Breaking The Waves
Tree Of Life
Possession
Didn’t Matt give an injunction against love/hate threads? Isn’t this just another opportunity for a “films you hate that others love/films you love that others hate” style thread?
The original divisive film, maybe the most divisive ever- Birth of a Nation
Yeah, I don’t know how “divisive” Zodiac is (it’s probably no more divisive than any of Fincher’s other films – people who hate Fincher are going to hate all his films, including Zodiac).
I definitely think Irreversible is divisive, as is Inland Empire.
@Jirin
I haven’t seen those films, and I’m not sure how divisive the other two were in the “real world.” At mubi, I don’t think ToL or BtW have been very polarizing. Or do you disagree with that?
@Ari
The films that are most polarizing can lead to the most interesting and stimulating discussions. Remember Another Year?! :) (Seriously, I really enjoyed that discussion—and I hope you did, too—or at least it wasn’t the reason you left the site. ;)
As mentioned on another thres, The Fountain and Synecdoche New York are good choices
Antichrist.
I think AntiChrist certainly has a shot at the crown
Steven Soderbergh films. I’ve found discussions surrounding Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring can get rather (respectfully) disagreeable. A lot of Kim Ki-duk films shoot up high and then just plateau at some point.
@Malik
I’ve found discussions surrounding Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring can get rather (respectfully) disagreeable.
This is a little surprising. Then again, in certain company, I guess this makes sense.
What are Soderbergh’s polarizing films, in your opinion?
@Santino
Yeah, I don’t know how “divisive” Zodiac is (it’s probably no more divisive than any of Fincher’s other films – people who hate Fincher are going to hate all his films, including Zodiac).
I guess two people against everyone else doesn’t really count. :) I actually like some of Fincher’s films. (I think Se7en is terrific.)
As mentioned on another thres, The Fountain and Synecdoche New York are good choices.
I can see that, but has these been a lot of debate here about those two?
@Ben
Yeah, the discussion on Antichrist seemed spirited. I should see that film one day.
“I can see that, but has these been a lot of debate here about those two?”
Yup, I think there are pretty epic threads on both – I think the Fountain thread was where I may have had my first contentious Mubi film debate.
Huh. I must have missed those.
The Fountain might’ve been before your time, whippersnapper.
I’m totally shocked that we’re like ~11 posts deep into this thread and nobody has suggested Salo yet.
Obvious candidates—already mentioned in the thread, actually—are definitely any of Lars von Trier’s films. I feel like anything Vincent Gallo directs would fall under this category as well, with Brown Bunny being the most notable.
This one is pretty standard, but I’ve also noticed that opinions on The Silence seem really divisive, at least among Bergman fans anyway. I can only imagine how audiences reacted to the film in 1961.
Judging by the divided opinions on The Tree of Life, how do all of you think this film will be received in a few years/decades?
“’m totally shocked that we’re like ~11 posts deep into this thread and nobody has suggested Salo yet.”
We all love Salo here.
I’m thinking some of Wes Anderson films but it seems most people dislike him here.
“We all love Salo here.”
I will definitely admit that I’ve seen many adoring posts, but hate follows that film anywhere.
@Low
The thing about Salo is that I don’t noticed hoards of people loving that film.
What with all the divided opinion on The Tree of Life, how do all of you think this film will be received in a few years/decades?
What’s tricky about this film is that the people who really hated the film—i.e., the people who expected something more conventional, but walked out when they learned it wasn’t—probably won’t like the film years from now.
On the other hand, I wonder if the people who loved the film now will still think highly of it many years from now. I liked the film quite a bit, but I’m not sure it’s great, let alone all-time great film.
@Ari
The Fountain might’ve been before your time, whippersnapper.
Whippersnapper? Hey, I can live with that. :)
@Jazz
I’m a fan of all of Steven’s work that I’ve seen outside of Ocean’s Thirteen. I’m always confused about people’s hate toward Ocean’s Twelve though, I always thought it superior to the original but I’ve always found that people loathe it more than the uninspired retread that is Ocean’s Thirteen. I haven’t seen Kafka, but I know that’s decisive around Kafka fans.
Yeah I recall those discussions about The Fountain and Salo. I think Josh is a big fan of The Fountain.
@Ari
Is there a lot of people who love Salo? (Personally, I don’t love or hate the film.)
My impression is that Wes Anderson is somewhat polarizing around these parts.
@Malik
Oh, I hated Ocean’s Twelve. (Is that the one where Andy Garcia is the primary villain?) I can’t remember the reasons, but I believe there were too many things I found silly and/or implausible. (The first and third films were harmless fun.)
Any Sofia Coppola film. I have not seen Somewhere but I tend to like her films. For non-cinephiles, she is still the girl who ruined Godfather Part III like it was sabotage and I tend to find many people into film who hate Marie Antoinette and Lost in Translation. But she definitely has fans. Ditto with Wes Anderson. Many Bill Murray fans hate those two.
@Jazz
I totally agree with most of your sentiments, though I should have been more clear as to which type of audience I was referring to. Divided opinions on The Tree of Life seem prevalent among people who didn’t expect a conventional picture as well, which is why I raised the question. I feel like many people who are just starting out on the path to cinephilia gravitate toward Malick’s work, so I see where some of the division comes from. For the people who have seen The Tree of Life and aren’t quite “into” cinema yet, I feel as if it’s a film they may dislike at first but then begin to appreciate as their tastes mature. Maybe I say this because I had a similar experience with Days of Heaven as a young idiot, though.
For me personally, I see the film holding up quite well because of the beautiful timelessness of the images and subject matter. I can see 2050-me kind of cringing at the dinosaur scene, but maybe I can chalk that up to what the technology of the time will be like. To be honest, I remember thinking, “I don’t think that shot is going to age well” when I first saw it.
“Oh, I hated Ocean’s Twelve. (Is that the one where Andy Garcia is the primary villain?) I can’t remember the reasons, but I believe there were too many things I found silly and/or implausible. (The first and third films were harmless fun.)”
I’m with Malik. Ocean’s Twelve is great. If you can’t appreciate Vincent Cassel breakdancing, you don’t appreciate life enough.
“Lost in Translation”
To be honest, most people who hate Lost in Translation (I’d probably consider myself here) don’t hate the film so much as the passionate response it generated. When I saw it, I couldn’t get over how mediocre it was and was just baffled by the acclaim.
“Is there a lot of people who love Salo? (Personally, I don’t love or hate the film.)”
Do they still have that Salo theme castle in Germany?
@Ari
I’m with Malik. Ocean’s Twelve is great. If you can’t appreciate Vincent Cassel breakdancing, you don’t appreciate life enough.
Oh, I wish I remember specifics, so we could go at it.
To be honest, most people who hate Lost in Translation (I’d probably consider myself here) don’t hate the film so much as the passionate response it generated. When I saw it, I couldn’t get over how mediocre it was and was just baffled by the acclaim.
That’s about right for me, too.
Do they still have that Salo theme castle in Germany?
No way.
No one wants to toss Showgirls into the mix? The only two opinions I’ve heard on it are “one of the masterpieces of the 1990s” and “one of the worst movies of all time”, and nothing in between.
Showgirls is a pretty good one.
@Low
I feel like many people who are just starting out on the path to cinephilia gravitate toward Malick’s work, so I see where some of the division comes from. For the people who have seen The Tree of Life and aren’t quite “into” cinema yet, I feel as if it’s a film they may dislike at first but then begin to appreciate as their tastes mature.
Got it. Among this niche, I would say that that, in time, chances are they’ll like it a lot more. (But then a little while later, they might like it less.)
I can see 2050-me kind of cringing at the dinosaur scene, but maybe I can chalk that up to what the technology of the time will be like.
Yeah, that seems reasonable.
I’m a big fan of The Fountain as well.
“We all love Salo here.”
it’s true.
Along with Antichrist, i’d say most Von Trier is divisive, as is most Malick.
The Artist. I know many on here that sang it’s praises but i found it to be nothing more than untypical Oscar bait, appealing to the nostalgia of the board, who are mostly white 70 y/o males. Of course it won, but i thought there were other films this year that were nominated that were far better, and many films that were far better that weren’t nominated. I liked it, but that’s as far as i’d go, though I know many that hated it and many that loved it.
From my experience these films are very love or hate:
Eyes Wide Shut
A Clockwork Orange
Spaceballs
Children of Men
Short Cuts
any Cassavetes
Twilight Saga
Harry Potter Saga
The Hunger Games
Anything Godard made after about 1965.
on MUBI…any English language film, especially American.
Jazzaloha
What are some of the most divisive films of all time? By “divisive” I mean films that a lot of people love and an equal number of people hate. There are some obvious ones, and we can talk about those, but I’d also like to concentrate on the films that have divided the mubi community. Two that come to mind, right off the bat—Irreversible and Zodiac (although with the latter, I think Joks and I were the main dissenters; so maybe Zodiac isn’t a great pick). Let’s see if we can find more polarizing films, or have we found and discussed all them all?