The trickiest part of creating an animated film is finding a style that matches the story you want to tell. You want something distinct so your film stands out. You want something expressive so the characters’ emotions are clear. You want to create a world that makes sense for the story you’re telling.
There’s a word I use a lot in my writing, especially when it comes to auteur directors. The word is “accessible.” For me, an accessible film is one that invites in the audience. Whether that’s through character, storytelling, or design, an accessible film is one where the director has opened the door and invited the audience in. Parasite is accessible in a way Bong Joon Ho’s work often isn’t.
Like I said in my Best Films of 2019 post, I really can’t remember a year where I swapped so many films in and out of my Top 10 to find the combination that made sense to me. I wanted to take the time to recognize more of the films and show why it was so close for my list. Let’s get to it.
The year in film was a quite a journey for me. There were projects I looked forward to getting my eyes on for months that I wound up being utterly disappointed in. There were projects I had no interest in seeing that I took a chance on and fell in love with. Nothing shook out how I expected and it really made for an exciting process for me in creating my Best Films list for 2019.
Marriage Story is an unapologetic showcase for actors. Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver lead this two-hander about Nicole and Charlie, a married couple with a child starting the process of a divorce. They live together and they work together. They’re both artists. Nicole is an actor who stars in Charlie’s directorial projects at his theater company in NYC. However, Nicole grew up in Los Angeles in the film industry and wants to pursue non-stage projects. This push and pull between their shared careers but opposing ambitions is the crack that slowly erodes into battling scenes of every human emotion you can imagine.
