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Sep 2, 2024 · Venture into the vast and profound universe of existential cinema with our extensive, user-curated list that spans timeless classics to contemporary masterpieces. Deep and impactful, these films have shaped cinema and influenced thought, stirring debates about our very existence.
- Tokyo Story (Yasujiro Ozu, 1953) Few movies have managed to deal with universal themes like family life, loss, aging and loneliness in a sincerely and powerful way like this masterpiece of Japanese cinema.
- Hiroshima Mon Amour (Alain Resnais, 1959) Hiroshima Mon Amour (1953), the first full-length film by the French director Alain Resnais, previously known for his fabulous and dense documentaries, this film is an adaptation of a manuscript by writer Marguerite Duras, whose work flirted with existentialism.
- Vivre Sa Vie (Jean Luc-Godard, 1962) In Vivre As Vie (1962) the camera acts as a detective. Nana (Anna Karina) is presented to us in the distance, and sometimes we even lose the sight of her.
- 8 ½ (Federico Fellini, 1963) Guido Anselmi, a renowned Italian director, has a crisis while preparing his new movie. Looking for a rest he goes to a spa resort in order to collect his ideas.
- The Last Laugh (F.W. Murnau, 1924) Existentialist themes in movies got an early start with F.W. Murnau’s, “The Last Laugh’. An old man who finds all of his identity and sense of pride in being a hotel doorman is found to now be too old for the job, and is demoted to work as a humble bathroom attendant, and is stripped of his fancy uniform and all feelings of self worth.
- Modern Times (Charlie Chaplin, 1936) Charlie Chaplin was the master of tragic humor, and he perhaps expressed it best in his great work, “Modern Times’.
- The Killers (Robert Siodmak, 1946) Film Noir as a genre, with all of it’s double crosses, crime, violence and greed that often goes without consequence in an uncaring world, is almost existential in a lot of ways by nature.
- Ikiru (Akira Kurosawa, 1952) Master filmmaker Akira Kurowsawa was no stranger to existentialist themes and ideas in his films. In Seven Samurai (1954), he had seven great ronin samurai who no longer had an allegiance or purpose come to find personal meaning in the defense of villagers (and even in their own deaths) whom they didn’t even know.
- On Body and Soul
- Into The Wild
- Mr. Nobody
- Flight from Death: The Quest For Immortality
- Diane
- My Dinner with Andre
- The Bucket List
- American Beauty
- An Elephant Sitting Still
- Requiem For A Dream
The movie is about a love story that is forged in the least romantic place in the world: a slaughterhouse.
”Into the Wild” tells the true story of Christopher McCandless, a bright young American college graduate who horrified his parents by sending his $24,000 law school fund to Oxfam. Then, he decided to live off the grid for more than 2 years, culminating in a fatal 4-month solo journey to the Alaskan backcountry. The movie represents Sean Penn’s most...
The film tells the life story of Nemo Nobody, a 118-year-old man who is the last mortal on Earth after the human race has achieved quasi-immortality. ”Mr. Nobody” is a 2009 science fiction drama film directed and written by Jaco Van Dormael and starring: 1. Juno Temple; 2. Toby Regbo; 3. Jared Leto; 4. Natasha Little; 5. Sarah Polley; 6. Rhys Ifans...
”Flight from Death: The Quest for Immortality” is a documentary film that investigates the relationship of human violence to fear of death, as related to subconscious influences.
In this movie, Mary Kay Place plays a selfless widow burdened by guilt, with Jake Lacy as her drug-addicted son in this 1st narrative feature from director Kent Jones.
”My Dinner with Andre” is an American comedy-drama film that is directed by Louis Malle, and written by and starring Wallace Shawn (Wally) and Andre Gregory (Andre). The plot is about two old friends who meet for dinner – as one tells anecdotes detailing his experiences, the other notices their differing worldviews.
”The Bucket List” is an American comedy-drama film that is produced and directed by Rob Reiner, written by Justin Zackham, and starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. The plot is about two terminally ill men who escape from a cancer ward and head off on a road trip with a wish list of to-dos before they die.
In this movie, a sexually frustrated suburban father has a mid-life crisis after becoming infatuated with his daughter’s best friend. Academics have described ”American Beauty” as a satire of American middle-class notions of beauty and personal satisfaction.
”An Elephant Sitting Still” is a 2018 Chinese film directed, written, and edited by Hu Bo. In the movie, 4 people in a Chinese city live through a complicated day as their lives intersect.
”Requiem for a Dream” is an American psychological tragedy film that is directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Marlon Wayans, and Jennifer Connelly. The plot is about the drug-induced utopias of 4 Coney Island people who are shattered when their addictions run deep.
"Venture into the vast and profound universe of existential cinema with our extensive, user-curated list that spans timeless classics to contemporary masterpieces. Deep and impactful, these films have shaped cinema and influenced thought, stirring debates about our very existence.
Nov 7, 2017 · 1. Ikiru. Have you ever wondered how you will be remembered after you die? If so, you certainly aren’t alone. Filmmaker Akira Kurasawa tackles the meaning of life and death in the haunting drama Ikiru (translated as “To Live”).
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1. The Tree of Life (2011) PG-13 | 139 min | Drama, Fantasy. 6.8. Rate. 85 Metascore. The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings. Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, Hunter McCracken.
