Don't forget to Watch:
People often ask me:
"What are some of the greatest films."
In response I usually add the, "Well these are what you should see before you die"?
"What are some of the greatest films."
In response I usually add the, "Well these are what you should see before you die"?
Well it's very simple for me. There are six films that every movie buff should see once; or any person should see in life.
It's by two of the greatest directors of all time.
Bergman and Tarkovsky
Bergman. Who is a one of a kind cinematic master himself directed
three of the films. I feel everyone in their right mind should see, and if you’re
out of your mind, these films might just bring you back to sanity, (Statement
not approved by the FDA).
The Hour of the Wolf, this is one of the most psychological
thrillers you will ever see. This is like Bergman's brilliant attempt at a true
psychological horror film.
The filming of certain moments are so down right odd and
freaking beautiful and haunting. There is a personal surreal feel to this film
and yet it adds a darker Gothic reality to it.
The atmosphere and camera work are flooring. The odd ball
spooky moment of walking on the wall and ceiling and so on just add one mind
trip after another.
It's a film that will leave a lasting image, mark and
nightmare with you.
Next is Persona, which is one of the most mind altering
films you could ever see. The performances alone are breathtaking and alters
one's conception of just how great acting can be.
When I first saw this movie I was taken back and floored at
the brilliance of the script and also how countless movies today has ripped off
from this movie or at least played homage to it's amazing beauty.
This movie also made me realize that many directors that I
love understands the quality of Bergman and his beginning of pure originality
in cinema.
That's one thing I preach often and that's if you’re going
to like certain films then you should seek out the ones that started it or
captured it first because most of the directors today, take from these classics
and showcase in their own films the originality that the past created.
Last but not least the tour-de-force, the master film
itself, true masterpiece, one-of-a-kind, brilliant, stunning, brutal,
disturbing, and that is The Virgin Spring.
If you want to know where all the 70s and 80's directors got
their idea for such films as The Last House on the Left and so on and so on,
then you should look at the original that started this scenario. The Virgin
Spring is the true original one-of-a-kind, brutal, amazing drama filled beauty.
There's is one shot in The Virgin Spring where Max Von
Sydow's character is messing around with a tree after finding out the news that
destroys him. This cinematography, the landscape, the amazing wonderment that
this shot captures is something that's never been accomplished again.
Bergman was a God. He was the very camera, the very lens and
the very idea of the script written. He had the visual godlike persona that
cinema history is all about.
And the next director besides Bergman that everyone should
see before they become maggot feed and that is the Russian filmmaking God:
Andrei Tarkovsky.
You should see 1962's Ivan's Childhood, which is an honest
surreal, brutal, tear jerking, heart pounding, drama that touches the very
senses of emotions and also captures the unrelenting horror of war. The
camerawork, the lighting and the atmosphere in this film is something I will
never will forget.
There is a brutal shot where Ivan is taking a bathe and the
camera brings in a pull out and close up of his small skinny malnourished
frame. This shot along with the shadows and brilliant lighting scheme is
something I will always remember.
Next film would be 1979's Stalker. This film is truly, truly
a gifted masterpiece of originality. It's a film that is hard to explain,
unless you have seen it. Seek this out at all cost and experience something
very mind-numbing. A man, a guide leads two men through an area which is known
as the Zone, a room that grants wishes. This is a film that is an epic reality
of storytelling and filming,
And last but not least is 1972's Solaris. Possibly one of
the greatest science-fiction films ever done in the drama, dramatic, mystery
type of scenario.
This movie is often compared to Stanley Kubrick's 2001 A
Space Odyssey but in reality the director had never even seen 2001 and what is
so interesting to note is there is a shot in Solaris where you have a car
driving through these spiraling highway roads, these bridges over and over
again on earth which is a long filmed weird reality moment that seems to never
end. It's kind of a resemblance to 2001 when the spaceships are floating and
moving with the classical music.
So there you are six choices. Two masterpiece cinematic God
's. Look no further than the six films if you want to experience every type of
genre. If you want to experience awesome storytelling, amazing visuals,
mind-numbing, heart pumping, brain thinking ideas of cinema.
These six films, is what I consider the embodiment of cinema
as a whole.
Of the three mentioned by Bergman and the three mentioned by
Andréi, these six films is why I love cinema, is why I cherish the idea of
film. For these six films give off the persona of what movie making is about.
To me if you don't at least see these six films, then you don't even know what
cinema is all about.
Trust me when I say, there is a void inside your cinema
loving heart and mind if you do not seek these six films out.