Life Changing Films
by radioheadrcm | created - 09 Apr 2011 | updated - 23 Feb 2017 | PublicFilms that helped shape my personal outlook on life, from youth in the 90's to present day. Please feel free to comment and share your favorites too.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. Mirror (1975)
Not Rated | 107 min | Biography, Drama
A dying man in his forties remembers his past. His childhood, his mother, the war, personal moments and things that tell of the recent history of all the Russian nation.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Margarita Terekhova, Filipp Yankovskiy, Ignat Daniltsev, Oleg Yankovskiy
Votes: 52,211 | Gross: $0.18M
I could put every Tarkovsky movie on this list, but the Mirror is surely his most personal, and for me, his most emotionally concentrated. In The Mirror, Tarkovsky meditates on one of the most important issues of all: the mother-child relationship. By poetically recreating his memories as a child in a conflicted society, he provides us with a beautiful portrait of what it means to be Russian, and for that matter, what it means to be a human being.
2. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000)
Not Rated | 145 min | Drama, Mystery
A naive young man witnesses an escalation of violence in his small hometown following the arrival of a mysterious circus attraction.
Directors: Béla Tarr, Ágnes Hranitzky | Stars: Lars Rudolph, Peter Fitz, Hanna Schygulla, János Derzsi
Votes: 15,926 | Gross: $0.03M
While it's difficult to finger exactly what is so great about Werckmeister Harmonies, it's easy to recognize that the director, Bela Tarr, is onto something, with a painstakingly shot story that blurs the line between simplicity and abstraction, while simultaneously expressing the human condition in ways I've never seen. You owe it to yourself to at least watch the first ten minutes (one of my favorite scenes of all time, yet not even the best sequence in the film).
3. Stalker (1979)
Not Rated | 162 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
A guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Nikolay Grinko
Votes: 144,695 | Gross: $0.23M
Somewhere between naturalistic beauty, cultural cynicism, and existentialism, lies Stalker: a film small in budget, but massive in scope. With Stalker, Tarkovsky really shows off how much he can pack into one seemingly simple film. No other film for me has triggered so much deep thinking. One could spend years breaking it down.
4. Satantango (1994)
Not Rated | 439 min | Drama
On the eve of a large payment, residents of a collapsing collective farm see their plans turn into desolation when they discover that Irimiás, a former co-worker who they thought was dead, is returning to the community.
Director: Béla Tarr | Stars: Mihály Vig, Putyi Horváth, László feLugossy, Éva Almássy Albert
Votes: 12,568
Satantango (also from Bela Tarr) answers all the questions you've ever had about small town life in Hungary, and then some. Or maybe it doesn't answer any of your questions at all. I came out of Satantango feeling confused.. but in a peaceful way, knowing I had seen something tremendous. If you ever feel overwhelmed by life and want to get back to life at its purest, treat yourself with a little time off, with Satantango.
5. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
G | 149 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
After uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter
Votes: 719,245 | Gross: $56.95M
Taking us from the humble beginnings of humanity, to the humble space (literally) where life ends (or does it?), 2001: A Space Odyssey is a massive film in both production and vision. Often criticized for being 'cold,' though I believe this film holds more emotion than it immediately lets on.
6. The New World (2005)
PG-13 | 135 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of the English exploration of Virginia, and of the changing world and loves of Pocahontas.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Colin Farrell, Q'orianka Kilcher, Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale
Votes: 89,833 | Gross: $12.71M
Of the films I've seen, The New World has the unusual distinction of being the most intuitive of all. Director Terrence Malick and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki head into the forests with a 70mm camera, and film all the beauty they can find (also with the help of always-excellent production designer, Jack Fisk). The result is a three hour montage of nonstop visual poetry, reflecting on the relationship between man-man and man-nature.
7. Taste of Cherry (1997)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama
An Iranian man drives his car in search of someone who will quietly bury him under a cherry tree after he commits suicide.
Director: Abbas Kiarostami | Stars: Homayoun Ershadi, Abdolhosein Bagheri, Afshin Khorshid Bakhtiari, Safar Ali Moradi
Votes: 36,733 | Gross: $0.31M
If you've ever questioned if life is worth living, Taste of Cherry is the film for you. Mr. Badii spends the film driving through mountains in Turkey (I won't say why), and interacting with only a couple people along the way. It feels like real life, yet every encounter is very carefully planned, and leaves the viewer with a new perspective on life. Taste of Cherry is also probably the only film that shows nothing but a man driving for the entire duration, but that still can completely rivet the viewer.
8. Children of Men (2006)
R | 109 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In 2027, in a chaotic world in which women have somehow become infertile, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea.
Director: Alfonso Cuarón | Stars: Julianne Moore, Clive Owen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Caine
Votes: 529,273 | Gross: $35.55M
Masterfully shot by Alfonso Cuaron and Emmanuel Lubezki, Children of Men provides us with a vision of a future without children. It sounds like a depressing film, but it really is the opposite, because for everything that is ugly in the film, there is a counterpoint of something beautiful. Children of Men illustrates that while a collective may break down quite easily, our spirits as individuals are much more resilient, and have a tremendous capacity for good.
9. Eraserhead (1977)
Not Rated | 89 min | Fantasy, Horror
Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Allen Joseph, Jeanne Bates
Votes: 127,414 | Gross: $7.00M
A mutated fusion of artistic expression and narrative. Eraserhead gives a unique viewpoint of what it means to be American (or just to live in a major city), and the result is not entirely flattering. For everything that The New World does to push us towards nature, Eraserhead does to push us away from cities. Spend a year living in downtime Los Angeles and you'll see where Eraserhead came from.
10. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)
R | 119 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
With a plan to exact revenge on a legendary shark that killed his partner, oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) rallies a crew that includes his estranged wife, a journalist, and a man who may or may not be his son.
Director: Wes Anderson | Stars: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Anjelica Huston, Cate Blanchett
Votes: 210,903 | Gross: $24.01M
Offbeat, dry comedy at its best, The Life Aquatic provides a welcome return to the adventurous lifestyle (which, from how I see it, has been continuously fading since the post-industrial era). This film changed my life perhaps in the most literal way possible, as it directly inspired me to pursue film making as a career.
11. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)
PG | 91 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy
King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table embark on a surreal, low-budget search for the Holy Grail, encountering many, very silly obstacles.
Directors: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones | Stars: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam
Votes: 570,116 | Gross: $1.23M
Smart, wacky, hysterical, inventive. I was lucky to be exposed to Monty Python very early in life, and as a result, the Holy Grail almost single-handedly shaped my sense of humor as a child. My sense of humor is somewhat drier these days (see Life Aquatic above), but I think everyone should be able to laugh about how silly we truly are the way these guys do.
12. Elephant (2003)
R | 81 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Elias McConnell, Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson
Votes: 97,233 | Gross: $1.23M
After Elephant, directors should have stopped making films about high school, because here Gus Van Sant gets everything right. Consisting mostly of long tracking shots of students moving through their lives, Elephant wholly immersed me in its teenage world, only to upset me even more when it was taken away.
13. Donnie Darko (2001)
R | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
Director: Richard Kelly | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne
Votes: 849,826 | Gross: $1.48M
I think Donnie Darko introduced me to the strengths of experimental filmmaking. Richard Kelly's earned a bad reputation since, but my teenage self is forever indebted to him.
14. Synecdoche, New York (2008)
R | 124 min | Drama
A theatre director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he creates a life-size replica of New York City inside a warehouse as part of his new play.
Director: Charlie Kaufman | Stars: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Samantha Morton, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener
Votes: 98,204 | Gross: $3.08M
All of a man's existence is contained in a warehouse, filled with actors that play out scenes from his life, and embody his various mind states. As the man gets older, and the production gets out of his conceptual grasp, the symbiotic existence loses control of itself and begins to break down. A must-see for any artistic type.
15. The Holy Mountain (1973)
16+ | 114 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
In a corrupt, greed-fueled world, a powerful alchemist leads a messianic character and seven materialistic figures to the Holy Mountain, where they hope to achieve enlightenment.
Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky | Stars: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Horacio Salinas, Zamira Saunders, Juan Ferrara
Votes: 48,015 | Gross: $0.06M
A film designed to literally enlighten the world, the Holy Mountain deconstructs modern society by hurling a Christ-like figure into it (named "The Thief"). The result is often quite ugly, but always memorable.
16. Apocalypse Now (1979)
R | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, War
A U.S. Army officer serving in Vietnam is tasked with assassinating a renegade Special Forces Colonel who sees himself as a god.
Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Martin Sheen, Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Frederic Forrest
Votes: 709,927 | Gross: $83.47M
Apocalypse Now opened my mind to the idea of war movies simultaneously functioning as works of art. I first randomly caught it on television, the same as Blade Runner, and I felt myself immediately drawn in and utterly intrigued by what the film had to say.
17. Brazil (1985)
R | 132 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond
Votes: 211,186 | Gross: $9.93M
My first truly surreal film. It led me to one of my favorite books, writers, and an eventual tattoo.
18. All About Lily Chou-Chou (2001)
Unrated | 146 min | Crime, Drama, Music
The problematic lives of teenager students for whom the singer Lily Chou-Chou's dreamy music is the only way to escape an alienating, violent and insensitive society.
Director: Shunji Iwai | Stars: Hayato Ichihara, Shûgo Oshinari, Ayumi Ito, Takao Osawa
Votes: 11,163 | Gross: $0.02M
A runner-up for best teenage movie I've seen, perfectly capturing the angst and obsession I similarly felt in that age.
19. The Thin Red Line (1998)
R | 170 min | Drama, History, War
Adaptation of James Jones' autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the second World War.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Jim Caviezel, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Kirk Acevedo
Votes: 199,557 | Gross: $36.40M
20. The Sacrifice (1986)
PG | 149 min | Drama
At the dawn of World War III, a man searches for a way to restore peace to the world and finds he must give something in return.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Allan Edwall, Guðrún Gísladóttir
Votes: 30,969 | Gross: $0.30M
21. The Fountain (2006)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
As a modern-day scientist, Tommy is struggling with mortality, desperately searching for the medical breakthrough that will save the life of his cancer-stricken wife, Izzi.
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Sean Patrick Thomas, Ellen Burstyn
Votes: 248,716 | Gross: $10.14M
22. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
PG-13 | 112 min | Biography, Drama
The true story of Elle editor Jean-Dominique Bauby who suffers a stroke and has to live with an almost totally paralyzed body; only his left eye isn't paralyzed.
Director: Julian Schnabel | Stars: Mathieu Amalric, Emmanuelle Seigner, Marie-Josée Croze, Anne Consigny
Votes: 110,422 | Gross: $5.99M
23. Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997)
Not Rated | 80 min | Documentary, Biography, Drama
German-American Dieter Dengler discusses his service as a U.S. naval pilot in the Vietnam War. Dengler also revisits the sites of his capture and eventual escape from the hands of the Viet Cong, recreating many events for the camera.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Dieter Dengler, Werner Herzog, Eugene Deatrick
Votes: 6,828
24. Songs from the Second Floor (2000)
Not Rated | 98 min | Comedy, Drama
Where are we humans going? A film poem inspired by the Peruvian poet César Vallejo. We meet people in the city. People trying to communicate, searching compassion and get the connection of small and large things.
Director: Roy Andersson | Stars: Lars Nordh, Stefan Larsson, Bengt C.W. Carlsson, Torbjörn Fahlström
Votes: 20,344 | Gross: $0.00M
25. Russian Ark (2002)
Not Rated | 99 min | Drama, Fantasy, History
A 19th century French aristocrat, notorious for his scathing memoirs about life in Russia, travels through the Russian State Hermitage Museum and encounters historical figures from the last 200+ years.
Director: Aleksandr Sokurov | Stars: Sergey Dreyden, Mariya Kuznetsova, Leonid Mozgovoy, Mikhail Piotrovsky
Votes: 21,811 | Gross: $0.04M
26. Naked (1993)
Not Rated | 131 min | Comedy, Drama
An unemployed Mancunian vents his rage on unsuspecting strangers as he embarks on a nocturnal London odyssey.
Director: Mike Leigh | Stars: David Thewlis, Lesley Sharp, Katrin Cartlidge, Greg Cruttwell
Votes: 43,926 | Gross: $1.77M
27. Andrei Rublev (1966)
R | 189 min | Biography, Drama, History
The life, times and afflictions of the fifteenth-century Russian iconographer St. Andrei Rublev.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Ivan Lapikov, Nikolay Grinko, Nikolay Sergeev
Votes: 57,035 | Gross: $0.10M
28. Irreversible (2002)
Not Rated | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Events over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a stranger in an underpass tunnel.
Director: Gaspar Noé | Stars: Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel, Philippe Nahon
Votes: 147,606 | Gross: $0.75M
29. The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974)
Not Rated | 110 min | Biography, Drama, History
A young man named Kaspar Hauser suddenly appears in Nuremberg in 1828, barely able to talk or walk, and bearing a strange note.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Bruno S., Walter Ladengast, Brigitte Mira, Willy Semmelrogge
Votes: 18,897
30. I Am Cuba (1964)
Not Rated | 141 min | Drama
Four vignettes about the lives of the Cuban people set during the pre-revolutionary era.
Director: Mikhail Kalatozov | Stars: Sergio Corrieri, Salvador Wood, José Gallardo, Raúl García
Votes: 10,656
31. 8½ (1963)
Not Rated | 138 min | Drama
A harried movie director retreats into his memories and fantasies.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimée, Claudia Cardinale, Sandra Milo
Votes: 125,160 | Gross: $0.05M
32. Room (I) (2015)
R | 118 min | Drama, Thriller
A little boy is held captive in a room with his mother since his birth, so he has never known the world outside.
Director: Lenny Abrahamson | Stars: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers, Wendy Crewson
Votes: 450,388 | Gross: $14.68M
33. Mulholland Drive (2001)
R | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
After a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Jeanne Bates
Votes: 383,700 | Gross: $7.22M
34. Buffalo '66 (1998)
R | 110 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After being released from prison, Billy is set to visit his parents with his wife, whom he does not actually have. This provokes Billy to act out, as he kidnaps a girl and forces her to act as his wife for the visit.
Director: Vincent Gallo | Stars: Vincent Gallo, Christina Ricci, Ben Gazzara, Mickey Rourke
Votes: 60,231 | Gross: $2.38M
35. Upstream Color (2013)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.
Director: Shane Carruth | Stars: Amy Seimetz, Frank Mosley, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig
Votes: 34,960 | Gross: $0.44M
36. Close-Up (1990)
Not Rated | 98 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The true story of Hossain Sabzian, a cinephile who impersonated the director Mohsen Makhmalbaf to convince a family they would star in his so-called new film.
Director: Abbas Kiarostami | Stars: Hossain Sabzian, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Abolfazl Ahankhah, Mehrdad Ahankhah
Votes: 23,000 | Gross: $0.00M
37. Calvary (2014)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
After he is threatened during a confession, a good-natured priest must battle the dark forces closing in around him.
Director: John Michael McDonagh | Stars: Brendan Gleeson, Chris O'Dowd, Kelly Reilly, Aidan Gillen
Votes: 64,323 | Gross: $3.59M
38. Blade Runner (1982)
R | 117 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos
Votes: 822,854 | Gross: $32.87M
39. The Tree of Life (2011)
PG-13 | 139 min | Drama, Fantasy
The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, Hunter McCracken
Votes: 184,093 | Gross: $13.30M
40. Gummo (1997)
R | 89 min | Comedy, Drama
Lonely residents of a tornado-stricken Ohio town wander the deserted landscape trying to fulfill their boring, nihilistic lives.
Director: Harmony Korine | Stars: Nick Sutton, Jacob Sewell, Lara Tosh, Jacob Reynolds
Votes: 38,233 | Gross: $0.02M
41. The Battle of Algiers (1966)
Not Rated | 121 min | Drama, War
In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.
Director: Gillo Pontecorvo | Stars: Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Samia Kerbash
Votes: 65,633 | Gross: $0.06M
42. Arizona Dream (1993)
R | 142 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A young New Yorker goes to Arizona where he finds freedom to both love and dream.
Director: Emir Kusturica | Stars: Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis, Faye Dunaway, Lili Taylor
Votes: 45,648 | Gross: $0.11M
43. Slacker (1990)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama
A day in the life of Austin, Texas as the camera roams from place to place and provides a brief look at the overeducated, the social misfits, the outcasts and the oddballs.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Richard Linklater, Rudy Basquez, Jean Caffeine, Jan Hockey
Votes: 23,463 | Gross: $1.23M
Tell Your Friends