ILX TOP 50 FILMS OF 2000-2004 BALLOTS/VOTING - ends Jan. 3

If you read that Film Comment article, it actually tackles the racism claims in quite a sensible way. Amélie is a fairy tale, not a socially conscious drama.

No, I was just trying to make the point that not dealing with race doesn't equate racist. Problematic, maybe, but not every film can deal with everything.

birth of a nation was a fairytale, reagan's 'morning in america' ads were a fairytale. and amelie does deal with race. pointedly. but you're right, best not to think about art or what they say about the society that produces it.

First of all, your comparison is totally unfair, but I think you know it. Secondly, of course you need to think about the society that produces art, but that doesn't mean we can't enjoy certain pieces of art, like Amélie, nevertheless. Otherwise we'd need to throw out most of the films ever made, including 99% of Golden Age Hollywood movies. But I don't think you really disagree with me on this.

ILX TOP 50 FILMS OF 2000-2004 NOMINATIONS THREAD

Don't really understand why the voting thread was started before the nominations closed, but maybe I missed a change of date. Erick?

Well, I missed the racism too. As did just about everyone else on this board who watched it, it seems.

Late additions:
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring (Kim ki-Duk, 2003)
The Others (Alejandro Amenábar, 2001)
The Good Girl (Miguel Arteta, 2002)

The Philipert movie was already nominated.

No, it was released in 2005. This poll only covers 2000-04.

btw. Just saying, cause I think the names under which they were released might have varied between the US and the UK.

I should've posted to the fuckin' nominations thread. I can't believe I'm the only one who gives a shit about Black Hawk Down or Brotherhood of the Wolf. What is the matter with people?

Ocean's 11, sweet Jesus. Come to some non-Hitler furrin films with me this weekend, hon!

Well, he did include two of them in the film, didn't he? Though maybe the problem is that he didn't treat them as representatives of a minority rather than characters in story, whose ethnicity has no relevance, only their personality, which is why people don't think of the as "ethnic". Which I think should be seen as a positive thing.

(x-post)

Race does matter in France, but should race matter in every French movie, even in such a non-realist flick as Amélie?

I also didn't nominate L'Esquive, one of my fave films that debuted in NYC this year, about Muslim kids in a Paris project (won a buncha Cesars):

http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/film_review.asp?ID=1506

Or maybe not if, like me, you think that's a gross exaggeration.

What are the correct terms, then? I guess the two characters in Amélie could be described as North African, but in the film's world they're quite French and their ethnicity is never discussed. I put "ethnic" in quotes because it is often used as a shorthand for "non-white", even though white people are obviously "ethnic" as well.

Of course terms like "white", "black" and "race" are problematic too, since there's no essential grounds for their usage - they can't be avoided, however, as long as people are being classified according to them.

Good job in mixing my point with a totally different discussion to make it sound suspicious.