A movie can only be made to entertain people or to provoke different emotions. However, the main purpose of some is to make the audience think about the life they are in and much more. Such philosophical films are considered true works of art. We’ve listed some of the best philosophical movies that will make you ponder.
What is art for or, more precisely, why is a movie made? Movies can be made for the people watching the movie to have fun or feel different emotions, and moreover, movies can be made to make people think about subjects they have never thought of before. Such films are called philosophical films. because, like philosophy’s search for knowledge, these productions also deal with some topics and they want the message itself to find the audience instead of giving a message.
We are sure that as soon as we saw the title, countless philosophical films came to our readers’ minds, but we have listed some of the philosophical films with the highest IMDb score by making an evaluation on the review published on The Cinemaholic website. You may not even have heard of some of these movies, some of which are very popular. Bride Let’s take a closer look at some of the best philosophical movies that will make you think about life.
The best philosophical movies:
A temple in the middle of nowhere: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring
- Year: 2003
- Genre: Drama, Romance
- Director: Kim Ki-duk
- Cast: Kim Ki-duk, Oh Yeong-su, Jong-ho Kim
- IMDb: 8.0
Have you ever thought about what stages a Buddhist monk goes through? famous name of korean cinema Considered one of Kim Ki-duk’s best films In the movie Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter… and Spring, we are the guests of the story of a child being brought up in a temple in the middle of the desert. Throughout the movie, which has almost no lines, you will feel as if you are the child raised by that priest in nature, and you will meditate on the life cycle.
People in outer space: Solaris
- Year: 1972
- Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
- Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
- Cast: Natalya Bondarchuk, Donatas Banionis, Jury Järvet
- IMDb: 8.0
Solaris, directed by Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky, one of the most important names in making cinema into cinema, is in a way that we do not expect from such productions. takes place in a space station. A psychologist sent to the station to investigate the reason for the strange behavior of the crew on the space station, when he enters the closed space in this space, will actually face the unchangeable facts that are ingrained in the genetics of humanity.
A life inquiry through philosophical dilemmas: 8½
- Year: 1963
- Genre: Drama
- Director: Federico Fellini
- Cast: Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimée, Claudia Cardinale
- IMDb: 8.0
8½, signed by Italian director Federico Fellini, who first left his mark on Italian, then European and finally world cinema. It can also be considered an autobiographical work. because in the movie, we are watching the adventures of a director who is trying to make a science fiction movie. The philosophical dilemmas we encounter in the story, in which the comedy elements are included in a subtle way, will cause them to connect with the world of cinema and look at their own lives through this world, although it is quite distant for some.
Tarkovsky’s story: Mirror
- Year: 1975
- Genre: Biography, Drama
- Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
- Cast: Margarita Terekhova, Filipp Yankovskiy, Ignat Daniltsev
- IMDb: 8.0
The story told in Mirror, which is a must-watch movie for anyone interested in cinema, belongs to the director of the movie, Andrei Tarkovsky. The film, in which Tarkovsky describes himself in a somewhat cartoonish way, is forty years old and It begins with a dying man remembering the past. In this production, in which the storyboard that is said to have passed before your eyes as you die, was actually shot by a master director, there are deep inquiries on youth, childhood, family, war and local culture.
Different stories, similar situations: Ship of Theseus
- Year: 2012
- Genre: Drama
- Director: Anand Gandhi
- Cast: Aydah El-Kashef, Yogesh Shah, Faraz Khan
- IMDb: 8.0
Anand Gandhi’s Indian movie Ship of Theseus features three different stories and three different main characters. Strangely enough, the character told in every story both very different from us and like one of us. In the first story, we follow a cool photographer, in the second story, a patient dying of cirrhosis, and in the last story, a stockbroker whose kidney was stolen. In fact, we think about the world we live in every day, perhaps unwillingly, through these three different people with completely different life stories.
A place where wishes come true: Stalker
- Year: 1979
- Genre: Drama, Science Fiction
- Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
- Cast: Alisa Freyndlikh, Aleksandr Kaydanovskiy, Anatoliy Solonitsyn
- IMDb: 8.1
The film Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky, which is the film adaptation of the novel Picnic in Space by Arkadi Natanovic Strugatski and Boris Natanovic Strugatski, has been screened by the British Film Institute. Chosen as one of the 50 greatest movies of all time and was highly appreciated by critics all over the world. In the movie, we watch the story of two men who struggle to get to a place called The Zone, where all wishes come true.
One last game with death: The Seventh Seal
- Year: 1957
- Genre: Drama, Fantasy
- Director: Ingmar Bergman
- Cast: Max von Sydow, Gunnar Björnstrand, Bengt Ekerot
- IMDb: 8.1
You must have heard of Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal because it was named the eighth greatest movie in world cinema by Empire magazine in 2010. in the movie, Returning to Sweden after the Crusades and we follow the story of a knight who is faced with an epidemic of black plague. In this movie where the concepts of death, life and god are questioned, the knight plays chess with the angel of death.
Timeless concerns: Pratidwandi
- Year: 1970
- Genre: Drama
- Director: Satyajit Ray
- Cast: Dhritiman Chatterjee, Asgar Ali, Arabinda Banerjee
- IMDb: 8.1
Pratidwandi, an Indian movie directed by Satyajit Ray, published in the world as The Adversary, It shows that Indian cinema is much more than Bollywood. In the film, which is considered to be one of the most important works of the Indian neorealism movement, we follow the story of a young unemployed university graduate and his anxieties that lead him to hallucinate. You will witness timeless thoughts in this movie that was made in a completely different culture decades ago.
Different perspectives: Rashômon
- Year: 1950
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Director: Akira Kurosawa
- Cast: Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori
- IMDb: 8.2
Japanese film Rashômon, which has received numerous awards at festivals around the world, is by the master director Akira Kurosawa. The movie, which may even be disturbing for some, begins with the rape of a bride and the murder of her samurai husband. Watching what happened next from the eyes of different people throughout the film, we witness that even a phenomenon that seems real, actually changes when viewed from different angles.
Asks why we live: Ikiru
- Year: 1952
- Genre: Drama
- Director: Akira Kurosawa
- Cast: Takashi Shimura, Nobuo Kaneko, Shin’ichi Himori
- IMDb: 8.3
What does an ordinary officer living an ordinary life do when he finds out that he has cancer and that his days are numbered? Ikiru, directed by master director Akira Kurosawa, asks this question with the audience and seeks the answer to this question throughout the movie. Ever since the beginning of humanity, ‘Why do we live?’ You will watch the movie, which focuses on the question, with a bit of sadness and a bit of hope.
It will lead the audience to deep questions about life. we have listed some of the best philosophical movies and we briefly talked about their stories. Of course, this list could have been much longer. You can share the movies you want to be on the list in the comments.