Other movies and directors in a similar style? - La montaña sagrada (1975) Discussion

[–] BallZac 18 years ago

Last time I viewed this film it reminded me of KEN RUSSELL's TOMMY.
The removal of the materialistic wants of the two women and the love machine and the bodies reminded me of THE DEVILS - there was also the rock n roll aspect i.e. the psychedelic machine guns.
The religious imagery that is in a lot of Ken Russell's films also seemed to done in the same way in THE HOLY MOUNTAIN. The permutation of all these elements to reminded me of Ken.

If I were you I would go watch: TOMMY, THE DEVILS, THE MUSIC LOVERS, ALTERED STATES, MAHLER, LISZTOMANIA AND GOTHIC.

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[–] NateManD 18 years ago

Monanieba (aka. Repentance) 1984
(Oh my Lord. One of the most amazing symbolic allegories of Tolitarianism I've ever witnessed on film. Very underrated film! Like Fellini and Kusterica!)

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[–] torturechamberlain 18 years ago

Possibly the best thread I've ever seen on Imdb.
Btw. it's clear that we've drifted off the "movies similar to Holy Mountain"-topic. It's all good though, you guys are naming some killer films and of course a huge pile of em, I haven't seen yet.
I'll contribute as best I can, sorry if some have already been mentioned.

Night and Fog (1955) Alain Resnais.
Poetic short documentary about concentration camps. You've probably all seen, just mentioning it cause It's one of my all time faves.

SCHRAMM (1993) Jörg Buttgereit.
The dude who gave us Nekromantikk is back with this strange psycho killer flick.

Princess (2006) Anders Morgenthaler
Violent danish animation. Didn't care for it, but it's definitely different from what we usually get in this country. A compliment in itself.

The Dying Swan (1917) Yevgeni Bauer
Dark and morbid russian film.

Burst City (1982) Sogo Ishii
Another punkrock assault from this influential japanese filmmaker.

FLCL (2000) Kazuya Tsurumaki
Bizarre and strangely hilarious anime in six 20min episodes.

Criminal Lovers (1999) Francois Ozon
Hell, anything Ozon has done. And while I'm at it, anything Michael Haneke has done as well. Those guys kick ass.

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987) Todd Haynes
Short Karen Carpenter biopic with barbiedolls. Haynes was pretty damn good back in those days.

Schizopolis (1996) Steven Soderbergh
In my ever so humble and by all accounts weird opinion, I believe this is his masterpiece. Self-indulgent and messy but if it clicks with you, you'll worship it.

And now for my native heritage:

Absolutely anything by Dreyer. And I saw that Christensens' Heksen (Häxan) has already been mentioned. Jolly good!

The Element of Crime (1984) Lars von Trier
I know we all think he's a bit of a wuss but this one has great visuals and is all in all pretty damn solid. It's in english, btw. as is his second best movie Europa (AKA Zentropa).

Reptilicus (1961) Poul Bang & Sidney W. Pink
Unbelievably sh!tty monstermovie. Really bottom of the barrell stuff but it has become kind of a cult movie.

Then there are of course the guys that went to the States to make movies.
Douglas Sirk, whom we all know and love, and Ib Melchior who wrote the story for my all time fave giulty pleasure (Deathrace 2000) among other dubious things.

Keep em coming!

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[–] NateManD 18 years ago

Great post above! There's many on the list I haven't seen yet "Burst City", "Criminal Lovers" and "Night and Fog" are on my Netflix que. I can't wait to see them. I enjoy alot of Danish cinema too. Not only do you guys have great films but delicious pastries too. I was wondering, have you ever seen a movie called "Strings"? (Really interesting fantasy film with string puppets) Also, have you seen "All About Anna"? I'm debating on whether or not I should see it. It looks interesting.

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[–] NateManD 18 years ago

A Woman in the Dunes (1964)

A Boy and his Dog (1975)

The Last Combat (1983) (Luc Besson)

Survive Style 5 + (2004)

Dust Devil (1992) Richard Stanley

Koza (1995) Nur Bilge Ceylan
(Interesting short from Turkish director; an extra on the DVD of his film "Distant")

Private Collections (1979) (3 short films from Jackin, Terayama, Borowczyk; absoulutly stunning)

Also, there are bizarre and surreal moments on many Mario Bava films.

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[–] motifpictures 18 years ago

I feel honored to get to contribute to this thread, but at the same time it saddens me to think that this director was not thought of in comparison to Jodorowsky. I am speaking of Sergei Paradjanov.

The Legend of Suram Fortress (1985)
Ashik Kerib (1988)

These are available on a single disc from Kino.

He also directed Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, which I have not seen.

Paradjanov is a master of color and composition, to say the least.
Suram Fortress has an exorbitant amount of livestock but, alas, no fountain-dwelling baby hippos.

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[–] motifpictures 18 years ago

Colour of Pomegranates is a Paradjanov film.

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[–] JIM_KELLYS_AFRO 18 years ago

good looking out!!!
Bullshyt MR han-man!!

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[–] sadunkal 18 years ago

Can someone make a backup of this thread?? :) (It's probably already backed up...but still...)
Although I haven't seen 95% of these films I still think I can add some more to this list:

HAPPINESS - Todd Solondz

DRAWING RESTRAINT 9 - Matthew Barney

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH (and SHORTBUS, too if you like)- John Cameron Mitchell

FESTEN(Celebration?) - Thomas Winterberg (This wasn't actually that weird but it was interesting and really good)

Lars von Trier films - IDIOTS being the weirder probably.

BODYSONG - Simon Pummell(It's kind of a Music Video about humans, beautiful it is.)

OLD JOY - Kelly Reichardt (peacefully weird maybe...)

I liked THE ELPHANT MAN by David Lynch,too.(It's actually the only Lynch movie I could truly enjoy,but maybe I was too young/stupid.)

BLADE RUNNER(by Ridley Scott) is really famous but it's just great and could be considered weird.(ok then TOTAL RECALL, too...)

umm...THE FOUNTAIN? by Aronofsky.Is it suitable for this Thread?( Pi? )

Okay then Charlie Kaufman(story) films, too.(Eternal Sunshine...)

And maybe I'm going too far away from the origin of this thread,and probably all of you already watched it, but "Arrested Development" (the tv series) is really good. :)
-------
I haven't seen the rest.But I guess they should be somehow interesting:

Jim Henson's DARK CRYSTAL and LABYRINTH

Werner Herzog's documentaries (There are more than five and some of them are already listed I guess.I've only seen the "The Wild Blue Yonder"(not a real documentary) and some of "Grizzly Man".They are interesting!)

Hal Hartley should also be doing some weird films(Not visually).

Also almost all the japanese anime series,which aren't just for kids, have some weird elements.I haven't seen many but I can suggest "Great Teacher Onizuka"(Comedy,it's surely not the weirdest example for japanese anime).It looks pretty cheap but I thought it was fun to watch(after the first few episodes).

Not sure but probably this is different,too: John Cassavetes - FACES (1968)

I.K.U.(japanese popart+blade runner porn?) and Destricted (art/porn shorts by various(x8) directors) should also be weird movies with erotic content.

All those old French classics (Godard,Truffaut) might still be something different(I've only seen one of each).

And I'm sure there are lots weird underground stuff from japan...

I would be really interested in a "weird music list" but is it really appropriate here ?

I'm sure I'm forgetting something.And I probably misspelled some things and doubleposted, but anyway I'll definetely come back again.I can fix it then and erase these last sentences...

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[–] torturechamberlain 18 years ago

"I was wondering, have you ever seen a movie called "Strings"? (Really interesting fantasy film with string puppets) Also, have you seen "All About Anna"? I'm debating on whether or not I should see it. It looks interesting."

No, haven't seen either one and I don't even have a good excuse. Strings is just one of those movies that is around here, so there's no hurry to pick it up. I honestly haven't head anything about plot or general quality regarding All About Anna. Most of the hype revolved around danish hottie Gry Bay (who was also in David Noel Bourkes' "Last Exit") and a lesbian scene that freaked her out to the extent that she couldn't film it. I'll probably watch it sooner or later.

And to ward off any flamers: I know that Sirks connection with Denmark is sketchy at best. I was mainly kidding.

To add to the list:
Sombra Dolerosa
The Eye as a Strange Balloon
both by Guy Maddin (awesome)

Pretty much anything by Richard Kern

Recently watched Sweet Movie (by Makevejev). Made me, at turns, sick and hungry.

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[–] NateManD 18 years ago

The Conformist (1970) Bernardo Bertolucci

The films of Lindsay Anderson

If... (1968)

Oh Lucky Man (1973)

Many of Jean Rollin's films are highly surreal

The Rape of the Vampire (1967)

The Grapes of Death (1978)

Manoushe (1992)

Arrebeto (1980)

Kamikaze 1989 (1982)

Darktown Strutters (1975)

Sweet Sweetback's Baad Asssss Song (1971)

Heaven and Hellgate (1980)

Death Laid an Egg (1968)

Baron Prasil (1961)

In a Glass Cage (1987) Agusti Villaronga (Good film if you can stomach it)

El Mar (2000) Agusti Villaronga

Gimme Gimme Octopus (Wackey 70's kid's show from Japan) (Watch it on youtube)

Mystics in Bali (1981)

Hukkle (2002)

More reccomendations to come soon!

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] ke837162 18 years ago

The Fountain, Darren Aronofsky (2006)
search for god or meaning of life and all the bizarre dream-like sequences that take you there.

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[–] Smartalec917 18 years ago

Wow. Toxic kicks major film-naming ass.

I'll continue the theme and I'll come up with some off the top of my head.

Bad Taste-Peter Jackson
Buffalo '66-Vincent Gallo
Cannibal Holocaust-Ruggero Deodato (and Sage Stallone)
Heavenly Creatures-Peter Jackson
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer- John McNaughton (and David Gregory)
Lady Vengeance- Chan-wook Park
Last Life in the Universe- Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Dogville/Manderlay- Lars Von Trier
Save the Green Planet!-Juh-hwan Jeong
Secretary- Steven Shainberg
Tetsuo-Shinya Tsukamoto
Visitor Q- Takashi Miike
Wild Strawberries- Ingmar Bergman
The Short Works of Chris Cunningham and Michel Gondry
Eyes Without a Face-Georges Franju
The Evil Dead-Sam Raimi
Fat Girl-Catherine Breillat
House of 1,000 Corpses/Devil's Rejects-Rob Zombie
eXistenZ-David Cronenberg
Tarnation-Jonathon Caouette
The Exterminating Angel- Luis Bunuel

Anything by Jan Svankmeyer, Takashi Miike, Todd Solondz, or Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

People who like Jodorowsky might also appreciate the humor in the television show "Wonder Showzen"

))< >((

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] [email protected] 18 years ago

The works of Matthew Barney.

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[–] NateManD 18 years ago

The Magic Christian (1969)

Third Part of the Night (1971)

Report on the Party and the Guests (1966)

School of the Holy Beast (1974)

Closetland (1991) (Kinda wordy, but has some strange moments)

Vodka Lemon

Mysterious Object at Noon

La Cabina (1972) (TV) (Watch on youtube for free)

15: the movie (2003)
(Troubled teens in Singapore, but filmed with a surreal cyber punk type style)

A Real Young Girl (1976) Catherine Briellet (Really explicit and disturbing, but achieves a surreal quality like no other)

The Company of Wolves (1984) Niel Jordan

Pig Chicken Suicide

Of Freaks and Men

The Science of Sleep

The Knack: and how to get it (1965) Richard Lester

Ulysees Gaze

Freaked (1993) Alex Winter (Not to be confused with Todd Browning)(One of the most screwed up major studio films I've seen; Mr. T as the bearded lady and a bunch of mutants)

A Woman is a Woman (1961) Godard

Duel (1971) Steven Spielberg (Whether you love em or hate em, you've got to give him credit for his ambitious first effort)

THX 1138 (1971) George Lucas (I don't care for George Lucas, but I thought this movie had many strange and creative moments)

Cube (1997) (Great film; avoid sequels!)

The Skeleton of Dr. Morales (1959)

Dark City (1998) (So much wierd fun)

That Little Monster (1994) (Eraserhead ripoff)

Capricious Summer (1967)

The Sinful Dwarf (1973)

Trouble Every Day (2002) Claire Denis

Yiu Sau Dou Si (Wicked City) (1992) (Live action film

The Fifth Element (1997) (Not many people know this, but the film was inspired by Jodorowsky's Graphic Novel series "The Incal".)

Thundercrack! (1975) (Surrealist 70's porn)

Alice in Acidland (1968)

Blood Tea and a Red String (2006)

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[–] carddealt 18 years ago

Laziness has prevented me from looking through all 9 pages, so my apologies to those that may have already mentioned La Voie Lactée (The Milky Way) by Luis Buñuel. Nowhere near as eliptical as the Holy Mountian with its mystical allusions to damn near every religious motif or teaching that has ever been, but, to me, Jodorowski has a very similar approach to movie making as Bunuel had in The Milky Way.

I am going to begin today with a headstand...Diane, I am now upside-down

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[–] demonbabies 18 years ago

J.X. Williams

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[–] torturechamberlain 18 years ago

Not related to Jodorowsky, but I'm visiting Prague again this summer and I'd like to know of some more czech filmmakers.
I'm trying to make a habit of this as I visit differnet countries around Europe. For the record, I've been to Prague before but the entire trip sort of descented into a lengthy drunken binge. I'm not saying I didn't have a blast, but it would have been nice if I could remember actually being there.

Btw. I'm familier with the cinema of Forman, Nemec, Chytilova, Menzel and the other filmschool folk as well as, of course, Svankmajer.
I'm looking for something a bit more contemporary, but anything sufficiently kickass will do.

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[–] torturechamberlain 18 years ago

And on another note, where the hell can I find "What is it?" by Crispin Glover?!

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[–] NateManD 18 years ago

"What is it" was not yet released on DVD. It only played in select art house theatres. You can watch some clips on youtube. I love "Vera Chytilova", another director I love is "Juraj Jakubisko" (except he's Slovak) Czech director "Oldrich Lipsky" is well known over there for his fun and absurd comedies like "Lemonade Joe" and "Dinner for Adele". "Jaromile Jires" is notorious for the cult farie tale "Valerie and her Week of Wonders" and "the Joke. "Karl Zeman" and "Jiri Trnca" predated Svankmajer with bizarre animation. They have many similarities to him. Also "Vorlicek" has created some wacked out absurd films like "Who wants to kill Jesse" and "How to drown Dr. M." One of my personal favorites is Jasny's "When the Cat Comes" (aka. Cassandra Cat) It's about a magical cat that wears sunglasses and causes people to change color according to their personality. The Czech Republic has some of the most strange and creative directors.

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[–] torturechamberlain 18 years ago

About What is it?: Meh, I was afraid of that. We do have an arthouse cinema in Copenhagen, but I doubt if I can get them to pick it up. There more into classic european cinema than obscure european cinema (which is too bad, cause as much as I love Lang, Murnau, Herszog, Bergman, Antonioni, Godard, Truffaut, Fellini et al there are a hundred other ways of finding their movies than going to an art house.)

On czech directors: Thanks a bunch! I'll go hunt those down.

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[–] charidea 18 years ago

I haven't read all the posts in detail so I apologize if this has already been said, but my take is that it's MATTHEW BARNEY's influence on "indie-global" cinema. Mr. Barney doesn't make "real" films in the sense that they're rarely shown in real theaters. Their venue is art museums. He's a sculptor turned filmmaker and I never really understood the logic of why and how he ended up in art museums. He's most famous for THE CREMASTER CYCLE. Now he's teame up with (married? partnered with?) Bjork, he might not be as obscure as he used to be. He often acts in his own films, heavily made up into some fantastic creature. And, needless to say, the narrative is personal. I believe the word is "mythopoetic."
Cheers.
I really liked those background paintings. I have to research those.

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[–] NostalgiaDrag 18 years ago

Best thread I've ever seen on IMDb. Thanks to everyone who contributed!

A few I can think of:

The Cat (1992, Ngai Kai Lam) - even better than Riki-Oh!!!
From Beyond (1986, Stuart Gordon)
Street Trash (1987, J. Michael Murrow)
The Church (1989, Michele Soavi)
Dellamorte Dellamore (1994, Michele Soavi)
Southern Comfort (1981, Walter Hill) - hixploitation with uncomfortable surreal realism
9 Souls (2003, Toshiaki Toyoda)
Conquest (1984, Lucio Fulci)
Living (1971, Frans Zwartjes) - fifteen minute short that has some of the most insane wide-angle lens cinematography I've ever seen.
Irreversible (2002, Gasper Noe)
Poor Pretty Eddie (1975, Chris Robinson & David Worth) another surreal hixploitation
The Man Who Fell to the Earth (1976, Nicolas Roeg)
Don't Look Now (1973, Nicolas Roeg)
964 Pinocchio (1991, Shozin Fukui)
Dead Man (1995, Jim Jarmusch)
The Shooting (1967, Monte Hellman)

Sincerest apologies if any of these have already been mentioned.

Now let's keep the surreal movies coming!

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[–] NateManD 18 years ago

Meet the Hollowheads (1989)

Little Red Riding Hood and the monsters (1962)

Sir Henry at Rawlinson End (1980)

Dark Side of the Heart (1992)

Seom (aka. the Isle) (2000) Ki-Duk Kim

Secrets of Sex (aka. Bizarre) (1970)

Witch's Hammer (1969)

Organ (1996) (Really disturbing Japanese flick)

Life is to Whistle (1998)

The Night, The Prowler (1978) (Bizarre coming of age film from the director of "the Rocky Horror Picture Show")

Long Weekend (1978)

Bliss (1985)

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[–] justinm57 18 years ago

Blood for Dracula and Flesh for Frankenstein; labeled to this day as Andy Warhol's even though he wasn't even a producer.

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[–] NateManD 18 years ago

Eri, Eri, Rema Sabachttani (aka . My God, My God why has thou Forsaken Me)(2005) available at www.allcluesnosolutions.com

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[–] NostalgiaDrag 18 years ago

XTRO (1983)

The Grapes of Death (1978)

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[–] gayle44 18 years ago

Some of these might be more current than you requested. Nevertheless, enjoy.

Alucarda
I Will walk Like a Crazy Horse
Red Cockroaches
Satan's Brew
Susperia
Teorema
Medea
Gemini
Visitor Q
Battle in Heaven
Fando & Lis
Julian Donkey Boy
Japon
Sugar
Shockhead
King of the Ants
Lost Highway

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[–] pushingdaigoroo 18 years ago

some of these are like holy mountain, but most are reachiiiinnng! Doesn't matter anymore, it's all about the list...

HEAVY TRAFFIC (animation with a political and social point of view)

SPACE IS THE PLACE - Sun Ra

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[–] exiledreplicant 18 years ago

anyone mention Tideland?
Great dream/reality sequences.

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[–] torpedoboy4 17 years ago

Dang, I was about to add "Space is the Place".

How about Rinse Dream's "Night Dreams" and of course, "Cafe Flesh".

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