GREG REESE & RORY MACLEAN
Arts Writers

Here are yet another five films that made the 2000s a stand-out decade in filmmaking. Some are, perhaps, a little more obscure, but all are well worth their weight in film stock.

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), directed by Wes Anderson.
The Royal Tenenbaums set the bar for the decade in filmmaking. It walks the line between the surreal and the all-too-real, centering around the subtle emotional abuses that patriarch Royal Tenenbaum unintentionally inflicts on his large, eccentric family.

Though writer-director Wes Anderson clearly obsessed over the production design, the story still manages to take centre-stage. The film’s pseudo-’70s aesthetic permeated pop-culture at large, and is partially responsible for revivalist trends in fashion throughout the decade, including tracksuits, headbands and short-shorts. Anderson couldn’t match its brilliance in later films, which isn’t to say that he hasn’t made incredible films since; check out The Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Grizzly Man (2005), directed by Wernor Herzog.
For 13 summers, Timothy Treadwell went to Alaska to live with grizzly bears. Werner Herzog uses Grizzly Man to examine, close-up, the line between human beings, civilization and the wilderness by observing and analyzing the life and footage Treadwell left behind. Treadwell comes across as a well-meaning but naive man, trying to abandon what he sees as an oppressive world. Of course, he pays the inevitable price for this transgression into the world of the bear. It seems that running away from civilization is not so easily accomplished.

My Winnipeg (2007), directed by Guy Maddin.
This is the Canadian film of the decade. Winnipeg never seemed dreamier or more mysterious. Guy Maddin wears his heart on his sleeve, narrating the film with a combination of history, exaggeration and outright fiction. However, the line between truth and fiction is not easily uncovered; the past holds many secrets and Guy Maddin’s fantastical vision of Winnipeg may be more real than you think.

The Devil and Daniel Johnston (2005), directed by Jeff Feuerzeig.
In the middle of the 2000s, the world was reminded of one of the most interesting counter-cultural heroes of the 1990s: Daniel Johnston. Johnston’s own short films, comics and music make up much of the best material in the film. However, writer/director Jeff Feuerzeig does a fantastic job confronting the subtleties of madness and creative genius in Johnston’s self-mythologized world (when Johnston pulls the ignition keys from an airplane in mid-flight, mental disorder can no longer be denied).

The Devil and Daniel Johnston shows an artist growing up in a confusing world, desperately trying to stay true to the loving spirit he discovers in the Beatles and classic comic books. Johnston battles with his own personal demons, which well up from the Protestant indoctrination of his mother (“You’re an unprofitable servant of the Lord!” she says to him repeatedly) and Johnston’s bad reaction to psychedelic drugs.

Daniel Johnston has influenced DIY music and art over the past two decades, and this film manages to capture a broad snapshot of his rare, uninhibited life.

City of God (2002), directed by Fernando Meirelles.
This Brazilian film (Portuguese: Cidade de Deus) depicts the growth of organized crime in the Favelas — or slums — of Rio de Janeiro between the 1960s and the 1980s. With funds from selling cocaine and marijuana, the gangs arm themselves to the point where even the police have little sway in the City of God.

The movie begins right in the middle of an all-out war between the rival gangs in the Favelas, where one power hungry gang leader, Li’l Zé, tries to take over the entire city by force. It then tracks back to the beginning to introduce all the characters as children, showing their full development. The story unfolds in a way that shows the intricate connections between all the characters involved. Meirelles’ direction and camerawork are so solid that, in a few minutes, you don’t even notice you’re watching a film with subtitles.