Films
Art Films
On art films, by the great Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky:
Tarkovsky felt his task was to unveil relationships between images and events that were created by God in the universe, rather than imposing relationships upon an audience in order to manipulate them into a prescribed point of view. Tarkovsky was especially drawn to the internal logic of Japanese haiku, where three very different images are combined to form a whole much larger than the parts. Concerning this circuitous method of arriving at new perceptions, Tarkovsky wrote, “The birth and development of thought are subject to laws of their own, and sometimes demand forms of expression which are quite different from the patterns of logical speculation. In my view poetic reasoning is closer to the laws by which thought develops, and thus to life itself, than is the logic of traditional drama.”
Favorite art films in order:
- Stalker (Russian) – poetry, psychology, philosophy
- Solyaris (Russian) – mind-bending, psychology
- Battlestar Galactica – psychology, philosophy
- The Matrix – metaphysics, modern purana kathai
- Matrix Revolutions – metaphysics, abstract, modern purana kathai
- 2001: A Space Odyssey – metaphysics, abstract
- Kin-Dza-Dza (Russian) – It’s weird. Funny. Like most Russian sci-fi, it has no crazy Hollywood-style special effects. The acting, concept, and props they use are very satirical. The closest to this is The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – the movie version was lousy - Kin-Dza-Dza sets it straight. I’m sure it would’ve been a cult classic if it were more well known. On a more serious note the ridiculous division of Chatlans from Patsaks in the Plyukian society takes on a satirical note on the artificial class and race based structures still present today today. Koo :).
- Blade Runner – one of the best American cult sci-fi.
- Stigmata – mildly touches on the hypocrisy of religion (in particular fundamentalist Christianity), purity, and sin.
- Arunagirinathar (Tamil) – Favorite bhakti film
- Thiruneelakandar (Tamil) – Favorite bhakti film
- Naan Kadavul (Tamil) – About an aghori who is sent back into the world by his guru to severe his last few karmic bonds with the world. It also does a great job in putting a human face on handicapped/deformed beggars (a lot more than Slumdog ever did). Both these films were running at the same time. I give this high five, and flat out zero to Slumdog. Not to mention, this is the first modern Tamil film I’ve seen which has no dance scenes! Yeay!
Out-of-the-Ordinary
- Adaptation
- Lord of War
- Ran (Japanese)
- The Whale Rider
- Andrei Rublev (Russian)
- Das Boot (German)
- Before The Rain (Macedonian)
- Osama (Pashtu)
- Repulsion
- Mind the Gap
- Seven Samurai (Japanese)
- Mirror (Russian)
Other
- The Abyss
- Phone Booth
- V for Vendetta
- Predator
- Apocalypse Now
- Death and The Maiden
- The Last Samurai
- The Mists of Avalon
- Chinatown
- The Village
- The Station Agent
- The Illusionist
- Rabbit Proof Fence
- The Lake House
- Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
- Star Trek the Next Generation – the Q series
- Twin Peaks
- The Full Monty
- Ice Age
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail