At first glance, you’d be forgiven for thinking that the adventure genre is entirely removed from arthouse as a genre or type of film. The former is all about depicting grand, often epic, and life-changing journeys into unfamiliar territories, while the latter – at least typically – tends to focus more on smaller stories while feeling introspective/psychological, and being made by singular voices while trying to challenge the art form of filmmaking as a whole.
As such, some arthouse movies aren’t too concerned with telling stories within fun or broadly appealing genres,but occasionally, something more adventurous/action-packed/fantastical will be infused with some arthouse sensibilities. The following movies demonstrate this well, as all can be defined as adventure movies (in one way or another, and sometimes in non-traditional ways), all the while feeling unique and at least a little arthouse, as far as filmmaking and style are concerned.
10’The Fountain' (2006)
Director: Darren Aronofsky
The Fountaincould well beDarren Aronofsky’smost mystifying and unusual movie, being a film that combines psychological drama, fantasy, and adventure genres. To get a little pretentious sounding, it could well be more about a “journey of the mind” or soul than a story about a more traditional adventure, but it nevertheless succeeds at depicting some kind of journey, and visualizing undeniably impressive and unusual sights.
The story ofThe Fountainspans time, space, and many years, with three different stories that become combined thematically and sometimes visually. At other points, it can be difficult to piece all the different parts ofThe Fountaintogether,but it does present spectacle and has a unique visual style, so even if it’s hard to understand the entire thing, it’s likely to make most viewers at least feel something.
The Fountain
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9’Son of the White Mare' (1981)
Director: Marcell Jankovics
Beingsomething of an animated arthouse filmwith a fantasy/adventure story,Son of the White Marestands out most of all for the simple yet striking style of animation it employs. There’s no other film that looks quite like it, and it offers something different from most other animated movies with fantastical storylines; indeed, it’s not really for kids, both because of its content and the fact it can be somewhat unsettling at times.
To describe the plot ofSon of the White Mareas simply as possible, it’s about three brothers who are warriors who all set out to rescue three princesses, encountering all sorts of strange obstacles and beings along the way.It’s probably not going to be for everyone, but that’s a statement that can be made about most arthouse films, animated or otherwise; it’s a risk taken when sitting down to watch something that’s arthouse.
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8’Fitzcarraldo' (1982)
Director: Werner Herzog
The most interesting part ofFitzcarraldomight well bethe behind-the-scenes story regarding its production, asWerner Herzogspared no expense in telling the story at hand. That’s all to say that the story is interesting, sure, because it’s about a man transporting a large steamship over a hill to access a body of water on the other side… but filming this story involved doing such a thing in real life, so committed was Herzog to his film being as realistic as possible.
Fitzcarraldocan be slow and isn’tas well-assembled as some of Herzog’s smaller films, but the gutsiness to tackle an epic adventure movie in such a way does make the film rewarding and worth seeking out. It’s a wild film, andit’s even wilder to read about its production, or witness it through the also compelling documentary, 1982’sBurden of Dreams.
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7’The City of Lost Children' (1995)
Directors: Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Marc Caro
One of the directors ofThe City of Lost Children,Jean-Pierre Jeunet, is one of the more well-known arthouse directors of the past few decades, largely thanks to films likeAmelieandDelicatessen.The City of Lost Childrenis possibly even stranger and darker than those, and isadmittedly most easily described as a fantasy movie… though it’s also a little sci-fi, it’s kind of creepy, and it has elements of the adventure genre, too.
It’s certainly a unique beast, with a narrative that follows a mad scientist kidnapping children because he wants to use them and their dreams to slow down his aging process.The City of Lost Childrenlooks beautiful and scary in equal measure, feeling dreamlike and nightmarish. It’s not a pleasant sort of fantasy/adventure movie, but it’s captivating and rewarding in its own strange ways for sure.
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6’The Green Knight' (2021)
Director: David Lowery
Agrim and very much R-rated fantasy/adventure movie,The Green Knighttakes what could be a fairly straightforward tale and turns it into something thrillingly strange and distinctive. It’s about the nephew of King Arthur, Sir Gawain, going on an eerie adventure to confront the titular Green Knight, following an ominous encounter the two have early on in the story.
The Green Knightis about fate and death and various other heavy-going things, all done in a way that looks visually impressive, albeit not in the way most blockbuster fantasy movies look. It’s a little more restrained and not as huge in scope, but finds other ways to shock and awe viewerswho are themselves feeling adventurous enough to take on an unusual adventure filmwith a fantasy spin.
The Green Knight
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5’The Fall' (2006)
Director: Tarsem Singh
If you combinedthe dark fantasy aspects ofPan’s Labyrinthwith the structure ofThe Princess Bride, and then captured it all with bold, colorful visuals, you’d get something likeThe Fall. It’s a story within a story, centering on a man telling a young girl a fairytale packed with fantasy and adventure elements, the story itself getting darker as his mood and hope for his own life worsen.
The Fallisa film that’s worth watching for the visuals alone, but there’s a good deal of substance here for anyone who wants to dig into the thematic side of things, and though elements of the story can be compared to other films, the execution here still feels fresh. It’s one of the most underrated films of potentially the entire 2000s, and feels worth digging up (unfortunately, it’s hard to find, and seems to be one of those titles that isn’t on any streaming service).
4’El Topo' (1970)
Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Alejandro Jodorowsky does not make films that everyone would enjoy, by any means, and it’s hard to even assess which one of his movies would be the most approachable, because they’re just about all perplexing and disturbing to some extent.El Topois considered one of his best, though, and manages to be a psychedelic adventure film, a Western, and certainly an arthouse movie, too, all at once.
The story involves one man and his son going on a strange journey through a surreal and violent Old West, withEl Topobeing one of the trippiest and most uncomfortable Westerns perhaps ever made. It’s not an easy film to watch or think about once it’s over, but it sticks with you, for better or worse, and is a unique nightmare that’s worth seeking out for anyone who appreciates arthouse cinema.
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3’A Touch of Zen' (1971)
Director: King Hu
For a good chunk of its runtime,A Touch of Zenispretty low on action, especially by martial arts movie standards. Narratively, it focuses on a young woman who’s on the run from a corrupt eunuch and his forces, forcing her to retreat to a remote mountain village, finding a level of peace there before her enemies inevitably catch up with her. At that point, theaction kicks off, and it’s all pretty amazing.
Having a mild fantastical feel to it, on top of being a martial arts/adventure movie,A Touch of Zenis strange but absorbing, and certainly feels unconventional, no matter how you want to define it genre-wise.Even in its slow moments, it’s never really boring, thankfully, and the final hour is worth waiting for, delivering more than enough action (within a lengthy three-hour runtime) to satisfy viewers who are watching just for the action/adventure stuff.
Watch on Criterion
2’Until the End of the World' (1991)
Director: Directed by Wim Wenders
Until the End of the Worldcould well be considered one of the most ambitious adventure movies of all time, as it’s truly epic in scope, following characters as they journey across the world, eventually ending up in Australia,the entire thing taking almost five hours. It slows down on the adventuring side of things, as it enters its second half, but then becomes truly prescient as a science fiction movie in ways that would be criminal to spoil.
It’s the biggest andlongest ofWim Wenders’famed road-trip movies, and contains some of the eccentricities you’d expect from the filmmaker, but everything’s given ample time to breathe, thanks to the runtime.Until the End of the Worldis a commitment to watch, sure, but it’s easy to fall in love with the film overall by the time it ends,and very few adventure movies are quite as beautiful or staggering in scope.
1’Aguirre, the Wrath of God' (1972)
While it might not offer quite as much spectacle asFitzcarraldo,Aguirre, the Wrath of Godis ultimately the stronger one of Werner Herzog’s adventure movies, at least if this pair’s being compared. Truth be told, it might well be one ofthe best arthouse films of all time, being a compelling portrait of madness experienced on a doomed expedition, scratching the same itch asApocalypse Nowfrom later that same decade.
Aguirre, the Wrath of Godis surprisingly easy to get into, as far as arthouse cinema goes, but it gets more disturbing and disquieting the further it goes along, having a fever dream-like feel at first that gradually becomes a nightmare. With Herzog’s penchant for authenticity andKlaus Kinski’sbizarre and absorbing lead performanceat its center,Aguirre, the Wrath of Godis a dark adventure movie that’s not easily forgotten.
