Comments on: Strange uses of Moving Pictures

Question: Strange uses of Moving Pictures

phrontist — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 11:49:09 -0800

I'm looking for film recommendations. Films (of any length) that use approach their subject matter in abstract or otherwise unusual ways. Some of my favorites in that vein are Koyaanisqatsi and Baraka, Outside In, Powers of 10, Gantz Graf, Der Lauf Der Dinge, C'etait un Rendezvous, Fast, Cheap, and out of Control, and The Fourth Dimension. Things like this that, in their own weird way, impart some understanding. Bonus points for no dialog.

By: kickingtheground

kickingtheground — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 11:55:14 -0800

Man with a movie camera.

By: tapeguy

tapeguy — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 11:55:34 -0800

Electroma really reminded me of Koyaanisqatsi.

By: jayder

jayder — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 11:56:22 -0800

I'm a fan of Ernie Gehr and Stan Brakhage films, which are extremely abstract. I like Gehr's work a lot more than Brakhage's. My favorite Gehr films are one that is shot from a glass elevator at a hotel in San Francisco --- somehow he manages to create the impression that you are floating among San Francisco's skyscrapers --- and one that was shot of vehicles backing up, turning around, and driving away in a parking lot. Sounds boring, but unbelievably beautiful if you ever get a chance to see them; there is no dialogue in them. I don't think they're available on video. Gehr's most famous film, I think, was shot in a hallway of a university, but I don't think it compares to the two I have described.

I'm also a big fan of Wenders' work. He has some shorter films that are beautiful --- Tokyo-Ga, a kind of filmic meditation on Tokyo, and Notebook on Cities and Clothes (I may have mangled that title) are two good ones. I also like his longer "road movie" Kings of the Road that, although it is a narrative film, is so slow and meditative that it has its own abstraction, and there is very little dialogue.

By: hattifattener

hattifattener — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 12:09:04 -0800

I recently rented a couple volumes of Charles & Ray Eames' short films — they did Powers of Ten which you mention; there's a lot more where that came from.

By: camworld

camworld — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 12:36:25 -0800

I just got Repo! The Genetic Opera, which is described as a futuristic, fantasy, horror musical. I haven't watched it yet but it sounds utterly funky, memorable and unique.

By: eschatfische

eschatfische — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 12:42:10 -0800

Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould is the gimme here.

Krzysztof Kieślowski's film series, like The Decalogue or the Three Colors Trilogy use a number of films which explore interconnected elements in films with rather different themes or storylines.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg isn't an opera, and isn't quite a conventional narrative film; it explores the use of music and color in film in ways that have never quite been duplicated.

If we're discussing experimental film -- Brakhage, the Eames et al, Peter Kubelka's films are less common and fascinating.

Jacques Demy's films, especially Playtime, approach filmmaking and comedy in a truly unique way.

This is going to sound crazy, but if you end up liking the above, you should also check out Speed Racer, which is a big, weird, wonderful experimental film that people hated because they expected it to be the next same-old Hollywood blockbuster.

By: eschatfische

eschatfische — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 12:44:30 -0800

Jacques Demy's films, especially Playtime

That's what I get for mentioning The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and Playtime in the same post. That was supposed to be Jacques Tati.

By: canoehead

canoehead — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 12:57:30 -0800

I saw "Gambling, Gods and LSD" last week on TV and think it meets your specs though it wasnt my cup of tea.

By: Joe Beese

Joe Beese — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 13:17:03 -0800

Kenneth Anger's Scorpio Rising

By: theefixedstars

theefixedstars — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:38:51 -0800

What about the films of Derek Jarman?

Maybe not what you're looking for, but. Also, I think Dreyer's The Passion of Joan d'Arc is one of the most beautiful films ever made. The Anon 4 "score" on the Criterion Collection version doesn't hurt at all.

You might want to check out UbuWeb and The Auteurs , both mentioned on MeFi before.

I'm not at all a Matthew Barney film and I can't deal with this myself, but the Cremaster Cycle may be interesting to you.

By: SoftRain

SoftRain — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:42:01 -0800

Sans Soleil, and I second Man With A Movie Camera.

By: madmethods

madmethods — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 14:59:36 -0800

Not sure quite what you're after given that list of films. But maybe Microcosmos.

By: macadamiaranch

macadamiaranch — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:13:46 -0800

2001: A Space Odyssey. Esp. the end bit.

By: i_am_joe's_spleen

i_am_joe's_spleen — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 16:00:06 -0800

Have you seen Ilha das Flores? A most unusual documentary, only 15 minutes long.

By: louche mustachio

louche mustachio — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 18:40:35 -0800

I was just going to say Ubuweb -

Their Film and Video section is a fantastic resource.

Piotr Kamler
Thanatopsis(Ed Emshwiller)
Intestinal Fortitude (Colin Barton)
Paul Glablicki
Stan Vanderbeek (FPP)
Walerian Borowczyk

Those are a few recommendations off the top of my head. Any Kenneth Anger will do you well - his films are really beautiful.

Maya Deren - Meshes of the Afternoon, Ritual in Transfigured Time

I'll try to think of some more...

By: louche mustachio

louche mustachio — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 18:47:19 -0800

Kenneth Anger:

Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
Rabbit's Moon
Scorpio Rising
Puce Moment
Eau d'Artifice

By: louche mustachio

louche mustachio — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 18:52:26 -0800

Norman McLaren
Neighbors
Spook Sport
Dots
Pas de Deux
A Phantasy

By: louche mustachio

louche mustachio — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 19:01:20 -0800

Harry Smith
Heaven and Earth Magic (excerpt)
Early Abstractions 1 2 3 4
Mirror Animations

By: vkxmai

vkxmai — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 21:24:51 -0800

Seconding Sans Soleil, adding La Jetée.

By: bubukaba

bubukaba — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 00:48:12 -0800

James Benning's films are great. I'm partial to "One Way Boogie Woogie", but I'm also really excited for RR, his latest.

By: spandex

spandex — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 08:11:48 -0800

Hukkle

By: edlundart

edlundart — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:01:23 -0800

Looks like I'm a bit late to this interesting thread, but it's at least conceivable that you'd enjoy my animated short Gone.

By: ifjuly

ifjuly — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:53:01 -0800

Paul Schrader's Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters isn't way out there, but it's definitely a bit unique for a biopic-slash-literature-adaption. It weaves together Mishima's last day with his childhood and, oddest of all in execution, these minimalist, hyper-colorful set pieces enacting his stories. Criterion just re-released it, along with Patriotism.

By: ifjuly

ifjuly — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 17:54:06 -0800

I forgot to mention Philip Glass did the score to Mishima, which might be relevant since you like Koyaanisqatsi.