Wolfwalkers 《狼行者》

 

Anyone who has seen The Secret of Kells or Song of the Sea will recognise the Celtic mysticism and the ornate, angular animation¹ favoured by their director, Tomm Moore. But Wolfwalkers is his most delightful² yet. Its plucky³ heroine is Robyn (voiced by Honor Kneafsey), the daughter of an English huntsman (Sean Bean) stationed in Ireland in the mid-1600s. He has the job of clearing the wolves from a forest near Kilkenny, but when Robyn goes exploring, she finds that one of those wolves can transform into a human girl (Eva Whittaker). The girls' battles against destructive adults are exhilarating fun, and every frame is a work of art.

 

Ammonite 《菊石》

 

Kate Winslet gives one of the most dazzling performances of her career as the real-life Mary Anning, whose 19th-Century discoveries of fossils transformed palaeontology, although the credit went to men. Writer and director Francis Lee's exquisitely⁴ photographed and bracingly unsentimental romance finds Mary in middle age, scraping together a living in the seaside town of Lyme Regis. Lee invents Mary's affair with the married Charlotte Murchison (Saoirse Ronan), and Ammonite gained notice for the women's graphic⁵ sex scenes. But it is most notable for Winslet's empathetic and natural portrayal⁶ of a self-contained, defensive⁷ woman who begins ever so gradually to breathe.

 

The Personal History of David Copperfield 《大卫·科波菲尔的个人史》

 

This joyous⁸ and endlessly inventive film by Armando Iannucci is a glittering achievement that raises the bar for Charles Dickens adaptations. And while Iannucci roots it firmly in the poverty and class system of Victorian England, it's also bracingly modern, not least in its multicultural⁹ casting (Dev Patel is terrific in the lead role). BBC Culture's review called it "a warm and lively David Copperfield for today".

 

Never Rarely Sometimes Always 《从不，很少，有时，总是》

 

This quietly profound drama follows 17-year-old Autumn (Sidney Flanigan), pregnant in a small town in Pennsylvania where abortion¹⁰ is restricted, as she and her cousin secretly take a bus to nearby New York City to terminate the pregnancy¹¹. The camera silently captures the heartbreak on Autumn's face. The film is wrenching¹² in its honesty yet exhilarating in its empathy.

 

The Assistant 《助理》

 

Structured as a day in the life, The Assistant stars Julia Garner¹³ as the lowly new employee who toils¹⁴ from before dawn until after dusk, answering phones, printing out scripts, unpacking¹⁵ bottles of water: imagine a more authentic¹⁶, low-key companion piece to The Devil Wears Prada. The Weinstein-alike CEO may be the villain¹⁷ of the piece, but the film looks beyond one man to focus on a wider corporate¹⁸ culture. There are no big speeches or explosive confrontations¹⁹, but there is tension throughout as we wait for the titular²⁰ assistant to rebel against her boss... or accept that she is going to keep working for him, come what may.

 

Emma 《爱玛》

 

Did the world need one more Jane Austen adaptation? Not really, but this enchanting²¹, colourful version is a very welcome addition. As Emma, Anya Taylor-Joy captures the heart and warmth beneath Austen's bossy²², match-making heroine. Johnny Flynn is irresistible²³ as her improbable love, Mr Knightley. And Bill Nighy gloriously steals every scene as Emma's comically overprotective father.

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