Films with, um, "quirky" direction?
 

Run Lola Run comes to mind, since it uses practically every trick in the book. Those who have seen it, can you recommend other films that use gimmicky direction (be it a non-linear storyline, split screens, or whatever else) and explain why you've listed the films you chose, so I know what sounds like something I'm looking for and what doesn't.

Another example is The Cooler...there's a scene where a character looks at the hand of a man playing craps, and we then see through his hand (the dice become visible). Or the opening scene of From Dusk `Til Dawn, where we peer, x-ray vision style, through a panel on the vehicle to see the lady in the trunk. Any films that use quirky tricks like these (preferably ones that use them well, and somewhat frequently).

As far as narrative, I'm looking for some non-linear stuff a'la Memento...or films that look at different perspectives of one event a'la Run Lola Run or Kurosawa's Rashomon.

To specify...I'm mainly just looking for fresh, relatively experimental (in direction and/or narrative) films that I may not have heard of. Odds are I will own, have seen, or at least have heard of most of the recommendations, but here's hoping there are more than a few that I can add to my blind-buy wishlist.

Thanks in advance.

-JP

Lilya-4-Ever...it has some weird sequences with a dead kid...

Being John Malkovich- its quirky to say the least

Memento...I'm sure you have seen this

Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind

Sometimes, you swear George Clooney watched the films of his favourite directors, wrote down every time some weird take, angle or device was used, and said "yup, I' can make a movie with all these..."

It's a very good film, but now and then, you want George to settle down. Let's have a little less "what does THIS button do?" directing...

Trainspotting

Various devices are used to get you into the head of a smackhead... so it makes sense that none of it is rational. Or something.

Searching in a toilet for tablets becomes an ethereal undersea journey...
Taking a bad hit becomes being put in a carpet-walled coffin...

The films of Brad Anderson, such as Next Stop, Wonderland and Happy Accidents, or maybe they are just quirky period.

Odd Directorial style?

Hulk
Requiem For A Dream
Pi
Fight Club

Amores Perros
City of God
Schizopolis
Romeo + Juliet

ps - someone listed Lilja 4-ever. i would like to respectfully suggest that the direction is not quirky, in fact it maintains a cinema verité style, throughout even its most spiritual sequences. regardless I recommend that you see it; its one of the best i've ever seen. :)

"Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"

i wouldn't call "The Cooler" non-linear or quirky in directional style however....

Films that use Non-linear narrative:
Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Citizen Kane

Films that use a lot of unusual storytelling tricks
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Amelie, Natural Born Killers, Annie Hall

Films that play with time
12 Monkeys, Sliding Doors, Groundhog Day

Films that are just plain quirky
Rushmore, Buffalo 66, Mystery Train, Raising Arizona

Films that play with the perception of reality
Identity, Being John Malkovich, Vanilla Sky

And one that's just coming to theatres
Melinda and Melinda

If you're looking for out and out quirky you might want to check out The Happiness of the Katakuris by Takashi Miike.

Mixes horror/musical numbers and claymation.

Quirky is my favourite :)

I could be here all day listing, so I'll just list a few. :)

Dogville
The whole amazing film is set on a soundstage, which freaks you out at first, but you soon learn to 'get with it'

12 Monkeys
Non-linear narrative.

13 Conversations About One Thing
Non-linear narrative and one AMAZING film!

Abandon
Non-linear narrative

American Gun
Non-linear narrative and an amazing final performance from James Coburn.

Amores Perros
Non-linear narrative, interconnecting stories.

L'Appartement
Non-linear narrative.

Amelie
Quirky style and camerawork. Very stylish.

The Butterfly Effect
Non-linear (in a sense) and some very stylish effects whenever some time travel goes down.

Code 46
This is set in the future, so has quirky dialogue in the form of pidgin/patois English. I love this about it.

Go
Non-linear narrative. Very stylish.

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
Non-linear narrative and a cool "rewind" effect during the film.

Hero
Non-linear narrative

I Heart Huckabees
Some interesting (possibly tired) visualisation effects.

The I Inside
Non-linear narrative.

Irreversible
Entire film plays backwards, like Memento.

Maelström
Awesome French-Canadian movie that features a talking fish as a narrator and a non-linear narrative (in fact, multiple narratives).

Northfork
Just plain weird :D

Man on Fire
Important dialogue floats about the screen (I actually found this very annoying, but it meets your definition of a quirky technique, I think anyway)

Identity
Non-linear narrative

Adaptation.
A film that opens on the set of 'Being John Malkovich' and features the crew as the subject matter. Not so much a non-linear narrative as an amazingly recursive one. Utter genius.

21 Grams
Non-linear narrative (jumps about all over the place!).

Fear X
Very Lynchian and very surreal.

I don't think there's any need to mention Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, etc. or anything by David Lynch, such as Lost Highway or Mulholland Drive as they're pretty much obvious :D

:thumbsup: Great to see this film get a recommendation. It's easily one of the most underrated films of the past five years.

Wow, I've never come across anyone who's even heard of it before, let alone seen it and loved it! I have a nice warm feeling inside now! It's my 20th favourite movie of all time :)

Yeah, neither would I. I was just referring to that one segment.
Of the ones listed so far in this thread, I own:

Memento
Being John Malkovich
Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind
Trainspotting
Requiem for a Dream
Pi
Fight Club
Amores Perros
City of God
Schizopolis
Eternal Sunshine
Pulp Fiction
Reservoir Dogs
Citizen Kane
Vanilla Sky
Amelie
Fear and Loathing
Rushmore
Buffalo 66
Raising Arizona
13 Conversations About One Thing
Go
Hero
21 Grams
Adaptation
Man on Fire
Irreversible

I think that's all, heh. Anyway, point is...nice job so far. I've love nearly every one of the movies listed above, so I'll definitely be checking out the ones that I haven't heard of (I've added 8 to my wishlist as blind-buys based on what I read on the IMDB). Oh, and hopefully some of the others will get an R1 release in the near future (movies I've wanted to see for the longest time, such as Delicatessen, L'Appartement, Lilya-4-Ever, and a couple of others).

Anyway, thanks to everybody...and keep `em coming. Special thanks to Squirrel God. With your extensive list and individual descriptions, I got a really good feel for why each movie was recommended and, consequently, what would fall closest in line with what I'm looking for (something that's really important for me when making a blind buy, so I definitely appreciate it).

-JP

A 3rd recommendation for this underrated film! It was in my Top 10 for that year. (I love to explain how it's narrated by a talking fish. . .in French, of course!)

I'd also like to mention that I think this "quirkiness" takes the audience out of the film. Sure, it can be fun visually but I think overall its not good storytelling. Especially Man on Fire.

Alphaville
Funny Games
Persona
Branded to Kill
The Discrete Charm Of The Bourgeoisie

To each his own. It has the exact opposite effect on me.

-JP

I think that's been made clear.

*Open your eyes. Dir:Alejandro Amenabar ( Have not seen vanilla sky yet, I have problems with American re-makes)
*Donnie Darko. Dir:Richard Kelly
*Mullholland Drive. Dir:David Lynch
*Lost Highway. Dir:David lynch
*Dont look now. Dir:Nicolas roeg

Can't believe no one has mentioned American Spendor. (actor portraying real person, who is also in the movie playing himself, who is also represented by an animated version of himself)

I would also add Night on Earth (multiple stories taking place simultaneously)

Panic Room - Quirky camera shots abound in this film.

Primer - A film whose narrative only seems linear, until near the end it becomes so recursive you'll probably need 2 viewings to sort it all out.

Shaun of the Dead - A good number of flashy camera shots and montage sequences, especially the planning montage and the camera shot through the hole in a zombie.

Men Suddenly in Black - A story about a group of cheating men shot like a heist film, this film features a lot of flashy camera and editing techniques applied to scenes that they aren't typically used in, to hillarious effect. Also has a slightly non-liner plot.

Living in Oblivion - Non linear comedy about filmmaking.

The Life Aquatic - Quirky direction of a number of scenes.

The Red Spectacles and Talking Head - Quirky direction and editing abounds on these two films. With rapid shifts in mood, from contemplative drama to slap-stick comedy, these films can be a bit hard to digest.

scott shelton, given that your comment has nothing to do with the thread, I have to wonder what your intent is here. Whatever the case, I would recommend that you stick to to thread topic.