Artribune's Top 10 Films of 2021

Artribune published its annual list of the ten best international films of 2021, highlighting works that stood out for theme, staging, story, or exuberance. The list includes Steven Spielberg's remake of West Side Story, described as pure magic; Ryūsuke Hamaguchi's Drive My Car, an adaptation of Haruki Murakami's story that won Best Screenplay at Cannes and the Silver Bear at Berlinale; Leos Carax's English-language debut Annette, starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard, which opened the 2020 Cannes Film Festival; Quentin Dupieux's Mandibules – Due uomini e una mosca, a French absurdist comedy presented at the 77th Venice Film Festival; Celine Sciamma's Petite Maman, a tender reflection on memory and family presented at the 2021 Berlinale; Florian Zeller's The Father – Nulla è come sembra, starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman, which won 2 Oscars; Emerald Fennell's Promising Young Woman, a #MeToo manifesto starring Carey Mulligan that won an Oscar; Lee Isaac Chung's Minari, a semi-autobiographical story about a Korean family in Arkansas; Chloé Zhao's Nomadland, which won the Oscar for Best Picture and the Golden Lion at Venice, starring Frances McDormand; and Xavier Giannoli's Lost Illusions, based on Balzac's novel, featuring an ensemble cast including Benjamin Voisin and Gérard Depardieu. The list was curated by Margherita Bordino.