[Film] What's the most thought provoking/controversial film you've watched?

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Frankie

Put him in the curry
May 23, 2016
4,412
Mid west Wales
Hard to pick one,so many over the years but one memory will always stick with me film wise and it's the ending of the Planet of the Apes with Charlton Heston, obviously nowadays it's viewed as dated and just people dressed up as Apes but as they rode along the beach and came across a half buried Statue of liberty it completely blew me away at the time.
 










Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
65,052
The Fatherland
Hard Candy. It’s is the most squeamish I have ever felt in the cinema, which provoked many personal thoughts as to why. I guess it’s controversial in some senses. Amazing, tense and psychological and great acting from Ellen Page.
 


Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
65,052
The Fatherland
The Pianist was hard hitting. Andrien Brody won an Oscar for his performance. Sad but fascinating.

City of God - Brazilian film using street kids as actors. Incredible film.
Good call re City of God
 


BBassic

I changed this.
Jul 28, 2011
13,672
Irréversible is a great film that I will never watch again.

Its filmed in continuous takes, or edited to look like continuous takes, and the camera never really stops moving. It sways and lurches around creating this weird sense of instability.

That is all except for two scenes, one of brutal violence and one of brutal sexual violence. For these scenes the camera is still, forcing the audience to take this stuff in.

It's a grim film and absolutely not for everyone. Just read a bit about how people left it's Cannes screening in disgust.
 




The Clamp

Well-known member
Jan 11, 2016
27,247
West is BEST
Irréversible is a great film that I will never watch again.

Its filmed in continuous takes, or edited to look like continuous takes, and the camera never really stops moving. It sways and lurches around creating this weird sense of instability.

That is all except for two scenes, one of brutal violence and one of brutal sexual violence. For these scenes the camera is still, forcing the audience to take this stuff in.

It's a grim film and absolutely not for everyone. Just read a bit about how people left it's Cannes screening in disgust.
It’s a brutal film.
 








anygivensunday

Active member
Jul 5, 2012
244
Singapore
Just finished watching A Clockwork Orange and I'm blown away - not many films made like that
This along with Natural Born Killers are the two films I can't rewatch purely because of their aesthetic.
Not so much to do with the content, I appreciate the artistic merits of both, but something about the filming style leaves me nauseous.
 




Gabbafella

Well-known member
Aug 22, 2012
5,063
American History X.
Watching Derek go from being a feared and highly respected neo-nazi in the real world to being a bullied, abused and hated minority in prison is amazing. Norton's transformation is excellent, seeing him slowly change his opinions and beliefs and then try to pass that down to his brother.
The end is shocking, not as shocking as the curb incident, which still makes me reel. Top notch movie.
 




Flounce

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Nov 15, 2006
6,619
Cuckoo’s Nest made me both sad and angry but the film that affected me for days afterwards was The Deer Hunter, bored the arse off me with the scene setting but left me very disturbed by the end. No other film has affected me more long after I left the cinema.

Most disturbing ending was probably Carrie, literally made me jump.

Mention for Deliverance
 
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Peacehaven Wild Kids

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jan 16, 2022
4,279
The Avenue then Maloncho
Cuckoo’s Nest made me both sad and angry but the film that affected me for days afterwards was The Deer Hinter, bored the arse off me with the scene setting but left me very disturbed by the end. No other film has affected me more long after I left the cinema.

Most disturbing ending was probably Carrie, literally made me jump.

The scene setting was superb and really made it. You really got a feel for the characters as opposed to other Vietnam films that went straight into “things exploding” mode.

Talking of RDN, Taxi Driver is also one of my all time favourite that I can watch over and over.
 




JBizzle

Well-known member
Apr 18, 2010
6,752
Seaford
Yes. I largely agree.

I must revisit Parasite as I didn’t get what everyone else seems to about it. Needs a rewatch.
There's a very specific memory attached which adds to it for me. I watched in alone in the Depot in Lewes with a beer. There were only about 4 people in the cinema, so no distractions.

It was also the last film I watched in the cinema pre-lockdown
 






Zeberdi

“Vorsprung durch Technik”
NSC Patron
Oct 20, 2022
8,435
An Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore) was probably the most thought provoking film I have ever seen, one of the most disturbing and at the time, very controversial


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Just think, we could have had years of better climate change action instead of years of wars in the ME if Supreme Court of the US had ruled differently on the 2000 Election recount in Florida!
 
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