Weirdness for the Cinephile
Twisted, bizarre, surreal or plain odd are just a few names that could describe these films which sole purpose is to break the boundaries of conventional filmmaking and storytelling, pushing the art form into the experimental territory. From noir cinema to cyberpunk, filmmakers continue on their quest to put on screen something nobody has ever seen before, even if this makes no sense at all to the spectator. It might seem like the people behind these productions just got high and came up with some crazy ideas, and if that’s so then keep them tripping because these are the kind of movies that are quite an experience to attend. The following are some of the weirdest films I’ve been able to see:
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- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsPierre BatcheffSimone MareuilLuis BuñuelLuis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí present 16 minutes of bizarre, surreal imagery.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsJack NanceCharlotte StewartAllen JosephHenry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.
- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsMarcello MastroianniAnouk AiméeClaudia CardinaleA harried movie director retreats into his memories and fantasies.
- DirectorAlejandro JodorowskyStarsAlejandro JodorowskyHoracio SalinasZamira SaundersIn a corrupt, greed-fueled world, a powerful alchemist leads a messianic character and seven materialistic figures to the Holy Mountain, where they hope to achieve enlightenment.
- DirectorRichard KellyStarsJake GyllenhaalJena MaloneMary McDonnellAfter narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsPeter WellerJudy DavisIan HolmAfter developing an addiction to the substance he uses to kill bugs, an exterminator accidentally kills his wife and becomes involved in a secret government plot being orchestrated by giant bugs in a port town in North Africa.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaIshirô HondaStarsAkira TeraoMitsuko BaishôToshie NegishiA collection of tales based upon eight of director Akira Kurosawa's recurring dreams.
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsTom CruiseJason RobardsJulianne MooreAn epic mosaic of interrelated characters in search of love, forgiveness and meaning in the San Fernando Valley.
- DirectorSpike JonzeStarsJohn CusackCameron DiazCatherine KeenerA puppeteer discovers a portal that leads literally into the head of movie star John Malkovich.
- DirectorDarren AronofskyStarsSean GulletteMark MargolisBen ShenkmanA paranoid mathematician searches for a key number that will unlock the universal patterns found in nature.
- DirectorJens LienStarsTrond FausaPetronella BarkerPer SchaanningIn a strange city where every person seems content beyond reason a new man arrives in town and stirs up trouble by asking too many questions.
- DirectorJan SvankmajerStarsVeronika ZilkováJan HartlJaroslava KretschmerováA childless couple passes off an anthropomorphous tree stump as their baby, but things get out of hand when the monstrosity comes to life and demands to be fed.
- DirectorGyörgy PálfiStarsCsaba CzeneIstván GyuriczaGina MorenoThree generations of men, including a pervert that constantly seeks for new kinds of satisfaction, an obese speed eater and a passionate embalmer.
- DirectorDarko MitrevskiAleksandar PopovskiStarsLazar RistovskiNikola RistanovskiVlado JovanovskiIn the year 2019, after global destruction and descent into savagery, the immortal Kuzman discovers his destiny. As he enters the whirling circles of time, he discovers the blasphemy of our century, and how it is to close its circle.
- DirectorHiguchinskyStarsEriko HatsuneFhi FanHinako SaekiThe inhabitants of a small Japanese town become increasingly obsessed with and tormented by spirals.
- DirectorVeit HelmerStarsDenis LavantChulpan KhamatovaPhilippe ClayIn a desolate and colorless landscape stands a dilapidated bathhouse run by a puffed-up blind man, his long-suffering wife, and their son Anton, who does all the work. He's lonely and unsophisticated, and he falls in love with the beautiful Eva, who comes to bathe with her father. When Eva and her father lose their home, they come to the bathhouse to stay, but bits of the ceiling fall on the old man and he dies. Eva blames Anton, and she seems to seek the arms of the brute Gregor. Can Anton win back her heart, get the bathhouse through a rigorous government inspection, and help keep his parents employed? Waiting out there somewhere is the paradise isle of Tuvalu.
- DirectorMichel GondryStarsGael García BernalCharlotte GainsbourgMiou-MiouA man entranced by his dreams and imagination is love-struck with a French woman and feels he can show her his world.
- DirectorVolker SchlöndorffStarsDavid BennentMario AdorfAngela WinklerIn 1924, Oskar Matzerath is born in the Free City of Danzig. At age three, he falls down a flight of stairs and stops growing. In 1939, World War II breaks out.
- DirectorHarmony KorineStarsNick SuttonJacob SewellLara ToshLonely residents of a tornado-stricken Ohio town wander the deserted landscape trying to fulfill their boring, nihilistic lives.
- DirectorShin'ya TsukamotoStarsTomorô TaguchiKei FujiwaraNobu KanaokaA businessman accidentally kills The Metal Fetishist, who gets his revenge by slowly turning the man into a grotesque hybrid of flesh and rusty metal.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJohnny DeppBenicio Del ToroTobey MaguireAn oddball journalist and his psychopathic lawyer travel to Las Vegas for a series of psychedelic escapades.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsEthan HawkeTrevor Jack BrooksLorelei LinklaterA man shuffles through a dream meeting various people and discussing the meanings and purposes of the universe.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsBill PullmanPatricia ArquetteJohn RoseliusAnonymous videotapes presage a musician's murder conviction, and a gangster's girlfriend leads a mechanic astray.
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsLim Soo-jungRainPark Byeong-eunA girl who thinks she is a combat cyborg checks into a mental hospital, where she encounters other psychotics. Eventually, she falls for a man who thinks he can steal people's souls.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJames SpaderHolly HunterElias KoteasAfter getting into a serious car accident, a TV director discovers an underground sub-culture of scarred, omnisexual car-crash victims who use car accidents and the raw sexual energy they produce to try to rejuvenate his sex life with his wife.
- DirectorAlejandro JodorowskyStarsTamara GarinaSergio KleinerDiana MariscalFando and his partially-paralyzed lover Lis search for the mythical city of Tar. Based on Jodorowsky's memories of a play by surrealist Fernando Arrabal.
- DirectorPaul Thomas AndersonStarsAdam SandlerEmily WatsonPhilip Seymour HoffmanSocially frustrated Barry Egan calls a phone-sex line to curb his loneliness. Little does he know it will land him in deep trouble and will jeopardize his burgeoning romance with the mysterious Lena.
- DirectorJan SvankmajerStarsKristýna KohoutováCamilla PowerA surrealistic revision of Alice in Wonderland.
- DirectorShozin FukuiStarsHaji SuzukiOnn-chanKôji ÔtsuboPinocchio 964, lobotomised cyborg sex slave, is thrown out onto the street by his owners because of his inability to maintain an erection. He is befriended by a criminally insane, memory-wiped, homeless girl. Meanwhile, the corporate entity who manufactured and sold him plots to kill him because of his malfunction.
- DirectorJean-Claude LauzonStarsMaxime CollinGinette RenoGilbert SicotteThe story of a young Canadian boy who tries to escape mentally from his disturbed family thanks to his fantasy and imagination.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsNicole KidmanPaul BettanyLauren BacallA woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town she finds out that their support has a price.
- DirectorNobuhiko ÔbayashiStarsKimiko IkegamiMiki JinboKumiko ÔbaA schoolgirl and six of her classmates travel to her aunt's country home, which turns out to be haunted.
- DirectorJonas ÅkerlundStarsJason SchwartzmanJohn LeguizamoPatrick FugitA drug dealer introduces one of his customers, a 'speed freak', to the man who runs the meth lab. A crazy three-day adventure ensues.
- DirectorJan SvankmajerStarsPetr CepekJan KrausVladimír KudlaAn ordinary man is lured into a strange puppet theatre by a map and finds himself embroiled in a production of the Faustian legend.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsYûta SoneKimika YoshinoShohei HinoA yakuza enforcer is ordered to secretly drive his beloved colleague to be assassinated. But when the colleague unceremoniously disappears en route, the trip that follows is a twisted, surreal and horrifying experience.
- DirectorJean-Pierre JeunetStarsDany BoonAndré DussollierNicolas MariéA man and his friends come up with an intricate and original plan to destroy two big weapons manufacturers.
- DirectorL.Q. JonesStarsDon JohnsonJason RobardsSusanne BentonA young man and his telepathic dog wander a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
- DirectorTakashi MiikeStarsKenji SawadaKeiko MatsuzakaShinji TakedaA family moves to the country to run a rustic mountain inn when, to their horror, the customers begin befalling sudden and unlikely fates.
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsHugh GriffithLaura BettiNinetto DavoliPasolini's artistic, sometimes violent, always vividly cinematic retelling of some of Chaucer's most erotic tales.
- DirectorChristoffer BoeStarsNikolaj Lie KaasMaria BonnevieKrister HenrikssonA young man who thought himself already in love with a nice girl is drawn into a literary drama when he is captured by a deep and stimulating love affair.