Top 5: Best in Spanish Cinema in 2010

[Editor’s note: I’ve asked our team of world film correspondents to dish out their top 5 films of the year from their respective countries. Here’s Mario Balarezo del Caz’s take on the Best in Spanish Cinema in 2010.]

Like in any given year, it’s always a difficult task to come up with a Top 5 films, but among the Spanish films that were rolled out domestically I won’t be including such items as “Biutiful” or “Balada Triste de Trompeta”, mainly because even if those have gathered some recognition internationally, in my opinion, these were flawed and irregular works from their respective directors. While Alejandro González Iñárritu’s drama’s only saving grace might be Javier Bardem´s acting, the rest of the film suffers from a jaded structure that seems only the skilled hands of Guillermo Arriaga could have made effective and the same goes for Álex de la Iglesia’s film where majestic sequences are overtly ridiculous at times, I saw it as a bad mismatch blending of the genres. Here are my top 5 of the year. 

#5. Héroes
A quality guilty pleasure. An homage to the teen American films of the 80´s and the era itself, this is a coming-of-age story for the thirtysomething demographic that played on a very personal level and as a result, was able to link the director, Pau Freixas, with his audience through a generational experience.

#4. La Mosquitera
Geraldine Chaplin stars in this odd dramedy about a dysfunctional family. A very “indie” film even for Spanish standards, this won an award for Best Actress for Emma Suárez at this year´s Semana Internacional de Cine de Valladolid. This was a rare gem that quietly and quickly expanded onto several Spanish theaters.

#3. How Much Does Your Building Weigh Mr Foster?
A documentary on the figure of architect Norman Foster directed by Carlos Carcas and Norberto López Amado. Documentaries are not Spain´s strongest suit, actually they are pretty flawed or standard but this one came as a delightful surprise, visually thrilling and overall engaging.

#2. Pan Nere
This year’s sleeper hit. Presented at this year´s San Sebastian Film Festival, where it received a positive critical reception, the film opened to low box office numbers, but a strong word-of-mouth kept the film floating for weeks thus becoming a surprise hit. This post-civil war whodunit was the latest effort of cult director Agustí Villaronga (In The Glass Cage) and was definitely his biggest success to date.

#1. Buried
This Hitchcockian one man show gets the number one spot for two reasons. First, it is a true cinematic masterclass in suspense, sustained by the exquisite acting skills of Ryan Reynolds who not only carries the movie all by himself, but he demonstrates how character can become the movie. The kinetic direction of Rodrigo Cortés demonstrates you can still be artistic and effective using a box as your only set. Second, cause this movie deserves way more credit than it received…sure, critics loved it, but a horrible distribution campaign by Lionsgate “buried” it box office wise and condemned the genre film which showed at Sundance and TIFF to just an afterthought status.