10 arthouse films that will change the way you look at cinema

At the same time, arthouse and auteur cinema are far from the same thing. So, an author's film may well be mainstream. Suffice it to recall Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson, whose films stand out for their brightness and originality, but at the same time they collect huge halls and are loved by a wide range of viewers.

Arthouse is often much bolder and more liberated in terms of staging and raised topics, sometimes rather sharp or unsightly. Sometimes the director does not even set out to tell a clear story, but instead focuses entirely on some philosophical idea or the inner feelings of the character. And at the same time, the director can use extremely unusual creative techniques that are rarely seen in mainstream cinema.

1. Person

Sweden, 1966.
Thriller, drama.
Duration: 85 minutes.
IMDb: 8, 1.

10 arthouse films that will change the way you look at cinema: "Persona"

Famous actress Elizabeth Vogler suddenly stops talking right in the middle of a performance. To help the woman, the psychiatrist sends her to a house by the sea in the company of a talkative nurse Alma.

The favorite director of intellectuals Ingmar Bergman has shot more than 60 films, not counting the performances he staged. To overcome the entire filmography of the Swede is not an easy challenge. But at least the shocking and mysterious "Person" is worth appreciating.

In the end, the legendary shot in which the faces of actresses Liv Ullman and Bibi Andersson merge into one is from here. Then this technique was quoted by Woody Allen in "Love and Death" (1975), and Park Chang-wok in "Oldboy" (2003), and many other directors.

What else to see from Ingmar Bergman:

The Seventh Seal (1957).
Strawberry Glade (1957).
Silence (1963).
Whispers and Shouts (1972).

2. Mirror

USSR, 1974.
Drama, biography.
Duration: 107 minutes.
IMDb: 8, 1.

It is very difficult to tell what is happening in The Mirror. After all, there is practically no plot here. The action takes place in different time layers: before, during and after the war. The hero's memories alternate with the poems of Arseny Tarkovsky, the director's father, and sometimes the film completely looks like someone's dream.

The most unusual in form and at the same time the most personal film of Andrei Tarkovsky. The director took as a basis the dramatic episodes from his childhood: the departure of his father from the family, the burned down house and other authentic details of the biography. A lot of screen time is devoted to the figure of the mother. Moreover, Tarkovsky liked the performance of Margarita Terekhova in this role so much that he decided to remove it in the image of his first wife Irma.

What else to see from Andrey Tarkovsky:

Nostalgia (1983)
Sacrifice (1986)

3. Cook, thief, his wife and her lover

Netherlands, UK, France, 1989.
Drama, crime.
Duration: 124 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 6.

Thief Albert Spica dines at a restaurant every evening with his gang. His wife Georgina is always with him, tired of the bullying of her tyrant husband. One day she meets in the institution his complete opposite - the intelligent Michael, with whom she starts an affair. Thanks to the chef Richard, the lovers manage to meet in secret. But the husband still finds out about the betrayal.

Peter Greenway wrote and directed the film in such a way that it turned out to be practically an ancient tragedy. The costumes for the heroes were invented by the fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier.

A painting can be a culture shock for an untrained viewer. She is equally repulsive and attractive, because Greenway knows how to work with the grotesque like no other. It is better not to read anything about the ending in advance, so that it has the desired effect.

Michael Gambon will be no less surprising in this film (especially those who are used to seeing him in the role of the wise Albus Dumbledore from "Harry Potter"). Here he embodied the image of a terribly vulgar and rude bandit.

What else to see from Peter Greenaway:

Zed and Two Zeros (1985).
"Countdown of the Drowned" (1988).

4. Europe

Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, 1991.
Thriller, drama.
Duration: 112 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 6.

10 art house films that will change the way you look at cinema: "Europe"

Germany, 1945. American Leopold Kessler, thinking that the war is over, goes to work on the railway as a conductor. And this is where his problems only begin.

You can start watching the insane genius Lars von Trier just from Europa. It was here that the author's love for an unusual visual series was most clearly manifested: the picture is stylized as an old black-and-white movie, but occasionally splashes of color burst into the narrative. They play an important role in understanding the meaning.

What else to see from Lars von Trier:

Dancing in the Dark (2000).
Dogville (2003).
"Nymphomaniac" (2013).
The House That Jack Built (2018).

5. Dead man

USA, Germany, Japan, 1995.
Parable, Fantasy, Drama, Adventure, Western.
Duration: 121 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 6.

Wild West, 1880s. Bookkeeper William Blake arrives in a town where he was promised a job, but the place is taken. Moreover, by chance it turns out that a reward is assigned for the hero's head. William has to run into the woods. Wandering there, he meets an Indian who prefers to be called Nobody.

The film-parable of Jim Jarmusch was scolded and misunderstood at the time. Even the main American critic Roger Ebert failed to delve into the picture. Now it's hard to believe, because Jarmusch is considered almost a symbol of independent cinema, and his role in Dead Man is one of the best in Johnny Depp's career.

What else to see from Jim Jarmusch:

Stranger than Paradise (1984).
"Coffee and Cigarettes" (2003).
"Only Lovers Left Alive" (2013).

6. In the mood for love

Hong Kong, 2000.
Drama, melodrama.
Duration: 98 minutes.
IMDb: 8, 1.

Hong Kong, 1962. Journalist Chow and secretary Su on the same day move into two adjacent rooms in a large communal apartment. He has a wife and she has a husband, but they are almost never at home. Soon, a friendship is struck between Cho and Su. And at some point, both understand that their spouses are cheating on them with each other.

This is the perfect painting to explore the work of Wong Karwai. There are all the characteristic features of his handwriting: a mesmerizing visual series, an ingenious play of light and shadow, as well as a world on the verge of dream and reality. The viewer needs to be ready to puzzle over what is happening on the screen, because no straightforward explanations will be given here. But it is precisely this understatement that fascinates most of all.

The best way to get into this picture is to be as attentive as possible to details (they are very important here). Then you will understand why "In the Mood for Love" is considered one of the best films about feelings.

What else to see at Wong Karwai:

Wild Days (1990).
Chungking Express (1994).
«2046» (2004).

7. Dislike

Russia, France, Belgium, Germany, 2017.
Drama.
Duration: 127 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 6.

10 art house movies that will change the way you look at cinema: Dislike

Spouses Zhenya and Boris are getting divorced. They have long made lovers for themselves and are about to leave. The only thing that still keeps them together is the apartment, which they will not sell in any way. The heroes also have a common son who does not care for them at all. But one day the boy just disappears.

Absolute semantic opposite of the previous film from the list. Andrey Zvyagintsev mercilessly shows how dislike poisons the existence of several generations of people. This is an uncomfortable movie that does not aim to entertain the viewer. Rather, give a hard slap in the face.

Not everyone in Russia liked this picture. At home, Zvyagintsev's films are constantly scolded for Russophobia and are called "chernukha", but in the West, "Dislike" received five awards and was even nominated for an Oscar.

What else to see from Andrey Zvyagintsev:

Elena (2011).
Leviathan (2014).

8. Happy Lazarus

Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany, 2018.
Fantasy, drama.
Duration: 128 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 5.

Only a few dozen people live in the tiny Italian village of Inviolata. They work for free in a tobacco factory owned by the Marquis de Luna and do not protest their position. Everything changes when the owner's spoiled son, Tancredi, comes to the production and befriends a local young man named Lazarus.

This is only the third work of 38-year-old Alice Rohrwacher, but critics around the world have been waiting for the film with particular interest. Indeed, with the previous film "Miracles", the girl took the Grand Prix of the Cannes Film Festival and earned the unofficial title of the new hope of Italian cinema.

The tape in a very loose form retells the biblical story of the resurrected Lazarus. The heroes in this movie seem to exist outside of time, and the appearance of the debutant Adriano Tardiolo, who played the main role, was very accurately compared by someone to Timothy Chalamet, if he had been drawn by Botticelli.

What else to see at Alice Rohrwacher:

"Heavenly Body" (2011).
Miracles (2014).

9. Lighthouse

Canada, USA, 2019.
Horror, fantasy, drama.
Duration: 109 minutes.
IMDb: 7, 5.

The action takes place around the 1890s. A young man, Ephraim Winslow, gets a job as an assistant lighthouse keeper. His unfriendly boss, Thomas Wake, does not allow the newbie to control the light. In addition, he constantly humiliates his subordinate and gives him ridiculous tasks. Gradually, Ephraim begins to go crazy.

Robert Eggers showed in his first film that there is a place for arthouse in horror. His "Witch" (2017) frightened with a paranoid atmosphere, forcing the viewer to doubt what was really happening from what was shown, and what only seemed real. In "Lighthouse" the state of madness in which the heroes are, reaches its peak.

What else to see from modern art house horrors:

The Witch (2017), dir. Robert Eggers.
Reincarnation (2018), dir. Ari Astaire.
Solstice (2019), dir. Ari Astaire.

10. Scarecrow

Russia, 2020.
Drama.
Duration: 72 minutes.
IMDb: 6, 6.

10 art house movies that will change the way you look at cinema: "Scarecrow"

The Yakut hermit treats her fellow villagers in a mystical way she understands. After that, people really do get well. But for each session a woman has to pay dearly.

Over the past ten years, Yakut cinema has become famous throughout the world for its originality. But the real discovery was the films of Dmitry Davydov - an ordinary teacher who makes films with his own money.

Unexpectedly for everyone, his latest work "Scarecrow" took the main prize of "Kinotavr". Previously, paintings from the Sakha Republic did not even manage to enter the competition program.