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Ask HN: What movies changed your perception of reality or life?

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Re: Ask HN: What movies changed your perception of reality or life?

#52

Post by Archelaos »

pan69 wrote: post #26

Cloud Atlas It's a movie I seem to go back to, to understand more about it and how the different story lines are connected. The philosophy aspect of this film I find appealing and it made think about reality differently although I wouldn't call myself a believer of such things. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWnAqFyaQ5s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_Atlas_(film)

I found the book even better and started reading more novels from David Mitchell. "Cloud Atlas" is still my favorite of his books. A lot of his essays are available online via The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/davidmitchell

Re: Ask HN: What movies changed your perception of reality or life?

#54

Post by Waterluvian »

hoc wrote: post #45

Blade Runner, as it was the first one I saw that was about the meaning of memories and beliefs. I actually liked The 6th Day when it comes to ideas of our "natural" view on identity and ownership of individual assets etc. Matrix, of course, for its search for reality/truth behind ones inherited perceptions, no matter what consequences (there are more ideas in the movies, though).

Blade Runner 2049 got me thinking a lot about what “real” or “authentic” mean.

Re: Ask HN: What movies changed your perception of reality or life?

#55

Post by tenpies »

orev wrote: post #28

(Mild spoilers) Both of these were written stories first, but I first encountered them as movies. Arrival . I really enjoyed the idea that learning something new could lead to other changes in perception that you wouldn’t think are related. It also led me to other works from Ted Chiang, each of which brought unexpected mind bending concepts. Solaris . Teaches the lesson that we need to accept that there may be things…

Very glad to see someone also mention Arrival.

I would strong suggest reading the Ted Chiang short story on which it is based: Stories of your Life.

Spoilers ahead:

The movie necessarily makes some changes and adds some action through geopolitics, but at its core it remains the story of a mother that knows that her child will die and her marriage will fall apart; yet she still decides to get married and have a child. It's a story about accepting fate and the ephemerality of life and happiness - and then aliens also happen to be around with a very cool perspective on time to make the whole story work.

Re: Ask HN: What movies changed your perception of reality or life?

#56

Post by luxuryballs »

lobito14 wrote: post #3

Fight Club and The Matrix, but I only understood the latter several years later.

Good reminder. Fight Club had the same effect on me but it went through phases as I first watched it in my teens and appreciated it for certain reasons, especially the more anarchist future “back to nature” aspects.

But then as I grew older and read the book and gained more life experience in general, I appreciated it differently, the deeper meaning, anti-satire, realness and broader narrative as I then started to understand it, seeing things about society through the lens of the characters and with an understanding of why we have order and laws and a system. I thought I was maturing or being some higher intellectual.

But then as I got even older and gained even more wisdom and experience, I realized the teenager appreciated aspects were really the true and tangible message, and it was because of the truth that was revealed. I came full circle and realized the returning to nature was the real answer all along, and appreciated the anarchy again and even more fully but now for an entirely different reason.

Oh and READ THE BOOK! It is the only time in my life where I was not disappointed after reading the book that I had watched a movie before reading the book actually, just try hard not to catch any spoilers on differences between the book and the movie!

Re: Ask HN: What movies changed your perception of reality or life?

#57

Post by walterbell »

wfleming wrote: post #44
walterbell wrote: post #33

A Most Violent Year Barry Lyndon Breaking the Maya Code Equilibrium Margin Call Moonfall Good Kill Godzilla vs Kong Inception Seven Days in May Simone The Leopard / Il Gattopardo Trudell Until the End of the World

I don’t want to sound like a snob, but Godzilla vs Kong looks pretty out of place on that list. Can I ask what put it on your list?

Visualization of hyperloop between Florida and Hong Kong, and some of the hollow earth visuals, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39722705. Rest of the movie was less memorable :) The storyline of Apple TV's Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is more engaging. A few good visuals as well, but it doesn't have a movie budget. Moonfall has a good interior visualization of "hollow moon" spaceship at the end, but is otherwise forgettable. Mind-bending images of fictional "under space" and "inner space", respectively.

Re: Ask HN: What movies changed your perception of reality or life?

#59

Post by notaigenerated »

"Come and see" and "20 Days in Mariupol". Both are about wars and both affect you the way nothing else does.

The last one is a documentary about the war in Ukraine. The actual raw uninterpreted reality of things that we read about in history books or in the news changes your perspective on many things, from politics to simple things in life that we often take for granted.

News stories force an agenda on you. History books may give you some knowledge about the reality we live in today. THIS lets you live through the traumatic experience of the history books and news story events.

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