10 meditative and contemplative films that will calm anyone

1. Music between us

Song to Song

• USA, 2015.
• Drama, melodrama, music.
• Duration: 129 minutes.
• IMDb: 5.6.

Fay, a young guitarist, works as an administrator for music producer Cook. In the hope that this will help her career, she decides to become his mistress. Fei soon meets a young musician BV and gradually falls in love. Meanwhile, Cook tries to seduce waitress Rhonda.

American classic Terrence Malick started working on the film in 2011 and finished it only in 2017. This unthinkable period is explained by the fact that the tape was filmed without a script, on pure improvisation of the actors.

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2. While we are young

While We're Young

• USA, 2014.
• Drama, comedy, detective.
• Duration: 97 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.3.

Josh and Cornelia have been together for a long time, they are both in their 40s, and they never managed to have children. They meet another, younger couple and quickly bond with them. Friendship with new people instantly changes heroes: they regain their

taste for life and feel very young.

Noah Baumbach is great at telling simple everyday stories. And this is precisely the main charm of his work. The slow pace of the narrative and natural dialogues allow the viewer to feel like an accomplice to what is happening and immerse themselves in the feelings of the characters as much as possible.

3. tree of life

The Tree of Life

• USA, 2010
• Fantasy, drama.
• Duration: 139 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.8.

Mr and Mrs O'Brien are ordinary American parents. They hold completely opposite views on the upbringing of their son Jack. When he grows up a little, problems from childhood make themselves felt.

Screenwriter/director Terrence Malick has been mulling over the idea for his film for nearly 30 years. This atmospheric and beautiful drama not only tells about the relationship between parents and children, but also makes you think about the issues of the universe.

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4. Only lovers will survive

Only Lovers Left Alive

• UK, Germany, Greece, France, 2013.
• Fantasy, thriller, drama.
• Duration: 118 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.2.

A talented musician, Adam doesn't like to leave the house very much. His wife Eva loves poetry. They are vampires who have been living on Earth for many hundreds of years. But one day the heroes stop supplying blood.

Works Jim Jarmusch - a synonym for a contemplative and meditative atmosphere. And the vampire drama Only Lovers Left Alive deserves to be included in the list of the most leisurely yet beautiful films in the world.

Moreover, Jarmusch specifically sought such an effect. And in response to the studio's request to add dynamic scenes to the film, the director removed even those few energetic episodes that were there.

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5. Land of nomads

Nomadland

• USA, Germany, 2020.
• Drama.
• Duration: 110 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.3.

After the death of her husband, the elderly woman Fern fought to the last for her housing, until the enterprise for which she worked closed. Then the heroine bought a motorhome and went on a trip to America. Along the way, she met a group of nomads - people who also lost their earnings and their own homes.

poetic drama Chloe Zhao combines artistic and documentary approach to filming. In 2 hours, only two professional actors appear on the screen, the rest are ordinary people from the nomad movement.

Zhao is one of those directors who can see the beauty in the ordinary. The infinitely beautiful American landscapes captured by her camera are mesmerizing, and Frances McDormand's expressive face makes you want to watch eternity.

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6. Paterson

Paterson

• France, Germany, USA, 2016.
• Drama, melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 118 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.3.

A young man named Paterson works as a bus driver in a small town. During breaks, the hero composes poems for his beloved wife Laura, which he writes down in a notebook. The wife has long been asking her husband to make a copy just in case, but when he finally decides to listen to her, something unpredictable happens.

The paintings of Jim Jarmusch one would like to compare with poetry - they are so lyrical, contemplative and deep. The stories of one married couple from Paterson, at first glance, have nothing to surprise the viewer. But thanks to small touching details, the director manages to convey the beauty of ordinary life, full of imperceptible joys and daily worries.

7. Sweet Frances

Frances Ha

• USA, Brazil, 2012.
• Drama, melodrama, comedy.
• Duration: 86 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.4.

A young New Yorker, Frances Halladay, wants to be dancereven though she doesn't have the ability to do so. The only friend, Sophie, betrays her at the first opportunity. But Francis has enough optimism to calmly overcome all difficulties and continue to look for her place in life.

The stylish black and white painting by Noah Baumbach, despite the absence of color, is permeated with a sense of lightness and carelessness. But the main thing is that in it the director tells in simple language about living people and their problems.

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8. Minari

Minari

• USA, 2020.
• Drama.
• Duration: 115 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.5.

An immigrant from Korea, Jacob, along with his family, moves from California to provincial Arkansas. He plans to fulfill his dream of becoming a real American farmer. But the work is going on with great difficulty, there is not enough strength and money. To reassure his wife, Jacob arranges for his mother-in-law Sunju to visit.

Director Lee Isaac Cheung himself was born into a family of Korean immigrants who moved to Arkansas. Therefore, for him the picture is deeply personal. But at the same time, the story itself about the difficulties of assimilation and family cohesion turned out to be surprisingly universal and close to almost every person.

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9. Before dawn

Before Sunrise

• USA, Austria, Switzerland, 1995.
• Drama, melodrama.
• Duration: 101 minutes.
• IMDb: 8.1.

American Jesse meets Frenchwoman Celine on the train. A spark immediately runs between them. And the girl persuades Jesse to go to Vienna to spend time together before he leaves.

Richard Linklater created a peculiar a cast of realityin which Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy exist amazingly naturally on screen. After that, the director made two more films with the same leading actors at intervals of nine years - Before Sunset (2004) and Before Midnight (2013).

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10. love mood

Faa young nin wa

• Hong Kong, 2000
• Drama, melodrama.
• Duration: 98 minutes.
• IMDb: 8.1.

Journalist Chow and secretary Su simultaneously move into two adjacent rooms in a large communal apartment. He has a wife and she has a husband, but both of them are almost never at home. A friendship soon develops between Chow and Su. Talking on personal topics, both understand that their spouses change them with each other.

In the Mood for Love is one of the most beautiful and mesmerizing films in the history of cinema. Director Wong Kar-wai has created a unique dream-like world filled with poetic images: the sound of rain, reflections in mirrors, the play of light and shadow, and bright colors on the dresses of actress Maggie Cheung.

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