TOP TEN LISTS FOR 2025. . . awards season

[Chris Knipp]

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CAHIERS DU CINÉMA'S TOP TEN OF 2025 STARTS WITH ALBERT SERRA

SOURCE

The iconic French film journal Cahiers du Cinéma, cradle of the Nouvelle Vague, has announced their choice of the ten best films of 2025, and the number one is AFTERNOONS OF SOLITUDE/TARDES DE SOLEDAD by Albert Serra. This film is now easy to watch online in this country and I recommend it. I'm grateful to my friend Marcia and her husband in New York for raving about it during the New York Film Festival and even getting me a pass to see it one evening. It has wound up being the most memorable film of the festival. (NYFF page on the film.)

Number two on the Cahiers list is Paul Thomas Anderson's ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER, number three Nadiv Lapid's YES, number four Mendonça Filho's THE SECRET AGENT. It gets a bit weird after that. But Linklater's NOUVELLE VAGUE (from all I've heard) is an obvious choice, a real charmer and particularly something French cinephiles would love. I'm a fan of the German director Christian Petzold though his new film Miroir No. 3, Cahiers' number ten, has met with only mild enthusiasm. Among films that have received less attention in North American markets, Pedro Pinho’s I ONLY REST IN THE STORM and Sophie Letourneur’s L'AVVENTURA occupy middle spots; further down are Vincent Barré and Pierre Creton’s 7 WALKS WITH MARK BROWN and Matteo Eustachon, Léo Couture, and Anton Balekdjian’s LAURENT DANS LE VENT.

The point is these guys, partly a new crew after a shakeup, go their own way. And looking at AFTERNOONS OF SOLITUDE their way reframes contemporary cinema just a little bit. Time to rewatch Serra's films. This early ten best list gets things rolling in an interesting way from a classic source. Note, though, that the list is based on film releases in France this year, not the US.

See also THE FILM STAGE.


FEATURED MATADOR ANDRES ROCA REY (CENTER) IN TRAJE DE LUCES IN ALBERT SERRA'S AFTERNOONS OF SOLITUDE