Not Just Bending the Mind, but Transcending It
Twenty-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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23 titles
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsKeir DulleaGary LockwoodWilliam SylvesterAfter 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.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...
- DirectorRichard DonnerStarsChristopher ReeveMargot KidderGene HackmanAn alien orphan is sent from his dying planet to Earth, where he grows up to become his adoptive home's first and greatest superhero.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.
- DirectorKen RussellStarsWilliam HurtBlair BrownBob BalabanA psycho-physiologist experiments with drugs and a sensory-deprivation tank and has visions he believes are genetic memories.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.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsNigel TerryHelen MirrenNicholas ClayMerlin the magician helps Arthur Pendragon unite the Britons around the Round Table of Camelot, even as dark forces conspire to tear it apart.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. - DirectorJim HensonFrank OzStarsJim HensonKathryn MullenFrank OzOn 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.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!
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsRobert RedfordRobert DuvallGlenn CloseA middle-aged unknown comes seemingly out of nowhere to become a legendary baseball player with almost supernatural talent.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."
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsWillem DafoeHarvey KeitelBarbara HersheyThe life of Jesus Christ, his journey through life as he faces the struggles all humans do, and his final temptation on the cross.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!).
- DirectorAdrian LyneStarsTim RobbinsElizabeth PeñaDanny AielloMourning 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.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! - DirectorOliver StoneStarsVal KilmerMeg RyanKyle MacLachlanThe 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.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.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJeff BridgesRobin WilliamsAdam BryantA 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.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.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsJeff BridgesIsabella RosselliniRosie PerezA man's personality is dramatically changed after surviving a major airline crash.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.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsMichael DouglasDeborah Kara UngerSean PennAfter 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.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..."
- DirectorAlex ProyasStarsRufus SewellKiefer SutherlandJennifer ConnellyA 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.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.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsJim CarreyEd HarrisLaura LinneyAn insurance salesman discovers his whole life is actually a reality TV show.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.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsBrad PittEdward NortonMeat LoafAn insomniac office worker and a devil-may-care soap maker form an underground fight club that evolves into much more.Not quite in the "spiritual awakening" domain, but a strong psychological film. What was it about the late 90s?
- DirectorLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsKeanu ReevesLaurence FishburneCarrie-Anne MossWhen 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.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.
- DirectorStanley KubrickStarsTom CruiseNicole KidmanTodd FieldA Manhattan doctor embarks on a bizarre, night-long odyssey after his wife's admission of unfulfilled longing.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?
- DirectorJoel SchumacherStarsColin FarrellKiefer SutherlandForest WhitakerPublicist 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.The first time I saw this I was shocked. What a great, short little film about facing one's shadow and psychological maturation.
- DirectorJan KounenStarsVincent CasselMichael MadsenJuliette LewisIn 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.See my review. An unknown and under-appreciated masterpiece.
- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsLeonardo DiCaprioJoseph Gordon-LevittElliot PageA 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.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...
- DirectorGeorge NolfiStarsMatt DamonEmily BluntLisa ThoresonThe affair between a politician and a contemporary dancer is affected by mysterious forces keeping the lovers apart.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.
- DirectorJ.C. ChandorStarsRobert RedfordAfter 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.Man lost at sea in a broken boat. You figure out the metaphor. A quiet, understated master-class role by "old Redford."
- DirectorTerrence MalickStarsChristian BaleCate BlanchettNatalie PortmanA 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.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.