Not Just Bending the Mind, but Transcending It
by jonnybardo | created - 10 Jul 2017 | updated - 27 Aug 2019 | PublicTwenty-three films that you might not realize actually depict spiritual transformation/awakening...in chronological order. There are more, but these are particularly good and/or centered on awakening.
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1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
G | 149 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
After uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter
Votes: 716,770 | Gross: $56.95M
The definitive film epic, really four films in one. Part 1 is about our early ancestors and a very powerful sequence (the Monolith!); Part 2 is a bore, but sets the stage for 3; part 3 is the classic HAL sequence; and part 4 is the tripped out part that most glaze over, but is really the heart of the story. We must shut HAL off to go within...
2. Superman (1978)
PG | 143 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
An alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando
Votes: 186,950 | Gross: $134.22M
Superman? While this is the spirituality of a 12-year old boy, wish-fulfillment and empowerment - which is, unfortunately, the twisted Nietszchean worldview of egotism and capitalism, it is also the myth of embodiment writ large in the comic medium: Ka'lel is literally a cosmic sperm that impregnates the Earth, having to hide his true nature and powers. Of course like a dream or child's mentality, Superman can spin Earth's destiny to his own liking. Ultimately it is a false myth, but an important one to understand Western (male) consciousness. The myth is saved and vitalized by the existence of kryptonite. Aside from the godawful "can you read my mind?" scene, this is still one of the better superhero films.
3. Altered States (1980)
R | 102 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A psycho-physiologist experiments with drugs and a sensory-deprivation tank and has visions he believes are genetic memories.
Director: Ken Russell | Stars: William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, Charles Haid
Votes: 38,454 | Gross: $19.85M
I think this was William Hurt's first major film role. A classic of psychedelic cinema. It is really a story about a brilliant man who wants to feel truly alive, but goes to extremes to do so, and finds that what he was looking for is where he wasn't looking.
4. Excalibur (1981)
PG | 140 min | Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Merlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.
Director: John Boorman | Stars: Nigel Terry, Helen Mirren, Nicholas Clay, Cherie Lunghi
Votes: 66,911 | Gross: $34.97M
There is so much packed into this film. Don't be turned off by the over-the-top (but excellent) English stage acting. This film is lushly beautiful, a recreation of the Arthurian mythos with a true Grail Quest in the second half. "What is the secret of the Grail? The King and the Land are one..."
We are the King.
5. The Dark Crystal (1982)
PG | 93 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
On another planet in the distant past, a Gelfling embarks on a quest to find the missing shard of a magical crystal, and to restore order to his world.
Directors: Jim Henson, Frank Oz | Stars: Jim Henson, Kathryn Mullen, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz
Votes: 71,247 | Gross: $40.58M
Such a lovely film. This is perhaps the least explicitly about spiritual awakening on this list, but is very much about union of opposites and transcendence, but in pure mythic form. Look for the chakras!
6. The Natural (1984)
PG | 138 min | Drama, Sport
A middle-aged unknown comes seemingly out of nowhere to become a legendary baseball player with almost supernatural talent.
Director: Barry Levinson | Stars: Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Kim Basinger
Votes: 52,278 | Gross: $47.95M
Life never turns out how we think it will, but there's something deep within us that wants to be born, to fulfill our innate potential. A lovely film about late self-actualization. "I think we live two lives, the one we learn from and the one we live with after."
7. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
R | 164 min | Drama
The life of Jesus Christ, his journey through life as he faces the struggles all humans do, and his final temptation on the cross.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, Barbara Hershey, Paul Greco
Votes: 62,634 | Gross: $7.63M
This one was controversial when it came out, because the author of the book--Nikos Kazantzakis--had the audacity to imply that Jesus was horny, and that he failed (at first). The biggest failing of Christianity is that they miss the core truth of it: We ARE Christ. The story is about US - about YOU and ME. We are the sons and daughters of "God" (and don't forget...Christ is one of the trinity that makes up God!).
8. Jacob's Ladder (I) (1990)
R | 113 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Mourning his dead child, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions, and perceptions of death.
Director: Adrian Lyne | Stars: Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Peña, Danny Aiello, Matt Craven
Votes: 117,485 | Gross: $26.12M
Undoubtedly the most heart-wrenching film on this list, this one is about letting go in the most profound way. Very much a spiritual film disguised as...horror? Danny Aiello's character is pure gold - a true guardian angel.
Bardo!
9. The Doors (1991)
R | 140 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The story of the famous and influential 1960s rock band The Doors and its lead singer and composer, Jim Morrison, from his days as a UCLA film student in Los Angeles, to his untimely death in Paris, France at age 27 in 1971.
Director: Oliver Stone | Stars: Val Kilmer, Meg Ryan, Kyle MacLachlan, Frank Whaley
Votes: 98,768 | Gross: $35.18M
Oliver Stone's Jim Morrison as depicted by Val Kilmer is essentially a failed shaman, with authentic visionary and shamanic capacity, but drowned by addiction and celebrity. Whether this is truly accurate to life, it is a cautionary tale about the dangers of unacknowledged shadow and the temptations and allure of fame and power.
10. The Fisher King (1991)
R | 137 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A former radio DJ, suicidally despondent because of a terrible mistake he made, finds redemption in helping a deranged homeless man who was an unwitting victim of that mistake.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Robin Williams, Adam Bryant, Paul Lombardi
Votes: 90,638 | Gross: $41.90M
This film works on so many levels. The chemistry of Bridges and Williams is just wonderful. This is a story of healing and awakening for both.
11. Fearless (1993)
R | 122 min | Drama, Thriller
A man's personality is dramatically changed after surviving a major airline crash.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rossellini, Rosie Perez, Tom Hulce
Votes: 24,494 | Gross: $7.00M
A forgotten gem by Peter Weir, the same director who brought us the Truman Show - and another Jeff Bridges film. The story of a man who detaches from the world after a plane crash, both transcending but also dissociating from hit.
12. The Game (1997)
R | 129 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
After a wealthy San Francisco banker is given an opportunity to participate in a mysterious game, his life is turned upside down as he begins to question if it might really be a concealed conspiracy to destroy him.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Michael Douglas, Deborah Kara Unger, Sean Penn, James Rebhorn
Votes: 427,578 | Gross: $48.32M
What a powerful film, a film of psycho-spiritual awakening in the guise of a thriller, starring Michael Douglas no less. If you want to know what the Game is about: "Once I was blind, now I can see..."
13. Dark City (1998)
R | 100 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A man struggles with memories of his past, which include a wife he cannot remember and a nightmarish world no one else ever seems to wake up from.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, William Hurt
Votes: 211,573 | Gross: $14.38M
A forgotten gem. A pure Gnostic film if there ever was one. Came out around the same time as the Matrix and was overshadowed by it, but I think a better film.
14. The Truman Show (1998)
PG | 103 min | Comedy, Drama
An insurance salesman discovers his whole life is actually a reality TV show.
Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Jim Carrey, Ed Harris, Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich
Votes: 1,189,435 | Gross: $125.62M
A variation on Plato's cave - one of the most explicit spiritual awakening stories to gain a wide audience, although probably not widely understood as such.
15. Fight Club (1999)
R | 139 min | Drama
An insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Meat Loaf, Zach Grenier
Votes: 2,311,921 | Gross: $37.03M
Not quite in the "spiritual awakening" domain, but a strong psychological film. What was it about the late 90s?
16. The Matrix (1999)
R | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi
When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 2,043,732 | Gross: $171.48M
I just re-watched it and it was a bit dated - so late 90s Gen X cool, but still a good film with some powerful imagery (Neo "waking up" is still just jaw-dropping). A very dark Gnostic film.
17. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
R | 159 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A Manhattan doctor embarks on a bizarre, night-long odyssey after his wife's admission of unfulfilled longing.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Todd Field, Sydney Pollack
Votes: 373,490 | Gross: $55.69M
Perhaps not quite "spiritual," but like Phone Booth, certainly about psychological awakening and facing of the shadow. When we look within, what do we see? What can we truly admit to ourselves?
18. Phone Booth (2002)
R | 81 min | Crime, Thriller
Publicist Stuart Shepard finds himself trapped in a phone booth, pinned down by an extortionist's sniper rifle. Unable to leave or receive outside help, Stuart's negotiation with the caller leads to a jaw-dropping climax.
Director: Joel Schumacher | Stars: Colin Farrell, Kiefer Sutherland, Forest Whitaker, Radha Mitchell
Votes: 284,991 | Gross: $46.57M
The first time I saw this I was shocked. What a great, short little film about facing one's shadow and psychological maturation.
19. Renegade (2004)
R | 124 min | Adventure, Fantasy, Western
In 1870, after a brutal run-in with an outlaw in a brothel, Mike Blueberry becomes marshal in Arizona where he keeps the peace between whites and Apaches, but an influx of gold-hunters threatens to lead to violence.
Director: Jan Kounen | Stars: Vincent Cassel, Michael Madsen, Juliette Lewis, Temuera Morrison
Votes: 12,314
See my review. An unknown and under-appreciated masterpiece.
20. Inception (2010)
PG-13 | 148 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O., but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Ken Watanabe
Votes: 2,539,372 | Gross: $292.58M
There are layers to this film, not just within the story itself but the film's meaning. Are we truly awake? What is this waking realm? Are there not always further layers, endless depths to discover? The top is still spinning...
21. The Adjustment Bureau (2011)
PG-13 | 106 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The affair between a politician and a contemporary dancer is affected by mysterious forces keeping the lovers apart.
Director: George Nolfi | Stars: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Lisa Thoreson, Florence Kastriner
Votes: 269,694 | Gross: $62.50M
A story about fighting fate and free will. I've always felt that free will and predetermination were not mutually exclusive. More recently I've begun to feel that both are egoic illusions, masks of a greater reality. Either way, this one is about following one's truth to the end.
22. All Is Lost (2013)
PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After a collision with a shipping container at sea, a resourceful sailor finds himself, despite all efforts to the contrary, staring his mortality in the face.
Director: J.C. Chandor | Star: Robert Redford
Votes: 83,690 | Gross: $6.26M
Man lost at sea in a broken boat. You figure out the metaphor. A quiet, understated master-class role by "old Redford."
23. Knight of Cups (2015)
R | 118 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A writer indulging in all that Los Angeles and Las Vegas have to offer, undertakes a search for love and self via a series of adventures with six different women.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman, Brian Dennehy
Votes: 29,323 | Gross: $0.56M
My favorite Malick movie and his most under-appreciated and mis-understood. This is a film about being lost, yet finding that all things point the way back home to who we truly are, and to the Pearl that we have lost.
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