Film Art and Cinematography : What is the most visually beautiful movie you have seen?

For black and white, my pick is "Last Year at Marienbad". And for a color film, I pick Mario Bava's "Blood and Black Lace".

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"My life is over. I might as well dance with Johnny Slash!"

Right off the top of my head "The Horse Whisperer"

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If we take the time to see with the heart and not with the mind, we shall see that we are surrounded completely by angels ~ Carlos Santana

2001: A Space Odyssey springs to my mind immediately.

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😺 Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. 😠 Let's go, Brandon! 🙂 I like cashews!

Last Tango in Paris
1900
Apocalypse Now
One from the Heart
Reds

All with Vittorio Storaro as Cinematographer or DoP



Days of Heaven
Néstor Almendros - Cinematographer

If I were going to do a top ten here, I would put "Badlands" on my list. I wasn't able to make it through "Days of Heaven", though.

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"My life is over. I might as well dance with Johnny Slash!"

2001: A Space Odyssey!

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😺 Schrodinger's Cat walks into a bar, and doesn't. 😠 Let's go, Brandon! 🙂 I like cashews!

Great topic!

There are so many to choose from.

Recollection as a child Ryan's Daughter - '70.

Spielberg can take the cake for plenty of stunning visual images in his films. Even Jaws - '75 is visually sound and beautiful.

Who can forget the reverential and awe-inspiring spaceship sequences in Close Encounters - '77 and not to mention The Color Purple - 85 where the natural beauty of the living environment features prominently like a character…."I think it pisses God off, if you walk by the color purple in a field and don't notice it."

Horror like your Bava example, (which I haven't seen), can create stunning visual images and Argento's Suspiria - '77 springs to mind. I even think Happy Birthday To Me - '81 is visually stunning in a spooky/creepy manner and why I rate it at the top of my favorite slashers. Its horror substance mirrored marvelously within its style.

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Norman! What did you put in my tea?

I had heard a lot about Ryan's Daughter, so I was very interested in seeing it

It's a very emotional movie

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If we take the time to see with the heart and not with the mind, we shall see that we are surrounded completely by angels ~ Carlos Santana

It won't be everyone's cup of tea and in all reality, it is really designed for the big cinema screen in 70mm. Watching it on vhs and in a 35mm print yonks ago, it wasn't the same experience.

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Norman! What did you put in my tea?

Nothing can match the experience of the big screen

Just like "the big sandwich" haha! Wings reference

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If we take the time to see with the heart and not with the mind, we shall see that we are surrounded completely by angels ~ Carlos Santana

You got hair extensions! your hair was short the other day.

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My password is password

The other day was 10 years ago ;)

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If we take the time to see with the heart and not with the mind, we shall see that we are surrounded completely by angels ~ Carlos Santana

Oh!

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My password is password

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If we take the time to see with the heart and not with the mind, we shall see that we are surrounded completely by angels ~ Carlos Santana

Look at you chicky! You growing your hair out? Or are you going to get it cut short again?

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"Do you love my insides? The parts you can't see? Eyeballs to entrails, my sweet?" ~~ Drusilla

No plans to cut it off 💙

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If we take the time to see with the heart and not with the mind, we shall see that we are surrounded completely by angels ~ Carlos Santana

It's gorgeous.

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"Do you love my insides? The parts you can't see? Eyeballs to entrails, my sweet?" ~~ Drusilla

Thank you

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If we take the time to see with the heart and not with the mind, we shall see that we are surrounded completely by angels ~ Carlos Santana

The other day was 10 years ago ;)

You kill me Cheeks….😘

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Norman! What did you put in my tea?

Likewise

😘

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If we take the time to see with the heart and not with the mind, we shall see that we are surrounded completely by angels ~ Carlos Santana

Beautiful

Horror films I think might be the most visually arresting genre out there.

All of Bava's films are beautiful, and ditto Argento, though for me Bava is tops in the field. "Suspiria" would be in my top ten for sure. It's like some demented fairy tale and so much of that is atmosphere. Total spook fest!

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"My life is over. I might as well dance with Johnny Slash!"

Hell Boy (I and II)

Blade

The Aviator

Underworld

Iron Man

The City of Lost Children

Dune

2001: A Space Odyssey

Fantasia

Apocalypse Now

Night Watch

Day Watch

The Last Samurai

Pi (Not beautiful, but beautifully bizarre and mesmerizing)

Suspiria

Metropolis

Moulin Rouge

The Matrix

Dark City

9-1/2 Weeks

Basic Instinct

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"Do you love my insides? The parts you can't see? Eyeballs to entrails, my sweet?" ~~ Drusilla

9-1/2 Weeks

Good call! I was only thinking of this film the other day after a discussion of Mickey Rourke.

Parts of the film are like one of those desaturated color romance cards with photo shots of children and/or lovers being romantic in an urban setting vignette, with a burst of a bold individual color permeating over it, like a balloon or a flower.

Other aspects are filtered, somber with hazy natural lighting taking over, even minimalist visual expressions.

Nine and a Half Weeks is a film that truly reflects its substance in its style. It is atmospheric and even thematically unsettling in parts. While on the surface a simple story, it is more about the visual rendering to express its narrative.

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Norman! What did you put in my tea?

All great choices and I'm not choosing the best but I'd like to throw in an honorary mention for great visual concepts.
The seemingly largely forgotten:

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Cringe Crew

OH! Absolutely! I loved this film

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If we take the time to see with the heart and not with the mind, we shall see that we are surrounded completely by angels ~ Carlos Santana

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Cringe Crew

One that always comes to mind is Black Narcissus (1947), directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and filmed by Jack Cardiff, who won both an Academy Award as well as a Golden Globe Award for Best Cinematography.

Yes! Excellent choice.

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"Do you love my insides? The parts you can't see? Eyeballs to entrails, my sweet?" ~~ Drusilla

I have it on DVD, but haven't seen it, yet.

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"My life is over. I might as well dance with Johnny Slash!"

There are many, but I remember how beautiful this was when I first saw it in a theater…

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You asked a pretty question; I've given you the ugly answer.
Fasten Your Seatbelts….
It's Going To Be A Bumpy Night!

Roman Polanski is one of my favorite directors and for whatever reason I have never even considered watching "Tess". I don't know why that is. I will have to look into that one some time.

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"My life is over. I might as well dance with Johnny Slash!"

It was hyped quite a bit when it first came out, but then it sort of drifted from most people's memory. To be honest the only thing I remember about it now, is the beautiful cinematography. You never hear about what a classic it is.
I like a number of Polanski's movies, but to most people, this one seems to be forgettable.

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You asked a pretty question; I've given you the ugly answer.
Fasten Your Seatbelts….
It's Going To Be A Bumpy Night!

Color: Snow Falling on Ceders

For animated I would suggest The Yellow Submarine

B & W: Citizen Kane

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"Please vote to preserve the unique character of Warren…" - Robert Duvall

Too many to list them all, but a few that immediately come to mind:

Black Narcissus

The Red Shoes

Barry Lyndon

The Man Who Wasn't There

Topsy Turvy

A Clockwork Orange

The Innocents

Excalibur

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And This, Too, Shall Pass Away

"The Innocents", yes.

Also…

"Blade Runner" (1982)
"Terror Train" (a low-budget, fun 80s slasher with great cinematography and atmosphere)
"Tenebre" (Argeto)
"Black Sabbath" (Bava)
"The Fog" (1980)
"Motel Hell" (The scenes taking place in nature are extremely pleasant and I love the multi-colored strobe light that Vincent and Ida use during their dastardly deeds!)
"Black Christmas" (1974)
"Pillow Talk"
"The Masque of the Red Death"
"Dial M For Murder"
"Barry Lyndon"
"The Mystery of the Wax Museum" (1933)

I will have to think of some more b&w films.

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"My life is over. I might as well dance with Johnny Slash!"

Some favorites:

The Wizard of Oz (1939)
The Third Man (1949)
Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
Touch of Evil (1958)
La Dolce Vita (1960)
The Trial (1962)
The Masque of the Red Death (1964)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Fellini Satyricon (1969)
Fellini's Roma (1972)
Solaris (1972)
Deliverance (1972)
Star Wars (1977)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
The Shining (1980) esp. the opening shots
The Thing (1982)
Blade Runner (1982)
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
Brazil (1985)
Blue Velvet (1986)
Santa Sangre (1989)
Until the End of the World (1991)

And there are many more. Too hard to pick just one.

Oh yes. Brazil! I can't believe I forgot about that one. Good call.

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"Do you love my insides? The parts you can't see? Eyeballs to entrails, my sweet?" ~~ Drusilla

Probably The Conformist.

Barry Lyndon is probably the most beautiful piece of cinema i've ever seen. Just breathtaking in every scene.

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Avatar, even though the story was simplistic.