Another role that's considered to be 'supporting', but Marta Etura goes from sister to mother and steals the show from veterans. My first conclusion after seeing La Vida Que Te Espera for the first time: this young woman will top the end of the year list. The rest is history. It's not an extremely explosive role, but that's part of the strength. Underrated by critics like not many other Hollywood actresses is Kirsten Dunst, who already was very impressive in Crazy/Beautiful. In fact, her second place here is more or less made of three magnificent performances (Elizabethtown being the, there it is again, underrated third). She obviously knew and shared her director's unique feminine view on how this young queen should be portrayed. Unique, like Björk, who won best actress in Cannes for her Selma, killed by the system. Unique, like Audrey Tautou, who will forever be Amélie. And Scarlett Johansson, sometimes we forget how subtle and cute she was.

Kids get bullied, when is it ever going to end? Mean Creek may be an excess, but it boasted a couple of the best young performances of the decade, led by Kieran Culkin. Another recurring theme among troubled youngsters has been escape from religious stranglehold: Finnish Marjut Maristo (Forbidden Fruit), Danish Rosalinde Mynster (Worlds Apart) and Dutch Elske Rotteveel (De Fuik) all did it, delivering excellent acting in the process. Dutch/Chinese Ebbie Tam (Het Paard van Sinterklaas) is a certain contender for cutest performance, contending with Freddie Highmore (Finding Neverland). Two pairs of heartbreaking sisters were presented by In America (Sarah & Emma Bolger) and Grace Is Gone (Shélan O'Keefe and Gracie Bednarczyk) and keep the tissues nearby for Lukas Moodysson's sad Lilja 4-Ever, starring Oksana Akinshina. Arthouses and film festivals were filled with talented kids: Nitya Shetty (Maya), Kolia Litscher (Demi-Tarif and Charly), Gleb Puskepalis (Roads to Koktebel), Céci Schmitz-Chuh (Die Unerzogenen) and Jae-Kyeong Seo (Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring) and Laurien van den Broeck (Moonlight) come to mind, it is still unknown why Hirokazu Koreeda's praised story of children living on their own, Nobody Knows didn't work for me. There's so much to discover between all the harmless Harry Potter bonanza and (no offense because his films are pleasant) new kid on the block of the decade Josh Hutcherson. Only two English speaking minors, they're both not American, made it to the best boys:

1. Vincent Rottiers  (Les Diables) 2. Alessandro Morace  (Anche Libero Va Bene) 3. Giuseppe Cristiano  (Io Non Ho Paura) 4. Jamie Bell  (Billy Elliot) 5. Cameron Bright  (Birth)

For obvious reasons, reminiscent of the nineties (Il Ladro di Bambini scored a double award then as well), let's postpone further explanation for one moment and simultaneously praise the best girls:

1. Adèle Haenel  (Les Diables) 2. Q'Orianka Kilcher  (The New World) 3. Dakota Fanning  (Hound Dog) 4. Danielle Catanzariti  (Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger) 5. Elske Rotteveel  (Bluebird)

Also watch the interview included on the dvd to find out why, it's unbelievable these two debuting young Frenchies are the same people as in the film. Rottiers has silently made a little career, Haenel waited five years before returning with Naissance des Pieuvres, supporting another promising one, Pauline Acquart. And don't forget Anaïs Reboux (À Ma Soeur) to find out why European films ruled the decade in this area. Best Italian family drama always relies on flawless acting, pushing Alessandro Morace and Giuseppe Cristiano to the front, they even ended up being more arresting than the films themselves. Same goes for ballet boy Jamie Bell and squeeky girlie Danielle Catanzariti, who happened to star opposite Keisha Castle-Hughes here, the lovely Oscar nominee for Whale Rider. Cameron Bright is a real famous one, he already got to play opposite Robert De Niro and Nicole Kidman, exposing his creepy empty expression to the max. Talk of fame, no one beats child star of the decade Dakota Fanning, loathed by many. But she's actually very underrated, growing up to be a truly amazing actress. Also watch The Secret Life of Bees and Uptown Girls, if only to get chills of watching her raise a middle finger to Brittany Murphy. As to Elske Rotteveel's bullied Merel in Bluebird, she's too extremely personal to explain in just a few words, so we'll get back to her later. I'm more than happy to finish with Q'Orianka Kilcher here, the deer, the star of Terrence Malick's one and only film of the decade, bridging the gap between childhood and maturity.

Inland Empire

Directing is the most important and silliest category of all, proving that all lists are not to be taken seriously. After all, the best five movies have been made by the five best directors, it's really simple until you start making it complicated by approaching it from a less pure angle. After that it all gets blurry, because an average viewer knows nothing of the directing process, the man or woman usually doesn't appear anywhere on the screen, it's all fingerspitzengefühl, mostly a matter of vague sympathy. And in the end the list is usually very close to best films after all. Everyone knows the big names of the decade: Coens, Jackson, Aronofsky, Nolan, Fincher, Ki-duk, Miyazaki, Linklater, Van Sant and Moodysson, add Scorsese and Eastwood for old school's sake, Verbinski, Emmerich and Boll to piss people off, a yearly Woody Allen for fun and everybody is happy. One great idea for free: organize a directing-within-movies marathon with Adaptation., Don't Come Knocking, In Bruges and Inland Empire. Or spend an entire day watching the delicate films made by Naomi Kawase, it's worth it and a lot less exhausting than Takashi Miike. Richard Kelly and Kelly Reichardt made masterpieces Donnie Darko and Wendy and Lucy. Oliver Stone, Dario Argento and Lloyd Kaufman remained maestros, while Mel Gibson provided entertainment of the highest quality, on and off screen. Controversial or not, here are the best directors:
 

5. Lars Von Trier  (Dancer in the Dark)

Two things most of his leading ladies agree on, according to the media who love to gobble up all controversy: Lars Von Trier is a tyrant and a genius. To the public, this shouldn't matter, at all. What counts is the impact of his films, never easy to swallow, always rich on themes. Antichrist may be his personal tour de force, but Dancer in the Dark is a unique achievement of even bigger proportions, musically mixing small life with global injustice.
 

4. Jim Sheridan  (In America)

It's a well known fact that only one thing is harder than directing aimals: working with children. Watch the dvd extras to see little Emma Bolger take charge and it becomes clear it's mostly a matter of finding the right kids. However, Jim Sheridan and his own daughters made In America overwhelmingly personal, creating a perfect balance between the generations and keeping the young ones real and heartrending.
An Irishman in America, mister Sheridan has gone from Daniel Day-Lewis in top form to 50 Cent and questionable remakes, he doesn't shy away from surprising stuff.
 

3. Sofia Coppola  (Marie Antoinette)

She made only two movies this decade, they both made top 25. Three stars all ended up in the acting awards. Honestly, I just thought of this stunning average today, time to put her next film, coming up in 2010, on top of the wanted list! Marie Antoinette was a fresh, brave project, dare I say it, directed majestically. Bigger than the absence of epic battle scenes might suggest, beautiful ballroom dances and dazzling palace gardens are just as difficult to do. Coppola roughly translates quality.
 

2. M. Night Shyamalan  (The Happening)

Do whatever the fuck you want. Shyamalan himself is probably too nice to ventilate it like that (although he did manage to feed a critic to a monster), but he obviously goes his own way and his films only got better as a result. The Happening is eco, spooky and funny, lacks logic and certainly robs the former fans of their hunger for always the same brilliant twist. Shyamalan has become the ultimate reminder to never want to read reviews or forums again. His impressive oeuvre is perfect to lie down to and finally shut out all ratio.
 

1. Sarah Polley  (Away from Her)

Disbelief, speechless, an instant need to express awe and respect to this incredibly gifted young woman in person, that pretty much sums up initial reaction to Away from Her. An actress (The Secret Life of Words, My Life without Me, Don't Come Knocking, Dawn of the Dead) only 27 years old tackles subjects people twice her age don't dare to touch. Sarah Polley made an intelligent, sensitive, beautiful film and received an Oscar nomination for her screenplay. And I love her.