Best Examples of Surrealism in Cinema!
Some of the films on the list are just surreal, expressionistic, experimental or pure fantasy. A few titles may be considered surrealism by some viewers and not by others. Some of the films are mainstream or cult films, which really fall into no category. Either way, these films all achieve a surrealist quality. I did my best to come up with best examples of surrealism in cinema. There not in any particular order, and I couldn't fit everything. Enjoy!
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- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsPierre BatcheffSimone MareuilLuis BuñuelLuis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí present 16 minutes of bizarre, surreal imagery.Bunuel and Dali are the masters of Surrealism.
- 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.Alejandro Jodorowsky is my favorite director of all time, plus another master of all things surreal.
- DirectorJean CocteauStarsEnrique RiveroElizabeth Lee MillerPauline CartonTold in four episodes - an unnamed artist is transported through a mirror into another dimension, where he travels through various bizarre scenarios.
- DirectorHans RichterStarsJack BittnerLibby HolmanJosh WhiteAfter learning how to look inside himself, a poetic bum sells people vivid dreams.
- DirectorAlejandro JodorowskyStarsAlejandro JodorowskyBrontis JodorowskyJosé LegarretaA mysterious black-clad gunfighter wanders a mystical Western landscape encountering multiple bizarre characters.
- DirectorDusan MakavejevStarsCarole LaurePierre ClémentiAnna PrucnalAfter winning the "most virgin" contest, Miss Canada is married to a rich milk tycoon. But she quickly flees the marriage to experience the world around her, full of sweetness and anarchy.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsClaudio BrookSilvia PinalEnrique Álvarez FélixSimon, a deeply religious man living in the 4th century, wants to be nearer to God so he climbs a column. The Devil wants him to come down to Earth and is trying to seduce him.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsGaston ModotLya LysCaridad de LaberdesqueA surrealist tale of a man and a woman who are passionately in love with each other, but their attempts to consummate that passion are constantly thwarted by their families, the Church, and bourgeois society.
- DirectorWojciech HasStarsJan NowickiTadeusz KondratIrena OrskaJózef visits his dying father at a remote mental institution, where time itself doesn't seem to exist, and the line between dreams and memories becomes indistinguishable.
- DirectorWalerian BorowczykStarsPierre BrasseurLigia BraniceJean-Pierre AndréaniOn an isolated island ruled by a dictator, a petty thief rises through the ranks, becoming fly-catcher, dog-keeper, and boot polisher. Temptations arise, putting the islanders' fate in jeopardy and threatening to change the island forever.
- DirectorJohannes SchaafStarsPer OscarssonRosemarie FendelOlimpiaA married couple of artists move to a utopian town known for its absolute freedom, but behind the surface perversion and violence are spreading.aka. "Traumstadt" directed by Johannes Schaaf
- 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.
- DirectorJan SvankmajerStarsPetr MeisselGabriela WilhelmováBarbora HrzánováSix people unknowingly form a cycle of masturbation as they each cause others to privately indulge in their fetishes.
- 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.David Lynch is the American master of all things bizarre.
- DirectorE. Elias MerhigeStarsBrian SalzbergDonna DempseyStephen Charles BarryPresented in a surreal, gory and entirely visual manner, Begotten tells of the death of religion, the abuse of nature by Man and a nihilistic outlook on what life ultimately is.
- DirectorFederico FelliniStarsMartin PotterHiram KellerMax BornA series of disjointed mythical tales set in first-century Rome.
- DirectorJan SvankmajerStarsKristýna KohoutováCamilla PowerA surrealistic revision of Alice in Wonderland.
- DirectorDavid LynchStarsDorothy McGinnisRichard WhiteVirginia MaitlandA young boy plants some strange seeds and they grow into a grandmother.
- 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.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsFernando ReyDelphine SeyrigPaul FrankeurA surreal, virtually plotless series of dreams centered around six middle-class people and their consistently interrupted attempts to have a meal together.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsWoody HarrelsonJuliette LewisTom SizemoreTwo victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and psychopathic serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsJames WoodsDebbie HarrySonja SmitsA programmer at a Toronto TV station that specializes in adult entertainment searches for the producers of a dangerous and bizarre broadcast.
- DirectorVera ChytilováStarsIvana KarbanováJitka CerhováMarie CeskováAfter realizing that all world is spoiled, Marie and Marie are committed to be spoiled themselves. They rip off older men, feast in lavish meals and do all kinds of mischief. But what is all this leading to?
- DirectorTadeusz KonwickiStarsAndrzej LapickiGustaw HoloubekMaja KomorowskaMiddle-aged Andrzej takes a dreamlike journey to his troubled past, trying to understand his friend's suicide.aka. How Far, How Near?
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMax von SydowGunnar BjörnstrandBengt EkerotA knight returning to Sweden after the Crusades seeks answers about life, death, and the existence of God as he plays chess against the Grim Reaper during the Black Plague.