The Five Best Films

Festen (15)

Danish director Thomas Vinterberg's superlative black comedy concerns the 60th birthday of a family patriarch who finds himself at the centre of dark secrets that unexpectedly emerge.

The Thin Red Line (15)

Terrence Malick returns to the screen after a 20-year absence with a hugely ambitious film about the battle of Guadalcanal (right). A war movie of a sort, though what that sort might be is uncertain.

Affliction (15)

Paul Schrader's bleak study in fatherhood and fatalism, adapted from Russell Banks's novel, stars Nick Nolte as a man struggling to escape the influence of his violent dad (James Coburn).

Shakespeare in Love (15)

This enjoyable romp suggests how romance fired Shakespeare with the creative inspiration for Romeo and Juliet. Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow head a multi-star cast.

The Opposite of Sex (18)

Christina Ricci plays 16-year-old bitch-on-wheels Dedee, shooting from the lip and causing all kinds of havoc when she moves in with her mild- mannered half-brother (Martin Donovan).