Filmcollege: Mindfuck Films + Donnie Darko (2001)
In this film lecture, Hugo Emmerzael explores the world of mindfuck and puzzle films: movies that challenge our sense of reality, identity, time and narrative logic. Rather than simply telling a story, these films turn watching into an active process, asking us to question what we see, what we know and whether we can trust the perspective we are given.
From fractured narratives and unreliable protagonists to alternate realities and stories that seem to rearrange themselves as we watch, the puzzle film has developed into one of cinema’s most fascinating ways of playing with the viewer. Hugo looks at a selection of films from the history of the genre, including Memento, Being John Malkovich, Jacob’s Ladder, Inception and Last Year at Marienbad, exploring the different ways filmmakers can turn uncertainty itself into a cinematic experience.
The lecture marks the start of our series on mindfuck and puzzle films and leads into Donnie Darko (2001). Richard Kelly’s cult classic brings together time travel, teenage anxiety, parallel realities and an ominous figure in a rabbit costume, creating a film that seems to offer answers while constantly raising new questions. After the lecture, we screen Donnie Darko — a perfect starting point for a series about films that refuse to let the viewer simply sit back and watch.
- 19:00
Kies tijdstip
- filmspecial
In this film lecture, Hugo Emmerzael explores the world of mindfuck and puzzle films: movies that challenge our sense of reality, identity, time and narrative logic. Rather than simply telling a story, these films turn watching into an active process, asking us to question what we see, what we know and whether we can trust the perspective we are given.
From fractured narratives and unreliable protagonists to alternate realities and stories that seem to rearrange themselves as we watch, the puzzle film has developed into one of cinema’s most fascinating ways of playing with the viewer. Hugo looks at a selection of films from the history of the genre, including Memento, Being John Malkovich, Jacob’s Ladder, Inception and Last Year at Marienbad, exploring the different ways filmmakers can turn uncertainty itself into a cinematic experience.
The lecture marks the start of our series on mindfuck and puzzle films and leads into Donnie Darko (2001). Richard Kelly’s cult classic brings together time travel, teenage anxiety, parallel realities and an ominous figure in a rabbit costume, creating a film that seems to offer answers while constantly raising new questions. After the lecture, we screen Donnie Darko — a perfect starting point for a series about films that refuse to let the viewer simply sit back and watch.
