ethereal films

heyyy everyone
i'm putting out a call for recommendations. i'm looking for films with like an airy, ethereal, wispy kinda vibe if that makes sense. this might be a bit vague but that's all i know i'm looking for at the moment. if anyone has any ideas plz drop them below

Der Himmel über Berlin ?

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somehow haven't gotten around to this yet. looks promising.

Can I have a few examples of films that might help guide me towards some recommendations?

Perhaps The Innocents, but that’s a more mysterious vibe.

Hmmm, depends on what ethereal means. I take it as peaceful, other worldly transcendental atmosphere. I watched 'Memoria' yesterday. My review:

Wow. How lucky we are to have someone like Weerasethakul willing to push film boundaries. His usual long takes and ethereal atmosphere are present in Memoria. But here he takes the meditative transcendence up another notch.

It's an extremely spiritual experience that reminds me of a cross between 'Long Days Journey into Night' and 'Embrace of the Serpent'.

It's no surprise that the makers only want this seen in cinemas as sound is crucial to the film. Some will hate this. Its glacial. The long takes are loooong. And there's barely any sense to the narrative. But as a piece of cinema it's just so different and amazing to experience.

In fact anything by him is extremely ethereal and meditative. And I would recommend anything by the director Bi Gan like Long Days Journey into Night or Kaili Blues.

Also recommend 'Evolution' by Lucile Hadzihalilovic. And maybe:

the films of Zhangke Jia
The films of Bela Tarr
Songs from the Second Floor
The Hourglass Sanitorium
Suzhou River
The Banishment
Goodbye Dragon Inn
Vitalina Varela
Tarkovsky's 'The Mirror' if you haven't seen it.
Post Tenebras Lux
Zama

The films of Lav Diaz are supposed to be like this but I've yet to watch one.

I watched Daughters of the Dust over the weekend and think it qualifies. I wasn't in love with it myself (I have a low tolerance for elliptical storytelling), but found its aesthetic qualities intriguing enough to recommend. (Oddly enough, I didn't mind the music, which seems to be most people's issue with the movie.)

Melancholia

yeah, mysterious is usually not my vibe but i'll look into it. the thing that actually comes to mind for me first is San Soeil (in terms of the "airy" vibe) and i'm honestly not 100% on what i mean by ethereal exactly. maybe a bit other-worldly with some light magical touches perhaps idk.

Equal parts ethereal and mundane.

Would these fit the bill?


Picnic at Hanging Rock
Walkabout
The Spirit of the Beehive
El Sur

i was eyeballing a Weerasethakulfilm with this in mind so you mentioning him first is a good sign. a bunch of stuff i've been meaning to see anyway in that list too
Hourglass Sanitorium is definitely close but i'm looking for something less dark overall i think.

El sur is great and has vibes for sure but i think i'm looking for something maybe a bit less grounded? i've had my eye on the other 3 for sometime.

The Gate of Departure (2015) ... I think. I don't know what that word means.

been hearing about this lately looks like my jam

All About Lily Chou-Chou. The words ether and ethereal are uttered about a 100 times in this film.

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"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."

- Michael "Gloomy Old Fart" Haneke

i do love Hana & Alice. have needed to give this a go for quite some time.

bro just watch blissfully yours and then the rest of Weerasethakul and then you're done with ethereal cinema

Hedgehog in the Fog

i luuuuv that one

"What Drams May Come" was the first film I thought of. Ridley Scott's "Legend" a quick second. Not sure how good they are, but they are certainly strongly ethereal as I understand the word. Aronofski's "The Fountain" and "Mother." "The Others" Antonioni's "Red Desert." Sci-fi: "The Arrival"and "Inception"