Now I haven't seen Salo other than on store shelves (I think it was mostly in the semi bargain bin, going for 11 euros or something like that), I've heard plenty of things about it though and enough to make me realize I don't really need to watch it.

But if something is the embodiment of everything that disgusting and disturbing about human nature I can't honestly see why it shouldn't be published.
(and the argument that is even more convincing to me... If a movie like Salo is widely available in regular stores and even put in the bargain bin together with films like Rat Race and Vidocq I can't really see how it should not be published 8^)

Now, I can really only come up with one movie that have had a significant impact on my way of life. Sure there's plenty of movies that make me think and feel about things I hadn't considered too much but the fact is that after some time these things blend in with all the other stuff that affect my life all the time. Usually it takes a couple of films with a similar theme combined with a book or two to make me go "okay, that's how it should go"

But yeah, that one movie was it?

Star Wars
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Episode_IV:_A_New_Hope
Without Star Wars I wouldn't be the person I am today. It's really that simple. Exposed to it from a very young age and playing with lightsabers all the way back in kindergarten this movie more than any have influenced my whole way of thinking and being and all that stuff. This is the most important movie I've seen. I don't really know what else to add to that, it's just the way it is.

I am absolutely with Shinan on this one.

I can't remember any right now... So I guess that means if one does come to mind I shouldn't post it since it wasn't influential enough for me to remember it now.

The Butterfly Effect
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_butterfly_effect
It really opened my mind to how choices can effect your life, and its meaning has stuck with me ever since I first saw it about 3 years ago.

GOD FUCKING HOW MUCH I HATE REQUIEM FOR A DREAM
Honestly I think it is one of the most pretentious films out there.


As for me,
obviously SCHIZOPOLIS

as some out there states, it is the postmodern Citizen Kane

A Clockwork Orange
I'll admit it's not the best film for being pretty inaccurate to the book it's based on, but after I watched it I started loving classical music and I became completely obsessed with Stanley Kubrick.

Hmm. I'm going to try to answer this. The topic keeps popping up and I can never actually think of what influenced me, but I'll give it a go at listing the films that have probably influenced me in some way, or have effected me in some way that I think is worth a mention this this topic (who knows, it's all very confusing).


Happy Together
I haven't watched this in some time and I only watched it once. It's been at least two-three years since I saw it, so the details could be sketchy. This was the first Wong Kar-Wai film I saw, I had picked it up from the library, interested by the reviews on the cover and figuring what the hell, I'm here to have my mind opened, so let's go for a homosexual film. At the time I had previously asked to see if my girlfriend at the time would watch it with me, because I didn't really have the courage to watch it by myself at first, but scrapped that eventually. The film still remains as my #2 favourite film, and I've always considered buying the £150 boxset.

I guess it's an influencial film for me, it introduced me to WKW and Doyle, art-house cinema although I'd already been watching a few. If you haven't seen it, it's incredible. It's a gritty drama about heartbreaks and all that, and basically how this couple seems to keep coming together (played by Tony Leung Chiu Wai and the late Leslie Cheung). The film was without a script, which is usual if you've seen any of WKW's films.

Pretty great stuff.

All About Lily Chou-Chou
Yet another influencial film for me, and I'll try to put this into words, although it may be difficult. Lily Chou-Chou was almost an ethereal kind of filmmaking. It's so difficult to describe, the film shot by a digital camera, the film scored with Debussy and the content, although somewhat underlying, is deeply disturbing. Rape, suicide, theft, bullying, child prostitution, it has it all. And yet it seems to focus in a total different area, the focus seems to be on Lily Chou-Chou, and their love for Lily Chou-Chou. The flashback halfway through is a happy yet sometimes really dark, before going back to a hellish world.

It's not for everyone, but it's really something if you can take slow films.

Suicide Club
The first film that came to my head when I first looked at this, mainly because it screwed with my head so much. It's absolutely gross and macarbe throughout, and then the ending twist just mindfucks you. I really didn't enjoy viewing this, and yet I sat through it for a second time the very next day.

I think it's a really great film, a bit slow, but the atmosphere is great. Just pretty horrific.

Suicide Club is definitely one you have to rewatch, there's just so many small things going on that you can't notice with just one playthrough.

A Clockwork Orange
I'll admit it's not the best film for being pretty inaccurate to the book it's based on, but after I watched it I started loving classical music and I became completely obsessed with Stanley Kubrick.

Pretty inaccurate?  It leaves out the last chapter which Kubrick didn't even know existed and it makes two or three relatively minor changes for the sake of time and avoiding child pornography.  For a movie that's inaccurate to the book it's based on see: The Shining.

But yeah I was going to say A Clockwork Orange since it's the movie that really got me into movies (and it's still my favorite movie to this day), but other than that I have to mention:

Mulholland Dr.
I don't feel like writing a ten page essay on the merits of this movie so I'm just going to say that after I watched this I realized that there is a lot more to movies than I had ever thought there was.

Maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration but you get what I'm saying right???