28. I'm Still Here (Casey Affleck, 2010)
When Joaquin Phoenix announced his retirement from acting in late 2008, the mass media were, understandably, agog. Here was a man with countless award nominations, a man whose portrayal of Johnny Cash came with the blessing of the Man in Black himself, a man who had still so much left to give. And yet, it would seem that Hollywoods loss would become hip-hops gain, with Phoenix declaring his ambition of becoming a world-famous rapper. This news was met with stunned silence, and then laughter. Appearing on Late Show with David Letterman, Phoenix hid behind not only a pair of shades and an unkempt beard, but an uncomfortably guarded persona. The host, practically nudging his audience in the ribs, raised the possibility that this career change was a hoax, a claim Phoenix was quick to dispel. And so, at the 2010 Venice International Film Festival came the premiere of Im Still Here. Ostensibly a documentary (directed by Phoenixs friend and brother in law, Casey Affleck) about the actors tentative steps into the hip-hop world, its a performance that, once seen, is very hard to forget. We see Phoenix spew vitriolic rants against the acting profession, bark at and bully his entourage, accuse his assistant of selling secrets to the press, snort cocaine off a prostitutes breasts and throw himself at a heckler at a gig in Miami. To say the film doesnt flatter him would be an understatement. Ben Stiller pitches him a role in Greenberg, but is taken aback by how rudely this offer is declined. Sean Combs, having finally bowed to Phoenix begging him to become his manager, isnt quite sure what hes signed up for. The audience, meanwhile, are wondering why the hell Phoenix wants this film to be released. His return to Late Show in 2010, this time clean-shaven, articulate and affable, marked the symbolic "breaking" of Im Still Heres character. Yes, it was all a hoax - with Letterman the only big name left out of the loop, but what was its purpose? Both Phoenix and Affleck maintain that it was a merciless satire on the relationship between the media and celebrity, yet everyone else saw it as a prank that misfired, a vanity project for two Tinseltown tearaways with too much money and free time. Everyone that is, except for Paul Thomas Anderson, who hurriedly set upon writing the script for The Master. Possibly.
27. Man On Wire (James Marsh, 2008)
Now, heres a film designed for the IMAX screen. The camera holds over the peak of the World Trade Centre, where the buildings and the sky merge into a metallic grey. If you look closely, you can see a horizontal line stretching between the Twin Towers. And then, before your very eyes, a figure steps out from beyond the frame and walks across the line. Its 1974, and that figure battling the wind and the drop to certain death is Frenchman Philippe Petit, wire-walker extraordinaire. Having already traversed the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral and Sydney Harbour Bridge, these feats were but mere practice for the impossible. In 1968, while reading a magazine in a doctor's waiting room, Petit saw an illustration of the Twin Towers (then under construction), and immediately knew that he had found a new challenge. With his collaborators and crew, who were sneaked into the building under the guise of contractors, he carried off one of the most spectacular stunts ever committed to camera. Standing 1,350 feet above the ground, Petit not only walks across the wire but he runs, juggles and lays flat - all the while performing for a gathering crowd below. We know that he survives, as hes one of the documentarys talking heads (and still the showman), but the 45 minutes he spends up there are unbelievably tense, more so for us than him. Petit also crosses another line; the fine divide between deluded and fearless. For example, when he acknowledges the danger of his stunts, he concedes that a mistake would lead to a beautiful death. Using a mix of re-enactment and incredible archive footage, Marsh unspools the story as though it were a reel of cable. Fascinating from beginning to end.
26. Taxi To The Dark Side (Alex Gibney, 2007)
Not only is this documentary one of the most eloquent treatises against torture, its also one of the most affecting. It tells the tragic story of an Afghan taxi driver named Dilawar who was detained by US forces in 2002. Allegedly responsible for a rocket attack on an American base, he was held in the Bagram military prison, where he was interrogated and beaten. Eight months after his capture, Dilawar died as a result of his injuries, which are described in sickening detail. The doctors report, which notes his cause of death a murder, records that his legs had been pulpified, an injury comparable to someone being run over by a truck. As you may have already guessed, Dilawar was innocent. Taxi to the Dark Side may focus on the individual, but one speaks for an incredible number. The statistics that open the film inform us that the U.S. has held eighty-three thousand detainees since September 2006, none of whom have been convicted, and, worse still, 90% were captured not by the US army, but the Iraqi and Afghan forces, who essentially saw themselves as bounty hunters. The US soldiers interviewed echo that chilling line that has run throughout history - We were just following orders - yet you can see some are struggling to cope with a newfound accountability. Gibney, however, has less sympathy for those giving the orders. The film features (and takes its name from) this speech by Dick Cheney:
We also have to work through, sort of, the dark side, if you will. Weve got to spend time in the shadows in the intelligence world. A lot of what needs to be done here will have to be done quietly, without any discussion, using sources and methods that are available to our intelligence agencies, if were going to be successful. Thats the world these folks operate in, and so its going to be vital for us to use any means that are at our disposal, basically, to achieve our objective.
Its plain to see here that the use of torture is being approved, even encouraged, but as reports of prisoner abuse grew, and photographs taken from inside camps such as Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay reached the press, this dark side threatened to eclipse Americas War on Terror. Jack Bauer was no longer the face of "standard operating procedure" (the title of Errol Morris documentary on a similar theme); now, that dubious honour belongs to Dilawar.