For filmgoers, it was a year of mortal dread. The screen went dark, like a coffin nailed shut, and is still like that in many places. Faith in cinema as we've known it was rattled, challenged, and endangered with a Biblical overtone; it's a plague we're dealing with, after all. It was a year unlike any other we had seen before in the 125 years since cinema was invented. And while that sounds dispiriting, 2020 has also been a "Year of Great Reckoning" during which the equilibrium was recalibrated and the idea of moving images continues, as it should, to evolve.
Let's not call it a year of disillusionment, however. True, it's the most difficult 12 months in my 25 years of writing about cinema to come up with my top 10 films, Thai and international, simply because, like many of you, I haven't seen enough. Or I haven't seen enough in the theatre. My screen, again like yours, has become smaller, shrunk and pixelated, and my trip to the cinemas has become endless wanderings in the algorithmically curated menu of Netflix and Mubi (while we're waiting for Disney+), in addition to other means of obtaining screening links.
But that doesn't entirely mean good, even great, cinema (and series) hasn't been made in the past 10 months, in Hollywood, in Thailand, and elsewhere in the world. The traditional distribution channel may be disrupted and new films may be stuck in a bottleneck with theatres shuttered and film festivals postponed or switching online, but streaming services, once a nemesis of cinematic experience, have exploited this deus ex machina to prove their mettle not just as an alternative but a new, secure staple in our "filmgoing" activity. The year 2020 is one to remember, for all the right, and wrong, reasons.
Thai theatres spared, homegrown hits, and goodbye to Scala
Theatres in Thailand closed in March and reopened in June, socially-distanced style. The situation is much better than in many places around the world, especially in the US and parts of Europe, where most screens have been dark for almost 10 months.
John David Washington and Robert Pattinson in Tenet. Photo © imdb.com
After the reopening, old titles, both Thai and international, were re-released as cinemas awaited the full return of Hollywood imports. It turned out to be an interminably long wait. In late August, the hope was pinned on Christopher Nolan's time-warped epic Tenet to redeem the loss and restart the enthusiasm. That didn't work out as planned, here and especially in the US. In September, Thai theatres saw the year's first hit in Mulan, which grossed (unofficially) around 60 million baht. As cinemas still left empty seats within rows, that number didn't look too bad. The next potential hit is Wonder Woman 1984, which opens tomorrow in Thailand and is expected to be another tentpole title that will keep alive the interest in Hollywood spectacle -- the kind of spectacle that has greased the wheels of cinema business for many years.
But against the odds, it's a Thai film that eventually saved the day. The top-grossing film in Thailand in 2020 is set to be a madcap comedy E-Riam Sing (The Crazy Riam, literally), which stars TV actress Bella Ranee and which scored, unofficially again, around 80 million baht in Bangkok and 150 million baht nationwide. Another Thai title, Ai Khon Lor Luang (The Con-Heartist), starring TV actor Nadech Kugimiya, is edging closer to 60 million baht in Bangkok and possibly 100 million baht nationwide. Earlier this year, romantic comedy Low Season, starring Mario Maurer, was a moderate hit just before Covid-19 struck, earning around 40 million baht in Bangkok.
Again, strong figures given the circumstances. Almost needless to say, these Thai titles will appear on Netflix in no time (Low Season has been there for months). Like everywhere else, the window between theatrical release and streaming availability for homemade titles has shrunk greatly. That's another key issue of 2020 that will be discussed later.
Yifei Liu, centre, in Mulan. Photo © imdb.com
Another proof that interest hasn't waned among Thai movie-goers was witnessed at various special screenings. As international film festivals suffered a great deal from travel restrictions and cinema closure, small yet robust film festivals enjoyed the Covid-free situation in Bangkok (sadly, it should read Thailand). The Taiwan Documentary Film Festival, for instance, served up a fine selection including several politically-stimulating titles as well as a vintage programme featuring Edward Yang and Tsai Ming-liang. Many showings were sold out. Likewise at the Italian Film Festival, which celebrated Federico Fellini and offered a great opportunity for young audiences to see the master's work on the big screen. The Thai Short Film and Video Festival, organised by the Thai Film Foundation and Thai Film Archive for the 24th consecutive year, is opening this Saturday and looks set to be a year-end bash for film-lovers.
Speciality cinemas like House Samyan, Lido Connect and Bangkok Screening Room have emerged as a cultural force from the situation with their non-mainstream programming, and we have seen some of the best films of the year screen there, such as Hirokazu Kore-eda's The Truth and the Wong Kar-wai retrospective (at House), Hong Sang-soo's The Woman Who Ran and Wang Xiaoshui's So Long, My Son (at Lido Connect). While many mall multiplexes continue to struggle without Hollywood marquees, these small arthouse spaces are doing a great service in nurturing a healthy, non-homogenous film-going culture.
While Covid-19 has spared the majority of the business here, one particular cinema was forced to drop its final curtain. In the year's saddest goodbye, Scala Theatre had its swansong screenings on July 4 and 5 -- the last film shown there was Cinema Paradiso, a heart-rending farewell film (curated by Thai Film Archive). The owner of Scala had been mulling its closure for years; the coronavirus precipitated the decision. With the 51-year-old Scala gone, it's more than just a building gutted and abandoned -- it means the end of a special cinematic experience, the last chapter of the last standalone cinema in Bangkok. That's how the virus has hurt us the most.
Frances McDormand in Nomadland. Photo © imdb.com
Cannes cancelled, Hollywood soul searching, and streaming paradise homegrown
Of the major film festivals in the world, only Berlin in February made a narrow escape from the viral scourge (the winning film was Mohammad Rasoulof's There Is No Evil, from Iran). Cannes, the most influential film festival, was cancelled, a major disruption of the global film distribution network, while so many films expected to launch there in May have since lingered in limbo -- if they haven't already cut the losses by opting to stream. In August, the Venice Film Festival forged ahead as Italy brought down the first wave of the pandemic, and it was fairly successful despite travel restrictions (the winning film was Chloe Zhao's Nomadland, starring Frances McDormand and now a strong Oscar contender). Toronto meanwhile opted for a hybrid online-and-on-site model. The Busan International Film Festival in South Korea pushed ahead, though it allowed no international guests.
The first high-profile film festival of 2021 will be Sundance in late January. It has already announced to go ahead with a hybrid model.
Critics and journalists in Asia were forced to scrape the barrel for whatever gems are available online, or to leave their jobs for a year if possible. Some of the major world cinema titles in 2020 have yet to be seen widely by global audiences: Zhao's Nomadland, Rasoulof's There Is No Evil, Christian Petzold's Undine, Steve McQueen's Mangrove and Lovers Rock, Eliza Hittmans' Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Keily Reichard's First Cow, Cristi Puiu's Malmkrog, Tsai Ming-liang's Days and many more.
Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons in I'm Thinking Of Ending Things. Photo © NETFLIX
With cinemas shuttered or partially reopened, streaming services have never seen a better year. The existential dilemma -- or shall we say evolutionary dilemma -- posed by the Covid-plagued year is the nature of coexistence between traditional theatrical release and online platforms. That the two have to exist side-by-side is beyond doubt, but the process of recalibrating commercial interest, box-office calculation, audience acceptance, and the aura of prestige and artistic recognition will be a long and fascinating one.
When Tenet failed to reboot the industry, Warner Bros made a shocking decision early in December to launch all their 2021 films simultaneously in cinemas and on HBO Max. This is huge news that signifies the drastic shift in release strategy and in the direction Hollywood may be considering (Warner insists that it's just a one-year strategy). How people will choose to consume films, including blockbuster titles that are supposed to be screened and to make first money in traditional cinemas, is the question that will define studio movies in the years to come. At the same time, small, independent artists will look to streaming as both a saviour and a compromise -- not all film artists will want their works to go directly to the TV screen, or simultaneously on both outlets, but then again, even Martin Scorsese and David Fincher seem to have no problem with that.
Tenet, Pixar's Soul and Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman 1984 will go all the way to the Oscars (which will be in April). But online platforms will boast many films in the running as well: Netflix will lead the charge with Fincher's Mank, George Clooney's The Midnight Sky, Charlie Kaufman's I'm Thinking Of Ending Things, Spike Lee's Da 5 Bloods, Aaron Sorkin's The Trial Of The Chicago 7 and many more. Amazon Prime will bank on Garrett Bradley's documentary Time and McQueen's Mangrove (a part of the Small Axe series), while Apple has Sofia Coppola's On The Rocks and Aaron Schneider's Greyhound, to name just a few.
With the vaccines ready, hope is tangible. And with a number of potentially great films being pushed back to 2021 -- Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Colombia-set Memoria among them -- we can only look for a hefty line-up in the next 12 months.
In cinemas, of course, as a film should be seen, but also on your small, personal screen where narratives of all kinds have found their new home.
Gary Oldman as Herman Mankiewicz and Amanda Seyfried as Marion Davies in Mank. Photo © Netflix Thailand
Nadech Kugimiya in a scene from Ai Khon Lor Luang. Photo © GDH 559
Guests arrive at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres ahead of Cannes 2020 Special, a mini-version of the Cannes Film Festival, in October. Photo: AFP
