Ide joined Screen International in 2015 as a London-based critic. She is also a critic for The Observer and a freelance contributor to publications including Sight & Sound. Previously she was a critic for The Times.
More critics pick best films of 2017
Top five
1. BPM (Beats Per Minute)
Dir: Robert Campillo
In an exceptional year for LGBTQ-themed cinema, Robert Campillo’s account of Aids activism in the early 1990s stood out. Once again Campillo — the writer of Laurent Cantet’s The Class — demonstrates a unique skill for tapping into the thrill of debate and the exchange of ideas. The hand-held camera flings us into the fray; we are thrust onto the frontline of protest, the dancefloor and into the bedroom. The latter is particularly well-handled. The film is joyful and unabashed when it comes to sex, but also unflinching in its approach to disease. And the edits, which drift from shot into abstraction and then out again, are pure bliss.
CONTACT: Playtime
2. Lady Bird
Dir: Greta Gerwig
Greta Gerwig cements herself as a filmmaker of rare perception and a refreshingly light, almost skittish, touch with this delightful coming-of-age film.
CONTACT: Focus features
3. Paddington 2
Dir: Paul King
This sublime sequel combines paw-biting tension, exemplary craft and a heart as big as darkest Peru. Proof that family cinema does not need to compromise to connect with all ages.
CONTACT: Studiocanal
4. Montparnasse Bienvenue
Dir: Léonor Serraille
I loved the barrelling energy and abrasive characterisation of this portrait of a woman perpetually on the verge of crisis.
CONTACT: Be for Films
5. Call Me By Your Name
Dir: Luca Guadagnino
This lush story of first love contained two of the performances of the year: Michael Stuhlbarg, wrenching as a father offering hardwon wisdom; and Timothée Chalamet, a revelation in the lead role.
CONTACT: Sony Pictures
Best documentary
Untitled
Dirs: Michael Glawogger, Monika Willi
Completed posthumously by editor and long-term collaborator Monika Willi after director Michael Glawogger’s death during the shoot, this mercurial marvel is true to Glawogger’s vision that “the most beautiful film I could imagine is one which would never come to rest”.
CONTACT: Autlook Filmsales
Undiscovered gem
Nobody’s Watching
Dir: Julia Solomonoff
Intimate, intelligent and perceptive, this portrait of a successful Argentinian actor who moves to New York for his career gives another angle to the tale of migration. Nico is a soap star in his own country but, in the US, he gradually realises that his status is downgraded. In the central role, Guillermo Pfening is rarely off camera; his flirtatious charm hardens as his parlous situation takes its toll.
CONTACT: FiGA films
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