As you can probably tell, this list feels more arbitrary than others. That’s not by design, but the unfortunate premise of the list leaves some room for interpretation. As we move forward, we will start seeing the films that, if you asked a lay person to give an example, would probably be a response. In other words, more people have heard of them, which, in turn, often makes them more “definitive.” Don’t worry, though – there are still some underseen and underappreciated gems the rest of the way through.
40. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
Directed by: Béla Tarr
It’s certainly not the swiftest film on the list, but you can’t expect much quick plot development from Béla Tarr. Wreckmeister Harmonies takes place in a tiny Hungarian town surrounded by nothing. The winter is incredibly cold, but it never snows. Yet the townspeople are excited in the middle of town as...
40. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
Directed by: Béla Tarr
It’s certainly not the swiftest film on the list, but you can’t expect much quick plot development from Béla Tarr. Wreckmeister Harmonies takes place in a tiny Hungarian town surrounded by nothing. The winter is incredibly cold, but it never snows. Yet the townspeople are excited in the middle of town as...
- 8/24/2014
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
Have you ever seen a poorly stuffed animal? Like, one where the taxidermist flat out fucked up, letting faux tissue rest imbalanced on the skeleture or placing glass eyeballs protruding too far out of the eye sockets, leaving the poor passed-on animal but a mangled shell of its former self. Looking on such a disfigured beast generally conjures instantaneous disgust, a repugnancy solely caused by the unnatural look of creatures we know to look a specific way. This discomforting unnaturalness is the stuff surrealist Czech director Jan Švankmajer lives for. His lengthy oeuvre is packed with animated creatures that look as though they were purposefully aborted taxidermy projects. In the late 1980s, Švankmajer took on the task of adapting Lewis Carroll’s beloved Adventure’s in Wonderland with Alice, employing a mix of stop motion and live action to lense his white rabbit as a demented teeth chattering creature of childhood nightmares.
- 4/15/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
BFI:Czech surrealist Jan Svankmajer's Alice (1988) is a creepy and disturbing adaptaion of Lewis Carroll's perennial literary classic, and perhaps the most faithful the original work. Combining a live-action Alice (Kristýna Kohoutová) with a Wonderland filled with threatening stop-motion characters, Svankmajer's deliberately crude style of animation, use of close-ups, and rich design work lend the film a pervading sense of unease and a menacing dream-logic which marries a sly visual wit with piercing psychological insight.Since the 1960's, Jan Svankmajer has been frying brains around the world with his incredibly original, surrealist animation. After years of trail-blazing short films, in 1988 he finally decided to make a feature, and could not have picked a more suitable subject for his style.Alice's Adventures in Wonderland has been inspirational...
- 6/1/2011
- Screen Anarchy
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.