@Justin
POISON is definitely surrealist. I completely forgot about that movie since it never seemed to make it to DVD. Thanks for reminding me of it.
VELLAEM:Glad to have helped. I still need more surreal movies.
VELLAEM:Glad to have helped. I still need more surreal movies.
Can I throw in the Brothers Quay? And back to the beginning Man Ray, Joseph Cornell, ballet Mechanique…
So many great films to add to the ol’ Netflix queue.
You’re welcome Vellaem. That’s a film I’d like to see again, actually.
Some more surrealist films by the same directors. My first post on this thread contains my favorites, but the following are good as well.
BUNUEL (Surrealism in a social context, classically surrealist):
That obscure object of desire, Un chien andalou (with Salvador Dali), Las Hurdes, Viridiana, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Simon of the Desert
JODOROWSKI (LSD surrealism):
El Topo
LYNCH (California cool, Hopper-bleak surrealism):
Wild at Heart, Blue Velvet, The short films of…
MADDEN (Retro-expressionist surrealism):
Sissy boy slap party (short), The Saddest Music in the World
COCTEAU (classically surrealist)
Orpheus, Testament of Orpheus
SVANKMAJER (surrealist animation)
Conspirators of Pleasure, Little Otik
BROTHERS QUAY
Institute Benjamenta
PETER GREENAWAY (Baroque Surrealism)
The cook the thief his wife her lover, The Pillowbook, A Zed and Two Naughts, Prospero’s Books, Drowning by Numbers, Belly of an Architect, The Falls
The short films of Maya Deren. Especially Meshes of the afternoon. But on the other hand she might be more avantgarde than surrealist.
@Mathias Palmberg
" she might be more avantgarde than surrealist."
Yes, that troubled me when adding Greenaway to this list. Maybe I shouldn’t have.
@Vellaem
Surreal, avantgarde, whatever… I´d put Greenaway in there as well. Loved your list of surreal cinema by the way, very cool.
Good choices, Vellaem. I’m going to look the ones on the list I haven’t seen,
As others have suggested:
Mullholland Dr.and Age d’Or would seem to top the list.
As others have suggested:
Mullholland Dr.and Age d’Or would seem to top the list.
Mullholland Dr was great, but what made it surreal?
Any opinions on Jodorowsky’s Holy Mountain? I plan on watching.
Los Olvidados and l’Age d’Or, both by Bunuel
Los Olvidados (The Forgotten) and l’Age d’Or, both bu Bunuel
Surprised nobody mentioned Magnolia. Does it get anymore surreal than a rainfall of frogs?
One of my favorite films is The Hourglass Sanatorium ( Sanatorum Pod Klepsydra) by Wojciech Has.
OJ: it has been known to rain frogs
I’m surprised people have mentioned Magnolia. I love that part, but I don’t think it warrants labeling the film as a whole “surreal.”
Maya Deren’s great, and I don’t think the surrealist/avant-garde distinction means much. In fact, I’m curious as to why someone would say that because her work was avant garde she’s not a surrealist.
As for Lynch, I think Eraserhead would qualify, as would (probably) Mulholland Dr and Inland Empire. Blue Velvet and Wild At Heart are very straightforward, at least for his films.
Also, The Fountain?
ah i’ve included Deren in my list in the Lists section (completed with trepidation), so am glad you seem to agree, but a purist’s list would be much smaller.
An Andalusian Dog
Justin Biberkopf
Todd Haynes’ Poison is kind of a surreal film. As is Querelle in many ways. Fassbinder’s project to film Kokain (which he died before shooting began) promised to be one of his more unusual films. He said that you would be able to see the breath of all the actors when they spoke, because it was constantly freezing in their world regardless of the actual weather.