Hollywood directors give us epic action movies, hilarious comedies and the darkest dramas. Predictability is the main law of modern cinema, but some films manage to break it.
Join Bright Side in examining the 12 movies from 2015 which we think turnedo ut to be the most unusual, astonishing and unexpected.
About Love
© A Company
Winner of the Best Picture award at the Kinotavr film festival, this movie has a few hilarious plot lines all rolled up into one big tale of love. Among them is a story of a Japanese woman who came to Russia in search for the ’real Russian man.’ She sees the country through the same rose-colored glasses through which Russians usually look at the West and Japan. And then … We don’t want to give anything away, so watch the film and find out yourself.
The Teacher
© Russian Film Group
One of the most provocative films of the year, this movie is about a high school teacher who tries to reach out to her morally bankrupt, reckless and insulting students who don’t think much of her. The tables are suddenly turned when the teacher gets a hold of a gun and takes her tormentors hostage. The movie gained such a controversial reputation that the creators are already hard at work on the sequel.
Mad Max: Fury Road
© Warner Bros.
For the last 20 years, his name has been associated with children’s movies like ’Babe’ and ’Happy Feet.’ So how did Australian filmmaker George Miller managed to claw his way back to the harsh, post-apocalyptic desert world? Well, he did. And he brought with him one of the most powerful and inventive action movies of the year, showing everyone in the business how it’s done.
14+
© Central Partnership
Russian films about children and teens are rare. That’s why Andrei Zaitsev’s tender love story with a touch of ’Romeo and Juliet’ was such a pleasant surprise. And even though the film turned out to be rather controversial and ambiguous, it is still a relatively innocent and uplifting watch.
Dragon
© Bazelevs Distribution
It wouldn’t be wise to compete with Hollywood on its own turf of traditionally CGI-laden film genres, yet the creators of ’Dragon,’ a Russian romantic fantasy, forgot about that. They whipped up a response to ’Twilight,’ which gives Hollywood a run for its money.
The Martian
© 20th Century Fox
The story revolves around a scientist and astronaut who is left stranded on a half-destroyed space station on Mars. This is a blockbuster that glorifies scientific knowledge, ingenuity and pacifism! Ridley Scott managed to make it through 2.5 hours without a single epic fight scene. The film topped box office charts across the world, proving that stars and smarts can win against space battles.
The Surprise
© N279 Entertainment
It’s almost impossible to show the audience anything new when you’re making a romantic comedy — unless your name is Mike van Diem and you just came up with the wittiest plot twist for the opening scenes of your romantic comedy, ’The Surprise.’ It is safe to say that this Dutch film is among the most exciting European films of the last decade!
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
© Warner Bros.
A CIA agent and his KGB counterpart are working together. It’s time for them to fight a common enemy! It takes place at the height of the Cold War, a year after the Cuban Missile Crisis, when the United States and the Soviet Union nearly launched a nuclear war. The revival of this particular franchise seems like a highly optimistic and hopeful sign.
The Wave
© Fantefilm
Disaster movie made in Norway? Pf-f-t, please. Very few countries can afford the complex technology to fake-drown a city or unleash a 100 stories high CGI monster on it. Nevertheless, Norwegians managed to create a film about a violent tsunami that crushes everything in its path. ’The Wave’ turned out to be such a hit that it was selected to represent Norway for the Foreign Language Oscar.
The Walk
© TriStar Pictures
’The Walk’ is a fascinating fact-based story of high-wire artist Philippe Petit, who walked on a tightrope between the twin towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. In a particularly masterful touch, director Robert Zemeckis not only shows us the ’how,’ but he also explains the ’why’ of this incredible stunt. Why was it so important for Petit to take a walk among these particular clouds. Not for the sake of glory, that’s for sure.
The Visit
© Universal Studios
There are film directors who are always expected to succeed, and then there are those who are known chiefly for their failures. For M. Night Shyamalan, ’The Visit’ became a long-awaited ticket to the first category. Though its far from reaching the heights of ’The Sixth Sense,’ this film is still a quite solid horror about teenagers who came to stay with their grandparents only to discover a shocking secret behind their charming exterior.
Love
© Alchemy
Knowing previous works of Gaspar Noé, a French arthouse provocateur, one would assume that his new film would be just as bold and frank. And it is. But it also has a new-found amazing feeling about it. The many tender, warm moments we would expect from any other film maker turns ’The Love’ into something extra special.
