Movies with incomprehensible plots?

the one I saw was the original Spanish version. I think it was Spanish anyway. I thought it was pretty good.

 

Tinker Tailor is a pretty good movie, but it's one of those requiring a proper atmosphere for viewing. It is not something you watch with a bunch of the guys and a case of beer or with a kid who is going to ask endless questions. Best for calm, solitary viewing.

And yea, I confess to having needed a 2nd viewing the following day to clarify some things.

 

Wonder Woman 1984

 

Yeah, that’s right - I didn’t know there was a ‘non-Spanish’ one, to be fair.

 

Memento

 

The missus and I both like a good spy thriller, we went to see Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy on one of our first dates...I enjoyed it (I'd also read a few of the Le Carre Smiley books), my wife fell asleep Not enough action for her liking...

 

I was really looking forward to watch Lost Highway as I had already enjoyed Mulholland Drive on DVD some time earlier.

Didn't "understand" Lost Highway at all...

 

Must say I experienced the same thing. To be fair, Lady Lord is not a night person.

 

you gotta really focus... if your attention strays for one moment, you will be lost... but it's worth it...

 

Memento with Guy Pearce was tough to keep up with. The basic premise was easy to understand, but piecing everything together while watching required some attention.

 

The problem with that approach is that the director 'understands' the entire film, or each scene within broad context. he or she has the perspective of their intent that the audience doesn't If there's not a linear narrative, or something - some dramatic impulse, what you're watching at minute 5 has the same 'weight' as minute 97 or 138... like a 2 hour film of spectacular sunsets would get boring after a few minutes. A viewer can only cumulatively absorb and assimilate so much abstraction.

I think Malick went as far as he go with that approach in "The Thin Red Line", and I think its a great film. But there's a subtext of the chaos and confusion of war, so the protagonists being replaced by others throughout the film makes sense. The films of his I've seen after that are just gorgeous self indulgences. Visual splendor is never an adequate analogy for expressing internalized psychology. He doesn't know what do to with actors, so he has them playing in sprinklers at dusk (it seems like half of Tree of Life) or late afternoon sunlit fields in Oklahoma, or Sean Penn stumbling around on the beach at the Tree of Life conclusion. He looked genuinely uncomfortable and self-conscious.

Not that this proves my theory, but Penn's own perception: " I didn’t at all find on the screen the emotion of the script, which is the most magnificent one that I’ve ever read. A clearer and more conventional narrative would have helped the film without, in my opinion, lessening its beauty and its impact. Frankly, I’m still trying to figure out what I’m doing there and what I was supposed to add in that context! What’s more, Terry himself never managed to explain it to me clearly."

 

lynch explains ... films that ... don't make sense.

ymmv

 

Scorpio

 

you may not know this, and please excuse my lack of detail on it, but if i'm not mistaken there is a version available on dvd where as an extra you can go through some type of easter egg process and see a version of the film in chronological order. also, again if your unaware, there is a crucial minute moment during a scene with Sammy in the hospital that gives a a bit of story detail that a lot of folks miss. helps the plot.

 

Life's hard with ADHD.

I'll need to track that DVD version down!

 

In the US, I believe - but I'm not sure - that the chronological "Memento" only appears on this "Limited Edition" DVD:

https://www.amazon.com/Memento-Wide...dvd+limited&qid=1612229931&s=movies-tv&sr=1-1

It wasn't all that limited - I picked up a new copy for a friend for like $5 around 2010 - but it does seem to be OOP now.

You can get it dirt cheap on eBay, though:

Memento Limited DVD | eBay

Unfortunately, AFAIK, the US Blu-ray versions don't offer the chronological version!

 

Watched that Memento easter egg a couple weeks ago, a very neat way to see the film if it's been a while.

 

I don't think I ever watched the chronological "Memento"!

When I read my review, I mentioned its inclusion but indicated I didn't view it at that time.

I said I'd probably watch it someday... but I don't think I did!

 

The dvd menu is without a doubt the most convoluted thing ever. If you don't look up the instructions online to get to the egg, you'll never find it in a million years.

 

I love Lost Highway and I love Mulholland Drive but Inland Empire was just too much for me.

 

Howard Hawks
The Big Sleep (1946)
Great Actors But The Plot Is A Real Head Scratcher.
I Never Figured Who Murdered Who

 

That's a great clip. Very thoughtful and accessible explanation.

Here's something that occurred to me a few years ago when I was discussing David Lynch's films with a friend of mine (I'm a fan, he's not):

For most people, I think, if they sit down to watch a movie like Transformers, they're not looking for something that "makes sense." They're not looking for an artistic creation where the viewer can draw intellectual lines between every element and every other element to reveal the thoughts and intent of the filmmakers.

They just want to see something exciting that stimulates their brain in a way that they find pleasurable. If the movie is well-made and exciting, most people are not going to be worried about plot inconsistencies, or cut-to-cut continuity or anything like that, because you get swept up in the spectacle of it all. This is even true of movies that many people consider "better" than the Transformers franchise (like Star Wars, the Matrix, Marvel movies, etc.).

For me, cryptic movies like Lynch's are exactly the same. If I find the movie compelling, and I enjoy "spending time" with the characters, I don't require that every plot point be resolved (or even comprehensible) as long as the images and sounds stimulate my brain in a manner that gives me pleasure.

 

Yeah, the entire interface is a disaster.

My review linked to a guide, but it's long defunct. Hopefully someone still has one online!

 

The Hyman Roth plot does not make sense. But it's still a great movie.

 

yeah, eyes wide shut for me.