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1960s – today

Slow and Contemplative Cinema

Long takes and patience. Time itself becomes the subject.

Slow cinema asks viewers to give up the usual pace of film and watch time pass. Its films use very long takes, a still or slowly moving camera, little dialogue and sometimes almost no plot, and they treat boredom and waiting as part of experience. The tradition runs from Ozu, Antonioni and Tarkovsky to Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman (1975), Béla Tarr's seven-hour Sátántangó (1994), and the work of Tsai Ming-liang, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Lav Diaz, Pedro Costa and Nuri Bilge Ceylan. It is a cinema of patience that rewards close, quiet looking.

Where
Worldwide: Hungary, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, Portugal, Turkey and more
When
1960s to the present, as a named trend from the 2000s
Key figures
Béla Tarr, Chantal Akerman, Tsai Ming-liang, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Lav Diaz, Pedro Costa
Landmark films
Jeanne Dielman (1975), Sátántangó (1994), Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010), The Turin Horse (2011)
Legacy
Made duration itself an artistic tool and gave festivals a distinct style of contemplative art film

What to look for

  • Very long takes with the camera barely moving
  • Minimal dialogue and little conventional plot
  • Everyday routines, silence and landscape

Famous Directors

Andrei TarkovskyUSSRChantal AkermanBelgiumTheo AngelopoulosGreeceBéla TarrHungaryApichatpong WeerasethakulThailandRobert BressonFranceNuri Bilge CeylanTurkeyHou Hsiao-hsienTaiwanTsai Ming-liangTaiwan (born in Malaysia)Pedro CostaPortugalLav DiazPhilippinesCarlos ReygadasMexicoAlexander SokurovRussiaSemih KaplanoğluTurkeyManoel de OliveiraPortugalMiklós JancsóHungaryAleksei GermanUSSR / RussiaBruno DumontFranceJean-Marie StraubFranceLisandro AlonsoArgentina

Top 100 rated films

  1. Sátántangó 1994 · Béla Tarr · IMDb 8.2
  2. A Man Escaped 1956 · Robert Bresson · IMDb 8.1
  3. Stalker 1979 · Andrei Tarkovsky · IMDb 8.0
  4. Ivan's Childhood 1962 · Andrei Tarkovsky · IMDb 8.0
  5. Andrei Rublev 1966 · Andrei Tarkovsky · IMDb 8.0
  6. Solaris 1972 · Andrei Tarkovsky · IMDb 7.9
  7. Mirror 1975 · Andrei Tarkovsky · IMDb 7.9
  8. Nostalghia 1983 · Andrei Tarkovsky · IMDb 7.9
  9. Landscape in the Mist 1988 · Theo Angelopoulos · IMDb 7.9
  10. Werckmeister Harmonies 2000 · Béla Tarr · IMDb 7.9
  11. The Sacrifice 1986 · Andrei Tarkovsky · IMDb 7.8
  12. The Travelling Players 1975 · Theo Angelopoulos · IMDb 7.8
  13. Eternity and a Day 1998 · Theo Angelopoulos · IMDb 7.8
  14. Diary of a Country Priest 1951 · Robert Bresson · IMDb 7.7
  15. Au Hasard Balthazar 1966 · Robert Bresson · IMDb 7.7
  16. Twenty Days Without War 1976 · Aleksei German · IMDb 7.7
  17. Voyage to Cythera 1984 · Theo Angelopoulos · IMDb 7.7
  18. The Turin Horse 2011 · Béla Tarr · IMDb 7.7
  19. A City of Sadness 1989 · Hou Hsiao-hsien · IMDb 7.7
  20. Mouchette 1967 · Robert Bresson · IMDb 7.6
  21. Aniki-Bóbó 1942 · Manoel de Oliveira · IMDb 7.6
  22. Ulysses' Gaze 1995 · Theo Angelopoulos · IMDb 7.6
  23. Damnation 1988 · Béla Tarr · IMDb 7.6
  24. Dust in the Wind 1986 · Hou Hsiao-hsien · IMDb 7.6
  25. Pickpocket 1959 · Robert Bresson · IMDb 7.5
  26. Jeanne Dielman 1975 · Chantal Akerman · IMDb 7.5
  27. Doomed Love 1978 · Manoel de Oliveira · IMDb 7.5
  28. The Round-Up 1965 · Miklós Jancsó · IMDb 7.5
  29. The Red and the White 1967 · Miklós Jancsó · IMDb 7.5
  30. The Suspended Step of the Stork 1991 · Theo Angelopoulos · IMDb 7.5
  31. A Time to Live and a Time to Die 1985 · Hou Hsiao-hsien · IMDb 7.5
  32. Rebels of the Neon God 1992 · Tsai Ming-liang · IMDb 7.5
  33. Norte, the End of History 2013 · Lav Diaz · IMDb 7.5
  34. Evolution of a Filipino Family 2004 · Lav Diaz · IMDb 7.5
  35. The Trial of Joan of Arc 1962 · Robert Bresson · IMDb 7.4
  36. The Steamroller and the Violin 1961 · Andrei Tarkovsky · IMDb 7.4
  37. My Way Home 1964 · Miklós Jancsó · IMDb 7.4
  38. My Friend Ivan Lapshin 1984 · Aleksei German · IMDb 7.4
  39. The Hunters 1977 · Theo Angelopoulos · IMDb 7.4
  40. Alexander the Great 1980 · Theo Angelopoulos · IMDb 7.4
  41. The Hole 1998 · Tsai Ming-liang · IMDb 7.4
  42. L'Argent 1983 · Robert Bresson · IMDb 7.3
  43. News from Home 1977 · Chantal Akerman · IMDb 7.3
  44. Les Rendez-vous d'Anna 1978 · Chantal Akerman · IMDb 7.3
  45. The Sun 2005 · Alexander Sokurov · IMDb 7.3
  46. Abraham's Valley 1993 · Manoel de Oliveira · IMDb 7.3
  47. Boys from Fengkuei 1983 · Hou Hsiao-hsien · IMDb 7.3
  48. Syndromes and a Century 2006 · Apichatpong Weerasethakul · IMDb 7.3
  49. Vive L'Amour 1994 · Tsai Ming-liang · IMDb 7.3
  50. What Time Is It There? 2001 · Tsai Ming-liang · IMDb 7.3
  51. Melancholia (2008) 2008 · Lav Diaz · IMDb 7.3
  52. Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery 2016 · Lav Diaz · IMDb 7.3
  53. Les Anges du péché 1943 · Robert Bresson · IMDb 7.2
  54. A Gentle Woman 1969 · Robert Bresson · IMDb 7.2
  55. Four Nights of a Dreamer 1971 · Robert Bresson · IMDb 7.2
  56. From the East 1993 · Chantal Akerman · IMDb 7.2
  57. Russian Ark 2002 · Alexander Sokurov · IMDb 7.2
  58. Mother and Son 1997 · Alexander Sokurov · IMDb 7.2
  59. Douro, Faina Fluvial 1931 · Manoel de Oliveira · IMDb 7.2
  60. Khrustalyov, My Car! 1998 · Aleksei German · IMDb 7.2
  61. The Beekeeper 1986 · Theo Angelopoulos · IMDb 7.2
  62. Family Nest 1979 · Béla Tarr · IMDb 7.2
  63. Goodbye South, Goodbye 1996 · Hou Hsiao-hsien · IMDb 7.2
  64. Flowers of Shanghai 1998 · Hou Hsiao-hsien · IMDb 7.2
  65. The River (1997) 1997 · Tsai Ming-liang · IMDb 7.2
  66. Silent Light 2007 · Carlos Reygadas · IMDb 7.2
  67. Les Dames du Bois de Boulogne 1945 · Robert Bresson · IMDb 7.1
  68. Rite of Spring 1963 · Manoel de Oliveira · IMDb 7.1
  69. The Prefab People 1982 · Béla Tarr · IMDb 7.1
  70. Almanac of Fall 1984 · Béla Tarr · IMDb 7.1
  71. Good Men, Good Women 1995 · Hou Hsiao-hsien · IMDb 7.1
  72. Tropical Malady 2004 · Apichatpong Weerasethakul · IMDb 7.1
  73. Goodbye, Dragon Inn 2003 · Tsai Ming-liang · IMDb 7.1
  74. The Woman Who Left 2016 · Lav Diaz · IMDb 7.1
  75. The Devil, Probably 1977 · Robert Bresson · IMDb 7.0
  76. The Puppetmaster 1993 · Hou Hsiao-hsien · IMDb 7.0
  77. In Vanda's Room 2000 · Pedro Costa · IMDb 7.0
  78. Lancelot of the Lake 1974 · Robert Bresson · IMDb 6.9
  79. Voyage to the Beginning of the World 1997 · Manoel de Oliveira · IMDb 6.9
  80. Millennium Mambo 2001 · Hou Hsiao-hsien · IMDb 6.9
  81. Three Times 2005 · Hou Hsiao-hsien · IMDb 6.9
  82. Blissfully Yours 2002 · Apichatpong Weerasethakul · IMDb 6.9
  83. I Don't Want to Sleep Alone 2006 · Tsai Ming-liang · IMDb 6.9
  84. Stray Dogs 2013 · Tsai Ming-liang · IMDb 6.9
  85. Horse Money 2014 · Pedro Costa · IMDb 6.9
  86. The Life of Jesus 1997 · Bruno Dumont · IMDb 6.9
  87. Golden Eighties 1986 · Chantal Akerman · IMDb 6.8
  88. Alexandra 2007 · Alexander Sokurov · IMDb 6.8
  89. Silence and Cry 1968 · Miklós Jancsó · IMDb 6.8
  90. The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach 1968 · Jean-Marie Straub · IMDb 6.8
  91. Class Relations 1984 · Jean-Marie Straub · IMDb 6.8
  92. Days of '36 1972 · Theo Angelopoulos · IMDb 6.8
  93. Café Lumière 2003 · Hou Hsiao-hsien · IMDb 6.8
  94. Colossal Youth 2006 · Pedro Costa · IMDb 6.8
  95. Japón 2002 · Carlos Reygadas · IMDb 6.8
  96. Our Time 2018 · Carlos Reygadas · IMDb 6.8
  97. La libertad 2001 · Lisandro Alonso · IMDb 6.8
  98. Moloch 1999 · Alexander Sokurov · IMDb 6.7
  99. The Satin Slipper 1985 · Manoel de Oliveira · IMDb 6.7
  100. Red Psalm 1971 · Miklós Jancsó · IMDb 6.7