By Alyssa Miller · May 10, 2024
They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but defining what beautiful movies look like is possible. In cinema, “beautiful” is defined by the elements that go into the visualization of beauty: lighting, blocking, story, and more. This is the studium, or the social and cultural interpretation of the shot based on the elements in the image. This is what can help define beautiful movies in cinema.
Punctum focuses on the individual reaction to beauty, disregarding the director’s and cinematographer’s intentions with the image and the audience’s interaction with it. While each film has a mixture of both studium and punctum, some films are more focused on looking stunning without having much substance behind the image or impact on the story.
With this in mind, let’s get into the ten most beautiful movies ever made!
Screenplay by: Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Known for its use of Technicolor to create an almost surreal world, Black Narcissus heightens the emotional drama of the story through location, blocking, and cinematography. As tensions grow in a small convent of Anglican sisters atop an isolated mountain in the Himalayas, the images are well-crafted to add a layer of complexity and psychological depth that goes beyond spectacle.
The film was groundbreaking in its use of color psychology to explore the film’s themes and is often cited as a major influence on later films.
Screenplay by: Jacques Demy
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is more than a film–it is a visual and auditory feast that challenges traditional cinema. The sung-through format of a tragic love story that starts in the spring and ends on a winter night creates a unique and unforgettable cinematic experience that leaves audiences gasping at the beauty of young love.
Adding to the visual beauty of the film is Michel Legrand’s score, which captures the emotions of the characters, the story, and the brilliant saturated set design through sweeping melodies.
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Screenplay by: Andrei Tarkovsky
Tarkovsky’s unconventional film poem draws from his memories of a rural childhood before World War II, creating a prismatic reflection of his and his parents’ lives. By using wartime newsreel footage, self-conscious compositions, indelible imagery, and camera movements, Mirror searches for meaning in the memories of childhood.
The film is aware of its beauty and invites the viewers to engage with it as the non-linear plot gives audiences nothing to grasp. Instead, fragmented, symbolic imagery and profound themes convey a depth that audiences cannot escape.
Screenplay by: Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo-jung
While Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a visual treat for the eyes, its breathtaking cinematography, which captures the lush landscape of ancient China, its effortlessly choreographed fight sequences, and its fantastically grounded story provide a film that exudes beauty in every frame.
The stunning visuals are balanced by the rich storytelling that blends elements of Chinese mythology, folklore, and wuxia traditions that explore themes of duty, honor, and consequences of choices.
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Screenplay by: Terrence Malick
Malick’s signature visual style always has a level of beauty to it, but it shines in The Tree of Life. The film showcases the beauty of the natural world from the microscopic details of life to the grand scale of the cosmos through long takes, slow-motion sequences, and wide shots that capture the vastness and the intimate moments of life.
The wonder doesn’t stop with nature. It carries these visuals into fragmented memories of the man’s childhood, bringing to life nostalgia and complex family dynamics through the images’ composition.
Screenplay by: Spike Jonze
The futuristic world of Her is distant yet familiar thanks to the film’s melancholic, dreamlike atmosphere. The soft yet vibrant color palette serves as the backdrop to a complex story of love, evoking a tenderness from the strangeness of a man falling in love with artificial intelligence.
The beauty of Her is its ability to combine stunning visuals with the complexities of love and loneliness, leading viewers to contemplate the nature of connection and what it means to be human.
Screenplay by: Lucinda Coxon
While this Tom Hooper film has faced criticism for its portrayal and historical accuracy of the transgender experience, the beauty of The Danish Girl cannot go unnoticed. From its art-deco set design to its elegant composition and muted pastel color palette that adds a sense of dreaminess and melancholy, each shot adds another layer of depth to the story.
Screenplay by: Céline Sciamma
From the natural light, meticulous framing, and focus on details, to the portrayal of the female gaze, Portrait of a Lady on Fire is crafted to resemble a tableau, carefully composed and brimming with the beauty reminiscent of an 18th-century painting.
Sciamma restricts the color palette in the film to soft blues, greens, and browns, evoking melancholy and intimacy in each scene as the intensity of the forbidden love deepens.
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Screenplay by: Pablo Larraín and Guillermo Calderón
With legends Larraín and Edward Lachman behind the camera, it is no surprise that this black-and-white gothic political satire made this list. The film’s masterful cinematography harkens back to classic cinema, specifically German Expressionism, to balance the film’s themes of isolation and barrenness.
The classic gothic elements provide instant context to audiences, building upon the satire of the vampire, Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who lives within. It is the masterful blend of story and visuals that gives this film its beauty.
Screenplay by: Celine Song
The beauty of Past Lives is found in the simple blocking and meticulous composition of the frames. From the opening shot, which features the love triangle Nora finds herself in by the third act, there is beauty in the awkward moments.
From its lack of saturation, contrasting locations, and long takes, Past Lives creates a quiet poignancy that avoids melodramatic elements, instead aiming for depth that moves the audience.
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There are plenty of beautiful movies throughout the century of cinema. However, these ten films capture the essence of what makes a film beautiful. It is the story, cinematography, direction, and more that create a meaningful image that has beauty supporting it.
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