# Long, slow moving movies that are worth watching **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 28, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532 "2008-02-28T18:41:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/1 "2008-02-28T18:41:22Z")
Inspired by the current thread on the worthiness/boringness (?) of the film Munich: Thanks to IFC (or Sundance) I finally after 32 years got to see Professione: Reporter, BKA The Passenger, starring Jack Nicholson, and was enthralled- slow moving, not much action, but definitely a worthy journey and now one of my all time favs. A couple of similarly paced and length films I also have enjoyed are L’Avventura, Paris, Texas and Picnic at Hanging Rock (although this one is not techincally “long”). Anyone have any recommendations of similar films? ---
**Author:** ![TroubleAgain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e480ec/32.png) [@TroubleAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroubleAgain)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/2 "2008-02-28T18:51:45Z")
The pacing of \*Frailty \* is slow, but to me, that just makes the build-up of suspense that much more delicious. I don’t remember if it’s long, though. Just slow, and dark, and creepy. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/3 "2008-02-28T18:58:00Z")
Stanley Kubrick’s **Barry Lyndon**. Pepper Mill hates this one, but I love the camera shots and the use of classical music. Kubrick’s use of a lens with an outrageously small f/number enabled him to shoot pictures that had been off-limits to photographers for ages (because too much illumination would fade them) and to shoot scenes entirely by candle light. The story of the long, sordid career of Redmond Barry takes a long time to tell and develop, too. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/4 "2008-02-28T19:06:01Z")
We’re about halfway through _Into Great Silence_, which is a documentary shot with entirely natural light about monastic life at this, you know, monastery. Where they take a vow of silence. It sounds like a dreadfully boring movie, but it’s totally not. We did have to stop it, though, because it’s four hours long and we had to go to bed. ---
**Author:** ![flex727](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@flex727](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flex727)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/5 "2008-02-28T19:09:05Z")
I just saw Lawrence of Arabia two weeks ago and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Even though I saw it in high def on a big screen TV (well, 42"), I can only imagine how impressive it must’ve looked when it originally came out in the theaters. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/6 "2008-02-28T19:13:51Z")
> [@](#): > > I can only imagine how impressive it must’ve looked when it originally came out in the theaters. Actually, it wasn’t all THAT long ago that you could’ve seen it on the big screen. They re-released the “restored” version to major theaters in the early 1990s. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/7 "2008-02-28T19:18:42Z")
[QUOTE=TroubleAgain] The pacing of \*Frailty \* is slow, but to me, that just makes the build-up of suspense that much more delicious. I don’t remember if it’s long, though. Just slow, and dark, and creepy. [/QUOTE] Oh, that’s a good one. One of my favorite movies. The build up is great and even though you think you know where it’s going, it surprises you (well…me). ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/8 "2008-02-28T19:25:04Z")
If the OP liked _The Passenger_ & _L’Avventura_, then let me recommend **L’Eclise** , which I think is the best film Antonioni made. I’d say most films by Bergman, Tarkovsky, and Rivette people would characterize as slow-moving, but they’re all worth exploring, with personal faves including _Scenes from a Marriage, Andrei Rublev_ & _La Belle Noiseuse_, respectively. Theo Angelopoulos is more a required taste, but his 4-hour **The Travelling Players** is magnificent (and with fewer than 100 shots in the entire film, set at a very leisurely pace). ---
**Author:** ![TheMerchandise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b487fb/32.png) [@TheMerchandise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMerchandise)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/9 "2008-02-28T20:29:31Z")
[Hara Kiri](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056058/) (or Seppuku, depending on which translation you like) directed by Masaki Kobayashi. Slow, cinematic samurai film. Nothing really happens until the last twenty minutes of the movie, but I’m on the edge of my seat the entire time. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/10 "2008-02-28T20:33:59Z")
Ebert said \*\*City of God \*\* was one of the best movies he’s ever seen so I had to rent it. It was long, but WELL worth sitting through. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/11 "2008-02-28T20:34:04Z")
_Lone Star_ – more than two hours, and I don’t think I fidgeted once. I don’t know that I’d watch it again though. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2008, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/12 "2008-02-28T23:46:25Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] Long, slow moving movies that are worth watching [/QUOTE] Munich The Good Shepherd Away From Her ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/13 "2008-02-29T00:12:25Z")
FWIW, _Away From Her_ is 110 min. according to IMDb. Is that long now? ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/14 "2008-02-29T00:24:44Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] FWIW, _Away From Her_ is 110 min. according to IMDb. Is that long now? [/QUOTE] Well, ok, that was a reaction to that other thread, which I dare not post in. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/15 "2008-02-29T00:27:31Z")
[QUOTE=Sitnam] Ebert said \*\*City of God \*\* was one of the best movies he’s ever seen so I had to rent it. It was long, but WELL worth sitting through. [/QUOTE] I picked this up randomly from Blockbuster’s now defunct\* “Sundance” area, and enjoyed it a lot. Was long though, and you have to read subtitles, but very good. \*at least defunct now in that particular, college-town Blockbuster ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/16 "2008-02-29T00:38:13Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] Well, ok, that was a reaction to that other thread, which I dare not post in. [/QUOTE] 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/17 "2008-02-29T00:51:59Z")
I’m not sure if it’s actually long, but \*Requiem for a Dream \* felt really long. One of the most depressing movies I’ve ever seen, yet I liked it. A lot. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/18 "2008-02-29T02:49:28Z")
I really liked _Out of Africa_. Not much happens, it’s 150 minutes long, but it’s beautiful. Well and I also read the book. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/19 "2008-02-29T03:21:06Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Stanley Kubrick’s **Barry Lyndon**. Pepper Mill hates this one, but I love the camera shots and the use of classical music. Kubrick’s use of a lens with an outrageously small f/number enabled him to shoot pictures that had been off-limits to photographers for ages (because too much illumination would fade them) and to shoot scenes entirely by candle light. The story of the long, sordid career of Redmond Barry takes a long time to tell and develop, too. [/QUOTE] This movie is one of only two in my adult life that I cried at. What got me is when the young boy is dying and asks his parents not to fight with each other. Then the scene changes abruptly, with an appropriate swell of music, to the kid’s funeral procession. His coffin is borne along on the little goat cart he used to love to drive, with the same two goats. I put my head on my husband’s should and _bawled_! ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 29, 2008, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532/20 "2008-02-29T08:54:09Z")
**Lost in Translation The New World** and, of course, **2001: a Space Odyssey** [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/long-slow-moving-movies-that-are-worth-watching/439532.md?page=2)