Avant-garde / Experimental
Avant-garde is a word from the French, meaning 'ahead of the crowd'. In contemporary English, we'd say it's on the 'cutting edge'. Avant-garde filmmakers want to experiment with new ideas, forms, techniques, and expressions - and are often said to be 'ahead of their time'. Avant-garde films are characterized by a high degree of experimentation - whether it be in manipulation of narrative materials, highly stylized visual representation, or radical departures from the norms and conventions current at the time, avant-garde film is always a vehicle for the filmmaker's expression. Surrealism, abstract studies of light and form, Dadaism, and impressionistic studies of people and things figure heavily in early works of the genre.
Below is a Alice's extensive collection in this genre.
Right: The famous eyeball scene from Luis Bunuel & Salvador Dali's 'Un Chien Andalou'.
The Nine Lives Of Fritz The Cat (1974)
5.4/10
Director: Robert Taylor
Starring: Skip Hinnant, Reva Rose, Voices Of, Bob Holt
This sequel to the notorious original finds the hippie feline in the '70s. Now on welfare with a nagging wife, he smokes dope for escape, and fantasiz... Read more
The Holy Mountain (1973)
7.9/10
Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Starring: Alejandro Jodorowsky
After "El Topo" and with the production assistance of John Lennon and ABKCO Films and the desire to become "the Cecil B. De Mille of the underground",... Read more
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
8/10
Director: Luis Bunuel
Starring: Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig, Bulle Ogier
Luis Bunuel's classic satire is filled with savage wit and some of the director's most surrealistic images. Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig and Stephane... Read more
Boxcar Bertha (1972)
6.1/10
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Barbara Hershey, David Carradine, Barry Primus
An early effort by Martin Scorsese, with Barbara Hershey, David Carradine, Barry Primus and Bernie Casey. The film is set at a railroad yard during th... Read more
Fritz The Cat (1972)
6.3/10
Director: Ralph Bakshi
Starring: Skip Hinnant, Rosetta Le Noire, Judy Engles
This x-rated cartoon by Ralph Bakshi hit a responsive chord with the counterculture audience of the seventies. This now classic cult rendition of Robe... Read more
Trash (1970)
5.7/10
Director: Paul Morrissey
Starring: Joe Dallesandro, Holly Woodlawn, Jane Forth
An outrageous tale of two of lifes losers, from the Andy Warhol factory. Joe Dallesandro is a heroin-addicted male hustler whose girlfriend, Holly Woo... Read more
Le Gai Savoir ( The Joy of Learning ) (1969)
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Starring: Jean-Pierre Leaud, Juliet Berto
Patricia (Juliet Berto) and Emile (Jean-Pierre Leaud) meet nightly on a sound stage to discuss learning, discourse, and the path to revolution. Scenes... Read more
Alice's Restaurant (1969)
6.3/10
Director: Arthur Penn
Starring: Arlo Guthrie, Pat Quinn, James Broderick
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant in this classic slice of 60s life, featuring troubadour Arlo Guthrie in his only major film appear... Read more
The Committee (1968)
6.3/10
Director: Peter Sykes
Starring: Robert Lloyd, Paul Jones
This independent black-and-white film noir stars Paul Jones of Manfred Mann fame and is a unique and controversial document of Britain in the 1960s. A... Read more
The Magus (1968)
5.9/10
Director: Guy Green
Starring: Candice Bergen, Michael Caine, Anthony Quinn, Anna Karina
John Fowles's complex novel (he also wrote the screenplay) is the basis for this bizarre and surreal classic. Michael Caine is an English school teac... Read more