The Cahiers du Cinéma never cared about hive-mind or “groupthink,” they live in their own passionate world of moviegoing. This year has been a rough one for the oldest and most prestigious film magazine in the world. Right as the pandemic was starting, back in March, their writing team quit due to new ownership.
Regardless, after six months of absence, they reformed, some of the writers came back, others left for good, and they managed to even squeeze in their annual tradition of producing the most eclectic top 10 around. This year’s Cahiers list of the best films of 2020 is topped by Frederick Wiseman’s 4-hour documentary “City Hall,” two films from notorious South Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo managed to crack the top 10, ditto the Safdie’s 2019 masterpiece “Uncut Gems” (which was released in France this year).
Of course, the restrictive nature of this cinematic year, the lack of theatrical releases, the absence of a Cannes Film Festival, has defined the films we will deem to be the best of the year. It’s inevitable that years from now, as we look back at 2020, we will deem it a mediocre year crushed by a pandemic and theatrical delays. Despite all that, worthy films did sneak into the fold (as you will see from the upcoming critics poll I conducted and which should be published momentarily).
Cahiers du Cinéma’s top 10 of 2020:
City Hall (Frederick Wiseman)
The Woman Who Ran (Hong Sang-soo)
Uncut Gems (Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie)
Malmkrog (Cristi Puiu)
The Things We Say, the Things We Do (Emmanuel Mouret)
Hotel by the River (Hong Sang-soo)
Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains (Gu Xiaogang)
The Salt of Tears (Philippe Garrel)
Enormous (Sophie Letourneur)
The August Virgin (Jonás Trueba)
[Source]
Past top 10s: 2010s, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011]