Grass (2018), Cure (1997), After the Rehearsal (1984), My Life to Live (1962), Duel (1971), Long Weekend (1978), The Caretaker (1964), The Hired Hand (1971) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Minimalist movies.
Storyline: Dubious rock 'n' roll promoter Roy Seth (Gerry Quigley), concerned that one of his bands is botching their recent tour, sends his assistant, Ramona (Valerie Buhagiar), to find them. Ramona has lied about being able to drive, so she must find a taxi driver (Larry Hudson) willing to drive all over Canada in search of the band. Along the way, they run into many eccentrics, including a philosophical aspiring murderer (Don McKellar) and a depressed boy who won't speak (Mark Tarantino).
Plot Keywords: horror, thriller, independent film, low budget, cult film, serial killer, road movie ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Near Penn Station, next to the Amtrak tracks, squatters have been living for years. Marc Singer goes underground to live with them, and films this "family." A dozen or so men and one woman talk about their lives: horrors of childhood, jail time, losing children, being coke-heads. They scavenge, they've built themselves sturdy one-room shacks; they have pets, cook, chat, argue, give each other haircuts. A bucket is their toilet. Leaky overhead pipes are a source of water for showers. They live in virtual darkness. During the filming, Amtrak gives a 30-day eviction notice.—<jhailey@hotmail.com>
Plot Keywords: documentary, homelessness, underground, survival, poverty, urban life, independent film ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Wallace Shawn and Andre Gregory, apparently playing themselves, share their lives over the course of an evening meal at a restaurant. Gregory, a theater director from New York, is the more talkative of the pair. He relates to Shawn his tales of dropping out, traveling around the world, and experiencing the variety of ways people live, such as a monk who could balance his entire weight on his fingertips. Shawn listens avidly, but questions the value of Gregory's seeming abandonment of the pragmatic aspects of life.
Plot Keywords: drama, dialogue-driven, philosophical, intellectual, existential, new york, restaurant ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Prof. Henri Laborit uses the stories of the lives of three people to discuss behaviorist theories of survival, combat, rewards and punishment, and anxiety. René is a technical manager at a textile factory and must face the anxiety caused by corporate downsizing. Janine is a self-educated actress/stylist who learns that the wife of her lover is dying and must decide to let them reunite. Jean is a controversial career-climbing writer/politician at a crossroads in life.—Dragomir R. Radev <radev@cs.columbia.edu>
Plot Keywords: drama, existentialism, psychological, social commentary, urban life, middle class, memory ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: When a mobster's widow decides to testify and provide names of others involved in evil deeds, she goes undercover to avoid being killed. Onboard a train going cross-country, she's being escorted in order to testify. Cop Walter Brown and his partner are assigned the task, but the mob are on their trail, attempting to make sure she never reaches her destination.—Col Needham <col@imdb.com>
Plot Keywords: film noir, thriller, crime, suspense, 1950s, classic, b-movie ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A fateful day pushes an aimless college dropout (Tom Schilling) to stop wasting his time and finally engage with life.
Plot Keywords: german film, indie film, black-and-white, drama, comedy, slice of life, urban life ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: In the city of Istanbul, there are more than just human inhabitants. There are also the stray domestic cats of the city who live free but have complicated relationships with the people themselves. This film follows a selection of individual cats as they live their own lives in Istanbul with their own distinctive personalities. However, with this vibrant population, is the reality of an ancient metropolis changing with the times that may have less of a place for them.—Kenneth Chisholm (kchishol@rogers.com)
Plot Keywords: documentary, cats, animals, urban life, human-animal bond, independent film, heartwarming ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: As the wavering cry of the foghorn fills the air, the taciturn former lumberjack, Ephraim Winslow, and the grizzled lighthouse keeper, Thomas Wake, set foot in a secluded and perpetually grey islet off the coast of late-19th-century New England. For the following four weeks of back-breaking work and unfavourable conditions, the tight-lipped men will have no one else for company except for each other, forced to endure irritating idiosyncrasies, bottled-up resentment, and burgeoning hatred. Then, amid bad omens, a furious and unending squall maroons the pale beacon's keepers in the already inhospitable volcanic rock, paving the way for a prolonged period of feral hunger; excruciating agony; manic isolation, and horrible booze-addled visions. Now, the eerie stranglehold of insanity tightens. Is there an escape from the wall-less prison of the mind?—Nick Riganas
Plot Keywords: psychological horror, surreal, black and white, isolation, descent into madness, mythology, folklore ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Filmmaker Ron Mann looks at the history of marijuana, from early government propaganda newsreels to Ronald Reagan's war on drugs. Narrated by Woody Harrelson.
Plot Keywords: documentary, experimental, short film, avant-garde, surreal, minimalist, visual poetry ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A Polish contractor, Nowak, leads a group of workmen to London so they can provide cheap labor for a government official based there. Nowak (Irons) has to manage the project and the men as they encounter the tempations of the West and loneliness and separation from their families. Nowak is the only one of the group who speaks English, and he uses this as a tool over his team. When the unrest in Poland leads to a military takeover, Nowak is faced with a much more difficult situation than he expected.—Dan Hartung <dhartung@mcs.com>
Plot Keywords: action, adventure, drama, thriller, suspense, crime, mystery ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Showing events from the point of view of two minor characters from Hamlet, men who have no control over their destiny, this film examines fate and asks if we can ever really know what's going on? Are answers as important as the questions? Will Rosencrantz and Guildenstern (or Guildenstern and Rosencrantz) manage to discover the source of Hamlet's malaise as requested by the new king? Will the mysterious players who are strolling around the castle reveal the secrets they evidently know? And whose serve is it?
Plot Keywords: absurdist, comedy, drama, existential, philosophical, tragicomedy, postmodern ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Surrounded by the immense and furious ocean, a shipwrecked mariner battles for his life with the relentless towering waves. On the brink of demise, eventually, the man will find himself washed ashore on a deserted tropical island of sandy beaches, timid animal inhabitants, and a gracefully swaying bamboo forest. Alone, famished, yet determined to break free from this Eden-like prison, the stranded sailor summons up the strength to build a small raft, and sets off on a perilous journey in the wide open sea; however, an indistinguishable adversary prevents him from escaping. Never giving up hope, each day, the exhausted man attempts to make a new, sturdier, and more improved raft; nevertheless, the sea is vast with wonderful and mysterious creatures, and the island's only red turtle won't let the weary survivor escape that easily. Could this be the heartless enemy?
Plot Keywords: animation, fantasy, adventure, drama, family, french, ocean ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: It's the 22nd of December. Sixteen years have passed since the revolution, and in a small town Christmas is about to come. Piscoci, an old retired man is preparing for another Christmas alone. Manescu, the history teacher, tries to keep up with his debts. Jderescu, the owner of a local television post, seems not to be so interested in the upcoming holidays. For him, the time to face history has come. Along with Manescu and Piscoci, he is trying to answer for himself a question which for 16 years has not had an answer: "Was it or wasn't it a revolution in their town?"—Alex
Plot Keywords: dark comedy, satire, social commentary, minimalist, political, historical, urban life ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A self-destructive alcoholic (Larry Fessenden) becomes obsessed with a woman (Meredith Snaider) he met at a party and later learns she is a vampire.
Plot Keywords: horror, vampire, psychological, independent film, urban decay, addiction, dark comedy ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: On March 24th, 2004, 15-year-old Hussam Abdu was apprehended at an Israeli border checkpoint with live explosives strapped around his waist. Instead of detonating the bomb, out of fear of death and love for his family, Hussam voluntarily surrendered and is now serving time in an Israeli prison for attempted murder. Since the start of the Palestinian Intifada in 2000, an alarming number of suicide bombers have been children aged 18 and under. To explore this troubling phenomenon, filmmakers Brooke Goldstein and Alistair Leyland risked their lives and traveled to the Palestinian towns of Jenin, Ramallah, Tulkarem and Nablus, seeking out and meeting with leaders of terrorist organizations responsible for recruiting children for suicide attacks. Through a series of first hand and thought-provoking interviews, "The Making of a Martyr" brings its audience into a part of Palestinian culture previously ignored, by uncovering those who are facilitating, teaching and paying children to take their own lives as human bombs. The film features interviews with wanted leaders of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, families of suicide bombers, Palestinian children imprisoned for participating in suicide missions amongst others, giving its audience a first-hand and troubling insight into the concept of martyrdom as it is being taught to Palestinian children.—Anonymous
Plot Keywords: documentary, social issues, working class, small town, human condition, irony, dark comedy ...
Movie Details Click Here !