Edward's Best of the 1990s

1. Porte aperte (1990)

Italian filmmakers have got a lot of mileage out of their country's Fascist past (e.g. Visconti with The Damned, Bertolucci with The Spider's Stratagem and The Conformist), and Gianni Amelio's Porte aperte is a very strong addition to this interrogation of history. A sacked government official (Ennio Fantastichini) murders two of his former colleagues and then rapes and kills his wife. He is promptly put on trial, he flaunts his guilt, and nobody seems to care if he lives or dies. But one judge (Gian Maria Volontè) does care. This is a movie about whether a man will receive a fair trial, and how every man, no matter how deranged, deserves one. Volontè, who will always have a place in my heart for his wicked (and sexually magnetic) performances in Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More, here gives a touching portrayal of a man with the soul of Atticus Finch, and brings a kindly, intelligent presence to this grave and compassionate movie.

2. Unforgiven (1992)

David Webb Peoples wrote the script in the '70s, but Clint Eastwood sat on it until he felt he was mature enough (in years, and as a filmmaker) to make it. When he did, it was roundly acclaimed. And indeed, it is a towering modern Western, earthy and convincing, in which Eastwood's ageing, reformed gunslinger picks up the pistols and rides out on one last mission, to earn money for his ailing farm and his two little'uns. The film critiques the myths on which American history is built, the bloodthirsty taste for violence, and the arbitrariness of justice. It falters towards the end, when the final showdown between Eastwood and the vicious sheriff (Gene Hackman) perhaps has its cake and eats it, but the sombre achievement of the film remains, and features Eastwood's best-ever work as actor and director.

3. Pulp Fiction (1994)

With Jackie Brown indisputably on the list, and with other films (The Sheltering Sky, Dick Tracy, Husbands and Wives) clamouring for that tenth slot, Pulp Fiction was vulnerable. But in the end I went with it, because, when it first came out, I thought its screenplay was remarkable, and I still do. The way Tarantino structures the multiple stories, allowing each situation its own highs and set-pieces but unifying them into a totally satisfying experience, was one of the great (and repeatable) pleasures of '90s cinema. Eminently quotable lines ('I'm gonna get medieval on your ass!') stem from the mouths of a shining cast, including terrific performances from Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames and a quite magical John Travolta. My parents (whom I all but forced to go and see what everyone was talking about) may not agree with me, and I'm not sure I agree with myself, but it is some kind of a classic.

4. Three Colours: Red (1994)

I agree with everything Andrew said: this is the crowning achievement of one of the great auteurs of the movies. Kieslowski's death was a shock, not just because he was only 54, but because he was in his creative prime and we weren't going to get any more films from the man who had directed (and co-written, with Krzysztof Piesiewicz) the likes of the Dekalog, The Double Life of Véronique, and the Three Colours trilogy. Red is a totally intricate, yet sensual and beautiful tale of two people, a model and a retired judge, who come together by chance. Kieslowski's benevolent worldview was never more clearly articulated, the cinematography (by Piotr Sobocinski, who also died young) is essential to the way the film works (what a collaboration!), and the last ten minutes are just sublime - with possibly my favourite final shot in the movies.

5. Everyone Says I Love You (1996)

Woody Allen attempts a musical - and pulls it off! A delightfully carefree, dotty romantic comedy, Everyone Says I Love You gains considerable charm from having its cast members take it in turns to break into song (and, sometimes, to dance). It doesn't matter that many of the performers (such as Edward Norton, Natalie Portman, Tim Roth and Allen himself) can't sing especially well; what this film has is heart, and tons of it. Alan Alda and Goldie Hawn (both of whom are very musical, by the way) play the parents of a group of madcap teens looking for love, while Goldie's ex, played by Woody, tries to woo Julia Roberts by hook or by crook. With its emphasis on three glorious romantic hotspots (New York, Paris and Venice), its wonderful wit ('Steffi, bring me a copy of my will, and an eraser') and the superb number set in the funeral parlour (the highlight of a picture full of highlights), Everyone Says I Love You is a feel-good movie through and through.

6. Jackie Brown (1997)

An adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel Rum Punch, 'written and directed for the screen' by Quentin Tarantino, Jackie Brown is the young attention-grabber's third full-length feature film. And, given the ludicrous over-indulgence of the more recent Kill Bill saga, this represents arguably Tarantino's most mature and controlled work to date. With its use of '70s forgotten favourites like Pam Grier and Robert Forster, it also acts as a dramatically engaging illustration of Tarantino's cinephilia and his conjurer's skill with casting. Grier plays the eponymous flight attendant, desperate to escape her working life drudgery and disentangle herself from the clutches of suave gangster Ordell (Samuel L. Jackson, excellent as ever), while Forster is the bail bondsman who finds himself falling for her in one of the cinema's great middle-aged romances. The film features a terrific, fresh use of classic disco tunes, the sly cinematic references are everywhere (such as the opening shot's homage to The Graduate), and, most impressively, Tarantino's pacing allows us to become fully absorbed in Jackie's desire for a more fulfilling life.

7. Life is Beautiful (1997)

There are people who would laugh me out of town for including this film on the list, because Life is Beautiful, when it was released, was a love-it-or-hate-it movie: a comedy set in the Holocaust. But its detractors seemed defiantly blind to one thing: this film doesn't seek to wring laughs out of the concentration-camp setting, it is a drama about the use of humour (and inventiveness) to sustain the human spirit in the face of a waking nightmare. Ultimately it is about the will to survive. The movie divides neatly into two halves: 1) Roberto Benigni's hyperactive waiter woos Nicoletta Braschi's tentative sweetheart; 2) the young lovers, with their little boy, are carted off to the death camps and Benigni sets about shielding his son from the reality of the situation by pretending it's all a game. Well, I'll stop there, because either you need no more convincing, or you've heard enough!

8. Ring (1998)

Based on the bestselling novel by Kôji Suzuki, Ring is a modern horror classic - and an absolute nerve-shredder. Nanako Matsushima plays Reiko, a journalist investigating the deaths of a group of teens who had all claimed to see a disturbing video and receive a doom-laden 'phone call. When she herself happens upon the eerie film footage, Reiko, with her young son and her ex-husband, has only seven days to solve the mystery. And what a mystery it is. Director Hideo Nakata's major coup is his straightforward, and thus entirely plausible, juxtaposition of contemporary Japanese life and ancient folklore. My first viewing of this movie, at the ICA in London in 2000, remains one of the most unforgettable times I've ever had in the cinema. Every promise was fulfilled, every setup was paid off, and as the film moved relentlessly towards its conclusion, my eyes were out of their sockets on stalks! And each subsequent viewing has only served to enrich my appreciation. A masterpiece.

9. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

I disliked this film the first time I saw it. The hype surrounding it had grown to absurd proportions and my expectations were dashed. But one thing stuck, and it's what gets this film onto my list: its use of its own low-budget origins to tell its story. Writer-directors Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez have delivered the ultimate 'found' documentary - so it's absolutely right that it looks and sounds scuzzy, that the camerawork is rough, and that the footage doesn't make complete sense. The world of the film exists outside the confines of the frame, and the performances by the three unknowns capture a particularly recognisable youthful brand of naïveté. I haven't got a clue what actually happens (are there ghosts in the woods? is the Blair witch running rampant?) but, despite not considering myself a particular fan of the genre, I can't stop myself from making this the second horror movie on my '90s list.

10. South Park: Bigger Longer & Uncut (1999)

'I farted once on the set of Blue Lagoon!' Message movies were never as entertaining as this! When the South Park kids start using bad language as a result of seeing the Canadian Terrance & Phillip movie, their outraged parents wage war on Canada. In the Internet era, with adults unaware of the technological know-how of their offspring, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut acts as a reminder to the generations to communicate better with each other. All well and good. It just so happens that this is also a great big-screen spin-off from the popular TV series, a wonderfully inventive animated feature, and a terrific musical into the bargain, with song-and-dance routines worthy of the best of classical Hollywood, not to mention a generous strain of subversive wit. And just how do you get your kids not to swear? 'It's Easy, Mmm-kay!'


Six performances of note:

Gérard Depardieu in Cyrano de Bergerac
Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven
Robert Forster in Jackie Brown

Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs
Judy Davis in Husbands and Wives
Julia Roberts in Notting Hill