I was thinking about it, and of the (possibly) hundreds of films I've seen in my life, there are probably about a dozen that have really impacted me - that is, they have actually had an effect on my worldview, or just overwhelmed me with beauty, or forced me to keep thinking about them long, long after I saw them.
These aren't necessarily my favourites (although I love them); they are just the ones that have had a lasting impact in some way: intellectual, spiritual, psychological, personal, or whatever.
So I thought I would list them here. Please name the films (and their directors, if you know them), with no limit on number. And if you want to say something about why they affected you, that would also be welcome. And add more if you think of a title or two later.
Mine (in no particular order):
1. Encounters at the End of the World, dir. Werner Herzog
2. Cave of Forgotten Dreams, dir. Werner Herzog
3. Magnolia, dir. P.T. Anderson
4. There Will Be Blood, P.T. Anderson
5. Thin Red Line, dir. Terrence Malick
6. Tree of Life, dir. Terrence Malick
7. Karakter - dir. Mike van Diem
8. Wings of Desire - dir. Wim Wenders
9. The Trial - dir. David Jones
10. Three Colours: White - dir. Krzysztof Kieślowski
Your turn.
The Blair Witch Project.
Will forever now hate being in the woods in the dark on my own.
Crystal Voyager, David Elfick. I did go surfing.
[Bill Hicks] Zapruder Footage [/Bill Hicks]
True romance
Django - the Jaimee Foxx/tarrantino version
Pale rider
Event horizon
I'm still editing....
Blade runner (both)
Metropolis
Cube
Dark city
There's probably a few, but the one that I won't ever forget is The Mist. The last 3 minutes just cap it all off
Will forever now hate being in the woods in the dark on my own.
As long as you don't take a cheap 80's sony camcorder with you, (they seem to attract demons) i'm sure you will be fine 🙂
Rocky (all of them)
But mainly Rocky 3 when Mickey died
Jaws, not sure if it was the UK TV premier in '81 when I would have been 7, put me off swimming in the sea in water deeper than my waist for years... A short swim in deep water part way through a dolphin spotting boat trip off The Canary Isles in 2006 absolutely terrified me! 😆
Anchorman
Talladega Nights
Step Brothers
Also, Ex Machina - disturbing and enlightening on a number of levels. A superb film.
Apocalypse Now
Waltz with Bashir
Weekend at Bernie’s
The Big Lebowski
Big Wednesday
a clockwork orange
taxi driver
grave of fireflies
Midnight Cowboy
Midnight Express
Also Pan's Labyrinth.
Fletch.
Betty Blue at an impressionable age.
Thanks Channel 4 🙂
Blade runner (original)
Paris Texas
Arrival (a lot things just hit a chord, from derivation Portuguese through to non-linear time)
Volver
Juileta (I even have a quote from it tattooed on my arm)
Dolor y Gloria (for a microsecond it made me contemplate ‘chasing the dragon’).
House of Flying Daggers
Serenity (also a quote tattooed, albeit translated into Spanish...)
In the mood for love.
Most of the above 🙂
+
'To Live' - Zhang Yimou
The Wages of Fear
Kanal
🙁
The Blair Witch Project.
Will forever now hate being in the woods in the dark on my own.
@choppersquad - I was doing a night ride at Llandegla, at the back as usual, when my lights died on the last descent.
It took about 10 minutes for the lads to realise I was missing and come back for me. It felt like an absolute eternity, because stood there in total darkness, listening to the trees rustling around me, the only thing in my head was the Blair Witch. I was a whimpering wreck by the time they got to me.
I now always carry a back up light with me. Bloody terrified me did that film! And left me feeling exactly the same about being out at night on my own
Jaws +1
Still not 100% comfortable in the sea when swimming, surfing, snorkeling etc
All my passwords come from Blade Runner
Actually quite a few of the OP’s list would make mine. Obviously a man of intelligent taste.
I’ll stick a few more in:
Princess Bride dir. Rob Reiner
Precious dir. Lee Daniels
Hunger dir. Steve McQueen
There’s probably a few, but the one that I won’t ever forget is The Mist. The last 3 minutes just cap it all off
I had no idea about the ending having changed from the book. Amazing.
…and Videodrome (Cronenberg). I was in a bad place when I saw it. It really affected me for months. I saw it again about 5 years ago and nothing...
Whistle down the wind “he’s not Jesus, he’s just a fella”.
Oh and
Kez dir. Ken Loach
Tyrannosaur dir. Paddy Considine
Natural Born Killers dir. Oliver Stone (man, the Cowboy Junkies’ version of Sweet Jane has remained with me forever.)
Dog Soldiers. Doesn’t need an explanation
DD.... Talking of Ken Loach... I Danial Blake.
When the film ended everyone in the cinema just sat there in total silence apart from a couple of people crying. The first scene in the food bank is absolutely heart-wrenching. I always think of it when I see what Marcus Rashford is doing
If you can get through that without it getting dusty in the room, you’re doing better than me.
It should be compulsory viewing the night before the next general election
Agree with you about Tyranasaur. Nil By Mouth is even worse. It’s virtually unwatchable at times. When you see Kathy Burke being funny on telly, doing Kevin and Perry or whatever, you forget that she’s delivered one of the most visceral performances ever filmed. It’s like being punched in the face!
Long term impact
Jaws - took a lot to get over my fear of open water (even fresh water)
Event Horizon - I found that extremely disturbing, I think it took 2 goes to see it to the end
Seven - not a comfortable watch, still don't like the subject matter
Silence of the Lambs - saw it at the cinema, scariest film I had ever seen at that point
Different films at different ages. All made a lasting impression. There are scores so here’s a few off the top
As a kid/teen:
Walkabout - Nicolas Roeg
Cannibal Holocaust - Ruggero Deodato
Nosferatu - Werner Herzog
Kes - Ken Loach
Thunderbolt and Lightfoot - Michael Cimino (Just the last part, ie the head-kicking ...) really disturbed me. Still does just thinking about it)
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind - Spielberg. (Was too young really to see those aliens, argghhhh still hate the faces!)
Adult life:
Schindler’s List - Spielberg
The Tenant - Polanski
L’Enfer - Claude Chabrol
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest - Miloš Forman
Taxi Driver - Scorsese
The Piano - Jane Campion
Rabbit Proof Fence - Phillip Noyce
Tyrannosaur - Paddy Considine
*edit - crossposted with deadlydarcy on that couple of British bruisers
In the same vein - Dead Mans Shoes
It doesn’t get much more hard-hitting than that
“What you looking at?”
Watership Down.
Made me hate the fluffy long eared ***** from a very early age.
Unless they're an ingredient.
Not a huge film watcher but Tyrannosaur was absolutely outstanding.
Jaws - Always totally paranoid in deep water. Could never bring myself to jump off a boat far out. Never.
American Werewolf in London - For years I thought I would get machine gunned when I opened doors, and walking across dark moors at night is a no obvs.
Saving Private Ryan at the cinema. War not so cool after that opener... not watched it since.
Interstellar messed with my melon for days. I need to watch it again but holy shit that sent me deeeeeep.
La Cabina
The Wicker Man
Dead mans shoes . This is England . The railway man
Another for jaws. My favourite film, but I still wouldn't go swimming in the sea anywhere there are sharks.
Schindler’s List, watched in a tough part of Glasgow with my girlfriend at the time and the whole cinema was sobbing.
Interstellar. Made me realize just how insignificant we truly are in the universe.
Ex_Machina. Very physiological and disturbing film which seems to become more and more relevant these days with regards to the advancements made in AI. (Off topic here as series not film, but Devs is also very good, also written by Alex Garland, on Iplayer.)
Sophie's Choice. Only time I have been in a packed cinema and you could have heard a pin drop at the end. No one moved.
(Oh and Star Wars - impressionable 14 year old with his Dad - too many good memories)
Jaws +2 - I saw it at the cinema when I was about 12. To this day I won't go into the sea unless other people are already in there - a fact that dawned on Mrs Spekkie when we went to the beach together during term-time and I wouldn't go in. (this was in SA where they actually do have shark nets, but I'm the same everywhere)
James Bond (regardless in who plays JB) - I was about 30 before I realised that I drove my normal car, the one I expect to start every morning and get me to work, the way JB drives his cars.
^^^ Great call on La Cabina - from that night on I would always hold phone box doors open with my foot. Absolutely ****ing terrifying.
Son of Saul 2011 Dir Laszlo Nemes.
Tries to get into the heart of the Holocaust. chaotic and claustrophobic on purpose. V powerful
The Mission - I'd driven to Oxford to see it, so overcome with emotion after seeing it I desperately needed a drink but had to drive so I had a cigarette. I don't smoke.
Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Hamburger Hill - war portrayed as something dirty and not heroic after growing up with The Longest Day and 633 Squadron.
Schindler's List - I'd read Primo Levi but seeing man's inhumanity portrayed so well and the bad man doing good brought it to life. Adam Tooze's book "Wages of Destruction" had a similar effect - how bad people made ordinary people do bad things.
Lives of Others.
Harold & Kumar get the munchies.
