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To ask for the most profound films you have ever seen? *contains spoilers*

529 replies

username108 · 13/05/2020 12:40

Mine would be - Tokyo Story, Mulholland drive, Mary and Max, Good will hunting, Whats eating Gilbert Grape, Forrest Gump

OP posts:
boatyardblues · 16/05/2020 15:12

Nostalgia for the Light: a documentary about astronomers working at an observatory in the Atacama desert in the high Andes in Chile and the families of ‘the Disappeared’ (dissidents killed during the Pinochet regime) searching for their remains in the Atacama desert. It was such a thoughtful exploration of time, loss and the vastness of the universe, it has really stayed with me. It is quite slow and meditative, so much so that DH fell asleep (in the cinema), but it has stayed with me.

It is available on YouTube: m.youtube.com/watch?v=j6VDlxFYmKg

Margie70 · 16/05/2020 20:08

Dreams of a life... very moving and a reflection of the disconnected times in which we live

billydilly · 16/05/2020 20:38

Another vote for Arrival. Mind-bending.

nickymanchester · 16/05/2020 20:52

It was interesting to see that a couple of others have already mentioned a film that I think is really moving:- The Apartment, @Graphista and @Helocariad. A very moving film, especially at the end, the look on Shirley MacLaine's face when she hears what she thinks is a gunshot.

I'd like to add one more though, a film from 1972 called Silent Running that I first saw on TV in the late 70s. This is the film that got me thinking seriously about the environment right back then and ever since. So, to that extent, it really did have a profound effect on me in that it changed my lifelong outlook on life.

It's really not like many of the other films that have been mentioned here (apart from perhaps Solaris) but it is worth seeing. If you ever listen to Mark Kermode he's described it as:-

"one of my all time favourite movies and one of the greatest sci fi films ever"

and this is the review from the Guardian:-

This authentic 1970s cult sci-fi classic stars a key figure of the period, patrician hippie Bruce Dern, as an idealistic crew member of a 21st-century space station refusing to destroy the only forest vegetation saved from a defoliated Earth. The screenplay by Deric Washburn and Michael Cimino (later to collaborate on The Deer Hunter) and Steven Bochco (of subsequent Hill Street Blues fame) delivers its ecological message with humour and imagination, and Joan Baez sings the appropriate songs. But this deeply moving, immaculately staged film is essentially the work of Douglas Trumbull, only 28 at the time, a special effects expert who got the assignment after making a major contribution to Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey

www.theguardian.com/film/2011/nov/27/silent-running-french-classic-dvd

TheSandman · 17/05/2020 02:35

I'll vote for Silent Running too - one of a brief flurry of grown-up, thought-provoking Science Fiction films of the early 70s that heralded some sort of maturity in the genre... and then George Lucas screwed it all up and set the clock back 40 years with with Star Wars - I saw it in the cinema when it first came out - a double bill with (ironically) American Graffiti.

Bruce Dern was a vastly underrated actor.

flyingspaghettimonster · 17/05/2020 05:11

I do not get the love for Mullholland Drive... it so almost made sense and then suddenly tiny people... wtf... I love things like Requiem for a Dream, but not that one.

K-PAX, Brick, Momento, Shutter Island, some weird movie with Winona Ryder I saw lateione night as a teen, I think called Taxi? Involving 4 different cab rides in 4 different cities around the world.

JanMeyer · 17/05/2020 05:55

Bruce Dern was a vastly underrated actor.

I love Bruce Dern, have you seen Nebraska? Brilliant film, don't think I'd put it on my most profound films list, but it's definitely one of the most moving films I've ever seen.

WhenPushComesToShove · 17/05/2020 09:14

Watched Arrival last night because of mentions here. First wondered what was going on and then at the end... as someone else said; what a mind fuck but OMG it made me cry. Somehow beautiful and definitely profound. I'm still thinking about it this morning

Snorkelface · 17/05/2020 09:21

Leave No Trace - I can't see any one else who's mentioned it, boo.

Well I'm not bloody giving up! Directed by Debra Granik (Winter's Bone) it was Mark Kermode's favourite film of 2018, he was reduced to tears while reviewing it on Radio 1. It also got a terrible release slot when it came out at the cinema but still managed a hefty clutch of 5 star reviews.

'A flawless deeply affecting film' The Guardian
'A deeply intelligent story of love and survival in the wild' The Guardian
'A threnody for the wild at heart' BFI
'A peerless portrait of broken America' Rolling Stone

I just had to look up what 'threnody' meant.

anothernewone · 17/05/2020 09:32

Precious
Candy
My sisters keeper

SummerWhisper · 17/05/2020 10:57

Went the Day Well? Such an English fightback film with lots of sad and tense moments and a real eye opener into the paranoia that accompanies war.

I concur with a lot already mentioned that either highlight horrific injustices or the struggle to survive terrible circumstances (or both):
Cathy Come Home
I, Daniel Blake
Whistle Down the Wind
Lord of the Flies
The Shawshank Redemption
The Green Mile
Cry Freedom
The Elephant Man
Sophie's Choice
Kes

ArriettyJones · 17/05/2020 11:19

Went the Day Well? Such an English fightback film with lots of sad and tense moments and a real eye opener into the paranoia that accompanies war.

Oh I absolutely adore that film. It’s about the only cultural artefact I can think of that gives me a true sense of national (human) pride, maybe also A Canterbury Tale (similar era). I might watch one of those this PM. Thanks!

DGRossetti · 17/05/2020 11:32

Went the Day Well? Such an English fightback film with lots of sad and tense moments and a real eye opener into the paranoia that accompanies war.

Surprised it hasn't been banned. As I recall the posh nob squire was a traitor and on the Nazis side ....

ArriettyJones · 17/05/2020 11:35

Surprised it hasn't been banned. As I recall the posh nob squire was a traitor and on the Nazis side

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT:

Wasn’t that, erm, “resolved” somewhat? (It’s been a while). Quite authentic detail of that was the case, anyway. 😏

ElaineMarieBenes · 17/05/2020 16:19

@Snorkelface I prefer ‘Winters Bone’ (‘Feminism meets Deliverance’)

Taddda · 18/05/2020 16:01

'Nil by mouth' was the first film I remember having an affect on me- Kathy Burke is heartbreakingly amazing in it-

bravotango · 18/05/2020 16:34

Hunt for the Wilder People

Joodleoodle · 20/05/2020 07:37

I think they've all been said but I'll give them another vote 😁

My sister' keeper
Green mile
Steel magnolias
Five feet apart
Good Will hunting
Patch Adams

missclimpson · 20/05/2020 07:44

I agree about "Went the Day Well".
We also watched A Canterbury Tale last week as part of our ongoing Powell and Pressburger season. Love their films.

Leflic · 20/05/2020 07:48

Senna

About the racing driver Aryton Senna. He was the closest thing to a very handsome, utterly charming, kindly Demi God. Gave so much back to the people of Brazil.
His death on the track was genuinely one of those moments you have profound thoughts about life, death redetermination, point of existence etc.

Helocariad · 20/05/2020 16:03

Lots of great recommendations, thanks everyone!

Taddda · 22/05/2020 03:32

Well, I just watched 'Leave no Trace' on the back of this thread....yes it is an amazingly well acted, thought provoking and brilliant film, but I think it actually damaged my soul- heartbreaking!! 😭

crumpet · 22/05/2020 04:02

Schindlers List was a unique cinema experience - the emotional atmosphere was indescribable, and the stillness of the whole audience at the end of the film was something I’ve never experienced before or since.

ghiblifan · 22/05/2020 04:07

I think I have to say Grave of the Fireflies for this one- the story of two siblings doing their best to survive during WWII in Japan. It's heartbreaking and definitely not an easy watch, but an important and meaningful choice nonetheless

TakemedowntoPotatoCity · 22/05/2020 04:14

Flashbacks of a.Fool, a Daniel Craig film. Went to see it on a rainy Weds afternoon with nothing else to do and came out feeling like a different person as the best films make you feel.

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