Today 25 years have passed since the founding of Netflix, the company that we associate today with streaming almost in a similar way to what we associate Danone with yogurts. Obviously the first years of the company were prior to this phenomenon, starting as a movie rental service in physical format that were sent through postal mail.
But streaming platforms offered an avenue of business that was as unexpected as it was popular, and Netflix took advantage of it like no one else. Investing huge amounts of money in licenses and original productions, getting vastly change the way most people consume entertainment.
They also left the occasional remarkable or even brilliant film, which would only have been possible thanks to them. Today We review four of those originals where their commitment to cinema has paid off.
THE 10 BEST SERIES OF THE DECADE (2010-2019)
‘Rome’ (2018)
Address: Alfonso Cuaron. Distribution: Yalitza Aparicio, Marina de Tavira, Marco Graf, Diego Cortina Autrey, Carlos Peralta.
No other studio would bet on a black and white Mexican film with half spoken in Spanish and half spoken in the Mixtec language, no matter how commendable a director is and who has made as many successes as Alfonso Cuarón. It had to be the platform that provided a way to get one of his masterpieces, a powerful look at the Mexico of yesteryear and the person who took care of it, with a mixture of nostalgia and desire to make amends. A subtle story about inequality, violence and barriers, as painful as it is beautiful.
Watch on Netflix | Criticism in Espinof
‘The Irishman’ (‘The Irishman’, 2019)
Address: Martin Scorsese. Distribution: Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Stephen Graham, Ray Romano, Anna Paquin.
In a line partially similar to that of Cuarón, few studios were willing to bet on a master like Martin Scorsese to make a meditative three and a half hour gangster tale where he was going to digitally rejuvenate three of the most emblematic actors in cinema. Netflix did, and it managed to give rise to a masterpiece where the Italian-American reflects, in the form of a classic epic, on the passage of time and the lonely and sad nature of the criminal.
Watch on Netflix | Criticism in Espinof
‘Da 5 Bloods: Brothers in Arms’ (‘Da 5 Bloods’, 2020)
Address: Spike Lee. Distribution: Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Chadwick Boseman, Jonathan Majors.
Even Spike Lee had access to the streaming platform’s strong authorial commitment, which allowed him to make his ambitious war piece about Vietnam and its legacy. Specifically the repercussions of him on a group of African-American soldiers, doing another of his Incredible explorations into race in America as you play get more classic filmmaker than ever, halfway between a John Huston and a David Lean. A unique film with one of the last great performances by Chadwick Boseman.
Watch on Netflix | Criticism in Espinof
‘I’m thinking of quitting’ (‘I’m Thinking of Ending Things’, 2020)
Address: Charlie Kaufmann. Distribution: Jessie Buckley, Jesse Plemons, Toni Collette, David Thewlis, Guy Boyd.
This challenging work by Charlie Kaufman could possibly have been made thanks to an independent studio, but the work of Netflix has allowed it to have instant global distribution. Moreover, it allowed him to return to her and carefully dissect the images of him, his particular mental labyrinths and his ambitious abstract representation of memory decomposition. A film that absolutely goes against the current of fast consumption that streaming usually promotes, but that undoubtedly benefits from other aspects derived from this way of consumption.
Watch on Netflix | Criticism in Espinof