International films soar while Hollywood snores

The year 2000 has been one of the worst quality-wise in the history of the multiplex. One highly anticipated Hollywood work after another has proven to disappoint, from the snooze-inducing mediocrity of Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" to the cliched likes of Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous." \nThe list of Hollywood horrors is as long as the length of the absurdly overblown "The Patriot." But, one thing Americans tend to forget is that there is a world outside their coastlines -- and this was a grand year for international cinema, especially as far as its recognition goes stateside. \nFor instance, Iran had one of its grandest years yet with such works as "The Circle" and "Blackboards" receiving acclaim at festivals worldwide -- unfortunately, neither have been released in the United States yet. Iran also finally got some exposure in American theatres via the aid of the Shooting Gallery series presentation of "A Time for Drunken Horses." \nArguably, the most important film event of the year in America was also internationally-based -- the long overdue retrospective of Taiwanese auteur Hou Hsiao-hsien. Though earning high acclaim from critics, his films had previously received little attention from theatres in the states. \nSadly, as long as Kerasotes is deciding Bloomington's cinematic menu, the vast majority of 2000's cinematic highlights will remain unknown until Ryder or video stores deliver them next year.\nThe list of the 10 best films I saw this year is composed of many works that have been circulating around the festival circuit or wasting away in distributor limbo for upwards of three years. \nThis list is far from complete. 'Tis the fate of all fruitless lists of this nature, so without further ado, here is my list of the ten best examples of cinema screened in America during 2000:\n1. "The Wind Will Carry Us" (Abbas Kiarostami, Iran)\nWith the lone exception of Hsiao-hsien, there is no contemporary filmmaker who rivals Abbas Kiarostami's understanding of the cinematic art form. "The Wind Will Carry Us" is the ultimate testament to this. Kiarostami dares to ask the viewer to unload all of his mental baggage into the holes blatantly left open in the narrative. It concerns an engineer in a remote Iranian village working on some telecommunications-related project that might or might not affect a dying woman. Because of the elliptical storytelling, countless different readings can be made about this film's dealings with technology, media power and gender roles.\nIt is cinema as poetry, a poeticism complete with immaculate natural sound and rich landscape photography. "The Wind Will Carry Us" is the definitive masterpiece by a director who still has a multitude of truths to reveal to his homeland and the rest of the world.\n2. "Yi Yi" (Edward Yang, Taiwan)\nThe title of Edward Yang's brilliant three-hour tale of a Taiwanese family's ups and downs between a wedding and a funereal directly translates into English as "One One." Such repetition is presented in shots of lonesome characters gazing out of windows at nighttime cityscapes.\nMuch like "The Wind Will Carry Us," "Yi Yi" has a universal message rooted in its origins: Do not lose sight of different perspectives. With the release of this Yang piece and the recognition of Hou's oeuvre, maybe America has finally opened its eyes to Taiwanese cinema.\n3. "Ratcatcher" (Lynne Ramsey, UK)\nMost filmgoers only knew of one British child-based flick in 2000 -- the overly lauded "Billy Elliot." Critics and distributors alike have ignored another such film, first-time director Lynne Ramsey's wondrous "Ratcatcher." The whole movie plays like a dream procured from the leading boy, who aspires to move away from the impoverished, garbage-infested reality of mid-1970s Glasgow. And what a visually intoxicating dream it is, from the curtain-wrapped kid in the film's opening to the fantastical mouse voyage to the moon.\n4. "Beau travail" (Claire Denis, France)\n"Beau travail's" ending features some of the most jarring frames of film this year. The preceding 90 minutes probe the angst and insecurities of a man slipping into insanity. Director Claire Denis aids the viewer in this quest with the only the barest essentials -- sparse dialogue and non-linear narrative. By far, it's one of the most challenging and rewarding films in recent memory.\n5. "George Washington" (David Gordon Green, USA)\nWith all of Hollywood's overblown blockbuster hoopla, it is only fitting that the best American feature of the year is by a 24-year-old first-timer. A technically stunning debut, David Gordon Green's "George Washington" follows the exploits of five Southern teenagers, listening in on their unique brand of philosophy. Edited in a manner that Green described as "putting in all of the scenes that are usually left on the cutting room floor," it simply cannot be written off as just another independent movie.\n6. "A Time for Drunken Horses" (Bahman Ghobadi, Iran)\nOne of many disciples of Kiarostami, Bahman Ghobadi proves that he has his own style in this debut work about a family of children struggling to exist in a Kurdish village. Emotionally taxing and cinematically stunning, especially in its many silences, it is further evidence of Iran's cinematic prosperity.\n7. "Claire Dolan" (Lodge Kerrigan, USA)\nIn a year when cinema was highlighted by women's films, a movie by a man about a woman freeing herself from the bondage of men turned out to be one of the best. The opening exterior shot of a sea of apartment windows sets the tone a cold detachment in the most disturbing stateside work of the year.\n8. "The Day I Became a Woman" (Marzieyh Meshkiny, Iran)\nA lyrically engaging allegorical portrait of the Iranian female experience, "The Day I Became a Woman" delivers a unique tale of gender oppression for all to ponder.\n9. "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai" (Jim Jarmusch, USA)\nOther than John Sayles, Jim Jarmusch is the dominant American cinematic voice as far as multiculturalism goes. "Ghost Dog" is his most culturally thick work yet, partly because of its samurai philosophy. African Americans, Italians, Haitian immigrants, women and children all find that they share a similar voice in this satirical parable, even if they had never before realized it.\n10. "Peppermint Candy" (Lee Chang-Dong, South Korea)\n"Peppermint Candy" begins in the present and keeps going back in time to show one man's descent from happiness to disgust with life. Portraying South Korea's transformation, the backwards narrative structure is only one of its many resonating attributes.