It is often said that movies are vehicles which transport us to other worlds. However, there are some movies that do something more: they cast a spell, hold us in their grip, and refuse to let go. These movies entrance us and make it impossible to leave our seats. Whereas some films mightrely on stunning visualsand psychedelic colors, the movies that hypnotize us the most are pulling at something even deeper.
These are films obsessed with slowness, methodically and deliberately involving us in the psychology of their characters, and allowing us to vanish into the story. Such films might involve trippy, thrilling sequences of images, such asEnter the Void, and others might focus on slow-motion, ornate aesthetics, and beautiful music, such asIn the Mood for Love; the best examples, however, are often restrained or minimalist in nature, focusing instead on silence and stillness, and only occasionally jumping into action. Films likeStalkerandCemetery of Splendorpractically hypnotize the viewer with their quiet magic, and others create an atmosphere unlike anything else. These are some of the most hypnotic movies ever made.
5The Shining
2001: A Space Odyssey’s docking sequence,Clockwork Orange’s fake eyelash,Dr. Strangelove’s ride on the bomb –Stanley Kubrick’s filmsand his overworked staff have contributed to some of the most iconic and indelible images in cinematic history. None of his movies, however, prove to be as transcendently good asThe Shining, which, in addition to containing its fair share of memorable images, is straight-up mesmerizing all the way from minute one to 146.
In one of his most famous on-screen appearances, Jack Nicholson stars as Jack Torrance, washed-up novelist and recovering alcoholic who takes his wife (the incredible Shelley Duvall) and child (future biology professor Danny Lloyd) to live in Colorado’s Overlook Hotel to take care of the property during the long, cold winter. And, well, let’s just say that things don’t go exactly according to plan…
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While your mileage may vary on whether thisStephen King adaptationis actually scary (King himself did not care for the finished film), the one undeniable thing is just how penetrative and hypnotic the whole picture is. The movie sucks you in through its incredible Steadicam work, but also through its patient editing, focus on facial expressions, and slowly growing sense of unease. It truly feels like the hotel and the film containing it sit atop an abyss full of angry spirits. And as we know fromThe Shining’s troubling production history, it is possible that the film itself is haunted.
4Paris, Texas
1984’sParis, Texasis a film that spans many locations and landscapes – the West Texas desert, the brightly colored array of Los Angeles, and the urban sprawl of Houston. But the landscape most memorable to those who have seen the film is the human face, particularly that of its star Harry Dean Stanton, whose protagonist Travis Henderson does not speak a word for the entire first third of the film. He’s almost as hypnotic to simply watch as the film itself.
Travis has become mute after going off the grid under mysterious circumstances, leaving behind an estranged wife, and a son who has been taken in by the boy’s uncle and aunt (Travis’ brother and sister-in-law). Walt finds Travis wandering alone in the desert, and the rest of the film is Travis’ metaphoric “coming home.” It is an epic, circuitousroad movieof sorts, awash in multicolored melancholy.
The photography, courtesy of the inimitable Robby Müller (To Live and Die in L.A.,Breaking The Waves), is some of the most expressive you’ll ever see. While the shot compositions and color palettes are arguably second to none, nothing quite upstages the master-class performances. It is a testament to the talent and hard work of the actors that their characters leave an even stronger impression than the beautiful images they inhabit.
3Apocalypse Now
WhileApocalypse Nowis certainly a movie about the Vietnam War, it is also a horror story about a journey deep into the dark night of the soul. Based on Joseph Conrad’s novellaHeart of Darkness, Francis Ford Coppola’sinfamously troubled (and inhumane) productionnonetheless resulted in an epic masterpiece of psychological terror, or maybe just a really bad acid trip.
It all starts out as a men-on-a-mission story. Martin Sheen’s Captain Willard has to take a team of army misfits (including a young Laurence Fishburne) up the Nùng River to Cambodia on a classified mission to assassinate the enigmatic Colonel Kurtz (a typically idiosyncratic performance from method actor Marlon Brando) who has gone rogue. But the longer this thing goes on, the more we realize that this mission is anything but typical.
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The mysteries and questions surrounding the covert nature of the mission and Kurtz’s psychosis begin to spiral out and engulf the film in hallucinogenic images and chaotic uncertainty. The senseless violence is reminiscent of Nazi Germany, but our “heroes” are also hypnotized by it and addicted to it, and we are horrified by the possibility that we may understand this fascination. While the film is long – please, for the love of God, watch the original and not the self-indulgent, four-hourReduxversion – it is constantly engaging, and the imagery is perversely transfixing. Coppola’s Vietnam is a twisted wonderland and very upsetting carnival ride.
You might expectMandyto be just a candy-coated genre exercise, but it’s actually a John Carpenter movie as re-imagined by the ghost of Andrei Tarkovsky. Director Panos Cosmatos’ penchant for operatic horror sometimes takes a back seat to his slow-cinema obsession, and he likes to test how long scenes can go and if he can stretch them beyond their breaking points. Characters stare mindlessly into the camera for what seems like hours on end, ultimately boring holes into the members of their audience.
Red and Mandy (Nicolas Cage and Andrea Riseborough) are happy, if a little melancholic, in their idyllic woodsy home, when Mandy is kidnapped by a psychotic religious leader (Linus Roache). So begins Red’s Lovecraftian quest to eliminate the religious leader and his entire outfit, in a journey replete with gore, psychedelic visuals, electronic music, and a healthy dose of Nicolas Cage screaming (as per his contract agreement).
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There is certainly no reason a movie like this should be two hours long; buried somewhere in here is an 80-minute cut that tells the same story but in a more efficient and tolerable manner, with more effective emotional stakes. Except, director Cosmatos seems to be going for something more than just logic or even emotion, two principles that are endemic to the horror genre. What he crafts here, instead, is a sensory, meditative experience shot through an impenetrable viscous fog and an almost aggressive ambiguity; the film becomes style over substance in the most intentional, admirable way, as if it were made by a slightly more self-aware and artsy Zack Snyder. In other words, it is a slow-motion version of a Lady Gaga music video (and this is meant as a compliment).
1Koyaanisqatsi
The quintessential hypnotic film is not exactly a narrative, and it’s not really a documentary either. It’s a unicorn of a film from 1982, the Coppola-producedKoyaanisqatsi. The film’s title is Hopi for “life out of balance,” a phrase which also serves as the film’s subtitle. The movie is essentially a gradual acceleration of images, taking us all the way from the eerie stillness of the desert to the breakneck pace of city life; it is ultimately a global look at humanity’s impact on our surroundings, but it focuses on bathing us and immersing us in that sensory experience as opposed to telling us how to feel.
And while the images themselves are absolutely stunning, they would be nothing without Philip Glass’ score, which is haunting at times, overwhelming at others, and disturbingly catchy throughout, and ranks among thevery best of film scores. The music is also the closest thing the film has to a narrator – occasionally, the title of the film will be sung with patient and persistent repetition, creating moments of pure catharsis.
It sounds heavy-handed, but when watched in darkness with blaringly loud speakers, it is about as purely cinematic as cinema gets. It’s a film which achieves the rare duality of allowing us to shut off our brains completely, while still poking, prodding, and electrifying our semi-unconsciousness to reflect on the world around us. There have been many sequels and imitators (the cinematographer has even gone on to make updated entries for the 1990s and 2000s, and the great filmBarakahas a similar feel) but nothing quite beats the iconic simplicity of the original. Run – don’t walk – to check this thing out.
