"Decadent" films?

May 5, 2007 4:56 PM

Any able to suggest any good "Decadent" films?

A friend of mine is programming for a film series at a hip nightclub/lounge.
He's looking for suggestions for films (foreign or domestic) that would fall under the banner of "Decadent", you know sex, drugs, conspicuous sumptiousness, etc.

Anyone got any idears?

posted by Senor Cardgage to media & arts (52 comments total)

Caligula?
posted by subtle-t at 5:00 PM on May 5, 2007

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls?
posted by twoporedomain at 5:03 PM on May 5, 2007

Weekend - Goddard
posted by Max Power at 5:03 PM on May 5, 2007 [1 favorite]

oops one d in that godard name.
posted by Max Power at 5:04 PM on May 5, 2007

Caligula
24 Hour Party People
Marie Antoinette
Shortbus
parts of Boogie Nights
posted by The Michael The at 5:29 PM on May 5, 2007

The Rules of Attraction
Spun
posted by porn in the woods at 5:47 PM on May 5, 2007

Nasty to the nth degree:

"Salò o le 120 giornate di Sodoma" (Salò or the 120 Days of Sodom) is a 1975 film by Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini, based on the book The 120 Days of Sodom by the Marquis de Sade.

Salò (as the film is commonly abbreviated) is set in the Republic of Salò, the Fascist rump state which was set up in the German-occupied portion of Italy in 1944. The film is divided into four segments that loosely parallel Dante's Inferno: Anteinferno, Circle of Manias, Circle of Shit and Circle of Blood.

According to the Wiki article, the film was banned in Australia in 1976, unbanned in 1993, and rebanned in 1998!
posted by rob511 at 5:53 PM on May 5, 2007

Salo
Showgirls
Velvet Goldmine
posted by pablocham at 5:53 PM on May 5, 2007

David Cronenberg's Crash
posted by porn in the woods at 6:00 PM on May 5, 2007

Vegas is a good starting point for decadence:

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Casino
Leaving Las Vegas

Plenty of conspicuous consumption there.

How 'bout a little Gus Van Sant?

Drugstore Cowboy
posted by Exchequer at 6:24 PM on May 5, 2007

La Dolce Vita is the classic decadence movie.

Did you ever ask yourself what all the nice, respectable Indians thought about a bunch of nasty hippies sitting around getting stoned in their country? Hare Krishna Hare Rama On a similar theme, but more Austin Powerific Purab aur Pacchim
posted by Methylviolet at 6:25 PM on May 5, 2007

Okay, Salo is not decadent, it's icky. As a friend of mine remarked after we watched it, "That was entirely too much poo." If you want decadent, try The Dreamers.
posted by adipocere at 6:33 PM on May 5, 2007

From Hare Krishna Hare Rama...
From Purab aur Pacchim...
posted by Methylviolet at 6:36 PM on May 5, 2007

I don't know if you are looking for movies set in a contemporary era, but otherwise Fellini's Satyricon is pretty decadent and crazy as I remember...
posted by baking soda at 6:44 PM on May 5, 2007

I'm thinking any of Jesus Franco's films made in the 70's would fit the bill.
posted by doublesix at 6:54 PM on May 5, 2007

Any of Warhol's films, a splash of Kenneth Anger, four doses of Russ Meyer, and a John Waters or two. For some European flair, you have to put in an early Almodovar.
posted by JJ86 at 6:55 PM on May 5, 2007

Last Year at Marienbad
Igby Goes Down
posted by carsonb at 6:56 PM on May 5, 2007

IMDB keyword decadence
posted by doublesix at 6:57 PM on May 5, 2007

Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
posted by jvilter at 6:58 PM on May 5, 2007

Not my think, but I think the Cook the Theif, his Wife and Her Lover, or better yet, Drowning by Numbers would be a good choices.
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 7:04 PM on May 5, 2007

Requiem for a Dream
Eyes Wide Shut
posted by bradbane at 7:13 PM on May 5, 2007

The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, Her Lover

(which happens to be my scariest ever first date movie, but that's another story)
posted by alms at 7:15 PM on May 5, 2007

Barfly
Orgazmo
Pink Flamingos
Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
posted by mattbucher at 7:20 PM on May 5, 2007

Performance, a classic.
posted by ardgedee at 7:21 PM on May 5, 2007

Last Tango in Paris

Butter will never be quite the same after viewing this bad boy Brando classic.
posted by peace_love_hope at 7:49 PM on May 5, 2007

Nine and 1/2 weeks One of my very favorite movies!
posted by JujuB at 7:51 PM on May 5, 2007

In addition to some great recommendations above:
Caberet
Satyricon
The Great Gatsby
The Dreamers
posted by caddis at 7:56 PM on May 5, 2007

Party Monster!
posted by runtina at 8:18 PM on May 5, 2007

Quills provides a juicy, almost old-fashioned moviegoing experience -- albeit with all the lurid sex, masochism, and graphic feces afforded by this century's censors.

The Holy Mountain packs in a massive amount of stunning images that are so joyfully bizarre, one cannot help but be amazed. Part of the film's charm is that the imagery is so random and surreal that its meaning is open to almost any interpretation. Topics as diverse as war, sex, violence, religion, immortality, necrophilia, bestiality, and castration are all given equal attention and carried out with great skill and beauty.

The Allmovie plot synopsis for The Holy Mountain says "it suggests what might have resulted if Luis Buñuel, Michelangelo Antonioni, and George Romero had all dropped acid and made a movie together," and that captures it nicely.
posted by mediareport at 9:11 PM on May 5, 2007

La Grande Bouffe

washes brain
posted by goshling at 10:28 PM on May 5, 2007

is "scarface" so much a cliche at this point that everyone has refrained from mentioning it?
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:33 PM on May 5, 2007

Prospero's Books I have only seen the first few minutes of it, but it was the most off the wall, bizarre, crazy hedonist, baroque, pseudo-Greek, fleshfest I've ever seen. Seriously, he could screen those ten minutes on a loop.

Watch out though, it's got Little Boy Wang in one part (a young child, who I believe is painted blue, is swinging towards the camera, with a maniacal grin on his face as he is straight up pissing into the marble pool full of writing bodies that he is swinging over). Yes, I know that sounds like porn. I assure you it's not, and it's at least worth a movie night with your friend so you can talk about the crazy-ass shit you saw.

Once again, to be clear, I am NOT saying this is a must-have. It is very weird. I do think it's worth checking out though, 'cause it might be the thing you're looking for.
posted by Doublewhiskeycokenoice at 10:40 PM on May 5, 2007

I second Requiem for a Dream, definitely
posted by V-Turn at 10:57 PM on May 5, 2007

OK, alot of good suggestions here guys, but please, no consequences or forboding messages (Requiem, etc)

I think he needs something from Ken Russell's rumpus room here.

Think hedonism.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 11:09 PM on May 5, 2007

Prospero's Books is a nude romp through the Bard's Tempest. Decadent? I don't know. Nude, yes. Greenaway likes his actors and actresses nude, and through large periods of the film. However, most of them are not really decadent. Waters is decadent, Greenaway is more like nudist surrealism. The aforementioned "The Cook, The Thief, His Wife and Her Lover" though is truly a surrealistic descent into amoralism. I guess you could call that decadent. Half the audience left the theater in disgust during the middle of the picture when I saw it. A goodly chunk of them left when it appeared that a young boys penis was, well, I can't even say.
posted by caddis at 11:22 PM on May 5, 2007

The Hunger is kind of decadent in an avant 80's way. It's like a commercial for lesbianism. Trainspotting. Can't remember if that one had a moral, but it certainly ruffled some feathers in its day.
posted by roger ackroyd at 11:40 PM on May 5, 2007

Visconti: Ludwig, The Damned (Il caduta degli dei), Death in Venice
posted by jouke at 11:45 PM on May 5, 2007

Clockwork Orange
posted by Afroblanco at 12:11 AM on May 6, 2007

how could we forget that one Afroblanco. Good call.
*opens mouth - waits for the food to enter
posted by caddis at 12:29 AM on May 6, 2007

La Bete
La grande Bouffe
Beyond the Valley of the Dolls
posted by adamvasco at 1:22 AM on May 6, 2007

Henry & June
Porky's?
posted by Martin E. at 4:21 AM on May 6, 2007

The Libertine? Haven't seen it myself, actually...
9 Songs (ditto)
Nekromantik and Nekromantik 2?
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
posted by Martin E. at 4:31 AM on May 6, 2007

Peter Greenaway's alright if you're looking for visual decadence - I thought of Prospero's Books and The Pillow Book immediately upon reading your question. Some other visually decadent films are The Red Shoes and Moulin Rouge.

For outright decadence you can't beat Russ Meyer. I would forget Salo - it's not decadent, just gross, just like the book.
posted by goo at 7:08 AM on May 6, 2007

Almost forgot, Derek Jarman's Sebastiane.
posted by pablocham at 8:57 AM on May 6, 2007

Well, part of the problem is that it's rare to find a movie with no come-uppance for the decadent types— it usually feels narratively unsatisfying.

That said— Cheech and Chong's ouvre does this well, as do most other "head" movies (including, sidelong, Head, the Monkees movie).

Woodstock and Pink Floyd Live at Pompeii are both great, with more indulgence in Woodstock (even Hair might count).

As for the sex, you can always go with movies like Caged Heat or Chained Heat (I forget which one's better), part of the delicious Chicks In Prison genre.
posted by klangklangston at 11:15 AM on May 6, 2007

What, no Eating Raoul? Great fun, a much younger Commander Chakotay in the title role, and a classic bit appearance from Edie McClurg. What's not to like?
posted by gimonca at 11:39 AM on May 6, 2007

Any films by the Viennese Actionists, such as Otto Muhle, Kurt Kren, etc. (Not suitable for anything at all, really -- aside from decadent orgies and the like.)
posted by PeterMcDermott at 12:07 PM on May 6, 2007

Pandora's Box?
posted by hilatron at 1:44 PM on May 6, 2007

I'm a little later here, I know. But, I am so surprised nobody has mentioned Thursday. Blood, gore AND sex (Paulina Porizkova nude and rapes a guy). If you want decadent, this film is a celluloid definition.
posted by Gerard Sorme at 2:20 PM on May 6, 2007

Twilight of the Ice Nymphs
Blow Up

And a big old "seconded" to Performance and Kenneth Anger's stuff.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 3:19 PM on May 6, 2007

Blue Velvet?
posted by Brainy at 4:48 AM on May 7, 2007

Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist.
posted by desuetude at 6:21 AM on May 7, 2007