# Recommend intelligent, thought provoking films please
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 2, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903 "2011-04-02T02:18:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@MattProle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MattProle)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/1 "2011-04-02T02:18:32Z")
Please state what you believe are the most interesting and thought provoking films that you’ve had the pleasure to view. I have unexpectedly received an extra week off from work, so I need something to fill these upcoming days. A few good movies (from whatever decade) would be a nice treat.
Movies I’ve already enjoyed (in no particular order):
Michael Clayton
Spirited Away
Network
The Paper Chase
No Country For Old Men
There Will be Blood
American Psycho
A Clock Work Orange
I really enjoyed the above movies; I’m looking for serious films on par with these, something that feels like a real film.
Thank you all ~
---
### Author:  [@Chef\_Troy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chef_Troy)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/2 "2011-04-02T02:45:17Z")
I recommend [Passion Fish](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105107/plotsummary), a movie from the early 90s by John Sayles and starring Mary McDonnell and Alfre Woodard. A quiet gem.
---
### Author:  [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/3 "2011-04-02T02:49:39Z")
**[Daens](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104046/)**
About a 19th century Belgian priest fighting the authorities against capitalistic exploitation of children and poor textile workers.
[**Aquirre — Wrath of God**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068182/)
About a loopy conquisador going through the Amazon like he was utterly insane — Oh, yes, he was…
**[The Friends of Eddie Coyle](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070077/)**
A tourist information film on the attractions of South Boston.
---
### Author:  [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/4 "2011-04-02T02:58:24Z")
When you say “serious” does that mean you’re ruling out comedies? I personally think that many of the most intelligent and thought-provoking movies are comedies. Take Charlie Chaplin’s _Modern Times_, for instance. If that doesn’t have har-hitting analysis of social problems, I don’t know what does. Trying watching [the opening scene on YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYbsBcPDVQM)and see if you don’t agree.
---
### Author:  [@MattProle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MattProle)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/5 "2011-04-02T03:07:13Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#):
>
> When you say “serious” does that mean you’re ruling out comedies? I personally think that many of the most intelligent and thought-provoking movies are comedies. Take Charlie Chaplin’s _Modern Times_, for instance. If that doesn’t have har-hitting analysis of social problems, I don’t know what does. Trying watching [the opening scene on YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYbsBcPDVQM)and see if you don’t agree.
When I say “serious” I mean a film that actually cares about presentation of it’s content in an artistic and sensitive fashion, rather than merely hitting the marks required of, say, a standard blockbuster film.
Thanks for the clip, though, enjoyed it very much.
---
### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/6 "2011-04-02T03:37:01Z")
Broadcast News
The Godfather (I and II)
Memento
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
12 Monkeys
---
### Author:  [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/7 "2011-04-02T03:43:55Z")
You should take some of the movies you’ve already liked and look for other movies by the same directors. Since you liked _No Country For Old Men_, check out movies like _Fargo_ and _Blood Simple_. Since you liked _Clockwork Orange_, find some other Kubrick movies. It’s not a foolproof system, but it’s usually pretty reliable.
---
### Author:  [@Mr.Krebbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Krebbs)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/8 "2011-04-02T04:47:47Z")
[City of God](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317248/)
[Eraserhead](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074486/)
[The House of Sand and Fog](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0315983/)
[Requiem for a Dream](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0180093/) or [Trainspotting](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117951/)
[Man Bites Dog](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103905/)
[Brazil](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088846/)
---
### Author:  [@MattProle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MattProle)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/9 "2011-04-02T05:34:02Z")
Thanks for the entries so far. I’m downloading a few of them as we speak (legally, of course).
---
### Author:  [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/10 "2011-04-02T06:34:49Z")
I finally got around to watching “The Reader,” the movie for which Kate Winslet was just nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress.
It’s one of those movies you find yourself thinking about for hours or days after you watch it.
Another movie that was like that for me was “The Hurt Locker.”
---
### Author:  [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/11 "2011-04-02T08:50:08Z")
If you haven’t seen **Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind** , I would add that.
Also, **Closer** , with Julia Roberts Natalie Portman Jude Law Blah Blah. Both films deal with relationships, but do so in their own idiosyncratic ways. To great effect.
While we’re talking Jude Law (which thankfully doesn’t happen as often as it once did), **Gattaca** always struck me as being great fodder for discussion.
---
### Author:  [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/12 "2011-04-02T09:45:33Z")
I will offer up just a single suggestion (for now), a film that meets your requirements and one that I never get tired of viewing:
**12 Angry Men**
mmm
---
### Author:  [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/13 "2011-04-02T13:09:17Z")
**Amadeus** has a truely great performance by F. Murray Abraham. His Salieri is a complex and believable character. Despite his jealosy and underhandedness it’s possible to sympathise with him.
**Princess Mononoke** is arguably a more thought-provoking film then **Spirited Away**. It’s themes are man’s relationship with nature, rather than focusing on the delelopment of a single character.
I second the recommendation for **One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest**.
If subtitles don’t bother you, **Burnt By The Sun** is a powerful film set in Stalinist Russia. It’s not as bleak a film as **There Will Be Blood** , until the ending.
---
### Author:  [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/14 "2011-04-02T13:24:22Z")
I’ll put Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW at top of the list. On the surface, it’s an enjoyable thriller. But deeper thinking, it makes some profound statements about the human condition. And it stirs up very strange reactions in you as viewer (most people, after watching it in a theatre, walk home trying to stare into windows.)
---
### Author:  [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/15 "2011-04-02T13:30:26Z")
Let Him Have It
Reunion (with Jason Robards)
Glengarry Glen Ross
Paths of Glory
---
### Author:  [@raindog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raindog)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/16 "2011-04-02T13:37:33Z")
[The Lives of Others](http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_lives_of_others/)
---
### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/17 "2011-04-02T14:23:04Z")
Another vote for _The Reader_, and another vote for _The Lives of Others_.
Two others that are not about Germany:
[_Doubt_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0918927/) and _[He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0291579/)_.
---
### Author:  [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/18 "2011-04-02T14:23:45Z")
[The Nasty Girl](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100557/)
Any documentary by Errol Morris
---
### Author:  [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/19 "2011-04-02T14:31:32Z")
> [@twickster](#):
>
> Another vote for _The Reader_, and another vote for _The Lives of Others_.
>
> Two others that are not about Germany:
>
> [_Doubt_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0918927/) and _[He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0291579/)_.
Personally I didn’t care for Doubt much, but I’m not a big Streep fan. I’ll second the vote for, He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, though. I really enjoyed that film.
---
### Author:  [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)
#### Post date: [April 2, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903/20 "2011-04-02T15:09:10Z")
I’ll second Gattaca. Watch it almost as a fairy tale with science-fiction trappings. **City of Lost Children** is wonderful and weird, one of my all-time favorite movies. And there’s the excellent Western **Unforgiven**.
[Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-intelligent-thought-provoking-films-please/576903.md?page=2)