Since I really liked this movie I was wondering if there are more movies with a strong (classic/modern) philosophical influence out there...
What's your Top 5 "philosophical" movies?
Mine (random order and a bit limited since i havent seen that much ph. movies :)
The Matrix
Waking Life
Fight Club
2001 A Space Odyssey
Vanilla Sky
Here are some to consider:
Memento
Waking Life
Signs
Blade Runner
Akira
Pi
I "heart" Huckabees.
I love technology, but not as much as you, you see... But I STILL love technology...
I have a hard time with this, because a lot of movies, when I think about it, are more psychological than philosophical. I have a difficulty with this because it is kind of splitting hairs. Anyway, here's mine.
1. Waking Life (Current Favorite)
2. Fight Club (Favorite before WL)
3. I Heart Huckabees
4. Unbreakable
5. The Matrix (As much as I hate to admit it. It's not the movie, it's Keanu Reaves.)
"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." - Socrates
Don't know if these are "philosophical" but they made me think about various issues..
Open Your Eyes (what Vanilla Sky was remade from)
The Matrix
Eternal Sunshine...
Waking Life
Before Sunrise / Sunset
Truman Show
Ghost in the Shell
Metal Gear Solid 2
Black (Hindi - 2005)
Spirited Away
Cast Away
It's a Wonderful Life
Arigato Gozaimasu.
If you like Spirited Away, then you should check out Princess Mononoke
shareVery very true !!
shareMakes sense since they're both Miyazaki movies.
"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." - Socrates
The Blues Brothers. Most people leave this one out because they've never really thought about it as philosophical, but remember, these are guys who use their excuse of being on a mission from God to do all sorts of immoral activities. Think of the lines that can be drawn from this to terrorists to the current administration to whatever....
Miyazaki is THE best at conveying philosophy implicitly. That said, my 5 are probably, not in order of importance:
Spirited Away
My Neighbor Totoro
Waking Life
Being There
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
I also feel like i should metnion these movies with powerful philosophical points to make, though they aren't necessarily the movie's primary function
Amadeus
Annie Hall
Big Fish
Deconstructing Harry
High Noon
I never make stupid mistakes.
Only very, very clever ones.
I see several refrences to Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke, but no one mentions MindGame. It's a Japanese only anime which has the same art director as popular animes like Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. It raises questions and offers interpretations of life that were along the same lines as Waking Life. Also, I recently got a chance to see Paprika - amazing anime.
But I would have to say, in no particular order:
Waking Life
Fight Club
Mind Game
I <3 Huckabees
What the Bleep Do We Know
The Fountain
What Dreams May Come (book was way more influential though)
I'm glad someone mentioned What the bleep do we know.
shareit's not a movie, it's pseudo science (fiction) dressed up as a movie. Still great when i first saw it, but i've learned so much about actual QT since then that it looks rather silly these days.
---
Scientists are saying the future is going to be far more futuristic then they originally predicted
Metal Gear Solid 2 ?!?!
i know the game
not sure there is a movie with that name
if you mean the game
what does this has to do with "Philosophical Movies"
The world doesn't just disappear when you close your eyes, does it?
Metal Gear Solid 2 raises questions about the nature of reality, conspiracy theories, free will and artificial intelligence. Not only did I enjoy it as a fun action game, I preferred it's story and philosophical themes discussed throughout the game. It's very interesting stuff.
sharethe story and subtle phil. themes were definitely present, all
of which made that game all the more incredible.
With all due respect to your list, but Castaway? Seriously? I didn't find it very philosophical.
shareCastaway was definitely a philosophical movie. It shows a man's transition from someone obsessed with time and productivity to someone who cares for nothing in the world more than his volley ball that he talks to. This shows that despite all of his obsessions with the material world in his previous life he realizes (or at least the movie tries to show us) that the most important thing in life is our connections that we make with other people (which he in his desperation creates with Wilson since there are no people where he is). When he goes back home he has to accept that he has lost that connection with his (former) wife, but the last scene in the movie when he is talking with that new women who you can tell he kind of likes shows the endless potential of making new human connections and thus the movie ends of a very hopeful note, even though the protagonist had to lose everything before he realized which of the things he lost was the most valuable. The endless potential aspect is driven home with the very last shot of him sitting at the intersection with a smile on his face deciding which direction to go. If that ain't philosophical, then I don't know what is.
That is one weird sounding Bazooka!
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=44295325
Nice explanation! You convinced me!
shareThis is a fantastic list! Highly agree with Truman Show -- I saw it in theaters when I was pretty young and it had a huge influence on me in guiding me towards philosophy.
I would add the following, but some are less "philosophical" and more just cognitive/"thinking" films:
Being John Malkovich (I cannot believe that this one was left out!)
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Primer
The Tracey Fragments
The Double Life of Veronique
One Week
Harold and Maude
The Five Obstructions
Last Night
Schizopolis
Best,
Lynda Joy
Signs? Signs was pretty cool, the shot where the camera pans around to the glasses of water ranks up there as one of the best in contemp sci fi (Im sounding pretentious xcorex here), but top 5 philosophical?
Pi is not philosophical. I love pi, but its not about philosophy, its almost pseudo-technical pandering.
I fell asleep during balde runner (because I was beat) so I dont knbow about that.
Akira, thats a stretch, its a great film, but the best philosophy doesnt masquerade as something else.
I heart huckabees was nothing special, its being 'heart'ed like garden state, its nothning special (and neither is garden state)
Memento is a make-you-0think movie, its a stretch to call it philosophical, but I can see memento (check!)
Waking life is philosophical, it makes absolutely no attempt to be anything else (and I love it for it). DONT HATE WL BECAUSE ITS PRETENTIOUS, LOVE WL BECAUSE ITS PRETENTIOUS
Actually my Philosophy professor in college's favorite movie was Momento due to its existentalistic approach i.e. playing with the notion that the mind is a series of short thoughts, but together into a stream of conscienceness/ our perception of reality.
shareMy nomination for most pretentious IMDB post of all time goes to "circusdei" and his nonsensical rant about what is and what isn't. He'd have fit right in with one of the pretentious characters of Waking Life.
shareroflmao Signs. Was that a philosophical one? I dont think it was at all. It was just stupid and had so many logical errors to it, its a bore to watch.
sharecould you just explain your choice for signs please.
i havent seen the film for ages but all i really remember was how much i hated it. The thing that stuck with me most was how aliens cant open doors and are allergic to water on a planet that is made of two thirds of the stuff - but other then that all i remember was mel gibson being sad about his dead wife
" The thing that stuck with me most was how aliens cant open doors and are allergic to water on a planet that is made of two thirds of the stuff"
Listen to the radio. Guess where they figured out that the aliens were allergic to water.
The Middle East. The middle of the f'in desert. Not the Caribbean, or California, or Japan. no. the middle east.
Watch it again and pay close attention to the conversation Mel and Jaquien have about coincidences near the end of the movie.
sharehow are these philosophical? yall must not have studied philosophy
shareSo you need the film to be about philosophy or an actual quote from a famous philosopher in it to make you think? You should have just left it at a question and not added the insult because someone might have answered and you might have learned something. Instead they are thinking you probably had to spell check 'philosophy' because you haven't studied apostrophes much.
So, which films are you referring to?
It's harder to find a film without a philosophical theme than one with, imo.
"It means that I, like God, do not play with dice and do not believe in coincidence."
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Can someone explain to me why Fight Club is philosophical? I always thought it was Psychological
shareFight Club's philosophy is a bit more subversive than its Pyschological themes. There is alot of buddhist philosophy buring in the subtext as well as alot of anti materialism. The relationship between tyler and "jack" can be parralleled as a Christ and his apostal relationship. "Jack" is telling the story of Tyler and tyler is preaching his message of anti materialism and eventually anarchy. "Jack" is his Nihilistic apostal who tells his story.
share[deleted]
It's not neccisarily got any homosexual undertones, but a definate theme to it is the loss of identity, specifically the male identity. Tyler makes a comment about "Do we NEED a duvet, you know, men in the hunter gatherer sense" or something along those lines, and I think a lot of the film stems from the loss of masculinity and male identity created by the society we live in today. What better way to reaffirm your masculinity than getting in a room with a bunch of other men and beating the *beep* out of each other. Aside from that a lot of the film is about the meaningless lives we live within a consumerist society. "A fridge full of condiments and no food".... his very respectable wardrobe.... ikea furnishings... it's all a load of *beep* To be honest I don't think it's deeply philosophical, but I think the psychological bit wasn't the message at all. Something like Pi has a lot more philosophy to it, and something like Waking Life has a damn lot more. I must say Waking Life is probably the most interesting film I've ever watched.
shareI disagree. I think it was very philosophical in the sense that palahiniuk displays these two sides of the person( possibly yin and yang, id and the superego) or just the notion of living. Living comes from knowing dark from light. How would you know to distinguish either of the two unless you experienced both of them. the narrator gets the opportunity to experience both sides from his creation of Tyler; and from tyler comes fight club, project mayhem and the suicide of the narrator. I think its about realizing these two forces are always in motion, always facing off, and trying to reconcile themselves again for the cycle.
shareIf you read Palahniuk, most of his works have a homosexual undertone. Even if extremely subtle like in Choke or Survivor, they exist. The movie may dramatize more than the book did.
shareyou know that chuck palahnuik revealed in an article recently that he is in fact gay...mite prove some of those undertones!
"If only you could see what i have seen with your eyes"
the plague dogs
hour of the wolf by bergman
saraband new bergman
VON TRIER SUCKS, SORRY. [breaking the waves was good]
genesis
gates of heaven by errol morris
that new tulse luper suitcase movie by greenaway i saw some of it and wow
Alphaville
_____
"The wisest man is therefore he who loafs most gracefully." ~ Lin Yutang
It sounds like your professors do not understand the difference between misogyny and homosexuality. "Fight Club" has misogynous undertones; not homosexual undertones.
shareGood point. I mean, there's some homoerotic imagery, but mostly there's demonizing of and ignoring women in favor of traditionally masculine values and activities. I mean, Marla is there as a possession for Tyler and Jack to *beep* and fight over. Nothing else, really. For what it's worth, as much as I enjoy books by Chuck P (whose last name I can NEVER spell right), I find a fair bit of misogyny in all of the ones that I've read.
shareThis is from the introduction to the book by Chuck Palahnuik.
"On a plane back to Portland, an airplane attendant leaned close and asked me to tell hum the truth. His theory was the book wasn't really about fighting at all. He insisted it was really about gay men watching another *beep* in public steambaths.
I told him, yeah, what the hell,. And he gave me free drinks for the rest of the flight."
"one reviewer called the book science fiction. Another called it a satire on the Iron John men's movement. Another called it a satire of corporate white-collar world. Some called it horror. No on called it a romance."
Nothing against academic discussion of the book, in fact, I think it's very important. (Appearantly the University of Pennsylvania gave a seminar on the book years ago. I am still waiting to hear somthing like that taking place in Canada)
But unfortunately, no one should come to one conclusion about one thing and think that they are absolutely right. Think about hermeneutic phenomenology, and how lived experiences influence how we perceive things, such as reading or watching Fight CLub.
It may be there subconsciously due to the fact that Chuck Palahniuk
the author, is actually a homosexual but it isn't an "undertone". You'll
see it if you look for it, but there was no intent and it is completely
irrelevant to the story or themes so I don't know why you are suggesting
anything about it.
Though incredibly saturated with postmodernist thought of the sick consumer culture that we live in, and how the mass media can condition a human to feel a need for useless crap, you also have the most profound philosopher creeping into "Fight Club." Nietzsche's "Geneology of Morals" is the basic foundation for the postmodernist idealism presented in "Fight Club." The weak slave-morality Narrator is at constant mercy to the consumer culture, buying all these things he does not need, reading Ikea catalogs on the can. Along comes master-morality Tyler to rip him from his comfortable furniture-matching world. And both of them have to release some anger from themselves that they have had pent up. That "bad conscience" has been brewing in the Narrator for a while, and fight club is the only logical necessity to cure him. I know this may all seem like mindless drivel to all of your psyches, but Nietzsche is truly the only philosopher who will write with complete and honest conviction and true disdain for anyone and everyone. He ripped me apart at my happy core, and now I'm more satisfied than I have ever been. I recommend :)
"A fridge full of condiments and no food. How embarassing."
Though I do enjoy Nietzshe's writings I don't think they contribute as much to postmodernism as say Heidegger or Husserl. I would say that if anything Fight Club is a battle between existentialism(project Mayhem/fight club) and postmodernism(society)where classical morality is tossed aside to create an army of supermen.
Tyler is the definition of the Nietzschian "Uber Menche" while the "jack" character is the personification of the repressed "slave" mentality. Which shows the internal struggle between the two camps in one man. While the two camps are fighting in the outside world as well.
I enjoyed your post but to label Nietzsche as a postmodernist is fallicious. Though Nietzsche was to say the least a revolutionary thinker, but you a meerly scratching the surface when it comes to existential thought. Give a few of these a shot:
Bertand Russel
Martin Heidegger
Jaques Derrida
Edmond Husserl
Soren Kirkengaard
J.P Satre
Do not forget Foucault.
shareinnocent blaylock-
interesting interpretation of fight club. However, you mention Bertrand Russell as an existentialist, which is highly misleading. Russell is more of an "analytic philosopher," or philosopher of language and logic (he was in the Vienna Circle). Although he does express what could be called "existential" questions in some of his writings, he probably shouldn't be classified as an existentialist. Also Derrida is not a existentialist but more of a post-modernist. I don't know if you meant to classify these thinkers with Heidegger, Sartre etc. because you do mention post-modernism, but you should perhaps illustrate which thinkers belong to which categories. But your analysis is interesting. Also lets not forget about Albert Camus and Marcel as far as being influential figures in the existential movement.
Fight Club is a portrayl of Frederich Nietzsche's Slave-Master Morality. Tyler is "Jack". Notice Ed Norton doesnt really have a name, we call him Jack. Jack portrays Nietzsche's 'slave' role..."I am a slave to the ikea nesting instinct"...materialism, commericialism, we are sheep. the slave embraces his human suffering under the idea he is oppressed by those in power.
Tyler is the overman or 'master'. he harnesses his tru freedom to create himself, create his own morality. The overman or superman is one who recognizes Nietzsche's description of the "Will to Power" and gives up the herd morality and creates his own morality.(blows up all the credit card companies to erase all debt, to start at ground zero, for a new creation.)
Don't forget the Haiku he made up... further pushing the master-slave idea
"Worker bees can leave
Even drones can fly away
The queen is their slave"
Really to many people that could be the same thing. But its very philosophical. The whole film is a grand stand for existentialism. The narrator's existence justifies Tyler's rant, which is actually aimed at the audience. What i got out of fight club was a two and a half hour lecture from tyler durden on how life ought to be. You can look at it as a stylish thriller, or a text book on how to live.
All matters of taste are merely opinions.
philosophical? because the first half is a bunch of talking heads dropping names from their encyclopedia of philosophy handbook?
shouldve called this movie "everyones a *beep* philosopher"
The definition of a philosopher is one who lives or thinks by a philosophy, and since pretty much everyone does this, technically, you could say that everyone is a philosopher. Also, most people who discuss philosophy, that I've met anyway, do seem to drop names of different philosophers, I've met people who are philosophy majors, and they do it, so what does it matter if people do it in this movie?
"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing." - Socrates
Try reading Fight CLub
"just can't live that negative way, make way for the positive day"
What I meant with a philosophical movie is a movie which has a great influence of a well known classical or modern philosophy. Like existentialism, philosophy of mind, the self, religion (in a philosophical sense) and maybe even a movie about ethics and the moral life.
And yes Fight Club has a great deal of psychological themes and subjects but it also present a philosophy about life. How (self)destruction leads to freedom (enlightment maybe), and that you don't truly know someone until you have fought him (for example).
1, The Matrix Trilogy
2, 2001
3, Erasherhead
4, Waking life
5, um...Metal Gear solid 2
Remember God is watching with love http://www.makepovertyhistory.org/
I loved Eraserhead.
What's your interpretation of it?
A lot of David Lynch's movies deal with maternal issues (The Grandmother, Blue Velvet) so I think most of it is about the experience as a new father.
I don't really know what to make of the rest.
1) Citizen Pane
2) Harry Potter and the Sorcer's thesaurus.
3) The Trouble with Ingmar and Ingred Bergman.
6) The FIght Club : nitrous oxyde Achilles destroys squeaky Voice.
4) Life of L ROn Hubbard : How I loved Tom's stuffy nostrils.
5) Every French film in history.
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for me the top 5 film for true thought are
5 dogma ( i hate Kevin smith but it makes you think.)
4 hang 'em high (thoughts on what is justice.0
3 platoon (how narrow that the razor is between to fathers)
2 full metal jacket (we are both killers and saints)
1 the godfather (the role that we must take to keep the balance in life.)
i know i am weird.
evil keith
death to hellywood. suffer for art.
Don't forget Magnolia!! That was a very good philosophical movie.
shareI enjoyed Memento, it was twisted but I wouldn't say it makes you think all that much.
I will definitely be completely shot down on these suggestions :P but they're just movies that made me think. The Butterfly Effect, Donnie Darko, Ameli (sp?), Identity (in a quirky little way) Big Fish, Time Machine (either of em). Honestly, I haven't seen too many movies that would fall under this category.
"Ah. Multiple exclamation points, the true sign of a deranged mind."
In no particular order:
1. What the Bleep Do We Know?
2. Waking Life
3. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
4. Memento (though this may fall under moreso the psychological category)
5. Vanilla Sky
Yes, very good.
Earl Partridge played by Jason Robards:
Don't ever let anyone ever say to you, 'You shouldn't regret anything.' Don't do that, don't! You regret what you *beep* want! And use that, use that, use that regret for anything, any way you want. You can use it, okay?
I've just seen Waking Life and that one is truely amazing.. Really nice deep thoughts which did cross my mind once too..
My top 5, also random order..
Pi
Waking Life
Donnie Darko
The Butterfly Effect
and for the fifth place i could choose one movie, but i guess - like The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Star Wars, the Life of David Gale - all have some philosophical ideas. But i want to keep the 4 above apart, since i luv these films and their ideas!!
let's hope a scanner darkly will be as good as Waking Life.. It would make my life a bit more pleasant ;)
Nobody has mentioned 'A Clockwork Orange.' A deep, fascinating look at free will. The book is even better.
shareMy list would be: (random order)
"1.0" (or "One point O")
"13th Floor"
"Pi"
"Waking Life"
"Donnie Darko"
-----
Mindfu<k Movie Board
http://mmb.net.tf
The world is full of solipsists.
Has nobody thought of Being John Malkovich? It's not philosophical about life in general, and it's not particularly enlightening, but in its own way it's one of the most thought-provoking films I have ever seen.
Err, top five . . .
Being John Malkovich
Fight Club
2001: A Space Odyssey
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
A.I. (I know the subject of artificial intelligence merging into consciousness has been done many times before, I just think this is the best example)
Honerable mentions:
Dogville
Unbreakable
Brazil
. . . closing walls and ticking clocks . . .
Waking Life
I Heart Huckabees
The Wall (metaphorically)
The Seventh Seal
Wild Strawberries
Vanilla Sky doesn't count, but if it did it would be on the list.
This is Werner Herzog. I've just seen your movie Gummo. You're the last foot soldier.
Definitely try reading Fight Club (and other Chuck Palahniuk books) if you don't get what's so philosophical about it. Self, indeed.
share[deleted]
Someone finally chimed in w/ seventh seal, congrats.
On w/ the 5
Easy Rider
The Deer Hunter
The City of the Lost Children
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen
Old Boy
Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind is a given.
Eraserhead for philosophy?
I apparently didnt understand, that movie should never be shown again, no I do not want to start a fight about this but I do not want to watch it again to find out what I have apparently missed.
Abre los ojos (Open your eyes)
shareI can say my top AWAKENING movies are:
Star Wars (describing The Force a.k.a. Universal Energy)
Matrix (showing the difference between real and not real)
Waking Life (many ways showing the new way of thinking)
Being John Malkovich (weird enough)
and position 5 given to many other important movies in my life which are:
South Park Series, Pi, Butterfly Effect, Donnie Darko, War of the worlds, Fahrenheit 911, Eternal Sunshine of the spotless Mind, 13th floor
and still much more...
Blade Runner
Dark City
The Matrix
Waking Life
Twelve Monkeys
"Ignorance does not equal innocence"
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
I Heart Huckabees
Butterfly Effect (a lot of cliches in the dialogue but the idea and movie itself are good enough)
Dogma
Eyes Wide Shut is often booed but is actually a great movie... definitely makes you think!
Cornbread Red, where is your quote from and have you actually seen the movie Gummo?
i think the quote under cornbread red's message is taken from a conversation director harmony korine had with werner herzog after herzog saw his film 'gummo' for the first time and called him expressing his opinion that there aren't people like him with the guts to make movies like gummo anymore...
shareRe: South Park series...
I will second that