By Petr Knava | Social Media | February 14, 2022 |
By Petr Knava | Social Media | February 14, 2022 |
So I saw this Twitter prompt the other day—
What is the best movie you've ever seen where landscape plays a vital role? pic.twitter.com/PPvrdO5uId
— Taste of Cinema (@davidcinema) February 12, 2022
And it immediately made me think of two films I had seen recently. The first was Paolo Sorrentino’s Hand of God. A beautiful and bittersweet coming-of-age film based around Sorrentino’s childhood in Naples and anchored on the city’s deification of Diego Maradona, Hand of God opens with an absolutely stunning sequence in which the camera sweeps over the dark blue waters of the Gulf of Naples. Rushing forward and slowly adjusting its gaze upwards as it does so, the view gradually reveals to us the city itself, partially painted golden as it succumbs to twilight. The camera tracks West, following the coastal road that separates Naples from the sea, taking in the stacked apartment buildings that cascade up the hills that lead away from the water as well as the marina dotted with a hundred boats and eventually rotating to reveal the promontory of the Posillipo coast where Naples slips into the water. It’s a striking, indellible opening, and it cements a core truth: Naples is as much of a character here as anyone else.
The other film the Twitter prompt made me think of was 2019’s This is not a burial, It’s a Resurrection, Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s incredible depiction of one woman’s refusal to allow the forces of faux-progress to sever the land’s connection to its people. Late South African actress Mary Twala Mhlongo superbly plays Mantoa, an 80-year-old who stokes her small community to resistance against the resettlement being forced upon them in the name of dam construction and land redevelopment, and it is that huge, verdant land which also takes on a central role in the film. Film writer Guy Lodge described This is not a burial, It’s a Resurrection as ‘a haunted, unsentimental paean to land and its physical containment of community and ancestry,’ and that feeling bleeds from every frame.
Here are some of the thoughts that Twitter had in response to the prompt:
The obsessively claustrophobic form of the landscape reflects Jack’s internal conflict. The labyrinth-like hallways of the hotel allow for this landscape to continue indoors - it’s quite beautiful and flawlessly executed #Filmmaker pic.twitter.com/iE9PwWKTC1
— SrinWriter (@srin_writer) February 12, 2022
This masterpiece 😍 pic.twitter.com/w2IlOv5U9h
— Arnau Martín (@ArnauCamarasa) February 12, 2022
Nic Roeg's WALKABOUT. Never has a film used the savage beauty of the Australian outback to such devastating effect. One of John Barry's finest soundtracks as well. https://t.co/9juGYwG1CE
— Euan Murray (@mur66208264) February 12, 2022
"Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter … and Spring" by Korean director Kim Ki-duk. An amazing big-screen movie. pic.twitter.com/CeO2W6zM5a
— Joshua Tanzer (@jmtangerine) February 12, 2022
• Annihilation
— Mayukh (@gladlyPessimist) February 12, 2022
• Monos
• Call Me by Your Name
• Mad Max: Fury Road pic.twitter.com/uiU4ex0tR6
Under appreciated gem of a film, San Francisco as a character has never looked sweeter. pic.twitter.com/NlmJ7yHPOk
— Annalise Ophelian (@Dr_Ophelian) February 13, 2022
So many great answers. Going way back for this one, but von Stroheim filming the final scene of "Greed" in Death Valley in the 1920s was insane https://t.co/5MVADbesE7
— THEE Pamchenko Twist (@pamchenko_twist) February 12, 2022
One of many breathtaking views from “Kundun”! pic.twitter.com/FvVoLUObKE
— Chris O'Neil (@FroggyCO) February 13, 2022
Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon pic.twitter.com/u54vkNYvRd
— Roger Tully (@rogertully) February 12, 2022
There’s so many! I’m surprised no one has mentioned “The Naked Island” yet! pic.twitter.com/ggUdyHGR1G
— Chris O'Neil (@FroggyCO) February 13, 2022
Days of Heaven (1978) pic.twitter.com/8Y2uwP2aF2
— Orangutan1973 (@orangutan1973) February 12, 2022
The Power of the Dog. pic.twitter.com/ZCOx2fFn20
— Spider Jerusalem (@charlesremender) February 12, 2022
The Thin Red Line 1998 pic.twitter.com/iUmpw9QZU2
— Mahzad (@mahzadjafarii) February 12, 2022
These two (and the wetlands in True Detective, Season 1) pic.twitter.com/DEGJgSkQe5
— Mai Young Øvlisen (@mai_ovlisen) February 12, 2022
I’m throwing Fargo in the mix pic.twitter.com/9FIqdqB2HP
— jon (@itsjonmiller) February 12, 2022
“What is the best movie you've ever seen where landscape plays a vital role?”
— John Hayden (3x-jabbed) (@anvilwonk) February 13, 2022
Hard to decide, so here’s several:
CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS pic.twitter.com/Sz74rprXIp
THE REMAINS OF THE DAY pic.twitter.com/9rDpgLIYUj
— Sean Chavel (@FLICKMINUTE) February 12, 2022
Apocalypse Now. The River is like a pagan god testing the characters. pic.twitter.com/Hd5Y55Trvq
— AaronPB (@LifeIsAStoryYT) February 12, 2022
Picnic at Hanging Rock definitely one. pic.twitter.com/dVMdRFEAtB
— 🦓 Brian (@intherain100) February 12, 2022
‘Lawerence of Arabia’. It’s a superb film and a work of art, David Lean’s masterpiece. pic.twitter.com/UrLUkhlRJI
— Dan Barrett (@danjb1977) February 12, 2022
Jeremiah Johnson pic.twitter.com/F2xGwlIGQj
— RussMudgeon (@RussWait2) February 12, 2022
I'll say a movie I imagine no one has said. Eternity (Wiñaypacha) pic.twitter.com/7TtdDzowAc
— Jonathan (@Mil_espejos) February 12, 2022
Letter Never Sent (1960)
— Brian (@AtlasNebula) February 12, 2022
Sorcerer (1977)
PlayTime (1967)
Stalker (1979) pic.twitter.com/Us8FnacNZA
Lord of the Rings-The Fellowship of the Ring pic.twitter.com/3T6DrahiTa
— Kathy Reineking🌊🌊🌊 (@KathyReineking) February 13, 2022
“What is the best movie you've ever seen where landscape plays a vital role?”
— John Hayden (3x-jabbed) (@anvilwonk) February 13, 2022
Hard to decide, so here’s several:
LEVIATHAN pic.twitter.com/D6YFWjhoME
— Giannamarí (@giannaayora) February 12, 2022
El Abrazo de la Serpiente (Embrace of the Serpent) pic.twitter.com/FbY8jfHvVH
— Alejandro Toro (@AlejoTorocomic) February 12, 2022
A lot of great ones already said so I'll say the urban landscape of Drive pic.twitter.com/40rU5E8k4f
— Josh The Writer 📚 (@jlpatrickriley) February 13, 2022
Aguirre: Wrath of God. The landscape itself is a lead character. pic.twitter.com/wBforbQfWq
— attendancebias podcast (@attendancebias) February 12, 2022
NCFOM pic.twitter.com/gwW3C1rJMW
— Jeff Gammage (@JeffGammage) February 12, 2022
“What is the best movie you've ever seen where landscape plays a vital role?”
— John Hayden (3x-jabbed) (@anvilwonk) February 13, 2022
Hard to decide, so here’s several:
FREE SOLO pic.twitter.com/XiLANKpamn
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