Existential Epics: The Lonely, Unpopular, Alienated, Dark, and Deranged
Movies that expose the more troubling side of human nature, from the person forced to stand alone, to the person unsure of which person he/she really is. I've loosely called these "existential" to show how pretentious I am. At any rate, they appeal to the insane sensibilities of theNeoplatonist. In alphabetical order after an irritating number...
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- DirectorSidney LumetStarsHenry FondaLee J. CobbMartin BalsamThe jury in a New York City murder trial is frustrated by a single member whose skeptical caution forces them to more carefully consider the evidence before jumping to a hasty verdict.Sort of court-room version of "High Noon", with Henry Fonda standing magnificently alone amid a sea of prejudices, irrationality, and irresponsibility.
- DirectorRon HowardStarsRussell CroweEd HarrisJennifer ConnellyA mathematical genius, John Nash made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a harrowing journey of self-discovery.When reality seems less real than it should, and it's hard to know where the conspiracy lies....
- DirectorJules DassinStarsBurt LancasterHume CronynCharles BickfordAt a tough penitentiary, prisoner Joe Collins plans to rebel against Captain Munsey, the power-mad chief guard.Could be viewed as an allegory of life. If so, life is either purgatory or hell.
- DirectorOrson WellesStarsOrson WellesJoseph CottenDorothy ComingoreFollowing the death of publishing tycoon Charles Foster Kane, reporters scramble to uncover the meaning of his final utterance: 'Rosebud.'Kane's descent into loneliness is soul-chilling. And of course his lost Eden is - let's all say it - ROSEBUD.
- DirectorJames Ward ByrkitStarsEmily BaldoniMaury SterlingNicholas BrendonStrange things begin to happen when a group of friends gather for a dinner party on an evening when a comet is passing overhead.Existential madness in sci-fi setting. Almost as disorienting as "Primer".
- DirectorVincenzo NataliStarsNicole de BoerMaurice Dean WintDavid HewlettA group of strangers awaken to find themselves placed in a giant cube. Each one of them is gifted with a special skill and they must work together to escape an endless maze of deadly traps.Like "Brute Force", another parable of meaning or the absence thereof. The ending combines shock and quasi-religious epiphany (but the meaning still up for grabs).
- DirectorHenry HathawayStarsLucille BallClifton WebbWilliam BendixA secretary tries to help her boss who's been framed for murder.Has one of the greatest film noir quotes from the alienated hero: "I feel all dead inside. I'm backed up in a dark corner, and I don't know who's hitting me." The movie also shows Lucille Ball proving she could be a great film noir actress.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsRobin WilliamsRobert Sean LeonardEthan HawkeMaverick teacher John Keating returns in 1959 to the prestigious New England boys' boarding school where he was once a star student, using poetry to embolden his pupils to new heights of self-expression.Okay, Robin Williams is in it, but THIS IS NOT A COMEDY.
- DirectorAlf KjellinStarsLloyd BridgesJanet LeighCarl BetzA scientist keeps having dreams that he is marked for murder by a mysterious tribunal for something that he's not aware that he's done, and that his wife and his friends are part of the conspiracy. Soon he's not sure which is the dream and which is reality.One of the best. Are my nightmares actually my real life, and my waking life really my dreams? Disturbed me deeply as a child.
- DirectorEdgar G. UlmerStarsTom NealAnn SavageClaudia DrakeThe life of Al Roberts, a pianist in a New York nightclub, turns into a nightmare when he decides to hitchhike to Los Angeles to visit his girlfriend.Perhaps the darkest, most depressing film noir ever. The femme fatale is a nightmare-creature.
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsClaude LayduNicole LadmiralJean RiveyreA young priest taking over the parish at Ambricourt tries to fulfill his duties even as he fights a mysterious stomach ailment.One of the finest individual portrayals. The "country priest" could even be THE existentialist hero of all time.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsGary CooperGrace KellyThomas MitchellA town Marshal, despite the disagreements of his newlywed bride and the townspeople around him, must face a gang of deadly killers alone at "high noon" when the gang leader, an outlaw he "sent up" years ago, arrives on the noon train.The original "one man alone facing his destiny".
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsIda LupinoHumphrey BogartAlan CurtisAfter being released from prison, notorious thief Roy Earle is hired by his old boss to help a group of inexperienced criminals plan and carry out the robbery of a California resort.Humphrey Bogart's first star movie as the old-timer criminal released from jail who doesn't succeed in the outside world. A series of rejections and failures leave him up a mountain with nowhere else to go... From here to "The Maltese Falcon" was only a short step for Bogie.
- DirectorJames MangoldStarsJohn CusackRay LiottaAmanda PeetStranded at a desolate Nevada motel during a nasty rain storm, ten strangers become acquainted with each other when they realize that they're being killed off one by one.This way madness lies...
- DirectorJohn M. StahlStarsGene TierneyCornel WildeJeanne CrainA writer falls in love with a young socialite and they're soon married, but her obsessive love for him threatens to be the undoing of them both as well as everyone around them.Luscious beauty concealing obsessive evil...
- DirectorVincente MinnelliGeorge CukorStarsKirk DouglasAnthony QuinnJames DonaldThe life of brilliant but tortured artist Vincent van Gogh.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsGuy PearceCarrie-Anne MossJoe PantolianoA man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer.The poetry of alienation... Existential horror in all its assault on meaning.
- DirectorIrving LernerStarsVince EdwardsPhillip PineHerschel BernardiClaude is a ruthless and efficient contract killer - until he finds his next target is a woman.In some ways a dark comedy. The brash, philosophizing, self-made assassin who perpetually bungles his assignment to kill a female witness.
- DirectorCharles LaughtonStarsRobert MitchumShelley WintersLillian GishA self-proclaimed preacher marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real dad hid the $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.Deranged evil versus innocence. A synthesis of horror and beauty. "Leaning on Jesus, leaning on Jesus..." Wow.
- DirectorWilliam Peter BlattyStarsStacy KeachScott WilsonJason MillerAn ex-marine psychiatrist attempts to rehabilitate his patients by indulging their fantasies, and seeks to prove the existence of a loving God to one especially troubled inmate.
- DirectorCarol ReedStarsJames MasonRobert NewtonCyril CusackA wounded Irish nationalist leader attempts to evade police following a failed robbery in Belfast.The saddest of the existential epics. James Mason as (literally) lost, wandering, dying "hero".
- DirectorXavier BeauvoisStarsLambert WilsonMichael LonsdaleOlivier RabourdinUnder threat by fundamentalist terrorists, a group of Trappist monks stationed with an impoverished Algerian community must decide whether to leave or stay.A religious community gets caught up in grim and inhuman terrorist/army violence. Beautifully filmed. Based on a true story.
- DirectorMichael PowellStarsKarlheinz BöhmAnna MasseyMoira ShearerA young man murders women, using a movie camera to film their dying expressions of terror.
- DirectorAlbert LewinStarsGeorge SandersHurd HatfieldDonna ReedA corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.Alienation meets magic meets crime... A fairy-tale of moral derangement.
- DirectorShane CarruthStarsShane CarruthDavid SullivanCasey GoodenFour friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention.So insane it will drive YOU mad trying to understand it.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsAnthony PerkinsJanet LeighVera MilesA Phoenix secretary embezzles $40,000 from her employer's client, goes on the run and checks into a remote motel run by a young man under the domination of his mother.Well, I couldn't leave this one out, could I?
- DirectorFritz LangStarsEdward G. RobinsonJoan BennettDan DuryeaA man in mid-life crisis befriends a young woman, though her fiancé persuades her to con him out of the fortune they mistakenly assume he possesses.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsEdward G. RobinsonIda LupinoJohn GarfieldAfter being fished out of the sea by a sailer, three fugitives find themselves prisoners of the ship's brutal skipper who refuses to put them ashore and they hatch an escape plan during a crew mutiny.Edward G. Robinson as Satanic sea captain. Masterly.
- DirectorJohn FrankenheimerStarsRock HudsonFrank CampanellaJohn RandolphAn unhappy middle-aged banker agrees to a procedure that will fake his death and give him a completely new look and identity - one that comes with its own price.Rock Hudson's darkest hour. A grim and unsettling masterpiece.
- DirectorFrank DarabontStarsTim RobbinsMorgan FreemanBob GuntonOver the course of several years, two convicts form a friendship, seeking consolation and, eventually, redemption through basic compassion.As with "Psycho", I couldn't omit this one, of course.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsLeonardo DiCaprioEmily MortimerMark RuffaloTeddy Daniels and Chuck Aule, two US marshals, are sent to an asylum on a remote island in order to investigate the disappearance of a patient, where Teddy uncovers a shocking truth about the place.Sanity and madness - which is which? No spoilers here, you'll have to watch the movie and see.
- DirectorBryan ForbesStarsKatharine RossPaula PrentissPeter MastersonJoanna Eberhart has come to the quaint little town of Stepford, Connecticut with her family, but soon discovers there lies a sinister truth in the all too perfect behavior of the female residents.The lengths men will go to, in order to get a "perfect" wife... Creepy stuff.
- DirectorNunnally JohnsonStarsJoanne WoodwardDavid WayneLee J. CobbA doctor treats a woman suffering from Multiple Personality Disorder.
- DirectorAlfred HitchcockStarsJames StewartKim NovakBarbara Bel GeddesA former San Francisco police detective juggles wrestling with his personal demons and becoming obsessed with the hauntingly beautiful woman he has been hired to trail, who may be deeply disturbed.My favorite Hitchcock. Endlessly captivating multi-layered masterpiece. Is Jimmy Stewart helpless victim or selfish obsessive or both?
- DirectorOtto PremingerStarsDana AndrewsGene TierneyGary MerrillDet. Sgt. Mark Dixon wants to be something his old man wasn't: a guy on the right side of the law. Will Dixon's vicious nature get the better of him?Dana Andrews' finest hour. Dark and perverse.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsJames CagneyVirginia MayoEdmond O'BrienA psychopathic criminal with a mother complex makes a daring break from prison and leads his old gang in a chemical plant payroll heist.Jimmy Cagney goes MAD in a big way. Bravura stuff!
- DirectorFritz LangStarsEdward G. RobinsonJoan BennettRaymond MasseyWhen a conservative middle aged professor engages in a relationship with a femme fatale, he's plunged into a nightmarish world of blackmail and murder.