# The most beautiful looking film **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 1, 2009, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460 "2009-09-01T08:30:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/41 "2009-09-01T18:35:03Z")
How about the “travelogue” section of _The Year of Living Dangerously_? ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/42 "2009-09-01T18:41:02Z")
Another vote for The Fall. Incredible locations and quite spellbinding cinematography. Truly mesmerizing. ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/43 "2009-09-01T19:23:27Z")
“Out of Africa.” Also, in a very different way, “A Room With a View.” And I second “A River Runs Through It.” ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/44 "2009-09-01T19:24:03Z")
My choice is probably more evocative than conventionally beautiful, but it took me many viewings of **The Ring** before it dawned on me that it’s that blue filter that makes the atmosphere so quietly creepy. Depending on what mood I’m in it can creep the heck out of me or practically lull me to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/45 "2009-09-01T19:39:33Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I think that a lot of the new breed of CGI films are trying to be “beautiful” too. Peter Jackson’s **Lord of the Rings** films and **King Kong** were clearly shooting for visual magnificence. Does it violate your standards of beauty if it’s achieved via computer simulation rather than by photographing reality? In that vein I’d nominate **Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow**. The movie had some glaring flaws, but it looked great. **Joe vs. the Volcano** uses images very well to set a mood (not always beautiful). There is a scene of Tom Hanks adrift on the ocean (where have we seen that again) watching the moonrise that’s breathtaking. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/46 "2009-09-01T19:40:16Z")
Most of the ones I was going to mention have already been mentioned. _Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon_ doesn’t get nearly the credit it deserves in this department. _Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall, and Spring_ is up there. Disney’s _Snow White_ is real high up there. _Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow_ _The Iron Giant_ > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Another vote for _Last of the Mohicans_, which IIRC was mostly filmed on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina, one of the last old-growth forests on the East Coast. When I was in summer camp in western NC around the time it was released, they told us it was filmed in Linville Gorge. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/47 "2009-09-01T19:41:18Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > In that vein I’d nominate **Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow**. The movie had some glaring flaws, but it looked great. Holy crap, how did I get beat to _that_ by one minute?! If I wasn’t eating and typing . . . 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/48 "2009-09-01T19:55:15Z")
While the movie itself isn’t anything special, I thought the visuals in “The Cell” were pretty amazing. The film was directed by Tarsem Singh, who also did “The Fall,” so it’s that same style. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/49 "2009-09-01T20:29:02Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > …When I was in summer camp in western NC around the time [“The Last of the Mohicans”] was released, they told us it was filmed in Linville Gorge. Maybe they filmed some scenes there, but a friend who visited the Biltmore and had a tour told me most of it was filmed there, and I’ve heard it elsewhere too. From [IMDb.com](http://IMDb.com): _One of the reasons Michael Mann decided to shoot the film in North Carolina instead of New York was that he felt the woods of North Carolina looked more like the old-growth forests of the Adirondacks, which still show evidence of logging during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of the scenes were shot at Biltmore, George Vanderbilt’s North Carolina estate; the forest in the estate was carefully planned and planted about 100 years ago._ Guess it wasn’t all that “old-growth” after all. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/50 "2009-09-01T20:33:33Z")
**Finding Nemo**. Very pretty color wise. ---
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/51 "2009-09-01T20:33:52Z")
_Snow Falling on Cedars_ ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/52 "2009-09-01T23:14:38Z")
Almost anything by Ridley Scott—_1492: Conquest of Paradise_ comes to mind, in particular. And if animation counts, almost anything by Hayao Miyazaki. Hell, _Castle of Cagliostro_, from 1979, looks better than the last few Disney animated pictures. But a lot of that just illustrates how technical superiority should be a _means_ to an end, not the _goal_ of film making. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2009, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/53 "2009-09-01T23:18:01Z")
> [@Promethea](#): > > Rewatching \*Days Of Heaven \*for the first time in many years, I wondered amongst other things if it may be the most beautiful movie ever made. That gloaming light may have been a bitch in terms of getting so little done each day for the shoot but it pays off in spades for that beautiful glow. And those spectacular shots of that weird house in the middle of nowhere. Wow. I’d happily hang just about any frame from that film on my walls. > > The only other contender I could think of that gives it a damn good run for its money would be _Barry Lyndon_. In fact I’d be hard pushed to say which I think is more gorgeous. > > What do you think is the most beuatiful film ever made? I agree with Barry Lyndon and would add Apocalypse Now and Heavens Gate and McCabe and Mrs, Miller. ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/54 "2009-09-02T01:05:48Z")
I agree with everyone that _Barry Lyndon_ would be a top contender. I also concur with **mbh** and **kevlaw** about Peter Greenaway–especially _The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover_, the visuals of which I recall being deeply impressed by (though this was many years ago and on VHS–I really wish they would issue a new edition on DVD, as Criterion has indicated they would but apparently haven’t gotten around to yet). I would also nominate several of Krzysztof Kieslowski’s films–esp. _La double vie de Veronique_ and the Trois Couleurs trilogy. Much of _Veronique_ was shot with filters that gave many of the scenes a golden, almost sepia tone. It’s an incredibly beautiful film. In the Trois Couleurs films, the dominant color scheme for each film is indicated by their respective titles–Blue, White, Red–which make for some gorgeous imagery (esp. _Blue_ and _Red_), while also expressing symbolically the dominant theme for each film: Blue=liberté; White=égalité; Red=fraternité (obviously inspired by the French revolutionary slogan, just like the colors, but interpreted in a way that has absolutely nothing to do with political history, or even, for the most part, France–only _Blue_ and the very beginning of _White_ are set in Paris). ---
**Author:** ![pojimba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@pojimba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pojimba)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/55 "2009-09-02T01:29:46Z")
Can’t believe nobody said LOTR yet. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/56 "2009-09-02T01:48:19Z")
Despite the depressing tone of the story, I think [Aguirre, The Wrath Of God](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0068182/) features some amazing cinematography of the South American jungle. The opening scene is simply breathtaking. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/57 "2009-09-02T03:45:36Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > And if animation counts, almost anything by Hayao Miyazaki. Agreed. Beautiful art, and good stories to boot. Personal fav for look is probably _My Neighbor Totoro_… but it’s hard to pick. On the LoTR / CGI issue it is worth noting that many of the big scenic shots were just that: real scenery and not CGI / mattes / etc, and that the exteriors of some of the big set pieces were really built (e.g. Edoras). ---
**Author:** ![choie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/choie/32/7829_2.png) [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/58 "2009-09-02T03:58:13Z")
Dang I came in here to mention _Barry Lyndon_ and a third of the posts beat me to it! Yes, it’s a staggeringly beautiful film; every frame looks like a Gainsborough masterpiece. I’ll third the LOTR films and second Disney’s _Beauty and the Beast_, and add perhaps an unconventional choice: _The Incredibles_. From the opening as we watch afternoon turn to twilight and evening over The City, to the retro sixties house designs to the breathtaking Nomanisan Island landscape. And another Pixar film: _Ratatouille_ blew me away with its loving depiction of Paris. _WALL-e_ manages to make trash look gorgeous. I don’t care if it’s CGI or animation: artists created these works. ---
**Author:** ![bramma23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@bramma23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bramma23)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2009, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/59 "2009-09-02T04:58:00Z")
Mizoguchi’s Ugetsu, Malick’s Thin Red Line. I also really loved Bennett Miller’s work on Capote and almost all of Sam Mendes’ films especially Road to Perdition. ---
**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:** [September 2, 2009, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460/60 "2009-09-02T06:11:58Z")
I came in to mention **The Fall** and find it’s been mentioned !3! times already!?! :eek: _faints in pleasure_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-beautiful-looking-film/508460.md?page=4)