Among the huge variety of products of the film industry, it is not always possible to distinguish rich, original pictures. So what to do for those who are tired of predictable plots of transparent Hollywood clichés and successive movies with the same popular actors? It’s simple: step into the world of arthouse!
It has its atmosphere because arthouse is not a genre, it’s a special niche for movies that are understood only by a narrow circle of viewers. The directors of such films, trying to tell their own story, don’t follow the well-trodden path to recognition, critical acclaim, and nominations for prestigious awards.
In some ways, the arthouse is very much like the modern field of gambling and entertainment. They are all so similar to each other that representatives like tonybet.com/NZ/ stand out as a bright spot, forcing you to pay attention.
Today we will tell you about significant and popular arthouse pictures that will not leave anyone indifferent.
1. “Dogville,” 2003
One of the most scandalous films by one of the most controversial directors of our time, Lars von Trier. What was it that made this director so scandalous to film buffs? Perhaps because he unveiled all the vices of society without any veils, all the darkest things that usually lurk beneath the mask of a do-gooder. “Dogville” is presented to the audience in a deliberately theatrical form to focus attention on the action and events, without being distracted by colorful scenery. Grace, a beautiful woman pursued by gangsters, arrives in a tiny Colorado mountain town. One of the locals immediately falls in love with her and acts as her savior, hiding her from the gangsters. Afterward, he offers Grace to join the community of townspeople, but first, the girl will have to win the favor of the representatives of this “perfect” community.
2. “A Clockwork Orange,” 1971
Stanley Kubrick was first suggested to read Anthony Burgess’ book by his screenwriter acquaintance Terry Southern. The latter was impressed by the novel and suggested that the director thinks about its adaptation. But Kubrick was so keen on filming a biographical film about Napoleon that did not take the proposal of a colleague seriously. In the end, the film about the French commander never saw the light of day, but A Clockwork Orange received seven BAFTA nominations, three at the Golden Globe and four at the Academy Awards. The film paints a harrowing picture of the bleak future of British society, ruled by rampant violence. Complete chaos and fear reign on the streets as gangs of hooligans mercilessly rampage and undermine law and order guaranteed by the state.
3. “Blue Velvet,” 1986
David Lynch’s suburban thriller is often called the best American film of the ’80s. Like his better-known “Twin Peaks,” the film is set in a mediocre province where a dense cloak of nobility and subdued idyll hides the dark secrets of society and a real detective drama unfolds. Young Jeffrey Beaumont’s father has suddenly fallen ill, so the boy urgently returns home to the backwater small town of his childhood. After visiting his parent in the hospital, on the way back he finds a severed ear in the grass. Involving the local policeman and his daughter, Jeffrey begins his investigation, which introduces him to sexy nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens and plunges him into an abyss of hitherto unknown dangerous passions.
4. “Los Abrazos Rotos,” 2009
The Spanish duo of director and actress Pedro Almodovar and his muse Penelope Cruz have given the world of cinema several interesting, memorable projects. “Open Embrace” is one of them. In this film, the director uses his favorite narrative technique – a story within a story. Screenwriter Harry Kane is lonely, blind, and unhappy. He is cared for by his longtime girlfriend and part-time producer Judith, and her son Henry helps the man work on another text. But here is an unexpected event that disrupts Harry’s measured life. The death of the famous businessman and millionaire Ernesto Matel awakens old, painful memories in him, which the man tried in vain to save in the depths of his wounded soul. Memories in which he was so happy beside his Lena…
5. “Adolescence,” 2014
Director Richard Linklater’s extraordinary experiment fascinates and delights. For 12 years, beginning in 2002, the crew came together for some time to shoot some footage with Ellar Coltrane, the lead actor in “Adolescence,” and then insert it organically into the overall script. The result is a timeline that shows the natural journey of the boy Mason from carefree childhood, through complicated adolescence, straight into intense adolescence.
The viewer lives the whole journey, from the age of 5 to 18, together with Mason: suffering from his parent’s divorce, trying to get along with his mother’s boyfriends, running away from school bullies, enjoying his first kisses with girls, making mistakes and moving on… This film has no plot twists and prepared traps from the screenwriters. The elusive threads of events that the viewer follows are woven by life itself.
6. “Melancholia,” 2011
One of the most beautiful, impressive, visually artistic films, filled with the dramatic experiences of the protagonists to the elegant leitmotif of Richard Wagner’s musical bestseller “Tristan and Isolde.” Lars von Trier is an impressionist in the world of cinema. He envelops simple events and plots in elegant, incredibly beautiful forms, filled with philosophical reflections and accompanied by shots worthy of the brushes of eminent artists. The huge mansion was filled with the sounds and noise of celebration. Justine and Michael are getting married and sharing their joy with the people closest to them. Watching the evening sky on this magical night, Justine notices a bright star, which turns out to be a rogue planet called Melancholia. Despite the strange name and even stranger origins, the approach of the unknown planet soon affects all the guests of the party.
7. “Dancing in the Dark,” 2000
Lars von Trier is often accused of misanthropy, as he makes the characters in all of his films suffer greatly. It seems that the director has an existential sense of suffering, believing that it is through martyrdom that the true essence of humanity is revealed. The dramatic musical Dancing in the Dark is no exception. The film is set in a fictional provincial town in America in the 1960s. By the way, because of fear of flights Trier never dared to hold shooting directly in America, so it was well “disguised” Norway. Czech immigrant Selma suffers from an incurable disease that gradually deprives her of vision. Moreover, her 12-year-old son suffers from the same disease. So she focuses her life on one goal: to save up money for an operation to stop her son’s progressive blindness.
