Thanks to “Tyler Cowen, over at Volokh”:http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2004_06_14.shtml#1087407794 , I came across “Jason Brennan’s list of movies with philosophical themes”:http://www.u.arizona.edu/~brennan/movies.htm . It’s a good list , though a bit lacking in non-American content. Possible additions? There’s already been “some blogospheric discussion”:http://users.ox.ac.uk/~magd1368/weblog/2003_09_01_archive.html#106244549368342414 of “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056217/ and Christine Korsgaard’s “claim that it illustrates Kant on revolutions”:https://www.crookedtimber.org/archives/000433.html (scroll down comments). “Strictly Ballroom”:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105488/ arguably deals with freedom, existentialism, and revolution. “Rashomon”:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042876/ is about the epistemology of testimony. “Dr Strangelove”:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/ covers the ethics of war and peace and some issues in game theory (remember the doomsday machine?). Suggestions?
UPDATE: I see “Matthew Yglesias”:http://www.matthewyglesias.com/archives/week_2004_06_13.html#003568 is also discussing this.
{ 46 comments }
peter wilson 06.17.04 at 7:32 am
Suggeestion: ALL MY SONS…Arthur Miller’s timely tragedy concerning war, money, and family secrets…..the James Whitmore version.
peter wilson 06.17.04 at 7:33 am
Suggestion: ALL MY SONS…Arthur Miller’s timely tragedy concerning war, money, and family secrets…..the James Whitmore version.
Chris 06.17.04 at 7:39 am
The City of Lost Children has a central character who’s a brain in a vat. At one point he says, I think therefore I am. Amusingly, he is also the film’s evil genius, pulling the strings. (And then another character gets cloned several times, and isn’t sure which one he is, etc.)
Gosford Park is good on “role morality” vs global morality.
A Simple Plan, and of course The Godfather, are pretty great on moral psychology
q 06.17.04 at 7:58 am
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988) – Nietzsche, Fate, Perception, Being, Recurrance,
Total Recall (1990) – Perception, Reality, Dreams, Berkeley,
Crimson Tide (1995) – Moral Decisions, whether one should follow orders strictly as given,
The Fisher King (1991) – The meaning of life, sin, tragedy, redemption,
pepi 06.17.04 at 9:03 am
most obvious absence:
Ingmar Bergman – The Seventh Seal
another obvious one:
Jim Jarmusch – Dead Man
not entirely sure:
Wim Wenders – Sky over Berlin
Sophie’s Choice
Sliding Doors
Kieran Healy 06.17.04 at 9:16 am
“Boxing Helena”:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106471/. In the running for Worst Movie of its Decade, watching the first 20 minutes in the cinema made me contemplate the first of all philosophical questions, viz, “Why am I here?”
pepi 06.17.04 at 9:23 am
oh, I also subscribe to q’s suggestions for Unbearable Lightness and the Fisher King, and chris’s A Simple Plan, I loved that film.
Since Bill Paxton was in it, I’m reminded he made Frailty, which turned really crap in the ending, but before that it wasn’t too bad in terms of playing with perceptions of reality and truth (a bit like Memento in some bits, maybe), ethical issues and religious fanaticism… so maybe in the broadest sense it has some “philosophical” content too.
pepi 06.17.04 at 9:33 am
… last: since Vanilla Sky is included, and to balance the _extremely_ Hollywood-centric nature of the list, the original Abre Los Ojos by Alejandro Amenabar should be in there as well at the very least, and also his “The Others”.
Also, Amantes del Circulo Polar, by another Spanish director.
Anthony 06.17.04 at 10:14 am
Bug’s life?
The Thin Red Line?
John Kozak 06.17.04 at 10:25 am
God, what a dire list! Starting with “The Matrix” – from a philosophical standpoint interesting only for the celerity with which it junked its half-baked metaphysics for kick-boxing and CG – does inform us what we’re in for at the earliest opportunity, though.
bad Jim 06.17.04 at 10:53 am
So tedious to remind everyone of Memento, but I already said that.
Alex Fradera 06.17.04 at 11:00 am
Donny Darko (2001) – Time travel – neither coherent nor absurd AFAICS, alternative reality, false experience
Hurly Burly (1998)- existentialism (there may be many other exemplars of this theme, but I like the way this comes at you in bursts)
In the Company of Men (1997) – as Cruel Intentions, sympathy and value nihilism.
Sans Soleil (1983) Another meditiation on memory and experience by the director of La Jetee.
John Kozak 06.17.04 at 11:19 am
Having actually read (hem) the motivation behind Brennan’s list, I’ll admit that my “dire” comment was unfair.
But, given philosophy’s sweep over the human condition, how could a film worth watching not connect with some philosophical issue somewhere? Conversely, any film which fetishizes a technical philosophical issue is no more likely to be interesting than one about tappets.
Anita Hendersen 06.17.04 at 11:20 am
That list is proof that some philosophicly interesting movies are really bad. I never understood why people liked The Matrix, Memento, or the truly horrible Vanilla Sky.
raj 06.17.04 at 12:08 pm
Why did people like Momento? Well, some people like movies because the people in them are awesome. Not from an acting standpoint, but because they are amazingly beautiful. Guy Pierce in Momento was an example of that.
The Matrix movies stunk. I never saw Vanilla Sky.
raj 06.17.04 at 12:09 pm
Why did people like Momento? Well, some people like movies because the people in them are awesome. Not from an acting standpoint, but because they are amazingly beautiful. Guy Pierce in Momento was an example of that.
The Matrix movies stunk. I never saw Vanilla Sky.
RD 06.17.04 at 12:18 pm
Clan of the Cave Bear, but you had to read the book. The movie was weak. Reaffirm the Godfather, again read the book. Assigned reading in one of my college management classes. Casablanca and any of Bogies overwrought lines. q. – you’ll like this one. “How do you measure yourself among the other golfers? Height!” Caddyshack.
RD 06.17.04 at 12:19 pm
Oh, I forgot Primary Colors. True!
Peter Briffa 06.17.04 at 12:48 pm
Die Hard
Just War Theory.
seth edenbaum 06.17.04 at 1:38 pm
That’s a bizarre question.
What work of art doesn’t deal in philosophical ideas?
Or are you asking about works that illustrate them?
There’s a huge difference.
That’s why SF gets so little respect in literary circles. It’s mediocre art, based on a misunderstanding. it’s fun but by and large, crap. Same for ‘philosophical’ films.
Tech heads, analytic philosophers, economists and libertarians, never seem to understand this. That’s why the web is so full of fans of ‘speculative’ fiction.
Drives me F’n nuts.
chuck 06.17.04 at 2:03 pm
Kieslowski’s Blind Chance is a fascinating meditation on alternate realities with some reflection on politics in Poland in the 1980s…
I’ll second Alex’s nominations of Sans Soleil and Donnie Darko. Has anyone mentioned Dark City, another great film about memory and identity.
Ken 06.17.04 at 2:43 pm
Does anybody know any good movies with much philosophical content that are currently in the theatres?
Thanks
des von bladet 06.17.04 at 2:45 pm
If _Strictly Ballroom_ “deals with freedom, existentialism, and revolution” then _Mary Poppins_ is perhaps the finest cinematic account of the “linguistic turn” in philosophy (“Supercallifragilisticexpiallidocious”, in particular) with Dick van Dyke’s (widely misunderstood) chimley sweep as a devastating satire on the Heideggerian conception of authenticity.
David 06.17.04 at 2:58 pm
Don’t forget Stanley Cavell’s analysis of these movies–The Lady Eve, It Happened One Night, Bringing Up Baby, The Philadelphia Story, His Girl Friday, Adam’s Rib, and The Awful Truth– in his Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage (Harvard University Press, 1981).
And his analysis of these movies–Gaslight, Stella Dallas, Now, Voyager, and Letter from an Unknown Woman–in his Contesting Tears: The Melodrama of the Unknown Woman (University of Chicago Press, 1996).
DJW 06.17.04 at 3:04 pm
Strictly Ballroom is also very strong on the meaning and power of foreignness in for political communities. On this topic, see also The Wizard of Oz and lots of Westerns, including Shane.
All three are wonderfully analyzed in this context in Democracy and the Foreigner by Bonnie Honig (Princeton, 2001).
fyreflye 06.17.04 at 3:34 pm
Why did I like Memento? Because on first viewing it looked like it might actually hold together structurally on a second viewing; and on a second viewing it actually did. Of course, further viewings would have been (and are) pointless.
BTW, every movie I’ve ever seen that was supposedly “philosophical” (including Seventh Seal)
has been puerile.
Chris in Boston 06.17.04 at 3:41 pm
As someone who took one of those “Philosophy in Film” courses as an undergrad, I’ve always found this question interesting and think it shouldn’t be limited to the “recent films in English that students won’t find boring” limitations of the list under discussion. (At the very least, the tendentious illustrations of “feminism” could be improved by a broader scope). But might there not be a difference between films dealing with grand thematic matter – such as death or identity – and those whose thematic treatment of such ideas can be read in some way philosophical? And how do we read films’ themes as philosophical in their approach? I have my own ideas, but then again, I’m a film guy, not a philosophy scholar. I’d be curious to know what others, particularly the philosophically inclined, think about how we read some films as simply narrative and others as philosophy (and perhaps a third set as in-between).
chuck 06.17.04 at 4:15 pm
Ken: I just saw “Reconstruction” at the Atlanta Film Festival, and if it gets a wider release, I’d recommend it. It is a little obvious in places. There’s a narrator figure who says things such as “Film is a construction, but it still hurts.” But in terms of reflecting on memory and identity (particularly as they relate to love), it’s a fascinating film.
Not to plug my own blog or anything, but here’s my review:
http://chutry.wordherders.net/archives/002100.html
M. Gordon 06.17.04 at 4:54 pm
One of my favorite philosophical films has got to be Woody Allen’s “Bullets Over Broadway.” It deals with the artist’s relationship to art, and asks a pointed question about whether human life is more important than art, which it then answers in a rather bizarre way. A very fun film as well.
minnesotaj 06.17.04 at 5:06 pm
Glad to see at least one timber-ite mention Cavell: should also note that his new book Cities of Words is out & is very good: if you’ve wanted to read him but haven’t had time to read Senses… or Claim… or his Emerson pieces, this book puts his summation on those together with his thoughts on how his philosophical preoccupations play out in films (how they talk to each other).
Hank 06.17.04 at 5:09 pm
More Hollywood, but that’s what I see. Groundhog Day
David 06.17.04 at 5:58 pm
One of Cavell’s former students, William Rothman, has written a bit of criticism (with philosophical references?) on five Alfred Hitchcock films–The Lodger, Murder!, The Thirty-Nine Steps, Shadow of a Doubt, and Psycho–in his Hitchcock: The Murderous Gaze (Harvard University Press, 1982), 371 pp.
novalis 06.17.04 at 6:04 pm
Seth Edenbaum writes: it’s fun but by and large, crap
Ted Sturgeon points out: “90% of everything is crud”.
The point isn’t the crap, it’s the good stuff.
Ken 06.17.04 at 6:27 pm
Chuck: Thanks for the tip. We’re (my on-air partner John Perry and I) are always looking for movies with philosophical content. We have a sometimes segment on our show, Philosophy Talk, called “Philosophy Talk goes to the Movies.” We seem to prefer doing first-run movies. I’m not sure that’s essential, but it makes it harder to find good fodder, so we do it rarely.
Anyway, thanks for the tip.
st_vis 06.17.04 at 6:52 pm
Mindwalk.
Without a doubt it outshines everything else on the list for me.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100151/
mike 06.17.04 at 7:49 pm
1. The Purple Rose of Cairo–good old art vs reality, each informing the other…
2. (Don’t laugh) Star Trek: First Contact–life-affirming technological advance vs soul-destroying, if seductive, technological imperialism…hard to find the two in one place.
3. Blow-up–what is reality, anyway?
David Salmanson 06.17.04 at 8:12 pm
South Park The Movie (also the TV show). Nature of good and evil, where does evil come from, the sacrafice of the individual vs. the group, and most importantly, although it is to parody crappy Broadway musicals, is it right?
Le Resistance lives on!
Also Buffy the movie but not the TV show which was way to self-concious about the whole philosophy thing to be useful for this discussion. OK the musical episode was cool and would work, but that’s it. Unless teenage years understood as coming out story is philosophy in which case the seasons up through high school graduation count.
Cobb 06.17.04 at 9:06 pm
Do The Right Thing
Koyannisqatsi
The Handmaid’s Tale
Iron Monkey
Ophelia Benson 06.17.04 at 10:24 pm
Big.
I think that’s a rilly deep movie. Especially the bit at FAO Schwartz where Hanks and the boss play a tune on the floor piano by dancing back and forth on the keys.
I suppose everyone heard the segment on ‘Front Row’ a couple of weeks ago in which Julian Baggini told us about Nietzsche in the movies?
Violet 06.18.04 at 12:02 am
I’d add THE STUNT MAN to this list.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081568/
This film addresses predestination, free will, and subjectivity along the same lines as the Truman Show, but in the form of an entertaining action flick. Great performance by Peter O’Toole as an unhinged film director with a God complex.
Something Polish 06.18.04 at 2:03 am
Repo Man.
Something Polish 06.18.04 at 2:05 am
Oh, and Night Shift (the one with TV’s The Fonz, not the Big Steve King one). Obviously.
Something Polish 06.18.04 at 3:11 am
Brazil.
epist 06.18.04 at 4:26 am
Let me second both Dr. Strangelove and La Jetee. I showed both to my Phil Lit class last semester, and both went over well. In fact, the reaction to Strangelove kind of frightened me. I had seen it shown in my undergrad (in the 80s) and I had shown it myself in the 90s, and both times it went over flat. The kids saw it as some distant, 50s thing, and didn’t even giggle. This year I showed it again, and they laughed like it was an Adam Sandler vehicle. The only thing I can think to explain it is that the film makes much more sense as a satire if you actually worry that your government might be a bunch of incompetent psychopaths with the power to destroy the world. *shudder*
And I can’t believe no-one has yet recommended Being John Malchovich. Phil mind, and funny as hell to boot.
dan 06.18.04 at 10:50 am
If we’re going to talk about the Matrix and philosophy, then I’ve always thought it was most interesting in terms’ of Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling (Neo as Knight of Faith in the first film).
Other movies to add to these excellent lists:
Sling Blade: ethics in general, but as a critique/treatment of Kant in particular (the main character’s evolution into a being who recognizes moral laws leads him to violate them for consequentialist reasons).
Blade Runner (directors cut): for so many reasons (identity, existentialism, updating of Homeric themes)
and, if we include TV:
STNG: Darmok. Theories of language, intercultural communication, Todorov.
Virtually any episode of the Decalogue.
Mike Huben 06.18.04 at 12:11 pm
M: insanity versus responsibility
Black Robe: contrast of Indian and Christian mysticism
Harakiri: the meaning of honor
Little Murders: why care?
The Meaning Of Life: the title song is terrrific
The Lathe Of Heaven: dream and causality
Dark Star: have you tried phenomenology?
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