Cinema: our top 10 of 2022

Our 2022 ranking, seduced by its eclecticism. Purely French, Japanese or American films rub shoulders with mixed-race works such as “The Cairo Conspiracy” (Danish film set in Egypt), or “Without Filter” (Swedish film with an international cast). “As Bestas” is a Spanish film played largely in French, “RMN” is a great world film set in an isolated village in Transylvania where characters from Sri Lanka or France mingle. These 10 films thus illustrate the year of deconfined cinema and our desire as spectators to look the whole world in the face.

1 “Armageddon Time” by James Gray

After two epics, James Gray looks back on his own youth in New York in the 1970s. Through a family and the end of a childhood, he tells us above all about a page in American history. Discovered at the start of the Cannes Film Festival, ” Armageddon Time “remained one of the sacrifices of his prize list.

2 “As bestas” by Rodrigo Sorogoyen

Madrid-based filmmaker Rodrigo Sorogoyen was one of the great revelations of the 2010s (“El Reino”, “Madre”…). His first film of the 2020s, his 2020s debut, is arguably his most impressive. Beyond a news item about a French couple living in Spain, ” As bestas is also a powerful political film about today’s Europe.

3 “RMN” by Cristian Mungiu

Another great forgotten of the Cannes prize list, “ NMR marked the return of the author of “4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days”. Cristian Mungiu takes us to a village in Transylvania shaken by identity conflicts. A powerful European western, whose last images leave one of the most beautiful doubts of the year.

4 “Without filter” by Ruben Östlund

The 2022 palme d’or went to the funniest film in the selection. ” Without filter begins with a household scene to turn into a disaster movie before becoming a shipwrecked story. Behind the bewildering adventure of the models and billionaires on a desert island, the Swedish filmmaker paints a caustic portrait of his time.

5 “Licorice Pizza” by Paul Thomas Anderson

Released at the very beginning of the year, Licorice Pizza belongs to the wave of retro works currently invading American cinema. The Californian director immerses us in the 1970s through the fate of a clever teenager and a young girl who is a little lost. Crazy love story, reconstitution of a past century, “Licorice Pizza” is above all a wonderful poem to the city of Los Angeles.

6 “Night of 12” by Dominik Moll

In a small mountain village, a young girl is murdered. Two police officers carry out an investigation which from the beginning of the film is announced to us as a dead end. Released over the summer, ” The night of 12 » established itself as the French whodunnit of the year as it destroyed any possibility of suspense from the outset. In reality Moll signed above all the portrait of an era through a formidable gallery of characters.

7 “The Cairo Conspiracy” by Tarik Saleh

The director of “Confidential Cairo” returns to the Egyptian capital for a spy film set against the backdrop of al-Azhar University. A young scholarship student will find himself stuck in a real war of succession within the teaching staff and the demands of the Egyptian secret services. A courageous and gripping film. For its remarkable construction, The Cairo Conspiracy received the screenplay prize at Cannes.

8 “In body” by Cédric Klapisch

Long attached to filming dance, Cédric Klapisch has finally made his ballet film. After an injury and a sentimental breakup, a dancer from the Paris Opera will rebuild herself and find new momentum thanks to contemporary dance. Released in March, In body » brought together more than 1 million 300 thousand spectators. And we can see in this success the metaphor of a sick cinema which is slowly recovering.

9 “Tales of Chance and Other Fantasies” by Ryusuke Hamaguchi

A model notices that her best friend is in love with her ex… with whom she hasn’t quite broken up. At the request of her lover, a woman sets a trap for a successful writer. During a reunion of former students, a guest thinks he recognizes a former classmate. ” Tales of chance and other fantasies is a virtuoso and poisonous sketch film that Ryusuke Hamaguchi shot before “Drive my car”, released last year.

10 “Pinocchio” by Guillermo Del Toro and Mark Gustafson

At the end of a year of animation where “Flee” and “My Afghan family” stand out, this very personal variation of the Collodi tale has arrived. The adventure of Pinocchio is transposed to the fascist Italy of the 1930s. The director of “The Shape of Water”, through the myth of the puppet, deploys a moving reflection on childhood, war and the art of loving life accepting death.

Also cited: “Amsterdam”, “The Five Devils”, “Decision to Leave”, “Smoking Makes You Cough”, “The Innocent”, “November”, “Saint Omer”, “EO”, “Chronicle of a Temporary Liaison”, “Murina”, “The children of others”, “Leïla and her brothers”, “Another world”, “Tori and Lokita”.