Films: 2010, the best of

Valhalla Rising

Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn

with Mads Mikkelson, Gordon Brown

A Viking movie, half Danish, half Scottish, but without the rape and pillage bits. There's plenty of gore to compensate but the real thrills come from the visuals - the Scottish highlands at their most glorious and enhanced by psychedelic flourishes, as though the protagonists had been chewing on the surrounding mushrooms.

Mads Mikkelsen rises

A small group of helmets find themselves marooned as they attempt to make their way to Jerusalem to join the crusades. Even though the new locale is a mystery to them, this doesn't prevent the most religious of their number claiming the land "in the name of god". "How do you do that exactly?" responds an upstart. Dialogue is generally at a premium as atmosphere replaces narrative drive. The denoument is as enigmatic as all that preceded it and shows once again that travelling is often better than arriving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcFOSfaCNec

Une Prophet

Directed by Jacques Audiard

with Tahar Rahi, Niels Arestrup

Jacques Audiard’s compelling prison drama looks to borrow heavily from Jacques Becker's Le Tru but the idea of using a few real cons and non actors is more of a logical step rather than plagiarism. The narrative of a young and somewhat reluctant petty criminal rising through the ranks albeit in jail, also has something in common with The Godfather.

Audiard previously showed off his chops with The Beat My Heart Skipped (a remake of Fingers) and good it was, this takes him to a whole new level. The narrative construction and the performances, particualrly the two leads (pictured) are both top class and show why this garnered awards at festivals like Cannes. The closing shot which paves the way for a sequel that will probably never happen, is particularly strong.