mean time, the summer of 2016 was dominated by the return
:08:31. > :08:33.who made a whale-size splash at the box office
:08:34. > :08:37.Disney-Pixar's Finding Dory was one of a slew of animated features
:08:38. > :08:52.which breathed life into UK cinemas in 2016.
:08:53. > :08:53.I'm coming. Sorry.
:08:54. > :08:57.Everybody does it, nothing to be ashamed of.
:08:58. > :09:05.In June, we got the long-delayed release of the anime gem
:09:06. > :09:16.When Marnie Was There, Studio Ghiblis Japanese
:09:17. > :09:18.-- In June, we got the long-delayed release of the anime gem
:09:19. > :09:28.Studio Ghibli's Japanese adaptation of Joan G Robinson's Norfolk set
:09:29. > :09:31.-- In June, we got the long-delayed release of the anime gem
:09:32. > :09:36.of Joan G Robinson's Norfolk set novel.
:09:37. > :09:39.Then there was Zootropolis, or Zootopia as its known in the US,
:09:40. > :09:41.which is currently shaping up as a strong contender
:09:42. > :09:45.for the forthcoming animated feature Oscar.
:09:46. > :09:52.Other contenders include Kubo and the Two Strings,
:09:53. > :09:53.a sublime stop-motion animation from Paranorman
:09:54. > :09:58.Yes, he's very powerful, but he still has much to learn.
:09:59. > :10:15.And Moana, Disney's current cinema offering from the directors
:10:16. > :10:47.-- was Makoto Shinkai's Your Name, a thrilling body swap anime
:10:48. > :10:49.which topped the Japanese box office charts for three months before
:10:50. > :10:53.While films like Finding Dory and Zootropolis delighted audiences
:10:54. > :10:55.and critics alike other blockbusters proved altogether more divisive.
:10:56. > :10:57.Take, for example, Zack Snyder's much-hyped Batman vs
:10:58. > :11:00.Superman: Dawn of Justice, which proved a solid box office hit
:11:01. > :11:04.despite almost universally negative reviews from sniffy critics like me.
:11:05. > :11:05.Who were variously accused of being corrupt, idiotic
:11:06. > :11:10.Now in fact, what the financial success of Batman vs Superman proved
:11:11. > :11:12.is that reviews have zero effect on box office.
:11:13. > :11:14.Audiences don't go to see films because critics
:11:15. > :11:25.they go because they want to see them.
:11:26. > :11:27.Take note, Alex Proyas, director of this year's
:11:28. > :11:32.copper-bottomed stinker Gods of Egypt, who took to social media
:11:33. > :11:35.to call critics "a pack of diseased vultures,
:11:36. > :11:37.pecking at the bones of a dying carcass",
:11:38. > :11:39.without realising that in doing so, he was effectively calling
:11:40. > :11:56.While Batman vs Superman caught its fair share of critical
:11:57. > :11:58.flak other superheroes did better, with the critics.
:11:59. > :12:03.Take Ryan Reynolds's Deadpool, Marvel's wisecracking self
:12:04. > :12:06.reflexive anti hero who took the box office by storm and earned pretty
:12:07. > :12:13.Captain America: Civil War performed well too,
:12:14. > :12:22.when that opened in April, in the autumn, Dr Strange offered up
:12:23. > :12:25.a winning mix of superhero antics and Ken Russell-style
:12:26. > :12:44.we are not going to see an end to big budget blockbuster comic book
:12:45. > :12:54.film franchises any time in the near future.
:12:55. > :12:56.But it was at the other end of the financial spectrum,
:12:57. > :12:59.and indeed often on the other side of the Atlantic, that the really
:13:00. > :13:03.Encouragingly, 2016 saw the release of a number of low-budget home-made
:13:04. > :13:06.features which really put their more expensive counterparts to shame.
:13:07. > :13:07.Take, for example, Notes on Blindness, an electrifying
:13:08. > :13:09.adaptation of the memoirs of theologian John Hull,
:13:10. > :13:12.who made cassette recordings documenting his loss of sight
:13:13. > :13:22.and subsequent journey from darkness to light.
:13:23. > :13:27.Getting actors to lip sync to these recordings recordings in a manner
:13:28. > :13:29.similar to that used by Clio Barnard for The Arbor,
:13:30. > :13:31.film-makers Peter Middleton and James Spinney created
:13:32. > :13:38.a film which is informative, empathetic and deeply spiritual,
:13:39. > :13:40.one of the very best films of the year.
:13:41. > :13:43.The pictures in the gallery of my mind have dimmed somewhat.
:13:44. > :13:45.Everything was drifting away, how could this happen to me?
:13:46. > :13:48.Who had the right to deprive me of the sight
:13:49. > :14:04.I could no longer remember easily what my wife looked like, what my
:14:05. > :14:14.daughter, imaging, looked like. -- Imogene.
:14:15. > :14:16.Notes on blindness was one of several home-made indie pictures
:14:17. > :14:24.Other admirable oddities included Stephen Fingleton's stripped down
:14:25. > :14:27.Northern Ireland thriller The Survivalist, Joe Stevenson's
:14:28. > :14:55.Stevenson's Chicken, superbly shot by rising
:14:56. > :15:06.and Jane Gull's My Feral Heart, with a brilliant central performance
:15:07. > :15:09.My favourite film of 2016 was the spine-chilling British
:15:10. > :15:10.production Under the Shadow, from Iran-born London-based
:15:11. > :15:14.The UK's entry for the foreign language film Oscar,
:15:15. > :15:17.under the shadow was set in terrain, shot in Jordan and filmed in faster,
:15:18. > :15:20.there are not too Roman Polansky and the Guilermo del Toro
:15:21. > :15:22.but Anvari's superbly creepy chiller conjures an atmosphere
:15:23. > :15:37.With very strong performances by Narges Rashidi and Avin Manshadi
:15:38. > :15:44.as the mother and daughter terrorised by falling bombs,
:15:45. > :16:03.Under the Shadow is a film that you simply must not miss,
:16:04. > :16:05.believe me, it will take your breath away.
:16:06. > :16:07.Films like under the shadow and notes on blindness
:16:08. > :16:09.found their audiences thanks in large part to the efforts
:16:10. > :16:11.of the UK's still thriving independent cinema circuit,
:16:12. > :16:15.If you're lucky enough to have a local arthouse cinema,
:16:16. > :16:18.then make sure you make the most of it.
:16:19. > :16:20.Multiplexes are fine, up to a point, but without the independents
:16:21. > :16:24.we will end up with an endless stream of movies which all look
:16:25. > :16:28.The 13th Amendment to the Constitution makes it
:16:29. > :16:30.unconstitutional for someone to be kept as a slave. There are
:16:31. > :16:32.exceptions, including criminals. The loophole was
:16:33. > :16:33.immediately exploited... Of course, in the age
:16:34. > :16:39.of the Internet, viewing with more and more people choosing
:16:40. > :16:42.to watch movies online. This in itself is not a problem
:16:43. > :16:45.unless the film's online presence prevents people from seeing it
:16:46. > :16:54.in cinemas and that was kind of the case
:16:55. > :16:59.with the brilliant documentary 13th, which provocatively teased out
:17:00. > :17:02.connections between the history of slavery and modern-day
:17:03. > :17:04.imprisonment in the USA. It's powerful polemical fare
:17:05. > :17:08.and for me, one of the real highlights of the year but having
:17:09. > :17:10.been funded by Netflix, 13th was only allowed to play in one
:17:11. > :17:13.cinema in the UK, this, despite the fact that several
:17:14. > :17:16.independent cinemas were hammering In an ideal world, streaming
:17:17. > :17:19.services and cinemas would work hand-in-hand,
:17:20. > :17:26.not in competition. This beast that is needed to be
:17:27. > :17:33.controlled. It became virtually impossible
:17:34. > :17:35.for a politician to run The kinds of kids that
:17:36. > :17:38.are called super creditors. Millions of dollars will be
:17:39. > :17:40.designated for jail facilities. As the autumn rolled around,
:17:41. > :17:47.fans of science fiction welcome the arrival of Arrival,
:17:48. > :17:49.the beautiful first-contact movie from French-Canadian
:17:50. > :17:50.director Denis Villeneuve, who made the great thriller,
:17:51. > :17:53.Sicario, based on a story by Ted Chiang, Arrival starred
:17:54. > :17:55.Amy Adams as a linguist, recruited to help communicate
:17:56. > :17:57.with aliens whose nature They need to see me.
:17:58. > :18:00.Are you insane? A film of ideas rather
:18:01. > :18:03.than special effects, Arrival played in UK cinemas around
:18:04. > :18:06.the same time Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals, which also starred
:18:07. > :18:09.Amy Adams, in a very different role, this time as an LA art dealer,
:18:10. > :18:15.confronted by ghosts of the past. Other outstanding female
:18:16. > :18:37.performances in films released in the UK in 2016 include
:18:38. > :18:52.Isabelle Huppert's wonderful work in Mia Hansen-Love's Things To Come,
:18:53. > :18:55.a drama about an academic whose life is unexpectedly change when her
:18:56. > :19:13.husband reveals a dark secret. Then there was Pedro
:19:14. > :19:14.Almodovar's Julieta, sensibly adapted from the writings
:19:15. > :19:17.of Canadian author Alison Munro, with award-winning performances
:19:18. > :19:19.from the younger and older For me, this was Pedro Almodovar's
:19:20. > :19:22.best work since Volver. I was also bowled over
:19:23. > :19:25.by Meryl Streep as the so-called Diva of Din industries and free's
:19:26. > :19:27.and affectionate and funny Florence Foster Jenkins,
:19:28. > :19:30.a celebration of life of the first Plaudits too to Kate Beckinsale,
:19:31. > :19:33.who was an acerbic delight in Whit Stillman's Love
:19:34. > :19:35.Friendship, perhaps -- the most perfect screen
:19:36. > :19:50.rendering of Jane Austen's And, let's not forget,
:19:51. > :19:58.Kate Dickie, deeply disturbing in the ultra-creepy new England
:19:59. > :20:21.folktale The Witch. When it comes to leading men, few
:20:22. > :20:23.were better than David Oyelowo in United Kingdom, opening the London
:20:24. > :20:31.Sun Festival in October, directed by a female British director of proud
:20:32. > :20:39.Ghanaian heritage, the United Kingdom broke several glass ceilings
:20:40. > :20:43.as it told the story of David Oyelowo, as an African king in
:20:44. > :20:46.waiting, and Rosamund Pike. Having been overlooked for sterling work in
:20:47. > :20:54.Selma, David Oyelowo would be top of my award pack this term. We should
:20:55. > :21:00.not be fighting for segregation, we should be focusing EDF can for
:21:01. > :21:04.equality, that is where we should be focusing our minds, not on the Wi-Fi
:21:05. > :21:08.have chosen, who means you no harm, whose only apparent crime has been
:21:09. > :21:14.to fall in love with me. -- not on the wife I have chosen. -- we should
:21:15. > :21:21.be focusing on the fight for equality.
:21:22. > :21:26.Taking inspiration from films like Martin Scorsese's king of comedy,
:21:27. > :21:31.this is a roller-coaster ride, built on not one but two great
:21:32. > :21:40.performances, no wonder he is one of the world's most popular movie
:21:41. > :21:48.stars, excellent work by Shah Rukh Khan. 2016 was also the year we lost
:21:49. > :21:51.some great stars, from Gene Wilder, to Alan Rickman, who worked wonders
:21:52. > :21:56.both behind and in front of the camera, to David Bowie, whose man
:21:57. > :22:01.who fell to Earth got a poignant big-screen rerelease in June. Other
:22:02. > :22:05.significant re-issues include the 30th anniversary outing for David
:22:06. > :22:09.Lynch's blue Velvet and a big-screen rerelease of in the heat of the
:22:10. > :22:13.night as part of the BFI's black star season, celebrating the range,
:22:14. > :22:16.versatility and power of black -- Blue Velvet. Actors. Perhaps the
:22:17. > :22:24.most remarkable return of 2016 was of Napoleon, able Gans's Silent
:22:25. > :22:27.masterpiece from 1927, back on house screen with a magnificent score by
:22:28. > :22:33.Carl Davis, seen in its most complete form, this reissue was the
:22:34. > :22:41.result of decades of research and restoration work, and what a
:22:42. > :22:47.glorious sight it was to see. -- Abel Gance. As the end of the year
:22:48. > :22:52.rolled around, Star Wars is back in our cinemas in the shape of Rogue
:22:53. > :22:56.one, a stand-alone anthology instalment set before the events of
:22:57. > :23:01.the 1977 original. Like its iconic predecessor, it relies heavily on
:23:02. > :23:04.British talent, from Gareth Edwards, director, to Felicity Jones to the
:23:05. > :23:07.army of technicians at Elstree Studios where much of the film is
:23:08. > :23:21.shot. Worth noting as well that another of
:23:22. > :23:25.the year 's runaway hits, Bridget Jones's baby, was also a home-grown
:23:26. > :23:28.success story, with Welsh director Sharon Maguire helming the third
:23:29. > :23:36.series instalment to record-breaking box office success. -- Bridget
:23:37. > :23:42.Jones's Baby. Maintaining good relationship with ex-husband. And my
:23:43. > :23:50.love life is showing signs of improvement. May I? It fits! Aside
:23:51. > :24:01.from one tiny development... I'm pregnant? Everything is completely
:24:02. > :24:05.under control! Sort of... Whether you like your movies big or small,
:24:06. > :24:10.down-to-earth or out of this world, there really was something for
:24:11. > :24:16.everyone in UK cinemas in 2016. Sometimes, you just had to look a
:24:17. > :24:19.little bit harder to find it. Let me do this, please.