ok, just for the record i've seen the vast majority of the movies that people are listing as "good but disturbing".
i just need to know, have you ever seen Deliverance? just wondering if i'm the only one who it bothered that much, or if a lot of the younger crowd here has just never seen it.
'cause i'm sorry, but it puts every other movie listed here to shame.
Deliverance---It really seemed to be caught in a kind of apocalyptic thought-world. It seemed a little over-the-top, caught in the same "shock 'em/fire-for-effect mode as The Deer Hunter and Taxi Driver, all made about the same time.
Here's one that upsets almost all who watch it, 'The Last Temptation of Christ'. I have only seen the ending, but I thought about how it portrayed the human side of Christ.
I have not seen that but the soundtrack of that movie is among my favorites. I don't want probably to get a second disappointment after having _really_ like a soundtrack finding just out i really don't like the movie. if it's about his human side, what0s so distrbing?
there are a few cults that i never understood why they were so famous. so they kind of disturbed me. like reservoir dogs. c'mon, do something, shoot yourselves. do something! no. 1,5 hours waiting nothing to happen. dell that was boring. and pulp fiction. take away the fact the last try to see it was in french = i didn't understand more than 10% .. coca, smoke, booze.. what's the greatness? then add the stupid kids movies that i hated especially when i was a kid. like mary poppins. and [b]pippi longstocking[]/b. i just hated them, period. i was adult and those were just nuts. and "the seven brothers" was like monkey island .. timo might know who was the director, i have no idea. it was supposed to be some kind of finn national parody .. umh, cloned story of don quijote, adapted to 7 finns that were drunk like monkeys.. dell no. i can think about a lot of more disturbing but like these ways .. not like on the way of requiem for a dream etc. these were just the ones that came to my mind in the first 15 seconds.
Absolutely. The 'sex' was done in moderation---the movie was a damning indictment of the Great Leap Forward.
A lot of things going on at different levels---what kills me is that in foreign culture films the true nuances get lost in the translation and by our lack of cultural latency.
Well, here's a list of some quite disturbing flicks that I came up with. Not necessarily that good. (People, you really should try to watch movies made outside US more)
- Romance, 1999, director Catherine Breillat. I think this movie is underrated and misunderstood. Pretty good and yes, really quite disturbing
- Baise-moi (**** Me), 2000, by Virginie Despentes, goes with the same idea as Romance: take some porn actors/actresses and place them in a real movie. Only this is not nearly as good as the previous IMO.
- Seom (The Isle) , 2000, director Ki-duk Kim, very twisted and painful image of human relationships. Mentally disturbing.
- Caligula, 1979, by Tinto Brass, some Penthouse girls combined with acting of Malcom McDowell, whaddya expect? Disturbing images...
- Salò le 120 giornate di Sodoma (Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom ), 1975, by Pier Paolo Pasolini, probably one of the most disturbing film ever made will (hopefully) make anyone feel sick
- Kids was good, Bully was not that good. Battle Royal was interesting. Ichi the Killer is a violence feast worth a check also.
Deliverance---It really seemed to be caught in a kind of apocalyptic thought-world. It seemed a little over-the-top, caught in the same "shock 'em/fire-for-effect mode as The Deer Hunter and Taxi Driver, all made about the same time.
It seemed okay, although a bit heavy handed.
deliverance was 5 years before taxi driver, and deliverance wasn't particularly violent (taxi driver did set a precedent for that) it was the tone of impending violence amid the the pastoral setting. i didn't think it was heavy handed in the least.
se7en was disturbing using all those images, i mean each murder scene was a tableau of horror, taxi driver used violence and the groundbreaking use of blood. but other than the rape scene deliverance is more the cloud of impending doom rather than anything overt.
Faces of Death. i've only seen one of them and it apparently wasn't the most disturbing. i don't know if they are faked, i mean i'm sure alot of them are but i still think they are disturbing
Oh, I forgot about the disturbing kids' movies! There are two that spring to mind. The first wasn't even that good, really:
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: Oh...my...gosh. That movie is SOOO long and SOOO messed up.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: You've gotta vote for a movie where you see chickens getting their heads cut off, girls blowing up like balloons, kids falling down incinerator chutes, four grandparents sleeping in the SAME bed, and green midgets dancing around singing.
seems like the definition of "disturbing" is part of the issue for some
there are certainly horror films and rape and murder and pain out there...
perhaps a subset of 'mental' films is more disturbing than tabboo-prodders.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and A Clockwork Orange have already been mentioned, as have Brazil, and Dark City... all suitable candidates
Island of Dr. Caligari (original) is one odd film. Cabinet of Dr. Caligari takes the original Bunuel beyond surreal.
Naked Lunch
Burroughs is always trippy, but the cockroaches still weird me out.
Gallipoli / Apocalypse Now / Full Metal Jacket
All great films. Equally likely to be listed as "War" or "Anti-War".
Lars von Trier - The Idiots.
'Normal' people pretend to be handicapped in order to laugh and take advantage of a society that pities the less fortunate. Cruel.
Memento
For days after watching that, i was staring at people's tattoos and wondering what reminders they would provide.
Twelve Monkeys
Dystopian worlds full of electroshock, WoMD, and Bruce Willis' acting... hmmm, disturbing enough?
The Matrix
Notwithstanding the eye-candy action and SFX, the questions of awake/asleep and which world you're actually living in might qualify as 'disturbing' to those whose grip on reality was tenous to start with
i'd definitely suggest a few more Eastern European films, but there's a lot of uber-bleak angst-ridden misery in some formerly Iron Curtained countries, and my meter gets pegged pretty early with sniper alley documentaries from 'former yugoslavia', or Kafka-esque chronicles that make Unbearable Lightness of Being look like an action film, so i can't really say i've sat through enough to suggest many
i'd always thought the surreal marriage-horror film was "The Stepford Wives"
I haven't seen that one. "Virgina Woolfe" got me just for the way Burton and Taylor tore each other apart weakness by weakness mentally. It shows how vunerable you are when someone knows everything about you!
Comments
In second place: Cruel Intentions. Yes, it's a bit of a teen movie, but damn it's messed up.
Originally posted by alcimedes
ok, just for the record i've seen the vast majority of the movies that people are listing as "good but disturbing".
i just need to know, have you ever seen Deliverance? just wondering if i'm the only one who it bothered that much, or if a lot of the younger crowd here has just never seen it.
'cause i'm sorry, but it puts every other movie listed here to shame.
Deliverance---It really seemed to be caught in a kind of apocalyptic thought-world. It seemed a little over-the-top, caught in the same "shock 'em/fire-for-effect mode as The Deer Hunter and Taxi Driver, all made about the same time.
It seemed okay, although a bit heavy handed.
Have you seen Burnt By The Sun?
The Ring is better.
Much, much better. First film that's kept me up at night in 20 years.
Originally posted by rogue master
Here's one that upsets almost all who watch it, 'The Last Temptation of Christ'. I have only seen the ending, but I thought about how it portrayed the human side of Christ.
I have not seen that but the soundtrack of that movie is among my favorites. I don't want probably to get a second disappointment after having _really_ like a soundtrack finding just out i really don't like the movie. if it's about his human side, what0s so distrbing?
Originally posted by tonton
Disturbing films:
Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl (2000)
Absolutely. The 'sex' was done in moderation---the movie was a damning indictment of the Great Leap Forward.
A lot of things going on at different levels---what kills me is that in foreign culture films the true nuances get lost in the translation and by our lack of cultural latency.
....again, keep the Bugs Bunny in reserve.
You know something's up when Harrison Ford is as creepy as he is here.
- Romance, 1999, director Catherine Breillat. I think this movie is underrated and misunderstood. Pretty good and yes, really quite disturbing
- Baise-moi (**** Me), 2000, by Virginie Despentes, goes with the same idea as Romance: take some porn actors/actresses and place them in a real movie. Only this is not nearly as good as the previous IMO.
- Seom (The Isle) , 2000, director Ki-duk Kim, very twisted and painful image of human relationships. Mentally disturbing.
- Caligula, 1979, by Tinto Brass, some Penthouse girls combined with acting of Malcom McDowell, whaddya expect? Disturbing images...
- Salò le 120 giornate di Sodoma (Salo, or The 120 Days of Sodom ), 1975, by Pier Paolo Pasolini, probably one of the most disturbing film ever made will (hopefully) make anyone feel sick
- Kids was good, Bully was not that good. Battle Royal was interesting. Ichi the Killer is a violence feast worth a check also.
-JB
Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) - because it sucked SOOOO bad!!
Originally posted by ena
Deliverance---It really seemed to be caught in a kind of apocalyptic thought-world. It seemed a little over-the-top, caught in the same "shock 'em/fire-for-effect mode as The Deer Hunter and Taxi Driver, all made about the same time.
It seemed okay, although a bit heavy handed.
deliverance was 5 years before taxi driver, and deliverance wasn't particularly violent (taxi driver did set a precedent for that) it was the tone of impending violence amid the the pastoral setting. i didn't think it was heavy handed in the least.
se7en was disturbing using all those images, i mean each murder scene was a tableau of horror, taxi driver used violence and the groundbreaking use of blood. but other than the rape scene deliverance is more the cloud of impending doom rather than anything overt.
oh yeah it's NOT good
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: Oh...my...gosh. That movie is SOOO long and SOOO messed up.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: You've gotta vote for a movie where you see chickens getting their heads cut off, girls blowing up like balloons, kids falling down incinerator chutes, four grandparents sleeping in the SAME bed, and green midgets dancing around singing.
there are certainly horror films and rape and murder and pain out there...
perhaps a subset of 'mental' films is more disturbing than tabboo-prodders.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and A Clockwork Orange have already been mentioned, as have Brazil, and Dark City... all suitable candidates
Island of Dr. Caligari (original) is one odd film. Cabinet of Dr. Caligari takes the original Bunuel beyond surreal.
Naked Lunch
Burroughs is always trippy, but the cockroaches still weird me out.
Gallipoli / Apocalypse Now / Full Metal Jacket
All great films. Equally likely to be listed as "War" or "Anti-War".
Lars von Trier - The Idiots.
'Normal' people pretend to be handicapped in order to laugh and take advantage of a society that pities the less fortunate. Cruel.
Memento
For days after watching that, i was staring at people's tattoos and wondering what reminders they would provide.
Twelve Monkeys
Dystopian worlds full of electroshock, WoMD, and Bruce Willis' acting... hmmm, disturbing enough?
The Matrix
Notwithstanding the eye-candy action and SFX, the questions of awake/asleep and which world you're actually living in might qualify as 'disturbing' to those whose grip on reality was tenous to start with
i'd definitely suggest a few more Eastern European films, but there's a lot of uber-bleak angst-ridden misery in some formerly Iron Curtained countries, and my meter gets pegged pretty early with sniper alley documentaries from 'former yugoslavia', or Kafka-esque chronicles that make Unbearable Lightness of Being look like an action film, so i can't really say i've sat through enough to suggest many
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe?" scared the heck out of me as a youngster. I was thinking "God, is that what marriage is like?"
Jeff
Originally posted by jeffyboy
I'm from a one-parent household-
"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe?" scared the heck out of me as a youngster. I was thinking "God, is that what marriage is like?"
Jeff
i'd always thought the surreal marriage-horror film was "The Stepford Wives"
Originally posted by curiousuburb
i'd always thought the surreal marriage-horror film was "The Stepford Wives"
I haven't seen that one. "Virgina Woolfe" got me just for the way Burton and Taylor tore each other apart weakness by weakness mentally. It shows how vunerable you are when someone knows everything about you!
Jeff
(documentary, with philip glass and some yo-yo ma instead of spoken narration)
click above for official site, below on poster images for imdb info
haven't seen the third on DVD yet, but excellent and thought-provoking