100 Films with Inexplicably Beautiful Cinematography

Without words, cameras show us the world, with an emphasis not on "where," but on "what's there." It begins with morning, natural landscapes and people at prayer: volcanoes, water falls, veldts, and forests; several hundred Balinese Hindu men perform kecak, the monkey chant. Indigenous peoples apply body paint; whole villages dance. The film moves to destruction of nature via logging, blasting, and strip mining. Images of poverty, rapid urban life, and factories give way to war, concentration camps, and mass graves. Ancient ruins come into view, and then a sacred river where pilgrims bathe and funeral pyres burn. Prayer and nature return. A monk rings a huge bell; stars wheel across the sky.

This experimental film looks at the world and more specifically the effect that humankind has had on the landscape and the environment. Without narration or story, the film shows the world in a pristine condition and untouched: blue skies, beautiful landscapes, and endless vistas. The human-made world is much less appealing. Essentially a montage using a variety of film techniques to provide a visually stunning variety of images.

Could a lost soul in the modern world make peace and reconcile his complicated relationship with his father? From the beginning of the universe to the present, this film questions the existence of faith and the search for what it means to be human, showing family relationships through different generations and how they cope with love and loss.

A man, now in his forties, grapples with fragmented memories of his tumultuous life. Through a mirage of dreams, newsreels, and stark recollections, he relives his childhood in prewar Russia, the wartime struggles, and the postwar upheavals. His mother’s sacrifices, the estrangement from his father, and the echoes of a nation in turmoil blur together, revealing the indelible scars of history on a deeply personal canvas.

Centered around the love story between English explorer John Smith (Colin Farrell) and Powhatan woman Pocahontas (Q'orianka Kilcher), the movie delicately portrays the clash of cultures against the backdrop of Virginia's stunning landscapes. With its dreamlike cinematography, introspective pacing, and evocative score, it becomes a poetic meditation on love, nature, and the birth of a new era.

In a bleak, unnamed country lies the Zone, an enigmatic territory where the laws of nature bend unpredictably. A mysterious guide known as the Stalker leads two clients, a Writer and a Professor, through this perilous landscape to a mythical place called the Room. It's rumored that the Room grants deepest desires, but entering the Zone is forbidden, guarded by military and rife with deadly traps.

Rick is a screenwriter living in Los Angeles, California. While he's successful in his career, his life feels empty. Haunted by the death of one brother and the dire circumstances of the other, he finds temporary solace in the Hollywood excess that defines his existence. Women provide a distraction to the daily pain he must endure, and every encounter that comes his way brings him closer to finding his place in the world. The film is divided into eight chapters (each named after a tarot card, except for the final chapter Freedom), plus a prologue, each loosely based around the central character's relationship with somebody in his life..

Russian poet Andrei Gorchakov, accompanied by guide and translator Eugenia's traveling through Italy researching the life of an 18th-century Russian composer. In an ancient town, he meets Domenico, who years earlier had imprisoned his family to save them from the evils of the world. Seeing some truth in Domenico's act, Andrei becomes drawn to him. In a series of dreams, the poet's nostalgia, and his sense of kinship with Domenico become intertwined.

Neil (Ben Affleck) is an American traveling in Europe who meets and falls in love with Marina (Olga Kurylenko), a Ukrainian divorcée who is raising her 10-year-old daughter Tatiana in Paris. The lovers travel to Mont St. Michel, the island abbey off the coast of Normandy, basking in the wonder of their newfound romance. Neil makes a commitment to Marina, inviting her to relocate to his native Oklahoma with Tatiana. He takes a job as an environmental inspector and Marina settles into her new life in America with passion and vigor. After a holding pattern, their relationship cools. Marina finds solace in the company of another exile, the Catholic priest Father Quintana (Javier Bardem), who is undergoing a crisis of faith. Work pressures and increasing doubt pull Neil further apart from Marina, who returns to France with Tatiana when her visa expires. Neil reconnects with Jane (Rachel McAdams), an old flame. They fall in love until Neil learns that Marina has fallen on hard times. Gripped by a sense of responsibility - and his own crisis of faith - he rekindles with Marina after another trip to France. She returns with him to Oklahoma, resuming her American life. But the old sorrows eventually return.

Alexander, a journalist and former actor and philosopher, tells his little son how worried he is about the lack of spirituality of modern mankind. In the night of his birthday, the third world war breaks out. In his despair Alexander turns himself in a prayer to God, offering him everything to have the war not happen at all.

Indiana, 1817. The entire nation, only 40 years old and a few years removed from a second war of independence, is raw. Men, women, and children alike must battle nature and disease to survive in remote log cabins. This is young Abraham Lincoln's world. Spanning three years of the future president's childhood, The Better Angels explores his family, the hardships that shaped him, the tragedy that marked him forever, and the two women who guided him to immortality.

Psychologist Kris Kelvin is sent to a space station orbiting the planet Solaris to investigate strange occurrences among the crew. The station, once bustling with researchers, now has only three inhabitants. Kelvin begins to see visions, including his deceased wife, who reappears as a "visitor" created by Solaris, forcing Kelvin to confront his past while grappling with the strange, supernatural phenomena.

Amid the turmoil of World War II, soldiers engage in a grueling battle against nature and the enemy on a Pacific island. The film delves deep into the minds of these soldiers, exploring their inner conflicts and the brutal realities of war. Its stunning visuals, captured by the masterful use of long takes, offer a unique and immersive perspective on the harrowing experiences of war.

In a small, dilapidated village in 1990s Hungary, life has come to a virtual stand-still. The autumn rains have started. A few of the villagers expect to receive a large cash payment that evening, and then plan to leave. Some want to abscond earlier with more than their fair share of the money. However, they hear that the smooth-talking Irimias, who they thought had died, is returning. They are apprehensive that he will take all their money in one of his grandiose schemes to keep the community going.

After humanity uncovers a mysterious black monolith on the Moon, scientists realize it was intentionally buried millions of years ago, sparking an expedition to Jupiter to find its origins. Aboard the spacecraft Discovery One, two astronauts, Dave Bowman and Frank Poole, work alongside HAL 9000, an AI designed to ensure mission success. However, HAL begins to display erratic behavior, putting the crew's survival at risk.