By the Time It Gets Dark (2016) dir. Anocha Suwichakornpong
A ridiculously complicated Thai film about, among many other things, the violent student protests in Bangkok during the 70s. It turns into a film about the making of films and is almost meditative in its ability to go nowhere. But that doesn't mean it isn't a masterpiece, and towards the end as the very fabric of the movie disintegrates into glitch and it moves to something huge and philosophical, it’s almost breathtaking. It's not the sort of film you put on in the background but it rewards the patience you give it.
The Great Beauty (2013) dir. Paolo Sorrentino
A sweeping, hilariously sad look at one man's life and the legacy he will leave. The Great Beauty follows an Italian journalist as he lives his euphoric but ultimately meaningless life. Full of empty romance, passion and amazing scenery, it’s the single most Fellini film that has ever been made and he didn't direct it. I personally think it's better than La Dolce Vita but both films ruminate on hedonism and the lingering sadness that such a life brings. In watched this at 2am one morning about a year ago and at the end of the film I stood up and clapped. Which is embarrassing.
Pulse (2001) dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa
A Japanese horror that remains the best example of the genre. Glacially paced and now incredibly dated (the computer speak between two of the main characters is laughable) it’s still amazingly scary, every frame imbued with the sense of dread only Eastern horror seems to know how to do. Despite it containing zero gore, violence or jump scares, it's a film that burrows beneath your skin and makes you feel physically and mentally unclean. That's not to say you shouldn't watch it. It’s beautiful, just in a dark, foreboding way. Please steer clear of the American remake unless you want to spend 2 hours of your life questioning why Hollywood still manages to make money.
Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) dir. Béla Tarr
Béla Tarr is a Hungarian director who is probably best known for his incredibly long films. Sátántangó comes in at just under 8 hours long. Werckmeister Harmonies is his pop song by comparison, a mere 145 minutes long but consisting of just 39 shots. The camera lingers uncomfortably on certain scenes and beautifully on others (the ten minute opening scene where the protagonist explains solar eclipses through interpretative dance to a bunch of drunken Hungarians remains my favorite movie scene of all time). So whats it about? Well, its about what you make of it. But it contains a giant dead whale, a communist village on the brink of collapse, a magician who orchestrates an uprising and some of the best black and white cinematography I have ever seen. Its greatest trick is how timeless it looks. When I first watched it, I was convinced it was a forgotten classic from the 50’s or 60’s but actually it’s less than 20 years old.
Paprika (2006) dir. Satoshi Kon
The greatest anime of all time and so good Christopher Nolan mercilessly pillaged it for his massively inferior film Inception. Every single frame of this movie is a piece of art. It's relentless, gorgeous and as confusing as it possibly could be. But really, where else could you find a film that combines perfectly written characters with a frog marching band? It's an insane, hallucinogenic orgy of perplexing beauty. The parade scene alone is worth watching several times through. It’s bonkers. I don't know what else to say.
Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum (2018) dir. Jung Bum-shik
Simply the scariest film I have ever seen. I have a bit of a fetish for found footage films (and assonance) and this one is terrifying. It's about a team of Korean YouTubers who go to investigate a supposedly haunted asylum (that actually exists in real life). I cant really eulogize on its brilliance like the other films as it’s not a piece of art. Its just a simple scary movie and the scares it provides are better than any I have seen anywhere else (I wrote my thesis on Asian horror movies so I have seen a few)!
All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001) dir. Shunji Iwai
All About Lily Chou-Chou is a Japanese film about the obsessive fandom behind a (possibly not real) J-Pop star called Lily Chou-Chou. It perfectly describes the way music can take over your life, the film is about wanting to find something that is not there. Something to distract yourself from the fact that you are losing your innocence day by day. As you would expect, the soundtrack is all music from Lily Chou-Chou and it is brilliant. I love this because when I was young I would disappear into these rabbit holes and convince myself there is something more than just a simple pop star or actor. At its heart it is a coming of age drama but the way it handles super fans and the search for meaning is as good as any film.
Mulholland Drive (2001) dir. David Lynch
This is probably the most mainstream Western movie on this list, which tells you how achingly pretentious I am because its David Lynch at his most mindbogglingly awesome. Nothing in the world of cinema affects me as much as the opening scenes of Mulholland Drive. The slow drive up the hill, Kubrick style paired with the incredible score from Angelo Badalamenti. Obviously it all goes crazy, with espresso hating dwarves, garbage men that live behind a diner, a Spanish version of Roy Orbison’s Crying and tiny old people who might not be there. It's a dream within a dream but under the Lynchian weirdness is a story so mystifying and ancient it demands to rise above it all. A love so powerful and hate-filled that the very layers of reality crumble before our eyes.
Love Exposure (2008) dir. Sion Sono
I would probably say Sion Sono is my favourite director. So many of his films are great but Love Exposure is his magnum opus. I should preface this by saying this film is pretty long. Almost 4 hours. I watched it in two sittings the first time around but have sat through the whole thing in full as well and I would say it doesn't affect the overall viewing experience if you split it up. But what an experience. A love story between a teenage voyeur and a crazy feminist schoolgirl doesn't sound like it could fill 90 minutes let alone more than 230. But to call Love Exposure a love story would be doing it a massive disservice. It’s an insane romp through cults, ultra violence, religion, up-skirting, friendship, pornography, innocence, trust and musical numbers. Its not for the fainthearted, none of Sono’s films are, but if you watch it I guarantee you will never be the same again. At the very least you will be nearly 4 hours older.
Shell (2012) dir. Scott Graham
Easily the quietest film on my list but still worth spending time with is Shell. It’s a beautiful character study set in a petrol station in the highlands of Scotland. Shell, the main character, lives and works there with her father. Not much happens but its gorgeously shot and acted. It's the kind of film that I could spoil in a single sentence since so little actually happens but it remains one of the most powerful, meditative films I have ever watched and has a beautiful closing scene.
Stuart Buck is a visual artist and award-winning poet living in North Wales. His art has been featured in several journals, as well as gracing the covers of several books. His third poetry collection, Portrait of a Man on Fire, is forthcoming from Rhythm & Bones Press in November 2020. When he is not writing or reading poetry he likes to cook, juggle, and listen to music. He suffers terribly from tsundoku—the art of buying copious amounts of books that he will never read. Follow Stuart on Twitter @stuartmbuck.
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