Non-Narrative Films

I'm a really big fan of films such as the Qatsi trilogy, Man With The Movie Camera, Latcho Drom, Home, Chronos or Baraka. For those who don't have a clue of what I'm talking about, these are non-narrative documentaries/films, usually concerning a certain theme - for example Latcho Drom concerned the Romani culture throughout Asia and Europe. And there's not any narration but the soundtrack itself.

What I want to know is if any of you can name me some other good films like these?

Baraka is my favorite.

I don't know if it is available on DVD (don't think so), but the original IMAX piece To Fly! (1976), which I believe still runs daily at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C., is similar.

I haven't seen it yet, but the new flick Landscapes at World's End (2010) seems to be in the same vein.

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RE: Man with a Movie Camera - The Russian film? I haven't seen it, but I love the score (added later, sometime in the 90s) by Biosphere. Biosphere re-released what I consider to be the best Ambient album ever, Substrata, and they added a second disc that contained the score to the film. The Twin Peaks samples in the score don't quite fit IMO, but otherwise, great stuff.

Not to knock Twin Peaks, one of my favorite shows ever - it just doesn't belong in the score for an old silent flick from Russia, IMO.

Score! just added the film to my instant queue on Netflix.

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Thanks, To Fly! (1976) seems quite interesting even though its a short (only 27mins). I wonder if its not available on youtube. About Landscapes at the World's End (2010), I still hadn't heard about it, probably because its so recent, but from the trailer it seems really good. Added both to my "to see" list.


As for the score from The Man With The Movie Camera (1929), I've seen two versions of it with different scores. I'm not sure who composed the score for the first version I've seen, but I'll suppose it was by Biosphere. The second version I've seen was with a score composed by The Cinematic Orchestra, in 2002, with a more electronic sonority. Both scores are really good.

Biosphere is Geir Jennsen, a solo electronic music producer, and his version might have been around 2002 or so, as the original release of Substrata was in 1997, so a re-release in '02 fits. Meanwhile, I am going to head home soon, and I have time to watch the film before my plans for the evening. I'll comment here on the film in a bit.

Ok, then the first version I've seen couldn't have been with Biosphere's score because it wasn't electronic music, it was orchestral music, I think.

But now I'm interested in listening to that Substrata.

Yeah, the version I was able to watch yesterday wasn't the Biosphere version. It switched back and forth between orchestral, upbeat traditional sounding music and some minimal synth stuff, but not the Biosphere minimal synth stuff I have the OST for. Regardless, I really enjoyed it. I did tend to prefer the synth sections, which added a surreal edge to the film.

Man with a Movie Camera (Vertov, 1929)

Sedai, if you enjoyed Man With the Movie Camera, you should definitly watch the qatsi trilogy (Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi and Naqoyqatsi). And since you seem to enjoy good soundtracks, it was Philip Glass who composed their score.

people could argue that 2001:A Space Odyysey is a film without a narrative.

True. Then again, it could have the grandest narrative of any film.

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I don't think there is any real narrative in Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas.

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I have to disagree on that. Both 2001: A Space Odyssey and Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas follow some kind of story. In 2001: A Space Odyssey, you witness dialogues, relationships between characters (even though its mostly between HAL - a character nonetheless - and Dr. Dave), and you can follow up a normal sequence of events. The same happens in Fear And Loathing, and in this case, there's definitely an evident narrative one can follow.

Both those films have narratives, IMO.

I may be misremembering but I think Fantastic Planet is closer to being non-narrative than 2001.

Microcosmos is another good one.

I've seen Microcosmos. Itwas quite good too.

I haven't seen Fantastic Planet yet, but are you sure it doesn't have a narrative? Because after reading some synopsis around internet, it seems it follows some kind of story.

I remember there being narration with information but no real characterization or plotting, sort of like a fake biology lecture/documentary. Not the same as Latcho Drom but much less "narrative" than 2001. Like I said, though, I could be misremembering it. Perhaps someone here has seen it more recently than I have.

Teshigahara's Antonio Gaudi film is another documentary with lots of visual texture and little narration.

Nonetheless, I'll try to watch Fantastic Planet as soon as I can, I'm glad you mentioned it.

Teshigahara's Antonio Gaudí seems really interesting, specially since I love Barcelona and I'm an art student. I still hadn't heard about it before so, many thanks.

i recommend Art & Copy.



it's about advertising but even if you're not into advertising, it's so well made that you will be able to appreciate it.

there are so many insights

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It seems really interesting, thanks! I'll check it out.

Muholland Drive is everywhere at once. Amazing movie, definitely worth checking out.