Best 'Picaresque' Movie
by ElMaruecan82 | created - 19 Jun 2017 | updated - 27 Jul 2017 | PublicThe picaresque novel is a literary genre that can be summed up as "fictional autobiography" (or fictionalized). It depicts the adventures of a hero (generally a sympathetic outsider) whose fate primarily depends on his own wits but also on various encounters and strikes of luck, sometimes bad.
Told in first person, there's no real plot, rather a series of disconnected episodes since the 'picaro' can't maintain a social status or hold a job for a long time. There's little character development personality-wise, as the essence of the "picaro" is to remain a picaro, it's the world around him that changes and its depiction always carries an element of satire that makes the story captivating and relevant. All the following movies present at least some, if not all, diverse characteristics of the 'picaresque' genre.
Which of the following 'picaresque' movies is your favorite?
After voting, you may discuss the list here
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Forrest Gump (1994)
PG | 142 min | Drama, Romance
The presidencies of Kennedy and Johnson, the events of Vietnam, Watergate and other historical events unfold through the perspective of an Alabama man with an IQ of 75, whose only desire is to be reunited with his childhood sweetheart.
Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Sally Field
Votes: 1,742,016 | Gross: $330.25M
2. Barry Lyndon (1975)
PG | 185 min | Adventure, Drama, History
An Irish rogue wins the heart of a rich widow and assumes her dead husband's aristocratic position in 18th-century England.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Krüger
Votes: 143,841
3. Big Fish (2003)
PG | 125 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
A frustrated son tries to determine the fact from fiction in his dying father's life.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange
Votes: 406,158 | Gross: $66.26M
4. Tom Jones (1963)
(Banned) | 129 min | Adventure, Comedy, History
The romantic and chivalrous adventures of adopted bastard Tom Jones in 18th-century England.
Director: Tony Richardson | Stars: Albert Finney, Susannah York, George Devine, Rachel Kempson
Votes: 11,219 | Gross: $37.60M
5. Life of Pi (2012)
G | 127 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Adil Hussain, Tabu
Votes: 567,242 | Gross: $124.99M
6. Little Big Man (1970)
PG-13 | 139 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Jack Crabb, looking back from extreme old age, tells of his life being raised by Native Americans and fighting with General Custer.
Director: Arthur Penn | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, Chief Dan George, Martin Balsam
Votes: 32,015 | Gross: $31.56M
7. The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988)
126 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
An account of Baron Munchausen's supposed travels and fantastical experiences with his band of misfits.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: John Neville, Eric Idle, Sarah Polley, Oliver Reed
Votes: 49,639 | Gross: $8.08M
8. Love and Death (1975)
85 min | Comedy, War
In czarist Russia, a neurotic soldier and his distant cousin formulate a plot to assassinate Napoleon.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, Georges Adet, Frank Adu
Votes: 34,980
9. Die Blechtrommel (1979)
(Banned) | 142 min | Drama, War
In 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.
Director: Volker Schlöndorff | Stars: David Bennent, Mario Adorf, Angela Winkler, Katharina Thalbach
Votes: 21,692
10. Fanny och Alexander (1982)
14A | 188 min | Drama
Two young Swedish children experience the many comedies and tragedies of their family, the Ekdahls.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Bertil Guve, Pernilla Allwin, Kristina Adolphson, Börje Ahlstedt
Votes: 55,753 | Gross: $4.97M
11. The Man Who Would Be King (1975)
129 min | Adventure, History, War
Two British former soldiers decide to set themselves up as Kings in Kafiristan, a land where no white man has set foot since Alexander the Great.
Director: John Huston | Stars: Sean Connery, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer, Saeed Jaffrey
Votes: 42,883
12. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
13+ | 147 min | Crime, Drama
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with a superior olfactory sense, creates the world's finest perfume. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for the ultimate scent.
Director: Tom Tykwer | Stars: Ben Whishaw, Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman, Francesc Albiol
Votes: 230,098 | Gross: $2.22M
13. Kakushi-toride no san-akunin (1958)
139 min | Adventure, Drama
Lured by gold, two greedy peasants escort a man and woman across enemy lines. However, they do not realize that their companions are actually a princess and her general.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Misa Uehara, Minoru Chiaki, Kamatari Fujiwara
Votes: 32,710
14. Donovan's Reef (1963)
109 min | Adventure, Comedy, Romance
Comedy subtly dealing with moral issues such as racial bigotry, corporate greed, American belief of societal superiority and hypocrisy.
Director: John Ford | Stars: John Wayne, Lee Marvin, Elizabeth Allen, Jack Warden
Votes: 7,541
15. Take the Money and Run (1969)
PG | 85 min | Comedy, Crime
The life and times of Virgil Starkwell, inept bank robber.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Janet Margolin, Marcel Hillaire, Jacquelyn Hyde
Votes: 27,520 | Gross: $0.72M
16. The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943)
163 min | Drama, Romance, War
From the Boer War through World War II, a soldier rises through the ranks in the British military.
Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger | Stars: Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr, Anton Walbrook, James McKechnie
Votes: 12,691
17. Il Casanova di Federico Fellini (1976)
18A | 155 min | Biography, Drama, History
The myth of Giacomo Casanova, the notorious womanizer is presented as a pitiable and terrifying figure. A sex scandal lands him in prison, but an escape to Paris provides him a new lease of life.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Donald Sutherland, Tina Aumont, Cicely Browne, Carmen Scarpitta
Votes: 6,839
18. Zelig (1983)
79 min | Comedy
"Documentary" about a man who can look and act like whoever he's around, and meets various famous people.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Patrick Horgan, John Buckwalter
Votes: 38,967 | Gross: $11.80M
19. The World According to Garp (1982)
14A | 136 min | Comedy, Drama
A struggling young writer finds his life and work dominated by his unfaithful wife and his radical feminist mother, whose best-selling manifesto turns her into a cultural icon.
Director: George Roy Hill | Stars: Robin Williams, Mary Beth Hurt, Glenn Close, John Lithgow
Votes: 24,387 | Gross: $29.71M
20. Fellini - Satyricon (1969)
129 min | Drama, Fantasy, History
A series of disjointed mythical tales set in first century Rome.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Martin Potter, Hiram Keller, Max Born, Salvo Randone
Votes: 14,449 | Gross: $1.14M
21. Pierrot le Fou (1965)
Not Rated | 110 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Pierrot escapes his boring society and travels from Paris to the Mediterranean Sea with Marianne, a girl chased by hit-men from Algeria. They lead an unorthodox life, always on the run.
Director: Jean-Luc Godard | Stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo, Anna Karina, Graziella Galvani, Aicha Abadir
Votes: 28,083
22. Alice in Wonderland (I) (2010)
PG | 108 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Nineteen-year-old Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen's reign of terror.
Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway
Votes: 374,961 | Gross: $334.19M
23. Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)
PG | 93 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
A tyrant from the future creates evil android doubles of Bill and Ted and sends them back to eliminate the originals.
Director: Peter Hewitt | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, William Sadler, Joss Ackland
Votes: 61,740 | Gross: $38.04M
24. O Lucky Man! (1973)
18A | 178 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
An apprentice coffee salesman has a series of improbable and ironic adventures that seem designed to challenge his naive idealism.
Director: Lindsay Anderson | Stars: Malcolm McDowell, Ralph Richardson, Rachel Roberts, Arthur Lowe
Votes: 7,393
25. Deconstructing Harry (1997)
R | 96 min | Comedy
Suffering from writer's block and eagerly awaiting his writing award, Harry Block remembers events from his past and scenes from his best-selling books as characters, real and fictional, come back to haunt him.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Judy Davis, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Stephanie Roth Haberle
Votes: 41,513 | Gross: $10.69M
26. Hundraåringen som klev ut genom fönstret och försvann (2013)
14A | 114 min | Adventure, Comedy
After living a long and colorful life, Allan Karlsson finds himself stuck in a nursing home. On his 100th birthday, he leaps out a window and begins an unexpected journey.
Director: Felix Herngren | Stars: Robert Gustafsson, Iwar Wiklander, David Wiberg, Mia Skäringer
Votes: 37,456 | Gross: $1.08M
27. Moll Flanders (1996)
14+ | 123 min | Drama, Romance
The daughter of a thief, young Moll (Robin Wright) is placed in the care of a nunnery after the execution of her mother. However, the actions of an abusive Priest lead Moll to rebel as a ... See full summary »
Director: Pen Densham | Stars: Robin Wright, Morgan Freeman, Stockard Channing, John Lynch
Votes: 3,931 | Gross: $3.36M
28. Shadows and Fog (1991)
85 min | Comedy
With a serial strangler on the loose, a bookkeeper wanders around town searching for the vigilante group intent on catching the killer.
Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Michael Kirby, David Ogden Stiers
Votes: 15,734 | Gross: $2.74M
Tell Your Friends