minimalist cinema
Through working to express that even the minutest moments are sacred. With visual techniques which stress impressions of realism at all costs, life as it goes…
Emotions laid bare, in real time
These directors’ works are akin…
By taking cinematic minimalism to an utmost
By providing characters & moments so human they transcend the experience of the film itself
By giving us films with a genuine sense of synergy.
Extreme Minimalism,
Transcendent Humanity.
Emotions laid bare, in real time
These directors’ works are akin…
By taking cinematic minimalism to an utmost
By providing characters & moments so human they transcend the experience of the film itself
By giving us films with a genuine sense of synergy.
Extreme Minimalism,
Transcendent Humanity.
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104 titles
- DirectorNikos KoundourosStarsEleni ProkopiouTakis EmmanuelKleopatra Rota200 BC. During a merciless drought, the brute nature of man and the delicate essence of woman become inextricably intertwined, as the omnipotence of the carnal instinct demands the total surrender of the flesh.
- StarsLiv UllmannErland JosephsonBibi AnderssonTen years within the marriage of Marianne and Johan.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsIngrid ThulinGunnel LindblomBirger MalmstenTwo estranged sisters, Ester and Anna, and Anna's 10-year-old son travel to the Central European country on the verge of war. Ester becomes seriously ill and the three of them move into a hotel in a small town called Timoka.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsIngrid ThulinGunnar BjörnstrandGunnel LindblomA small-town priest struggles with his faith.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsMax von SydowBirgitta ValbergGunnel LindblomIn 14th-century Sweden, an innocent yet pampered teenage girl and her family's pregnant and jealous servant set out from their farm to deliver candles to church, but only one returns from events that transpire in the woods along the way.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsVictor SjöströmBibi AnderssonIngrid ThulinAfter living a life marked by coldness, an aging professor is forced to confront the emptiness of his existence.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsHarriet AnderssonLiv UllmannKari SylwanWhen a woman dying of cancer in early twentieth-century Sweden is visited by her two sisters, long-repressed feelings between the siblings rise to the surface.
- DirectorIngmar BergmanStarsHarriet AnderssonGunnar BjörnstrandMax von SydowRecently released from a mental hospital, Karin rejoins her emotionally disconnected family in their island home, only to slip from reality as she begins to believe she is being visited by God.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsMichel SuborGrégoire ColinYekaterina GolubevaAn emotionally cold man leaves the safety of his Alpine home to seek a heart transplant and an estranged son.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsDenis LavantMichel SuborGrégoire ColinAn ex-Foreign Legion officer recalls his once-glorious life of leading troops in Djibouti.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsValérie LemercierVincent LindonHélène de Saint-PèreIt's Friday night--she's moving in with her boyfriend tomorrow--so she goes out, but gets stuck in traffic--where she meets a handsome stranger.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsYekaterina GolubevaRichard CourcetVincent DupontA serial killer terrorizes Paris at night, but that doesn't stop Daïga and Théo from meeting up, and falling in love.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsGrégoire ColinAlice HouriJacques NolotA brother and sister reunite after time apart. But the sister is pregnant, which could either bring the siblings together or tear them apart.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsMathilde MonnierThe french choreographer Mathilde Monnier and her preparation for her next performance is the main focus of this documentary. The choreography's practices and the bodies, everything is registered in some sort of anthropological way by the filmmaker's camera.
- DirectorClaire DenisStarsVincent GalloTricia VesseyBéatrice DalleTwo American newlyweds in Paris experience a love so strong, it almost devours them.
- DirectorCatherine BreillatStarsAnaïs RebouxRoxane MesquidaLibero De RienzoTwo sisters confront their sexual attitudes and experiences while on a family holiday.
- DirectorCatherine BreillatStarsDelphine ZentoutEtienne ChicotOlivier ParnièreA night in the life of a young woman who wishes to learn and experience more of life. The men she meets have as much to learn from her as they can offer her, or more.
- DirectorCatherine BreillatStarsIsabelle RenauldFrancis RenaudLaura SaglioIn Dunkirk, a man and a woman meet and fall in love, then hate each other.
- DirectorCatherine BreillatStarsSarah PrattGilles GuillainMarc FilipiA young French man and an older English woman spend one night together on a ship.
- DirectorCatherine BreillatStarsCharlotte AlexandraHiram KellerRita MaidenReluctantly, a sulky adolescent returns to her parents' house for yet another boring summer vacation, dabbling in desire and the art of desirability, eventually mixing reality with vision, caged fantasies with the fierce female sexuality.
- DirectorCatherine BreillatStarsAmira CasarRocco SiffrediAlexandre BelinA woman employs a gay man to spend four nights at her house to watch her when she's "unwatchable".
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsHenrik MalbergEmil Hass ChristensenPreben Lerdorff RyeFollows the lives of the Borgen family, as they deal with inner conflict, as well as religious conflict with each other, and the rest of the town.
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsThorkild RooseLisbeth MovinSigrid NeiiendamThe young wife of an aging priest falls in love with his son amidst the horror of a merciless witch hunt in 17th-century Denmark.
- DirectorCarl Theodor DreyerStarsMaria FalconettiEugene SilvainAndré BerleyIn 1431, Jeanne d'Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy. The ecclesiastical jurists attempt to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsMartin SheenSissy SpacekWarren OatesAn impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town, and her older greaser boyfriend, embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota Badlands.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsRichard GereBrooke AdamsSam ShepardA hot-tempered farm laborer convinces the woman he loves to marry their rich but dying boss so that they can have a claim to his fortune.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsJim CaviezelSean PennNick NolteAdaptation of James Jones' autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the second World War.
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsColin FarrellQ'orianka KilcherChristopher PlummerThe story of the English exploration of Virginia, and of the changing world and loves of Pocahontas.
- DirectorBruno DumontStarsDavid DoucheMarjorie CottreelKader ChaatoufA social movie about current life in the north of France. Freddy and his friends are all unemployed. They pass away time by wandering around on their motorcycles and by directing their aggressive feelings towards Arab immigrants. Freddy is in love with Marie, a cashier at a local supermarket. When she is proposed to by Kader, a young Arab man, Freddy, and his friends have an idea: they decide to punish Kader for what they call "such a provocation." After they have raped another girl, Marie finally commits to Kader, which seals his fate.
- DirectorBruno DumontStarsEmmanuel SchottéSéverine CaneelePhilippe TullierWhen an 11-year-old girl is brutally raped and murdered in a quiet French village, a police detective who has forgotten how to feel emotions--because of the death of his own family in some kind of accident--investigates the crime, which turns out to ask more questions
- DirectorBruno DumontStarsYekaterina GolubevaDavid WissakDavid, an American photographer, and his Russian girlfriend Katia are scouting locations for a photo shoot. During the day, they drive through some of the wildest, most bizarre desert landscapes, but their luck begins to run out.
- DirectorBruno DumontStarsAdélaïde LerouxSamuel BoidinHenri CretelBruno Dumont follows up the controversial Twentynine Palms with this tale of a group of young soldiers who go off to war and experience some life-changing events. Flandres won the Grand Prix Prize at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.
- DirectorBruno DumontStarsJulie SokolowskiKarl SarafidisYassine SalimeA young nun is expelled from a convent because of her extreme devoutness and forms a relationship with a radical Muslim.
- DirectorApichatpong WeerasethakulStarsDuangjai HiransriKome Kongkiat KomesiriSaisiri XoomsaiA film crew documents a folk story-exquisite corpse combination by random Thai people; the story is reenacted.
- DirectorApichatpong WeerasethakulStarsNantarat SawaddikulJaruchai IamaramSophon PukanokStory about director Apichatpong Weerasethakul's parents, who were both doctors, and the director's memories about growing up in the hospital environment.
- DirectorApichatpong WeerasethakulStarsBanlop LomnoiSakda KaewbuadeeHuai DessomA romance between a soldier and a country boy, wrapped around a Thai folk-tale involving a shaman with shape-shifting abilities.
- DirectorApichatpong WeerasethakulStarsKanokporn TongaramMin OoJenjira PongpasThe story of a love affair that begins during a picnic on the Thai-Burmese border.
- DirectorApichatpong WeerasethakulStarsPhetmongkol ChantawongKumgieng JittamaatMiti JittamaatA fluorescent tube illuminates an empty playground in the evening. Nearby a flash of light is projected on a makeshift screen. This outdoor movie is a portrait of a village repeatedly struck by lightning. As night falls, the silhouette figures of young men emerge, they are playing with a football raging with fire. They take turns kicking the ball which leaves illuminated trails in the grass. The lightning on the screen flickers amid the fire and the smoke rising from the ground. The game intensifies with each kick that sends the fireball soaring into the air. Finally the teens burn the screen and crowd around it to witness the blazing canvas, behind which is revealed the ghostly white beam of a projector. Phantoms of Nabua is part of the multi-platform Primitive project which focuses on a concept of remembrance and extinction and is set in the northeast of Thailand.
- DirectorApichatpong WeerasethakulStarsKumgieng JittamaatMiti JittamaatPhetmongkol ChantawongA filmmaker captures images that characterize the violence and repression as well as the hope of rebirth and remembrance in northeastern Thailand.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsArno FrischAngela WinklerUlrich MüheA 14-year-old video enthusiast obsessed with violent films decides to make one of his own and show it to his parents, with tragic results.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsGabriel Cosmin UrdesLukas MikoOtto Grünmandl71 scenes revolving around a recent immigrant, a couple that has just adopted a daughter, a college student and a lonely old man.
- DirectorRob SitchStarsMichael CatonAnne TenneyStephen CurryA working-class family from Melbourne, Australia fights city hall after being told they must vacate their beloved family home to allow for infrastructural expansion.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsJuliette BinocheThierry NeuvicJosef BierbichlerA young man harasses a homeless woman, another man protests, the police arrest both and the woman has to leave the country. What were their various story-lines leading up to this event?
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsIsabelle HuppertAnnie GirardotBenoît MagimelA young man romantically pursues his masochistic piano teacher.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsIsabelle HuppertAnaïs DemoustierBéatrice DalleWhen Anna and her family arrive at their holiday home, they find it occupied by strangers. This confrontation is just the beginning of a painful learning process.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsSusanne LotharUlrich MüheArno FrischTwo violent young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic "games" with one another for their own amusement.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsDaniel AuteuilJuliette BinocheMaurice BénichouA married couple is terrorized by a series of surveillance videotapes left on their front porch.
- DirectorMichael HanekeStarsChristian FriedelErnst JacobiLeonie BeneschStrange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment. Who is responsible?
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsMartin LaSalleMarika GreenJean PélégriMichel passes the time by picking pockets, careful to never be caught despite being watched by the police. His friend Jacques may suspect, while both men may have their eyes on Jeanne, the pretty neighbor of Michel's ailing mother.
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsNadine NortierJean-Claude GuilbertMarie CardinalA young girl living in the French countryside suffers constant indignities at the hand of alcoholism and her fellow man.
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsLuc SimonLaura Duke CondominasHumbert BalsanKing Arthur learns that his wife, Queen Guinevere, has been having an affair with Lancelot, who at the same time remains loyal to the king, particularly after Arthur's traitorous nephew Mordred commits an attempt on his life.
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsDominique SandaGuy FranginJeanne LobreA young woman kills herself, leaving no explanation to her grief-stricken pawnbroker husband. We learn in flashback about how they met, married, and how she failed to adapt her lifestyle to his. Disgusted with his attempts to dominate her, she considered murdering him, but found herself unable to do it.
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsAntoine MonnierTina IrissariHenri de MaublancCharles drifts through politics, religion and psychoanalysis, rejecting them all. Once he realises the depth of his disgust with the moral and physical decline of the society he lives in, he decides that suicide is the only option...
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsAnne WiazemskyWalter GreenFrançois LafargeThe story of a mistreated donkey and the people around him. A study on saintliness and a sister piece to Bresson's Mouchette.
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsFlorence DelayJean-Claude FourneauRoger HonoratA Joan of Arc's trial reconstruction concerning her imprisonment, interrogation and final execution at the hands of the English. Filmed in a spare, low-key fashion.
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsClaude LayduNicole LadmiralJean RiveyreA young priest taking over the parish at Ambricourt tries to fulfill his duties even as he fights a mysterious stomach ailment.
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsIsabelle WeingartenGuillaume des ForêtsJean-Maurice MonnoyerJacques, a young man with artistic aspirations, spends four nights wandering Paris with a young woman, whom he rescued from suicide.
- DirectorRobert BressonStarsPaul BernardMaría CasaresElina LabourdetteA society lady engineers a marriage between her lover and a cabaret dancer who is essentially a prostitute.
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsNatalya BondarchukDonatas BanionisJüri JärvetA psychologist is sent to a station orbiting a distant planet in order to discover what has caused the crew to go insane.
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsAlisa FreyndlikhAleksandr KaydanovskiyAnatoliy SolonitsynA guide leads two men through an area known as the Zone to find a room that grants wishes.
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsMargarita TerekhovaFilipp YankovskiyIgnat DaniltsevA dying man in his forties remembers his past. His childhood, his mother, the war, personal moments and things that tell of the recent history of all the Russian nation.
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsOleg YankovskiyErland JosephsonDomiziana GiordanoA Russian poet and his interpreter travel to Italy researching the life of an 18th-century composer, and instead meet a ruminative madman who tells the poet how the world may be saved.
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsErland JosephsonSusan FleetwoodAllan EdwallAt the dawn of World War III, a man searches for a way to restore peace to the world and finds he must give something in return.
- DirectorAndrei TarkovskyStarsIgor FomchenkoVladimir ZamanskiyNatalya ArkhangelskayaSeven-year-old Sasha practices violin every day to satisfy the ambition of his parents. Already withdrawn as a result of his routines, Sasha quickly regains confidence when he accidentally meets and befriends worker Sergei, who works on a steamroller in their upscale Moscow neighborhood.
- DirectorJohn CassavetesStarsJohn MarleyGena RowlandsLynn CarlinA middle-aged man leaves his wife for another woman. Shortly after, his ex-wife also begins a relationship with a younger partner. The film follows their struggles to find love amongst each other.
- DirectorJohn CassavetesStarsBen CarruthersLelia GoldoniHugh HurdCassavetes' jazz-scored improvisational film explores interracial friendships and relationships in Beat-Era (1950s) New York City.
- DirectorJohn CassavetesStarsBen GazzaraPeter FalkJohn CassavetesAfter the death of a common friend, three married men leave their lives together, seeking pleasure and freedom and ultimately leaving for London.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsLouis MalleWith minimal narration by the director and very little context this is a kaleidoscope of stunning visuals from Calcutta, a city of 8,000,000 in the late 1960's: rich and poor, exotic and mundane, secular and religious, children and adults, animate and inanimate. Given only the images, the viewer can read any meaning she or he wants into the film.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsJean BobetJacques AnquetilRaymond PoulidorChronicles the cyclists of the Tour de France and their daily trails along the race.
- StarsLouis MalleThomas Frederick HowardRajani Desai"Phantom India" is regarded as the crowning achievement of Louis Malle's career.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsLouis MalleLowell BarnumArnold BenekeOriginal footage of the prosperous farming community of Glencoe Minnesota, 60 miles west of Minneapolis, was filmed in 1979 for a PBS documentary. But for the next six years Malle was too busy with other projects to finish this work. He returned in 1985 for a follow-up and found the community reacting to the mid-eighties crisis of overproduction in farm country. With weekly foreclosures on family farms and many families moving to the south, Malle documented a sense of frustration and apprehension from the same participants he had befriended in better times half a decade earlier.
- DirectorLouis MalleRené VautierStarsGeorges PompidouA documentary with almost no words following the production of Citroen cars at a plant in Northern France and their later sales.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsLouis MalleVibrant scenes of individuals' daily life are filmed in Place de la République.
- DirectorLouis MalleStarsFranklin Chang-DiazGuillermo Gómez-PeñaLenwood JohnsonAfter acknowledging his own immigrant background, Malle, tries to present the range of immigrant experiences in the US during the 1980's. In an attempt to be comprehensive, the film includes interviews with migrant workers and illegal entrants along the Mexican border, conversations with an enterprising Indian motel owner, coverage of industrious African and Asian families in the cities, an extensive interview with the first Costa Rican astronaut, visits with Cuban exiles in Miami, several conversations with West Indian poet Derek Walcott, an extended portrait of the deposed Nicaraguan General Samoza (the surviving brother of Anastasio Somoza Debayle) and his extended family. The film finishes with a brief visit to the Russian Jewish community in Brooklyn, NY to tie in with the centenary of the Statue of Liberty.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsChantal AkermanNiels ArestrupClaire Wauthion'Je' is a girl voluntarily lock up in a room. 'Tu' is the script. 'Il' is a lorry driver. 'Elle' is the girlfriend.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsChantal AkermanIn a 360° circular panoramic shot the camera slowly pans an entire apartment (or house). When it first passes the bedroom there is nobody there but each time it shows the room again Chantal Akerman is sitting on the bed, motionless first, then busy doing something (peeling an orange, eating an orange, etc.). When she is last seen she yawns and lies down on her bed. The camera continues panning but after 10 minutes and 21 seconds the film comes to an end and she can't be seen asleep.
- DirectorChantal AkermanStarsDelphine SeyrigJan DecorteHenri StorckA lonely widowed housewife does her daily chores, takes care of her apartment where she lives with her teenage son, and turns the occasional trick to make ends meet. However, something happens that changes her safe routine.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsMyriem RousselThierry RodePhilippe LacosteA college student gets pregnant without having intercourse, affecting people close and unrelated to her in different ways.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsLaurent TerzieffAurelle DoazanJean-Pierre LéaudAt a Paris hotel, a hotel detective fired after a murder took place there continues to investigate, helped by his inspector nephew and girlfriend. A boxing manager, owing money to a couple and the mafia, rides on a match next day.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsGérard DepardieuLaurence MasliahBernard VerleyRomance about Simon Donnadieu and his decision to leave his ever-loving wife Rachel.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsSarah AdlerNade DieuRony KramerAn indictment of modern times divided into three "kingdoms": "Enfer" ("Hell"), "Purgatoire" ("Purgatory") and "Paradis" ("Paradise").
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsBruno PutzuluCécile CampJean DavyAn author works on a project on the subject of love, and, in the process, crosses paths with a former love in his life.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsMaruschka DetmersJacques BonnafféMyriem RousselA woman involved with a terrorist group becomes dangerously close to the police officer guarding the bank they plan to rob.
- DirectorNuri Bilge CeylanStarsEbru CeylanNuri Bilge CeylanNazan KesalDowdy university instructor Isa is an inattentive husband to his younger, TV-business wife Bahar. Self-absorbed, Isa only communicates in the most rudimentary way, while she, similarly, detaches into crying jags and juvenile behavior.
- DirectorMonte HellmanStarsJames TaylorWarren OatesLaurie BirdWhile drag-racing through the American Southwest in a Chevrolet 150, a driver and his mechanic cross paths with an enigmatic hitchhiker and the tall-tale-spinning driver of a GTO.
- DirectorStan BrakhageAt a morgue, forensic pathologists conduct autopsies of the corpses assigned.
- DirectorJonas MekasStarsJonas MekasStan BrakhageRobert BreerDirector Jonas Mekas provides an intimate glimpse of his personal life by constructing a feature length narrative from over 30 years of private home movie footage.
- DirectorJacques RivetteStarsMichel PiccoliJane BirkinEmmanuelle BéartThe former famous painter Frenhofer revisits an abandoned project using the girlfriend of a young visiting artist. Questions about truth, life, and artistic limits are explored.
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsDavid HemmingsVanessa RedgraveSarah MilesA fashion photographer unknowingly captures a death on film after following two lovers in a park.
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsJeanne MoreauMarcello MastroianniMonica VittiA day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship.
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsMonica VittiAlain DelonFrancisco RabalA young woman meets a vital young man, but their love affair is doomed because of the man's materialistic nature.
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsMonica VittiRichard HarrisCarlo ChionettiIn an industrial area, unstable Giuliana attempts to cope with life by starting an affair with a co-worker at the plant her husband manages.
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsGabriele FerzettiMonica VittiLea MassariA woman disappears during a Mediterranean boating trip. During the search, her lover and her best friend become attracted to each other.
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsTomas MilianDaniela SilverioChristine BoissonA director's wife leaves him. He pursues another woman who also departs. This inspires a movie idea about women's relationships. He searches for an actress to star in the film and his life.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûSetsuko HaraYumeji TsukiokaSeveral people try to talk 27-year-old Noriko into marrying, but all she wants is to keep on caring for her widowed father.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûChieko HigashiyamaSô YamamuraAn old couple visit their children and grandchildren in the city, but receive little attention.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChikage AwashimaRyô IkebeTeiji TakahashiA young man and his wife struggle within the confines of their passionless relationship while he has an extramarital romance.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsKeiji SadaYoshiko KugaChishû RyûTwo boys begin a silence strike to press their parents into buying them a television set.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsGanjirô NakamuraMachiko KyôHaruko SugimuraThe head of a Japanese theatre troupe returns to a small coastal town where he left a son who thinks he is his uncle, and tries to make up for the lost time, but his current mistress grows jealous.
- DirectorYasujirô OzuStarsChishû RyûShima IwashitaKeiji SadaAn aging widower arranges a marriage for his only daughter.