Cinema can also be a source of inspiration when reflecting on personal relationships Art is still a way of expressing feelings and ideas that cannot be expressed in words, and its interpretation can be very stimulating.
Furthermore, movies have long ceased to be mere entertainment; Today they are much more, and can even be the subject of philosophical essays, as demonstrated by the work of the thinker Slavoj Žižek.
Below you can see a selection of recommended films to think about life relationships and the way we experience them.
1. The tree of life
One of the recent films with a more obvious Judeo-Christian background. It’s not just the story of a family ; It aspires to be a representation of the birth of love and piety in general as elements that allow meaning to be given to life.
2. Forget about me
A man who finds himself involved in the conflict of whether he should forget his relationship with a woman or if he prefers to keep those memories, no matter how painful they may be. After all, memory is part of one’s identity, in addition to being the place where love lives.
Recognized by many as Christopher Nolan’s best film to date, Memento talks about the role we have in constructing meaning for our own existence. To do this, he uses the case of Leonard, a man suffering from anterograde amnesia
4. American Beauty
One of the best-known classics of philosophical cinema. A middle-aged man in the midst of an existential crisis sees how his life changes when he meets his daughter’s young friend. A very tragicomedy scathing and critical of the Western model of life
5. The good side of things
A man trying to get out of the worst time of his life meets a socially marginalized young woman. A film that emphasizes not getting carried away by appearances. Meeting people you are compatible with requires a good amount of critical thinking.
6. Now or never
Two men with terminal illnesses decide to undertake together the search for all those experiences that they would like to see realized before they die. Despite coming from totally different worlds the tandem that both form is addictive and very endearing.
7. Waking Life
A philosophical film basically composed of conversations that take place throughout what seems to be a dream. It shows a risky aesthetic, based on the use of rotoscoping (the film frames are painted to look like drawings).
8. Into the wild
What would happen if we tried to reduce our lives to the bare minimum? This film addresses this topic from the narration of a real case, that of a young man nicknamed Alexander Supertramp who decided to leave everything behind and start living in the middle of nature in a self-sufficient way.
As in Now or Never, here the adventures of two very different people are also narrated. What distinguishes these two films to reflect on life is that in this second one the context changes: not only is there a class difference between the two, there is also a generational difference. Furthermore, this is not a film about what makes life unique, but rather one that invites us to think about racism and discrimination.
10.Blade Runner
What is it that makes us humans? What is the nature of forgiveness? In this movie of androids and humans The most ancient philosophical questions are addressed and, in the process, a story is told that surpasses that of the book on which it is based.
11. Dead Poets Society
One of the most remembered films starring Robin Williams. The story of a teacher who encourages his students to live life intensely through his unconventional educational methods and a motto: carpe diem.
12. The arrival
One of the science fiction films that does what this genre does best: talk not only about a universe different from ours in which technology is superior, but address the big human questions through the tools available in that fictional world. In this case, love and the pain caused by loss play a fundamental role.
13. Annie Hall
A Woody Allen classic, in which drama is mixed with large doses of humor to give rise to astute reflections on life and love. Or, rather, about heartbreak.
14. Fight Club
What gives meaning to our lives? Where do we get the strength to love? If Fight Club has become a cult film It is because of the crudeness with which it perfectly portrays the modern way of life based on consumption and productivity understood as the source of the meaning of life and even love.
One of the most famous documentaries by director Werner Herzog. Focuses on the life of Timothy Treadwell a man of humble class who decided to spend several summers in virgin lands surrounded by wild bears, to establish a friendship with them and film them.
16. Path
A very interesting film that addresses the topic of the way in which the experience of death can be hijacked by religious fundamentalism.
17. Fires
One of Denis Villeneuve’s most famous films, about the way in which The imaginary borders that societies establish can form physical borders totally palpable, maintained by hatred and fear.
18. This is England
A story about the way in which a counterculture like that of the skinheads can transform into another that affirms values consistent with the maintenance of State power thanks to racism and xenophobia.
19. Everything is illuminated
Elijah Wood stars in a film based on stories from the past, and the way in which they shape the way we experience the present both individually and collectively, focusing on the case of the Jewish collective.
20. Deep Sea
One of Alejandro Amenábar’s classics, it tells the true story of Ramón Sampedro, who for years fought for the right to a dignified death, with all the moral implications that this entails.
21. Melancholy
This film by Danish director Lars von Trier is divided into two parts, and explains through narrations the story of an apocalypse that is more personal than real.
