Mesmerizing Atmospheric Films

[Thalassa]

The top three I have seen recently are Stoker, Magic Magic and Beasts of the Southern Wild. Other examples are the original Sympathy for Lady Vengeance and Susperia.

If you still don't know what I am getting at I am talking about films that are visual and auditory works of art. They cause you to feel something beyond or outside the narrative. I can watch these sorts of films over and over, twice in a row sometimes or its nice to have them on in the background.

Often its impossible to ever entirely understand them or at least they're have layers that almost demand you watch again. Hyperreality may be a part of it, but not always.

A Russian film I watched called 4 also qualified as this.

Give some of your own examples.

 

[RDF]

I actually pretty much dislike these "atmospheric" films. I'm not going to rant about it; plenty of people like them. I just don't like them myself.

But in any case I've been ordering a lot of movies on Netflix, ran through most of the big-budget pictures, and have been working through the indie pictures. And a lot of recent indie movies go for this "atmospheric" vibe.

For super-atmospheric indie flicks that I've seen recently:
Upstream Color (so atmospheric that it barely had any dialog)
Children of Men

A little less atmospheric but still funky:
Time Crimes
Let the Right One In
Audition
Martha Marcy May Marlene

Less atmospheric and more mainstream but still with a definite indie feel; in fact I liked these two much more than the rest:
Winter's Bone
Starlet

 

[Southern Kross]

I know what you mean; it's film as poetry.

Terrence Malick films are a prime example; the best ones IMO being Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line and The New World.

Some other ones I'd recommend are:
- The Red Violin
- The Seventh Seal
- Heavenly Creatures
- The Night of the Hunter
- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
- The Three Colours Trilogy (Blue is my favourite)
- Orlando
- Princess Mononoke
- Rebecca
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
- In the Mood for Love and 2046
- Let the Right One in
- Children of Men
- Take Shelter
- Dark City
- There Will Be Blood

Other obvious choices are films by Powell and Pressburger, Stanley Kubrick, Jane Campion and Ingmar Bergman.

 

[Totenkindly]

Dark City
Hero
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
"Box" Segment (from Three Extremes)
Winter's Bone
Snow Falling on Cedars

It's not really a wonder that many of the films I imagine end up being Asian films or Asian-themed films.

I also agree about Malick's films, at least the ones I have seen. He's such an interesting director and writer in that it's all more about being immersed in his movie even if afterwards I have a lot of trouble articulating what I've seen. The movie itself typically defies rational explanation. He's the Western director I typically most have trouble articulating what his movies are about, while being mesmerized while watching.

Getting on to more disturbing "poetry":
The only reason I'll rewatch Fincher's "Se7en" is more because of atmosphere and immersion in the physical world of the movie. I'm not sure the movie itself (characters and plot) is anything special, but it's the atmosphere that resonates (in a dark way). Same thing goes for the American version of "The Ring," which has its failings in plot, but it's more about the colors and environment and "wrongness" of the imagery interacting with itself that can feel disturbing. And then there is "Blade Runner."

 

[violet_crown]

Beast of the Southern Wild was excellent.

For whatever reason, what immediately came to mind for me was the Snowtown Murders there's something in the ambiance itself of the film that obscures the horror of it. Hard to explain.

 

[WALMART]

2001: A Space Odyssey

The Thin Red Line

The Dollars Trilogy


You know, a lot of videogames induce a surrealistic experience as well. Those are by far my favorite.

 

[Stansmith]

Last one I watched was Une Femme est Une Femme, I found it really beautiful for whatever reason

Godard's film/narrative style is just

 

[JivinJeffJones]

Solaris was pretty good. The new version, haven't seen the original.

 

[Stansmith]

Pierrot Le Fou

 

[Totenkindly]

Solaris was pretty good. The new version, haven't seen the original.

That one actually came to mind. The whole thing is rather dreamy in tone and approach, especially how it cuts to flashbacks and then back to reality, it all kind of blends together and just becomes more and more surreal feeling. It all ends up feeling like "mental space."

 

[Nicodemus]

The top three I have seen recently are Stoker, Magic Magic and Beasts of the Southern Wild. Other examples are the original Sympathy for Lady Vengeance and Susperia.

If you like 'Suspiria', you might like other Argento films from the time period between 'Profondo Rosso' and 'Opera' as well, although none are as visually magical as 'Suspiria'. I hear his more recents movies are crap.

You might like Wong Kar Wai's films, such as 'Chungking Express', 'In the Mood for Love' and '2046', basically all his collaborations with Christopher Doyle.

You might like Yimou Zhang's films, such as 'Raise the Red Lantern', 'Hero', 'Curse of the Golden Flower'.

You might like Ron Fricke's work, such as 'Koyaanisqatsi, 'Chronos', 'Baraka' and 'Samsara'.

You might like Lars von Trier's films, such as 'Antichrist' and 'Melancholia'.

You might like 'Metropolis' (1927), 'Black Narcissus' (1947), 'Hiroshima, mon amour' (1959), 'Last Year at Marienbad' (1961), 'Lady Snowblood' (1973), 'Heart of Glass' (1976), 'Eraserhead' (1977), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Ran' (1985), 'Wings of Desire' (1987), 'City of God' (2002), 'Tideland' (2005), 'Apocalypto' (2006), 'Slumdog Millionaire' (2008), 'Enter the Void' (2009), 'Black Swan' (2010), 'Drive' (2011) and many others I am too bored to find now.

That one actually came to mind. The whole thing is rather dreamy in tone and approach, especially how it cuts to flashbacks and then back to reality, it all kind of blends together and just becomes more and more surreal feeling. It all ends up feeling like "mental space."

I think Tarkovsky is not Se-heavy enough for Marm, the same with Godard.

 

[Stanton Moore]

Malick: the Tree of Life, the New World
Lynch: Blue Velvet, Eraserhead, Twin Peaks
Godfrey Reggio: Koyaanisqatsi, Naqoyqatsi, Powaqqatsi
Fritz Lang: Metropolis
Wachowski brothers: Cloud Atlas
Béla Tarr: the Turin Horse (beatiful, long, repetitive, boring)

 

[Totenkindly]

Yes, I forgot Blue Velvet, that's a good one.

Also agree with the inclusion of some of Von Trier's more recent work (that Nico mentioned). Melancholia seemed a little more "regularly accessible" because of the vast amount of dialogue compared to Antichrist, which is much more about the imagery. I consider Antichrist to be one of the most visually beautiful and yet unsettling movies I have seen -- he seemed to be playing off the twisted nature of the relationship and the opening tragedy by juxtaposing it with such beautiful and provocative visuals and slomo. I have never had slomo creep me out so badly before.

(And now I'm recalling the drug trips in both Dredd and Requiem for a Dream -- they were each handled differently but kind of amazing to watch).

I think Tarkovsky is not Se-heavy enough for Marm, the same with Godard.

Well, I (and the other poster) were talking about the Soderbergh version (which focuses more on the relationship between the protagonist and his love). I haven't seen the Tarkovsky one.

 

[93JC]

Andrei Tarkovsky's adaptation of Solaris is unabashedly 'atmospheric', but it is also one of the slowest movies I've ever seen. It's almost three hours long; it feels like four. I admire it for the skill with which it was made but on the whole I thought it was horrendously boring. A story needs to be properly paced to be properly appreciated.



In my opinion one of the best atmospheric films of recent memory is Drive. I loved, I thought it was fantastic. I was sucked in in the opening pre-credits sequence. It's a chase, but not really a chase; it's cat-and-mouse. There is very little dialogue, just the sound of the car's engine (an unassuming Chevy Impala), the sound of the police sirens and helicopter, and the sound of the police band radio and the basketball game. It's not really clear why he's listening to the Clippers game until the very end of the chase, when you realize this was all part of a greater plan to escape the police. The camera is low--almost everything is shot from below--and most of it is from inside the car.

As he makes his quiet getaway on foot the credits begin, exchanging the low camera for overhead views of the city. This is how the driver sees the world, and himself as a sort of '80s action hero.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0eb_1339123065

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIpXQS5gaAw

 

[Thalassa]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I agree that a lot of Kubrick and Lynch films qualify, and to the person who said Winters Bone is mainstream....that doesn't matter. That film is amazing and captures mountain people perfectly. Though it is set in the Ozarks it actually reminds me of some parts of West Virginia.

Cold Mountain is another one. So is Kieslowskis Trois Colours trilogy.

I will respond more to individual posts later.

 

[Luv Deluxe]

You might like Ron Fricke's work, such as 'Koyaanisqatsi, 'Chronos', 'Baraka' and 'Samsara'.

You might like Lars von Trier's films, such as 'Antichrist' and 'Melancholia'.

You might like 'Metropolis' (1927), 'Black Narcissus' (1947), 'Hiroshima, mon amour' (1959), 'Last Year at Marienbad' (1961), 'Lady Snowblood' (1973), 'Heart of Glass' (1976), 'Eraserhead' (1977), 'Blade Runner' (1982), 'Ran' (1985), 'Wings of Desire' (1987), 'City of God' (2002), 'Tideland' (2005), 'Apocalypto' (2006), 'Slumdog Millionaire' (2008), 'Enter the Void' (2009), 'Black Swan' (2010), 'Drive' (2011) and many others I am too bored to find now.

I just found this thread and was about to submit the bolded ones above for consideration. Particularly Melancholia, Black Swan, and Drive - all three on my shelf and heavily played. Some of my favorites!

I've watched Antichrist several times and it's still less relatable for me than the unconscious feeling and themes of Melancholia, which is definitely my favorite of the two. I think the former tends to be a little more microcosmic, and the latter a bit more big-picture, if that makes any sense at all.

Anyway. Visual feasts, all of 'em.

 

[21%]

- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford[/I]

Yes yes yes!

I love lots of stuff in Wong Kar Wai films as well...

 

[Tiltyred]

Thanks for all of your suggestions. I agree that a lot of Kubrick and Lynch films qualify, and to the person who said Winters Bone is mainstream....that doesn't matter. That film is amazing and captures mountain people perfectly. Though it is set in the Ozarks it actually reminds me of some parts of West Virginia.

Cold Mountain is another one. So is Kieslowskis Trois Colours trilogy.

I will respond more to individual posts later.

I love Cold Mountain, have watched it several times. Just now pulled up Winters Bone, and you're right.

 

[RDF]

[...]and to the person who said Winters Bone is mainstream....that doesn't matter. That film is amazing and captures mountain people perfectly. Though it is set in the Ozarks it actually reminds me of some parts of West Virginia.

Cold Mountain is another one. So is Kieslowskis Trois Colours trilogy.

I love Cold Mountain, have watched it several times. Just now pulled up Winters Bone, and you're right.

I categorized "Winter's Bone" as being more mainstream because:

1) I like this movie, and I usually don’t like movies with a lot of atmospherics; the atmospherics tend to get in the way for me.

2) I was afraid a later commentator might discount the indie credentials of the film based on the fact that it has Jennifer Lawrence in the starring role.

Whatever. But yeah, in any case it’s a very good film. I know the area where it was filmed (down around Branson, Missouri), and it does well capturing the mood of the Ozarks hill country and people. It’s also a good “strong female” story that’s not sentimental or unrealistic.

 

[Thalassa]

I just found this thread and was about to submit the bolded ones above for consideration. Particularly Melancholia, Black Swan, and Drive - all three on my shelf and heavily played. Some of my favorites!

I've watched Antichrist several times and it's still less relatable for me than the unconscious feeling and themes of Melancholia, which is definitely my favorite of the two. I think the former tends to be a little more microcosmic, and the latter a bit more big-picture, if that makes any sense at all.

Anyway. Visual feasts, all of 'em.

I was obsessed with Black Swan for at least two months, and I also enjoyed Melacholia and Drive.

I have actually seen many on Nicos list. Lady Snowblood is actually one of my ex's favorite movies and I remember Opera vividly though it's been seven or eight years since I saw it.

City of God is excellent.

And yes Argentos more recent films are mostly crap. I saw one from the eighties with Jennifer Connelly in it. Horrible.

The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things is one of those films but it's hellishly disturbing. Asia Argento, his daughter, made that one.