I have reached the day where I can no longer find any new mind-bending movies to watch. I need YOUR help.
What is a mind-bending movie? Good question.
Here are some guidelines for if a movie is mind-bending:
-The viewer has to pay close attention to details in the dialogue and/or visuals or else he will miss things. (Memento, Primer, Triangle (2000))
-When the credits roll, the viewer is awe-struck and the film leaves an indelible impression on him. Profound implications are a plus. (Children of Men, Earthlings, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood)
-The plot is the single most important element as opposed to CGI or famous actors. Low budget films are more than welcome. (Eraserhead, Mr. Nobody, Pontypool, Primer, Triangle (2009))
-The plot should be unpredictable and leave the viewer guessing until the end. In fact, the plot is so good, that the viewer doesn't want the movie to end. (Triangle, Primer, Requiem for a Dream, Memento)
-Typically, the viewer has to watch the movie multiple times to understand everything (Primer, Triangle (2009), Memento)
-There are multiple interpretations and you could spend hours on IMDB theorizing and arguing about what really happened (Primer, Triangle (2009)).
-Plot twists and unexpected turns are always welcome (12 Monkeys, Moon, Sunshine, Triangle (2009)).
-Plot can unfold in a unique fashion such as in reverse chronology (Memento).
Examples of the movies I like (bolded are the best examples):
12 Monkeys
28 Days Later
American Psycho
Children of Men Dark City Donnie Darko Earthlings
Eraserhead
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Full Metal Jacket Gattaca Ghost in the Shell Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Mean Creek Memento Moon
Mr. Nobody
No Country For Old Men
Office Space Pi Pontypool Primer Requiem for a Dream
Solaris (Soderbergh)
Sunshine
The Departed
The Fighter
The Hurt Locker
The Minority Report
The Prestige
The Shawshank Redemption
The Thing
The Wrestler There Will Be Blood
Trainspotting
Triangle
List of every other movies I've already seen, but didn't like:
28 Weeks Later
127 Hours
Batman Begins
Black Swan
District 9
Dorian Gray
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Garden State
Inception
Ink
Inside Man
Little Miss Sunshine
Oldboy
REC
The Assasination of Jessie James
The Crazies
The Dark Knight
The Illusionist
The Machinist
The Man From Earth
Un Prophete
Where the Wild Things Are
Zodiac
Watch The Usual Suspects, it meets almost all of your criteria. And don't let anyone tell you anything about it, it could ruin one of the best endings ever.
Based on the moives you listed you might also enjoy SLC Punk. It has a lot of comedy in it but it's a great story and the ending really sticks with you (generally fans of Trainspotting also like this movie).
Your list of films you didn't like made me cry inside a little (Oldboy, The Dark Knight, Eternal Sunshine??!?!?).
That said, watch Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire, both written and directed by David Lynch.
Watch Enter the Void. And do so late at night in complete darkness and silence.
If you have a lot of patience watch Werckmeister Harmonies. It's often slow paced, but it's one of the most beautifully shot films I've ever seen.
Also, watch A Town Called Panic. It's stop motion animation and it's simply delightful.
If I think of more, I'll put them on here.
The Dark Knight? I will forever love Batman: The Animated Series and automatically hate anything that could rival its legacy. Plus that Joker was not the Joker I grew up watching.
Oldboy? I couldn't relate to this movie. The Korean culture just felt too inaccessible to me.
Eternal Sunshine? Romance and comedy movies completely disinterest me.
Me and you seem to be on the same wavelength though. I will watch Enter the Void tonight. Oh and please do post movies as you think of them; meanwhile, I'll be reading through your blog.
But can you please do me a huge favor? Watch the movie Triangle (2009). You saw how much I praised it in my OP. Do not watch the trailer under any condition (massive spoilers). Go into the movie with no expectations.
I'm willing to bet my account that you will like this movie.
Sorry Madding, but I have to tell the OP to not waste his time on Shutter Island. First of all, the obligatory "he said he doesn't like Inception, he's not gonna like Shutter Island". Secondly, after about 15 minutes into Shutter Island, I knew exactly what was going to happen (which goes against everything he wants from a movie). I then had to force myself through the rest of the hour and a half or however long it is through immense boredom just to make sure I was correct. And I was... and it made me angry.
As for my recommendation... the best example that I can think of, that I've seen recently is Afterlife. From imdb:
"A young woman caught between life and death... and a funeral director who appears to have the gift of transitioning the dead, but might just be intent on burying her alive."
It left me kind of confused cause I was constantly going back and forth "this is whats going to happen... no wait maybe not... what's that mean? Maybe... wait, what?"
Worse case scenario, you get to watch Christinna Ricci naked for a significantly large portion of the film.
Edit: I looked at Triangle on imdb and in the related movies was The Orphanage. I'm a huge fan of this movie, too. And it fits your qualifications pretty well.
Sorry Madding, but I have to tell the OP to not waste his time on Shutter Island. First of all, the obligatory "he said he doesn't like Inception, he's not gonna like Shutter Island". Secondly, after about 15 minutes into Shutter Island, I knew exactly what was going to happen (which goes against everything he wants from a movie).
A lot of people didn't know what was going to happen, including myself. And sometimes the experience of the journey is more important than the ending.
I found the movie exhilirating, I am sad to see it bored somebody.
Let's not spoil it for the OP, be it good or bad to him.
Everything that happens in it is pointless, to the extent that at the end, the film can literally have no meaning. It undercuts any significance that any scene in the movie could have, as commentary on the real world, or even a jumping point for any discussion.
It completely annihilates its own expression.
If you want to have your head raped, then sure. If you want to feel changed and not two hours deprived of brain time, don't.
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The Dark Knight? I will forever love Batman: The Animated Series and automatically hate anything that could rival its legacy. Plus that Joker was not the Joker I grew up watching.
Oldboy? I couldn't relate to this movie. The Korean culture just felt too inaccessible to me.
Eternal Sunshine? Romance and comedy movies completely disinterest me.
Me and you seem to be on the same wavelength though. I will watch Enter the Void tonight. Oh and please do post movies as you think of them; meanwhile, I'll be reading through your blog.
But can you please do me a huge favor? Watch the movie Triangle (2009). You saw how much I praised it in my OP. Do not watch the trailer under any condition (massive spoilers). Go into the movie with no expectations.
I'm willing to bet my account that you will like this movie.
Ah, I'm pretty well versed in film, as far as amatuer critics go! I've seen Triangle and I enjoyed it a lot. Unfortunately I saw the preview first and, yes, there's a shockingly huge spoiler shot in it! Stupid marketing department.
Also, I love the films that Christopher Smith, director of Triangle, has made. I'll reccomend them. He made a lower budget film called Creep that is somewhat standard horror film tropes done by a very competent filmmaker. He also made a comedy/horror film called Severance that is super fun to watch. And his most recent film, Black Death, just hit NetFlix streaming and I haven't watched it yet. I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
@ Shutter Island. I knew how that film was going to end from the trailer. I think it's one of Scorsese's worst films. While it's one of the most beautifully shot films of the last few years, the story is pedestrian psychological thriller nonsense. Predicatable and unoriginal.
All of these (the Lost Highway (another David Lynch film, if I'm not mistaken) in particular tends to be forgotten when chatting about these types of flicks):
(about the English language) It's kinda like a raft that was cobbled together from parts of three different boats and since then has been kept barely afloat with crude repairs every time a leak appeared.
Well I started things off with Enter the Void. I had zero expectations and watched it solely based on the recommendation of this thread and another forum that insisted that I watch it.
I was immediately jarred by the audio. The voices were very muffled and I couldn't hear what the characters were saying half the time.
After a short while, I was completely nauseated. The first person perspective was awful. I understand that they had to use it for this film's plot but, still, it could have been handled better.
I kept waiting and waiting for something mind-bending to happen. Or for the plot to get interested. But it didn't happen.
I even felt like I had seen this movie before. The one where the guy turns to dealing drugs to better his family, but it leads to a downward spiral. The one where the girl turns to prostitution to try to better her family.
Oh wait, that's pretty much every drug addiction movie; that is to say that this movie was riddled with cliches. I'm sorry but a first person perspective simply doesn't differentiate this movie from Requiem for a Dream.
Requiem for a Dream differentiated itself from the also excellent Trainspotting. Same sort of theme, but two different movies.
This movie felt like a new film maker watched RfaD and wanting to make something profound.
I cared about the characters in RfaD. But not in this movie. I had no compassion or pity for these characters. Some of their lines were ridiculous.
"Hey sister try this ecstasy"
"Is it dangerous?"
"lol nope, it's like a vitamin"
I wish I was exaggerating.
So for two hours, I floated around Tokyo while watching gratuitous amounts of sex.
At the two hour mark, I turned the movie off. I then looked on wikipedia and read what I guess was the mind-bending part. I can't believe anyone would sit around for almost 3 hours for that. Think of how much plot you got in Lord of the Rings in 3 hours, then look at how much plot you got in this movie for 3 hours. No comparison. It's like Usain Bolt competing at my high school track meet.
Well I started things off with Enter the Void. I had zero expectations and watched it solely based on the recommendation of this thread and another forum that insisted that I watch it.
I was immediately jarred by the audio. The voices were very muffled and I couldn't hear what the characters were saying half the time.
After a short while, I was completely nauseated. The first person perspective was awful. I understand that they had to use it for this film's plot but, still, it could have been handled better.
I kept waiting and waiting for something mind-bending to happen. Or for the plot to get interested. But it didn't happen.
I even felt like I had seen this movie before. The one where the guy turns to dealing drugs to better his family, but it leads to a downward spiral. The one where the girl turns to prostitution to try to better her family.
Oh wait, that's pretty much every drug addiction movie; that is to say that this movie was riddled with cliches. I'm sorry but a first person perspective simply doesn't differentiate this movie from Requiem for a Dream.
Requiem for a Dream differentiated itself from the also excellent Trainspotting. Same sort of theme, but two different movies.
This movie felt like a new film maker watched RfaD and wanting to make something profound.
I cared about the characters in RfaD. But not in this movie. I had no compassion or pity for these characters. Some of their lines were ridiculous.
"Hey sister try this ecstasy"
"Is it dangerous?"
"lol nope, it's like a vitamin"
I wish I was exaggerating.
So for two hours, I floated around Tokyo while watching gratuitous amounts of sex.
At the two hour mark, I turned the movie off. I then looked on wikipedia and read what I guess was the mind-bending part. I can't believe anyone would sit around for almost 3 hours for that. Think of how much plot you got in Lord of the Rings in 3 hours, then look at how much plot you got in this movie for 3 hours. No comparison. It's like Usain Bolt competing at my high school track meet.
First off, for someone looking for mind-bending films, you sure are picky about the plot. If you're going to continue down this path, don't focus so much on the story.
Enter the Void isn't about plot or even characters, despite being litterally a single characters perspective. It's about the impact we have on other people's lives even after death. It's more a film about feeling and tone than plot. I never felt it was cliche because I was too interested in the ride and how it made me feel.
I think it's one of the most beautifully filmed movies I've ever seen. The camera floats dreamily from scene to scene. When there are edits you don't even notice them, it's like one continuous shot, even when it's not.
I felt just about every emotion you can have while watching a film as I watched Enter the Void, from elation to revulsion. It never pulls it's punches.
The reason some of the dialog is bad is because there wasn't really a screenplay. The idea's for the overall story and scenes were there, but the actual dialog was mostly improvised. It has to be with shots that are often several minutes long. I can forgive bad dialog, especially since a lot of it was delivered in a gritty, realist fashion. I know the conversation you noted was silly to you, but that's how people talk.
More films that you most likely won't like: Naked Lunch, Videodrome, Blue Velvet. Warning: these films are NOT about story. But they are amazing.
First off, for someone looking for mind-bending films, you sure are picky about the plot. If you're going to continue down this path, don't focus so much on the story.
Enter the Void isn't about plot or even characters, despite being litterally a single characters perspective. It's about the impact we have on other people's lives even after death. It's more a film about feeling and tone than plot. I never felt it was cliche because I was too interested in the ride and how it made me feel.
I think it's one of the most beautifully filmed movies I've ever seen. The camera floats dreamily from scene to scene. When there are edits you don't even notice them, it's like one continuous shot, even when it's not.
I felt just about every emotion you can have while watching a film as I watched Enter the Void, from elation to revulsion. It never pulls it's punches.
The reason some of the dialog is bad is because there wasn't really a screenplay. The idea's for the overall story and scenes were there, but the actual dialog was mostly improvised. It has to be with shots that are often several minutes long. I can forgive bad dialog, especially since a lot of it was delivered in a gritty, realist fashion. I know the conversation you noted was silly to you, but that's how people talk.
More films that you most likely won't like: Naked Lunch, Videodrome, Blue Velvet. Warning: these films are NOT about story. But they are amazing.
I apologize, I should have clarified. I like mind-bending movies in regards to plot (Memento, Triangle, Donnie Darko, Primer).....not movies that are purely visually mind-bending.
I wrote a more in-depth summary on why I didn't like Enter the Void on IMDB. Here are some points:
-By the two hour mark, we virtually knew the same thing that we knew after the first 15 minutes. If not, you could have easily extrapolated based on the cliches of this genre.
-I want to emphasize how gratuitous the sex was. We saw the same sort of scenes over and over and over again, and they lost their emotional impact because they were so frequent. We get it, Linda was an escort. If you stacked all of the sex scenes in Requiem for a Dream back to back, it would probably be a couple of minutes or less.
-Their motivations were questionable. (Excuse me if these questions were answered, I found the audio muddy) Why did the sister turn to prostitution for money versus any other job available in Japan? I don't get how she decided to be a female escort after hitting the shores of Japan. Like one the characters said, "You could get a job bar tending, it's easy." Is there any evidence she did this sort of thing in America? And why did she start taking drugs when there was no indication she did so prior to Japan?
-And what loving brother would expose a sibling to HARDCORE drugs and partying?
I'll second the suggestion of Mullholand Drive. The cinematography is a little odd sometimes, but the movie is fantastic. It is one of the few movies that, immediately upon watching it, you will want to watch it again.
guy thats the little girls father who tries to capture her for the nightmare people and the dream defenders try to stop him etc etc and he has a big nose
?
I thought that was a fairly boring movie. I liked one scene though
(the car crash that is orchestrated by the small music box blowing a flower)
.
Also, watch the machinist. it's a pretty mindbendy movie in the same vein as some you enjoyed.
I apologize, I should have clarified. I like mind-bending movies in regards to plot (Memento, Triangle, Donnie Darko, Primer).....not movies that are purely visually mind-bending.
I wrote a more in-depth summary on why I didn't like Enter the Void on IMDB. Here are some points:
-By the two hour mark, we virtually knew the same thing that we knew after the first 15 minutes. If not, you could have easily extrapolated based on the cliches of this genre.
Except for the entire nature of the relationship between the brother and sister, you mean? Because I'm pretty sure the car accident, the growing up apart and the reunion later in life adding to the unusual nature of their relationship were specific plot points within the first two hours.
-I want to emphasize how gratuitous the sex was. We saw the same sort of scenes over and over and over again, and they lost their emotional impact because they were so frequent. We get it, Linda was an escort. If you stacked all of the sex scenes in Requiem for a Dream back to back, it would probably be a couple of minutes or less.
People have sex in real life. People deal drugs in real life. People die in real life. People have horrible relationships in real life. People love others in real life. People have abortions in real life You get the point.
-Their motivations were questionable. (Excuse me if these questions were answered, I found the audio muddy) Why did the sister turn to prostitution for money versus any other job available in Japan? I don't get how she decided to be a female escort after hitting the shores of Japan. Like one the characters said, "You could get a job bar tending, it's easy." Is there any evidence she did this sort of thing in America? And why did she start taking drugs when there was no indication she did so prior to Japan?
From the moment of their parents deaths, the characters in the film are thrown down a path where they litterally have no one else but one another. They have no evident role models to lead them down a good and proper path. Even if they did, there's ton of people who resort to dealing drugs and questionable behavior in real life. The fact that they were living in a foreign land only compounded that decision, IMO. The choices they made never felt out of touch for me. Especially as someone who has lots of friends that do use drugs and live a similar lifestyle (with a bit less crime and prostitution, anyway).
-And what loving brother would expose a sibling to HARDCORE drugs and partying?
Again, did you miss the nature of their relationship? It was borderline inscestual. I'm sure that if they had lived together much longer, it may have been. The death of their parents compounded by their seperation at a young age heavily traumatized the girl. You may not approve, or even completely be able to understand it, but that was the nature of their relationship.
I'm not trying to change your mind about Enter the Void. I'm simply giving you my perspective on a film that is, IMO, flawed but amazing to behold.
What is a mind-bending movie? Good question.
Here are some guidelines for if a movie is mind-bending:
-The viewer has to pay close attention to details in the dialogue and/or visuals or else he will miss things. (Memento, Primer, Triangle (2000))
-When the credits roll, the viewer is awe-struck and the film leaves an indelible impression on him. Profound implications are a plus. (Children of Men, Earthlings, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood)
-The plot is the single most important element as opposed to CGI or famous actors. Low budget films are more than welcome. (Eraserhead, Mr. Nobody, Pontypool, Primer, Triangle (2009))
-The plot should be unpredictable and leave the viewer guessing until the end. In fact, the plot is so good, that the viewer doesn't want the movie to end. (Triangle, Primer, Requiem for a Dream, Memento)
-Typically, the viewer has to watch the movie multiple times to understand everything (Primer, Triangle (2009), Memento)
-There are multiple interpretations and you could spend hours on IMDB theorizing and arguing about what really happened (Primer, Triangle (2009)).
-Plot twists and unexpected turns are always welcome (12 Monkeys, Moon, Sunshine, Triangle (2009)).
-Plot can unfold in a unique fashion such as in reverse chronology (Memento).
Examples of the movies I like (bolded are the best examples):
12 Monkeys
28 Days Later
American Psycho
Children of Men
Dark City
Donnie Darko
Earthlings
Eraserhead
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Full Metal Jacket
Gattaca
Ghost in the Shell
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Mean Creek
Memento
Moon
Mr. Nobody
No Country For Old Men
Office Space
Pi
Pontypool
Primer
Requiem for a Dream
Solaris (Soderbergh)
Sunshine
The Departed
The Fighter
The Hurt Locker
The Minority Report
The Prestige
The Shawshank Redemption
The Thing
The Wrestler
There Will Be Blood
Trainspotting
Triangle
List of every other movies I've already seen, but didn't like:
(Your tastes make me assume this is a given, but don't learn anything about it beforehand.)
Edit:
Perhaps, Visioneers (2008), if you like surrealism in your social commentary.
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Based on the moives you listed you might also enjoy SLC Punk. It has a lot of comedy in it but it's a great story and the ending really sticks with you (generally fans of Trainspotting also like this movie).
That said, watch Mulholland Drive and Inland Empire, both written and directed by David Lynch.
Watch Enter the Void. And do so late at night in complete darkness and silence.
If you have a lot of patience watch Werckmeister Harmonies. It's often slow paced, but it's one of the most beautifully shot films I've ever seen.
Also, watch A Town Called Panic. It's stop motion animation and it's simply delightful.
If I think of more, I'll put them on here.
But yeah, after seeing some of the movies you didn't like (some that are fantastic), I am not sure what else to recommend.
The Dark Knight? I will forever love Batman: The Animated Series and automatically hate anything that could rival its legacy. Plus that Joker was not the Joker I grew up watching.
Oldboy? I couldn't relate to this movie. The Korean culture just felt too inaccessible to me.
Eternal Sunshine? Romance and comedy movies completely disinterest me.
Me and you seem to be on the same wavelength though. I will watch Enter the Void tonight. Oh and please do post movies as you think of them; meanwhile, I'll be reading through your blog.
But can you please do me a huge favor? Watch the movie Triangle (2009). You saw how much I praised it in my OP. Do not watch the trailer under any condition (massive spoilers). Go into the movie with no expectations.
I'm willing to bet my account that you will like this movie.
As for my recommendation... the best example that I can think of, that I've seen recently is Afterlife. From imdb:
"A young woman caught between life and death... and a funeral director who appears to have the gift of transitioning the dead, but might just be intent on burying her alive."
It left me kind of confused cause I was constantly going back and forth "this is whats going to happen... no wait maybe not... what's that mean? Maybe... wait, what?"
Worse case scenario, you get to watch Christinna Ricci naked for a significantly large portion of the film.
Edit: I looked at Triangle on imdb and in the related movies was The Orphanage. I'm a huge fan of this movie, too. And it fits your qualifications pretty well.
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I can recommend you The Sting (1973), The Shining (1980) and Fight Club (1999).
I can't see why you didn't like Black Swan.
In my own list of "must-watch" that, from what I know could fit your description, are Psycho and 2001: A Space Odyssey.
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As for movies running backwards, have you seen Irreversible? It is BRUTAL as it has a rape scene and a revenge scene that will make you cringe.
Lost Highway
In the Mouth of Madness
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A lot of people didn't know what was going to happen, including myself. And sometimes the experience of the journey is more important than the ending.
I found the movie exhilirating, I am sad to see it bored somebody.
Let's not spoil it for the OP, be it good or bad to him.
Terrible, terrible film.
Everything that happens in it is pointless, to the extent that at the end, the film can literally have no meaning. It undercuts any significance that any scene in the movie could have, as commentary on the real world, or even a jumping point for any discussion.
It completely annihilates its own expression.
If you want to have your head raped, then sure. If you want to feel changed and not two hours deprived of brain time, don't.
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The only two that come to mind are horror movies:
The Others with Nicole Kidman
Fallen
Gotta think some more.
Eh, to each his own, I guess!
Ah, I'm pretty well versed in film, as far as amatuer critics go! I've seen Triangle and I enjoyed it a lot. Unfortunately I saw the preview first and, yes, there's a shockingly huge spoiler shot in it! Stupid marketing department.
Also, I love the films that Christopher Smith, director of Triangle, has made. I'll reccomend them. He made a lower budget film called Creep that is somewhat standard horror film tropes done by a very competent filmmaker. He also made a comedy/horror film called Severance that is super fun to watch. And his most recent film, Black Death, just hit NetFlix streaming and I haven't watched it yet. I'm sure I'll enjoy it.
@ Shutter Island. I knew how that film was going to end from the trailer. I think it's one of Scorsese's worst films. While it's one of the most beautifully shot films of the last few years, the story is pedestrian psychological thriller nonsense. Predicatable and unoriginal.
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I was immediately jarred by the audio. The voices were very muffled and I couldn't hear what the characters were saying half the time.
After a short while, I was completely nauseated. The first person perspective was awful. I understand that they had to use it for this film's plot but, still, it could have been handled better.
I kept waiting and waiting for something mind-bending to happen. Or for the plot to get interested. But it didn't happen.
I even felt like I had seen this movie before. The one where the guy turns to dealing drugs to better his family, but it leads to a downward spiral. The one where the girl turns to prostitution to try to better her family.
Oh wait, that's pretty much every drug addiction movie; that is to say that this movie was riddled with cliches. I'm sorry but a first person perspective simply doesn't differentiate this movie from Requiem for a Dream.
Requiem for a Dream differentiated itself from the also excellent Trainspotting. Same sort of theme, but two different movies.
This movie felt like a new film maker watched RfaD and wanting to make something profound.
I cared about the characters in RfaD. But not in this movie. I had no compassion or pity for these characters. Some of their lines were ridiculous.
"Hey sister try this ecstasy"
"Is it dangerous?"
"lol nope, it's like a vitamin"
I wish I was exaggerating.
So for two hours, I floated around Tokyo while watching gratuitous amounts of sex.
At the two hour mark, I turned the movie off. I then looked on wikipedia and read what I guess was the mind-bending part. I can't believe anyone would sit around for almost 3 hours for that. Think of how much plot you got in Lord of the Rings in 3 hours, then look at how much plot you got in this movie for 3 hours. No comparison. It's like Usain Bolt competing at my high school track meet.
First off, for someone looking for mind-bending films, you sure are picky about the plot. If you're going to continue down this path, don't focus so much on the story.
Enter the Void isn't about plot or even characters, despite being litterally a single characters perspective. It's about the impact we have on other people's lives even after death. It's more a film about feeling and tone than plot. I never felt it was cliche because I was too interested in the ride and how it made me feel.
I think it's one of the most beautifully filmed movies I've ever seen. The camera floats dreamily from scene to scene. When there are edits you don't even notice them, it's like one continuous shot, even when it's not.
I felt just about every emotion you can have while watching a film as I watched Enter the Void, from elation to revulsion. It never pulls it's punches.
The reason some of the dialog is bad is because there wasn't really a screenplay. The idea's for the overall story and scenes were there, but the actual dialog was mostly improvised. It has to be with shots that are often several minutes long. I can forgive bad dialog, especially since a lot of it was delivered in a gritty, realist fashion. I know the conversation you noted was silly to you, but that's how people talk.
More films that you most likely won't like: Naked Lunch, Videodrome, Blue Velvet. Warning: these films are NOT about story. But they are amazing.
I apologize, I should have clarified. I like mind-bending movies in regards to plot (Memento, Triangle, Donnie Darko, Primer).....not movies that are purely visually mind-bending.
I wrote a more in-depth summary on why I didn't like Enter the Void on IMDB. Here are some points:
-By the two hour mark, we virtually knew the same thing that we knew after the first 15 minutes. If not, you could have easily extrapolated based on the cliches of this genre.
-I want to emphasize how gratuitous the sex was. We saw the same sort of scenes over and over and over again, and they lost their emotional impact because they were so frequent. We get it, Linda was an escort. If you stacked all of the sex scenes in Requiem for a Dream back to back, it would probably be a couple of minutes or less.
-Their motivations were questionable. (Excuse me if these questions were answered, I found the audio muddy) Why did the sister turn to prostitution for money versus any other job available in Japan? I don't get how she decided to be a female escort after hitting the shores of Japan. Like one the characters said, "You could get a job bar tending, it's easy." Is there any evidence she did this sort of thing in America? And why did she start taking drugs when there was no indication she did so prior to Japan?
-And what loving brother would expose a sibling to HARDCORE drugs and partying?
All I got for now.
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Your list of disliked movies is curious.
I thought that was a fairly boring movie. I liked one scene though
Also, watch the machinist. it's a pretty mindbendy movie in the same vein as some you enjoyed.
Thanks to syndarion of Aeternal Studios for the awesome Sig.
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EDH(MODO): :symg::symu::symb:The Mimeoplasm:symg::symu::symb: 6-2-0 in 4player
Except for the entire nature of the relationship between the brother and sister, you mean? Because I'm pretty sure the car accident, the growing up apart and the reunion later in life adding to the unusual nature of their relationship were specific plot points within the first two hours.
People have sex in real life. People deal drugs in real life. People die in real life. People have horrible relationships in real life. People love others in real life. People have abortions in real life You get the point.
From the moment of their parents deaths, the characters in the film are thrown down a path where they litterally have no one else but one another. They have no evident role models to lead them down a good and proper path. Even if they did, there's ton of people who resort to dealing drugs and questionable behavior in real life. The fact that they were living in a foreign land only compounded that decision, IMO. The choices they made never felt out of touch for me. Especially as someone who has lots of friends that do use drugs and live a similar lifestyle (with a bit less crime and prostitution, anyway).
Again, did you miss the nature of their relationship? It was borderline inscestual. I'm sure that if they had lived together much longer, it may have been. The death of their parents compounded by their seperation at a young age heavily traumatized the girl. You may not approve, or even completely be able to understand it, but that was the nature of their relationship.
I'm not trying to change your mind about Enter the Void. I'm simply giving you my perspective on a film that is, IMO, flawed but amazing to behold.