This list is part of a new feature where we ask established directors and critics to list what they feel are their top 10 “weird” movies. There are no constraints on what the author can pick. This list was composed by Sir Tijn Po, director of Coming Soon.
When people ask me if I believe in god, I always ask them to define the word “god” first, since without that definition my answer is meaningless; if by “god” they mean a bearded male sadist then my answer is “no”, if by “god” they mean “an abstract power larger than myself” then my answer is “yes”.
Similarly, when asked by 366weirdmovies.com to provide a list of my 10 favorite weird movies of all time, I would first like to explain my definition of “weird”, without which my list strikes me as irrelevant.
I assume that, unlike the vast majority of English-users, the founders of 366weirdmovies.com don’t see “weird” as a pejorative, otherwise they wouldn’t be spending so much time promoting “weird” films. I, too, don’t see “weird” as a negative; to me the word describes those areas of life which don’t quite fit into the rational, or conventionally emotional, yet effect us in powerful, and often pleasant, ways.
Some attribute this phenomenon to the sub-conscious, where, if you dig deep enough, all is supposedly explainable, etc. Fair enough. But I don’t feel the need to dig that deep. I think our rational faculties are only one portion of our governing structure and there is another, often contradictory, portion which simply enjoys, and oftentimes even craves, the irrational. No explanation needed. No need to dig into the subconscious to make it rational. We simply have it, even though we can’t explain it. Just like non-reproductive fetishes, etc. They make no sense, but they’re there.
Thus, to me “weird” movies, or “weird” anything for anything for that matter, are those which describe, or stimulate, the irrational within us.
So my 10 favorite “weird” films of all time (which aren’t necessarily my 10 favorite films of all time, since my rational favorites are not included here) are:
- Sir Tijn Po’s COMING SOON (the portions that I didn’t write, and still keep me up at night.)
- Jan Svankmajer‘s CONSPIRATORS OF PLEASURE.
- Pier Paolo Pasolini’s THEOREMA.
- Walon Green’s THE SECRET LIFE OF PLANTS.
- Frederico Fellini’s SATYRICON.