Cahiers du Cinéma never cared about hive-mind or “groupthink,” they live in their own passionate world of auteur-driven moviegoing.
These past few years have been rough for the most prestigious film magazine in the world. Right as the pandemic was starting, back in March of 2020, their editorial staff quit due to new ownership. A new team of writers was hired and they’ve handled the changes admirably well.
After, six months of absence, Cahiers reformed, some of the writers came back, others permanently left, and they have continued to write insightfully provocative reviews since then.
All of this to say that Cahiers has released its annual best of the year list. This year’s list of their best films of 2023 is topped by Laura Citarella’s “Trenque Lauquen.” Split into two parts, this 260-minute film tackles the disappearance of a woman, and the colleagues who take to the road to search for her.
I’ll have to add this one to my film queue. The other two films in the top 10 that I haven’t seen are Cyril Schäublin’s “Unrest” and Raba Ameur-Zaimeche’s “Les Gangs Des Bois du Temple.” Neither has come out in the U.S. or, as far as I know, has Stateside distribution.
Here’s the full 2023 top 10:
1) Trenque Lauquen (Laura Citarella)
2) Close Your Eyes (Victor Erice)
3) Anatomy of A Fall (Justine Triet)
4) The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg)
5) Fallen Leaves (Aki Kaurismaki)
6) Unrest (Cyril Schäublin)
7) Don’t Expect Too Much From … (Radu Jude)
8) Les Gangs Des Bois (Raba Ameur-Zaimeche)
9) Last Summer (Catherine Breillat)
10a) Un Prince (Pierre Creton)
10b) Showing Up (Kelly Reichardt)
Notice how six films from Cannes have made the list, including Catherine Breillat’s “Last Summer” and Victor Erice’s “Close Your Eyes” — both masterful. Breillat’s is a 2024 release the U.S. Erice’s shamefully still has no distributor — should I include them both in my 2023 top ten?
Of note, Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” was only released in France this year. On AlloCine, ‘Fabelmans’ has become the highest rated film of the century in France. They absolutely love this film.