This week we take a look back at Eureka Street assistant editor and film reviewer Tim Kroenert's top five most memorable films of 2011.
1. Red State (R) — Not previously reviewed
This is not the first time filmmaker Kevin Smith has had a go at religion. A Catholic uncomfortable with some Church teaching and practice, Smith's 1999 Catholic comedy Dogma was irreverent, but ultimately championed humanity and independent thought over dogma and 'blind faith'.
If Dogma had hints of the contemporary parable about it, Red State embraces the form. It divides its characters into three camps — Sex, Religion and Politics — and pits them against each other in a violent showdown. Billed as a 'horror' film, its message and morals are murkier than Dogma's.
Three teenage boys are lured into the midst of a cult waging a brutal crusade against society's sexual profligacy; the 'God Hates Fags' Westboro Baptists re-imagined as violent extremists. The boys are caught in the crossfire when trigger-happy government agents corner the cult into a Waco-style siege.
There are no good guys in this savage satire. All are corrupted by short-sightedness or self-interest. Smith's characters are faced with redemptive opportunities to discover empathy and self-sacrifice, but reject them out of spite or stupidity. Red State is not a hopeful portrait, but a cautionary tale.
This profane parable repeatedly finds new ways to surprise and unsettle the viewer. It also showcases a compelling performance by 70-year-old character actor Michael Parks as the cult leader whose charm, charisma and menace allow him to manipulate the minds of his impressionable charges.
2. Incendies (MA) — Reviewed 20 April 2011
Residents of a Christian orphanage have their heads shaved by Muslim militants. One small boy stares into the camera with an expression of fierce defiance. 'Don't forget about me', the stare says. It's both a clue for the audience and a threat to any who oppress him.
Nawal, disgraced and exiled from her Christian village for an affair with a Muslim man, conceals her crucifix necklace and hitches a ride with a busload of Muslims. Shortly, the bus is halted by Christian militants. What ensues is one of Incendies' most powerful sequences.
Nawal's harrowing life story is marred by the bullets and blood of interreligious conflict. The roots of her personal formation and the origins of her now adult children Jeanne and Simon can each be discovered among the ruins of this fraught history.
3. Tree of Life (PG) — Reviewed