Poetic Films

tokenwhiteboy

tokenwhiteboy

What are some feature length films that flow more like poetry that the typical 3 act structure.

Not completely art crap... but stuff that borderlines on being accessible by a mainstream audience

???
 
If you trace the work of Terrence Malick, a lot of his earlier stuff was more commercially successful, with a nice balance between traditional narrative and the impressionist/poetic blend. The Tree of Life and To The Wonder really pushed toward art-house as opposed to The Thin Red Line.
 
No way?! Definitely check into his work. Some people hate him, some love him. The first film I saw of his was The Tree of Life, and it completely changed the way I approach film.
 
Badlands and Tree of Life are his best.

Kaufman's Synecdoche, New York (actually, most of the stuff he writes) might be what you are looking for.

Sofia Coppola's Somewhere is a great slice of life drama that has a nice flow and doesn't closely follow a three act structure.
 
Big Malick fan.

Definitely see 'Tree of Life', probably oughta catch 'The New World' as well.

Aranofsky's 'The Fountain' is poetic enough.

Jean-Pierre Jeunet's 'Amélie' is a delight.

Wes Anderson's 'Moonrise Kingdom' might work for you as quirk poetry.
 
i don't know what a poetic film is.. aren't all films supposed to be about motivating emotion ? and even poetry has structure. hell, a haiku has a structure that is rigid and basically 3 acts..
 
Nah, some don't even try to follow any semblance of a Syd Field-esque three act structure.

Watch a few of these mentioned here - and then watch a few Jerry Bruckheimer films!
Completely different animals.
 
I find 2001: A Space Odyssey to be poetic. It doesn't fit the conventional narrative structure. It has surreal moments. It's more like an experience than entertainment. It's more of a visual and audio journey. There's lots of symbolism and themes running through it that are on more of a cerebral level.

I really feel like I'm being drawn into a surreal world whenever I watch this film.
 
I think Wim Wender's "Wings of Desire" could qualify as a poetic/lyrical film
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093191/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic8iGIdv80o

most of Tarkovsky's work
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079944/?ref_=tt_rec_tt

the films of Béla Tarr
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0850601/

short films of Maya Deren (it would seem that David Lynch carried her torch into feature filmmaking with his own voice of course)
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0220305/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

I think Tarsem's "The Fall" is visually poetic and has a captivating and entertaining story, and great performances from the two leads. I'd have to watch it again to see if it falls into a 3-act structure, which it may...http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460791/?ref_=nv_sr_2

Anyhoo... there's more, but there are a few to consider along with the other posts. :D * but you might lump them all into "art crap" so viewer beware * :eek:
 
Last edited:
rayw said:
Jean-Pierre Jeunet's 'Amélie' is a delight.

Wes Anderson's 'Moonrise Kingdom' might work for you as quirk poetry.
Click to expand...

Check out Mic-Macs and Delicatessen by Jeunet, too, both better IMO. And Moonrise didn't do it for me, as a side note, I think it's time for Anderson to move on to something new, he's shown me his style and he's proven he can do it well, show me something I don't expect outta you, Anderson, come on, impress me again!

ChimpPhobiaFilms said:
Sofia Coppola's Somewhere is a great slice of life drama that has a nice flow and doesn't closely follow a three act structure.
Click to expand...

Somewhere is awesome, as well, that should fit your bill.

But with half of these, everyone is going to have a different opinion (Malick is fine, but I hated Tree of Life...Primer was amazing but I was pretty disappointed with Upstream Color), so be ready for that haha
 
Cyrano de Bergerac. A poetic film, literally.

"The English subtitles use Anthony Burgess's translation of the text, which uses five-beat lines with a varying number of syllables and a regular couplet rhyming scheme, in other words, a sprung rhythm. Although he sustains the five-beat rhythm through most of the play, Burgess sometimes allows this structure to break deliberately: in Act V, he allows it collapse completely, creating a free verse."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrano_de_Bergerac_(1990_film)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top