Movies that marry a sense of intellectual heft with a potent emotional quotient are ones that linger in the recesses of your mind long after you’ve seen them.
Several films pose intellectual, philosophical and existential questions, but it’s only when those questions are interwoven with an engaging and affecting narrative that I respond to the gravity of such questions and contemplate on their significance.
Below are films that not merely ‘made me think.’ Some of them changed the way I think, some made me feel emotions I had previously thought inaccessible, some made question myself and others around me.
The one aspect all of them share is that I found them deeply engaging and emotionally affecting. Well, all except one.
Honourable Mentions: Her, Blade Runner, American Beauty, Being John Malkovich, The Big Lebowski, Moon, The Truman Show, Mother!, Groundhog Day, The Lobster
The Man From Earth (2007)
Great sci-fi is all about the idea – something that provokes a sense of wonder and fosters dialogue, both within us and with others.
In The Man From Earth, a farewell party turns into something infinitely more interesting after Professor John Oldman makes an audacious claim – that he’s been walking on this planet for 14,000 years.
What follows is an 89-minute intellectual and philosophical tête-à-tête that is as engaging as anything I have ever seen.
Gattaca (1997)
In a world where children are genetically perfected prior to birth, Vincent Freeman is an ‘invalid.’ He’s been told his entire life that he’s inferior, that he can’t do certain things; that he can never be an astronaut.
Gattaca tackles themes of destiny and free will, and it does so with a story that strikes the perfect balance between intellectuality and sentimentality.
Vincent marches on; he doesn’t save anything for the swim back. Because there’s no gene for the human spirit.
12 Angry Men (1957)
Along with being a magnificent film, 12 Angry Men doubles as a treatise on negotiation, leadership, team-building, and analysing behavioural patterns.
Much like Arrival, 12 Angry Men is also about communication, but of a different kind: it’s about the art of persuasion. It elucidates on the intricacy of group dynamics. It also spells out the skills required to be a competent communicator.
There’s a reason educators and CEOs cite this movie as essential viewing for businessmen.
I, Origins (2014)
A sci-fi romance that is propelled by the constant friction between science and spirituality, I, Origins raises as many questions as it attempts to answer.
Although at times it comes across as being a film crumbling under the weight of that divide, the film’s stirring third act brings both aspects together in a profoundly satisfying manner.
The Act of Killing (2012)
Joshua Oppenheimer’s documentary follows perpetrators of the 1965-66 Indonesian Mass Killings, and in no uncertain terms, it is one of the most powerful, haunting, harrowing, surreal and deeply moving documentaries of all time.
It is infuriating, appalling, yet impossible to look away from. The entire movie is akin to a disturbing fever dream.
It brings to light the confounding banality of evil and lays bare the cruel, black heart of humanity – a chilling exploration into the fractured psyche of mass murderers.
Michael Clayton (2007)
A strong contender for the enviable title of the best-written screenplay in recent memory, Tony Gilroy’s razor-sharp story about corruption at the highest level is more relevant now than ever.
Lost in the shadow of 2007’s many behemoths, Michael Clayton stands out for its intelligence, pacing, and characters. This is a film that deals exclusively in greys; there are no saints or sinners to be found here. Just people willing to do anything to survive and thrive.
As an aside, Michael Clayton also plays host to what might be George Clooney’s finest performance.
Contact (1997) and Arrival (2016)
While both films share in their central premise (first contact), they are vastly different in terms of their narrative structure and thematic ambitions.
Yet, they are similar in their sensitive and thoughtful portrayal of what first contact might look like and what it will mean to humanity.
Communication is at the heart of both these films. And while Arrival has a deeper and richer narrative tapestry, Contact thrives on the single-minded drive of its protagonist.
They are both beautiful films. And I can’t praise Arrival enough; they should have sent a poet.
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