The Year 2008 in Review-- Through Film

Yesterday, the American Film Institute announced their top 10 films of the year 2008 in alphabetical order. As I have said before, the Oscar race for Best Picture does not necessarily reflect the year’s best films, it never has (although sometimes they get it right). It reflects the current mood of the country and of the voters. Although the AFI's choices rarely have a profound effect on the direction of the awards race, they do provide a wonderful look at who we are as a people at the moment, and what ultimately is on our minds as a society. One thing I look always look forward to at the end of any year is watching the year-in-review programs that come on various news networks during the last week of December. This year's should be especially interesting, with the financial crisis and the election of Barack Obama likely being two of the major areas of focus. I like to also use film lists like the one the AFI puts out every year as a reflection on the year gone by. What were their picks this year? Below are their selections...




THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON


THE DARK KNIGHT


FROST/NIXON


FROZEN RIVER


GRAN TORINO


IRON MAN


MILK


WALL*E


WENDY AND LUCY


THE WRESTLER

So what does this list ultimately mean? First, it's been another great year of film. In my opinion, this has been the best decade since the 1970s. But what does this list say about our current mindset? There are certainly some interesting choices here that bounce between populist favorites and indie gems. One thing that immediately pops up is our thoughts on the financial crisis. All of a sudden so many middle-class Americans are truly struggling to get by. Frozen River certainly hits on such themes when a would-be middle class woman is involved in a smuggling operation across the U.S.-Canadian border for the hope of fast and easy money. Wendy and Lucy takes on a similar theme with a story about a 20-something woman from Indiana driving to Alaska to pursue a "lucrative" summer job in a cannery. In both cases, the law will make such pursuits problematic, putting a different twist on "the American dream," calling into question what kind of a dream this really is. Clearly, our minds are on the current financial state of America with such films that portray such struggles facing the middle class in the early 21st century.

Politics also is a continual thing on the minds of Americans, and films like Frost/Nixon and Milk certainly hit such political notes. Distrust of the establishment was indeed an issue during and after the Richard Nixon presidency. Then enter David Frost, a BBC reporter with the job of pinning down the former president Nixon who alternatively sees the interview as a chance to save face. Three decades later the same feelings of disillusionment with the establishment abound with the general public (any approval rating percentage would prove that). Additionally, as Prop 8 in California continues to generate controversy, the themes of Milk appear to be just as timely as when Harvey Milk first took office.

Of course romance is a theme that is worthy of exploring in any given year, but this year's big romances are quite a bit more reflective than your average "date movie." Perhaps one would not consider Wall-E to be a romantic film, but who of us cannot help but fall in love with the idea of love when watching the whirlwind relationship of Wall-E and EVE? In some ways the film proves that the basic human feeling of love can exist even as the world itself is crumbling, and even between robots that are built to mimic human actions, and perhaps human feelings as well. Perhaps a film like Wall-E does provide a shred of optimism in this pessimistic and uncertain system of things. At the same time, it is also a stern warning as well as a sobering tale. It truly does reflect a society that wants to hope, yet is very realistic about current challenges that could result in disaster if mishandled. While Wall-E forces us to reflect on our existence as a society, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button forces us to think about our personal existence. Is the day of one's death more fulfilling than the day of his birth, or vise-versa, or is there any difference at all? Are the bookends of one's life both tragic and difficult for the same reasons of helplessness? What if the person that you love continues to grow older as you grow younger? Can love survive such a trial? The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, while offering audiences a fascinating look at the process of aging, also forces us to reflect on the meaning of our very existence. Interestingly, both Wall-E and Benjamin Button demand audiences to reflect on the same themes, while delivering a world of fantasy that is close enough to reality to be meditated on.

Above all however, the films above reflect a society that is down on its luck and that is in need of hope and in need of a hero. The Wrestler may in fact be a reflection of society as a whole. Mickey Rourke plays a wrestler that is past his prime, that is in need of redemption, and that needs to prove that he still is what made him a star. At the same time, his fans that long for the days of his greatness truly do long for his return. It seems like a simple enough story, but one that truly reflects the challenges that we all face as a society, a society that wants to be redeemed. Iron Man was perhaps a surprising choice, but with the themes of the war in Afghanistan tied into society's desire for a hero, this surprisingly very well-acted film that didn't talk down to audiences is very telling. Sometimes though, society looks around at the current state of affairs and desires a "Dirty Harry"-type character to clean up the mess, not waiting on the law to do so. Enter Dirty Harry himself, Clint Eastwood, who directs and stars in Gran Torino. As a disgruntled retired auto worker, Eastwood's character sets out to reform a neighborhood, while at the same time being forced to confront his own prejudices toward an immigrant population, which perhaps may result in his own personal reform. Maybe this is the hero that America desires. Or perhaps our desired hero is the man himself that put more Americans in movie theater seats than any other in the year 2008, the caped crusader himself who returned to the big screen this year in The Dark Knight. Themes of vigilante justice in a dark and uncertain world continue to resonate with audiences. Interestingly though, it was Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker that tended to fascinate us more. How could someone so despicable be so captivating? Is there any more good in the Bat than there is in the Joker? Are they really one in the same? Does just one personal event push two similar men in opposite directions though they perhaps desire the same ends? Is the Joker ultimately our hero? What is a hero exactly, and who are we really looking for? It is interesting that four of the top 10 films selected by the AFI reflect a society that, in any case, desires change, a hero, redemption, a society that elected a man on just that platform in that same year. Where do we go from here? What do you feel these films reflect about us as a people in 2008? Your thoughts...