MovieChat Forums > Picnic at Hanging Rock (1979) Discussion > Other eerie, haunting, patient, atmosphe...

Other eerie, haunting, patient, atmospheric films like this one?

posted 18 years ago by StrawDogBreeder
183 replies | jump to latest

The music, landscapes, and pacing of this film all contribute to its itching mystery at least as much as the plot itself. There's also something about the film (stock) itself that acts as a better medium for this kind of meditative piece. It's a work of art made on a higher quality canvas. Knowhattamean? In descibing its qualities and effects, though, I have to fight a tendency of drifting into abstract, snobbish descriptions. What are some other films that have some of these haunting, patient(?) qualities?

A few I have seen:

1. Solaris (Tarkovsky, not Soderbergh)
2. Stalker (also Tarkovsky)
3. (At least the first half of) The Black Stallion
4. Ring of Bright Water
5. Dead Man (sort of)

[–] cbmoore_x 16 years ago

i didn't want to read every response to this question, so i'm sure some of these have already been mentioned -

Walkabout is a gorgeous meditative film.

George Washington, directed by David Gordon Green is also a hypnotic, beautiful indie film.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] naturalnettles 16 years ago

I think you may be confusing two films here, the 2004 film "Innocence" was indeed directed by Lucile Hadzihalilovic and is an absolute fantastic film about a secret girls school but it isn't German, it is French. You may on the otherhand be talking about the 2005 film "Mine Ha-Ha" which is a German story and about a girls school but isn't directed by a woman. I haven't seen this film but it looks very good from the trailers I have seen.

If you haven't seen Innocence, then watch it. It's a beautiful tale.

[–] Koji_Kabuto 16 years ago

I don't know if it has been mentioned yet, but try

KOYAANISQATSI

revolutionary film with its revolutionary music.

by the way, though short, try to look for the final explosion scene of the film Zabriskie Point (music by Pink Floyd)... or the deleted final explosions of "Apocalypse Now"...!!!

"What if there is no tomorrow? there wasn't one today...!"

[–] satlosbrasil 16 years ago

I can't believe no one has mentioned Kiyoshi Kurosawa's 'Cure'.

Haunting, patient, with a dread that creeps in on you... A subtly frightening and well constructed film.

[–] clare-kendall 16 years ago

You should try a Norwegian film called ''Is-slottet'' which means ''Ice Palace'' and has a lot of similar qualities although isn't in quite the same league.

Totally with you on Tarkovsky, although my favourite is Mirror.

You should definately see Kieslowski's ''The Double Life of Veronique'' if you haven't already and just about everything else he did.

[–] andrsbckly 16 years ago

Director's cut of 'dark city', has a dark patient pace. '2001 space odyssey', 'spider baby' 'carnival of souls,' 'Incubus' (esperanto version),'Nosferatu', 'seventh seal', 'pit and the pendulum', 'sunset boulevard', 'Dreams' by kurosawa. Many of these have a slower, deliberate pacing.

[–] mightyodinn 16 years ago

Some of Herzog's, including Aguirre: der Zorn Gottes and Herz Aus Glas.

[–] HotPinkQetesh 16 years ago

The Company of Wolves

[–] 5thHobbit 16 years ago

Not sure if anyone else has mentioned this, but I guess The Virgin Suicides would fit this description. Picnic at Hanging Rock is, I think, a far superior film, but I have the feeling that Coppola was influenced by it when she made VS.

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

[–] ilovetati 14 years ago

Not quite.

Everybody wants to be found.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtieZvF-LUM

[–] 5thHobbit 14 years ago

Not quite what?

And in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make.

[–] freakseed 16 years ago

Several people have mentioned several films that have that certain "something" that creeps slowly up your spine. A few of the suggestions that I agree with are Buñuel's "The Exterminating Angel" (1962), Polanski's "The Tenant" (1976) and one of my favorite Bergman films, "Persona" (1966).

A favorite of mine that has not yet been mentioned is a Korean film from 2003 called "A Tale of Two Sisters". A very patient film in several ways; deliberately paced, slow-building suspense that will make the hairs on your neck and arms stand on end, and you can tell Kim Jee-woon not only took his time to make every shot as beautiful as the previous, but no shot is wasted, everything means "something". Check it out.

[–] rogerscorpion 16 years ago

I was surprised to not see, until page 6, of the comments, a mention of 'The Last Wave', Weir's next film, and my first exposure to him.
I LOVED 'Don't Look Now', also. Very dreamlike.

Carpe Noctem

[–] detrime 16 years ago

Something Wicked This Way Comes

[–] luxmissus 16 years ago

Original Japanese version of Dark Water (Honogurai mizu no soko kara).

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0308379/

This movie is haunting -- both figuratively and literally. It is anguished and atmospheric and the actors are phenomenal. The cinematography and set design are first rate This movie is by the same people who did Ringu (The Ring). Personally, I think it is a far better movie than Ringu relying more on subtle indications of the truth and less on overt horror.

[–] detrime 16 years ago

Badlands and The Thin Red Line

[–] Brambly_Hedge 16 years ago

The Changeling
The Others
Don't Look Now
The Woman in Black
The Haunting (1963)
Session 9

[–] A_Fistful_of_Pennies 16 years ago

Aguirre, The Wrath of God
Spoorloos
The Haunting (a slower-moving psychological horror movie)
Rebecca (Hitchcock, so you know it's dark)