A Documentary Feel
by dgaicun | created - 29 Mar 2012 | updated - 29 Nov 2020 | PublicMovies that feature acting and direction that evoke an organic, documentary-like realism. Some of the elements that characterize this style include:
Handheld cameras
Visual drabness (muted colors, grainy film-stock, etc)
Lack of flashy techniques (visual effects, narration, pop soundtrack, etc)
Nonprofessional actors in key or tertiary roles. Related: actors with looks or speech atypical in films (obesity, "low class" accents, etc)
Improvised or prosaic dialogue and natural conversation rhythms (interruptions, stammering, "ums," etc)
Silence: scenes with little or no dialogue
Ambient noises in place of musical score (traffic, fluorescent lights, birds, etc)
Stillness: scenes with little or no action
A realistic plot; often with difficult ("gritty") subject matter and a lower socio-economic setting.
This mostly unclassified documentary-like style (Sometimes, ridiculously, labeled "Neo-neorealism") has antecedents in Italian Neorealism, French New Wave, and New Hollywood. It shares elements with (but is not equivalent to) Dogme 95 and Mumblecore, and is mostly a post-2000 phenomenon (kickstarted and most heavily influenced by the 90s films of the Dardenne brothers). International hotspots include France, America, Romania, and Iran.
Please leave suggestions! I will add more. Keep in mind that "Mockumentary" films like Borat, Man Bites Dog, Blair Witch, Spinal Tap, etc, are a different animal and do not qualify.
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1. Lilya 4-Ever (2002)
R | 109 min | Crime, Drama
Sixteen-year-old Lilja and her only friend, the young boy Volodja, live in Russia, fantasizing about a better life. One day, Lilja falls in love with Andrej, who is going to Sweden, and invites Lilja to come along and start a new life.
Director: Lukas Moodysson | Stars: Oksana Akinshina, Artyom Bogucharskiy, Pavel Ponomaryov, Lyubov Agapova
Votes: 49,376 | Gross: $0.18M
2. United 93 (2006)
R | 111 min | Action, Drama, History
A real-time account of the events on United Flight 93, one of the planes hijacked on September 11th, 2001 that crashed near Shanksville, Pennsylvania when passengers foiled the terrorist plot.
Director: Paul Greengrass | Stars: David Alan Basche, Olivia Thirlby, Liza Colón-Zayas, J.J. Johnson
Votes: 110,933 | Gross: $31.57M
3. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama
A woman assists her friend in arranging an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania.
Director: Cristian Mungiu | Stars: Anamaria Marinca, Laura Vasiliu, Vlad Ivanov, Alexandru Potocean
Votes: 63,283 | Gross: $1.19M
4. The Child (2005)
R | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Bruno and Sonia, a young couple living off her benefit and the thefts committed by his gang, have a new source of money: their newborn son.
Directors: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne | Stars: Jérémie Renier, Déborah François, Jérémie Segard, Fabrizio Rongione
Votes: 19,400 | Gross: $0.65M
The Dardenne brothers may well be the purest and most influential purveyors of this style. I've added three of their films to this list.
5. The Battle of Algiers (1966)
Not Rated | 121 min | Drama, War
In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.
Director: Gillo Pontecorvo | Stars: Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Samia Kerbash
Votes: 65,632 | Gross: $0.06M
6. The Florida Project (2017)
R | 111 min | Drama
Set over one summer, the film follows precocious six-year-old Moonee as she courts mischief and adventure with her ragtag playmates and bonds with her rebellious but caring mother, all while living in the shadows of Walt Disney World.
Director: Sean Baker | Stars: Brooklynn Prince, Bria Vinaite, Willem Dafoe, Christopher Rivera
Votes: 128,281 | Gross: $5.90M
7. Once (I) (2007)
R | 86 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A modern-day musical about a busker and an immigrant and their eventful week in Dublin, as they write, rehearse and record songs that tell their love story.
Director: John Carney | Stars: Glen Hansard, Markéta Irglová, Hugh Walsh, Gerard Hendrick
Votes: 121,262 | Gross: $9.44M
8. Half Nelson (2006)
R | 106 min | Drama
An inner-city junior high school teacher with a drug habit forms an unlikely friendship with one of his students after she discovers his secret.
Director: Ryan Fleck | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Shareeka Epps, Jeff Lima
Votes: 91,904 | Gross: $2.69M
9. Time Out (2001)
PG-13 | 134 min | Drama
An unemployed man finds his life sinking more and more into trouble as he hides his situation from his family and friends.
Director: Laurent Cantet | Stars: Aurélien Recoing, Karin Viard, Serge Livrozet, Jean-Pierre Mangeot
Votes: 4,982 | Gross: $0.45M
10. Fish Tank (2009)
Not Rated | 123 min | Drama
Everything changes for 15-year-old Mia when her mum brings home a new boyfriend.
Director: Andrea Arnold | Stars: Katie Jarvis, Michael Fassbender, Kierston Wareing, Rebecca Griffiths
Votes: 65,030 | Gross: $0.37M
11. Elephant (2003)
R | 81 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Elias McConnell, Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson
Votes: 97,231 | Gross: $1.23M
12. The Son (2002)
103 min | Drama, Mystery
A joinery instructor at a rehab center refuses to take a new teen as his apprentice, but then begins to follow the boy through the hallways and streets.
Directors: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne | Stars: Olivier Gourmet, Morgan Marinne, Isabella Soupart, Nassim Hassaïni
Votes: 10,093 | Gross: $0.07M
13. The Wrestler (2008)
R | 109 min | Drama, Sport
A faded professional wrestler must retire, but finds his quest for a new life outside the ring a dispiriting struggle.
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, Mark Margolis
Votes: 319,893 | Gross: $26.24M
14. What Time Is It There? (2001)
Not Rated | 116 min | Drama, Romance
A watch salesman meets a young woman soon leaving for Paris and becomes infatuated, so he begins to change all the clocks in Taipei to Paris time.
Director: Tsai Ming-liang | Stars: Kang-sheng Lee, Shiang-chyi Chen, Yi-ching Lu, Miao Tien
Votes: 5,319 | Gross: $0.19M
15. Wendy and Lucy (2008)
R | 80 min | Drama
Over the summer, a series of unfortunate happenings triggers a financial crisis for a young woman and she soon finds her life falling apart.
Director: Kelly Reichardt | Stars: Michelle Williams, Lucy, David Koppell, Max Clement
Votes: 19,750 | Gross: $0.86M
Not hard to interpret as an updated US version of Umberto D. The modern documentary-like style of this movie makes the experience much more authentic-feeling (and rewarding) than De Sica's movie, in my opinion.
16. The Maid (2009)
Not Rated | 95 min | Comedy, Drama
A drama centered on a maid trying to hold on to her position after having served a family for 23 years.
Director: Sebastián Silva | Stars: Catalina Saavedra, Claudia Celedón, Mariana Loyola, Andrea García-Huidobro
Votes: 6,460 | Gross: $0.55M
17. A Woman Under the Influence (1974)
R | 155 min | Drama, Romance
Although wife and mother Mabel is loved by her husband Nick, her mental illness places a strain on the marriage.
Director: John Cassavetes | Stars: Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, Fred Draper, Lady Rowlands
Votes: 28,697 | Gross: $13.34M
18. Cherry Blossoms (2008)
Unrated | 127 min | Drama, Romance
After Rudi's wife Trudi suddenly dies, he travels to Japan to fulfill her dream of being a Butoh dancer.
Director: Doris Dörrie | Stars: Elmar Wepper, Hannelore Elsner, Aya Irizuki, Maximilian Brückner
Votes: 6,115 | Gross: $0.10M
19. A Separation (2011)
PG-13 | 123 min | Drama
A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.
Director: Asghar Farhadi | Stars: Payman Maadi, Leila Hatami, Sareh Bayat, Shahab Hosseini
Votes: 258,462 | Gross: $7.10M
20. Morvern Callar (2002)
R | 97 min | Drama
After her beloved boyfriend's suicide, a mourning supermarket worker and her best friend hit the road in Scotland, but find that grief is something that you can't run away from forever.
Director: Lynne Ramsay | Stars: Samantha Morton, Kathleen McDermott, Linda McGuire, Paul Popplewell
Votes: 11,039 | Gross: $0.27M
21. Lenny (1974)
R | 111 min | Biography, Drama
The story of acerbic 1960s comic Lenny Bruce, whose groundbreaking, no-holds-barred style and social commentary was often deemed by the Establishment as too obscene for the public.
Director: Bob Fosse | Stars: Dustin Hoffman, Valerie Perrine, Jan Miner, Stanley Beck
Votes: 17,539 | Gross: $8.43M
22. Nobody Knows (2004)
PG-13 | 141 min | Drama
In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Yûya Yagira, Ayu Kitaura, Hiei Kimura, Momoko Shimizu
Votes: 31,394 | Gross: $0.68M
23.
Inside No. 9 (2014– )
Episode:
Love's Great Adventure
(2020)
TV-PG | 29 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Trevor and Julia always want to make Christmas really special for their family but with money tight, it won't be easy. As each door of the advent calendar opens, everyone will have to do their bit to make Christmas happen.
Director: Guillem Morales | Stars: Steve Pemberton, Olly Hudson-Croker, Debbie Rush, Gaby French
Votes: 1,360
24. Ballast (2008)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama
A drama set in the Mississippi delta, where one man's suicide affects three people's lives.
Director: Lance Hammer | Stars: Micheal J. Smith Sr., JimMyron Ross, Tarra Riggs, Johnny McPhail
Votes: 2,427 | Gross: $0.08M
25. Maria Full of Grace (2004)
R | 101 min | Crime, Drama
A pregnant Colombian teenager becomes a drug mule to make some desperately-needed money for her family.
Director: Joshua Marston | Stars: Catalina Sandino Moreno, Guilied Lopez, Orlando Tobón, Virginia Cristina Ariza
Votes: 36,179 | Gross: $6.52M
26. Boy A (2007)
R | 106 min | Drama
The story of a young Jack, newly released from serving a prison sentence for a violent crime he committed as a child.
Director: John Crowley | Stars: Andrew Garfield, Peter Mullan, Shaun Evans, Siobhan Finneran
Votes: 38,857 | Gross: $0.11M
27. Stroszek (1977)
Not Rated | 115 min | Comedy, Drama
In Berlin, an alcoholic man, recently released from prison, joins his elderly friend and a prostitute in a determined dream to leave Germany and seek a better life in Wisconsin.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Bruno S., Eva Mattes, Clemens Scheitz, Wilhelm von Homburg
Votes: 15,318
28. The Return (2003)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama
In the Russian wilderness, two brothers face a range of new, conflicting emotions when their father - a man they know only through a single photograph - resurfaces.
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev | Stars: Vladimir Garin, Ivan Dobronravov, Konstantin Lavronenko, Nataliya Vdovina
Votes: 47,497 | Gross: $0.50M
29. If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle (2010)
Unrated | 94 min | Drama
Two weeks before his release, a teenage prisoner learns that his mother has returned home. Meanwhile, he finds himself in love with a student working in the penitentiary as an intern.
Director: Florin Serban | Stars: George Pistereanu, Ada Condeescu, Mihai Constantin, Clara Voda
Votes: 6,554 | Gross: $0.01M
30. Kes (1969)
PG-13 | 111 min | Drama, Family
A working-class English boy spends his free time caring for and training his pet kestrel.
Director: Ken Loach | Stars: David Bradley, Brian Glover, Freddie Fletcher, Lynne Perrie
Votes: 22,927
31. Blue Valentine (2010)
R | 112 min | Drama, Romance
The relationship of a contemporary married couple, charting their evolution over a span of years by cross-cutting between time periods.
Director: Derek Cianfrance | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, John Doman, Faith Wladyka
Votes: 211,298 | Gross: $9.74M
Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams as the two leads in this documentary-like feature is certainly a nod to their respective roles in Half Nelson (2006) and Wendy & Lucy (2008).
32. In Between Days (2006)
Not Rated | 83 min | Drama
A Korean immigrant falls in love with her best friend while navigating her way through the challenges of living in a new country.
Director: So Yong Kim | Stars: Carolyn Eby, Taegu Andy Kang, Madgalena Karasinska, Bokja Kim
Votes: 627 | Gross: $0.02M
33. Treeless Mountain (2008)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama
In Seoul, Korea, two sisters must look after each other when their mother leaves them to search for their estranged father.
Director: So Yong Kim | Stars: Chae Gil Byoung, Jung Gil Ja, Shin Hyun Je, Kim Mi Jung
Votes: 1,916 | Gross: $0.06M
34. The Class (2008)
PG-13 | 128 min | Drama
Teacher and novelist François Bégaudeau plays a version of himself as he negotiates a year with his racially mixed students from a tough Parisian neighborhood.
Director: Laurent Cantet | Stars: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo-Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel
Votes: 36,418 | Gross: $3.77M
35. My Childhood (1972)
Not Rated | 46 min | Biography, Drama
The First part of Bill Douglas' influential trilogy harks back to his impoverished upbringing in early-'40s Scotland. Cinema was his only escape - he paid for it with the money he made from... See full summary »
Director: Bill Douglas | Stars: Stephen Archibald, Hughie Restorick, Jean Taylor Smith, Karl Fieseler
Votes: 1,394
36. Rachel Getting Married (2008)
R | 113 min | Drama, Romance
A young woman who has been in and out of rehab for the past ten years returns home for the weekend for her sister's wedding.
Director: Jonathan Demme | Stars: Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Debra Winger, Sebastian Stan
Votes: 51,214 | Gross: $12.80M
37. Keane (2004)
R | 100 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A disheveled man desperately searches New York City for his young daughter.
Director: Lodge Kerrigan | Stars: Damian Lewis, Liza Colón-Zayas, John Tormey, Brenda Denmark
Votes: 5,819 | Gross: $0.03M
38. Louie (2010–2015)
TV-MA | 22 min | Comedy, Drama
The life of Louie C.K., a divorced comedian living in New York with two kids.
Stars: Louis C.K., Hadley Delany, Ursula Parker, Pamela Adlon
Votes: 82,198
39. Crimson Gold (2003)
Unrated | 95 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
An Iranian pizza delivery man sees the worst of corruption and social unbalance in his city and is driven to crime.
Director: Jafar Panahi | Stars: Hossain Emadeddin, Kamyar Sheisi, Azita Rayeji, Shahram Vaziri
Votes: 5,297 | Gross: $0.15M
40. Rosetta (1999)
R | 95 min | Drama
Young and impulsive Rosetta lives with her alcoholic mother and, moved by despair, she will do anything to maintain a job.
Directors: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne | Stars: Émilie Dequenne, Fabrizio Rongione, Anne Yernaux, Olivier Gourmet
Votes: 15,576 | Gross: $0.26M
41. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005)
R | 153 min | Comedy, Drama
Mr. Lãzãrescu, a dying old man, is shuttled from hospital to hospital by a loyal paramedic as doctors refuse to operate and no one can agree on a diagnosis.
Director: Cristi Puiu | Stars: Doru Ana, Monica Barladeanu, Alina Berzunteanu, Dorian Boguta
Votes: 15,921 | Gross: $0.08M
42. Bubble (I) (2005)
R | 73 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Set against the backdrop of a decaying Midwestern town, a murder becomes the focal point of three people who work in a doll factory.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Debbie Doebereiner, Omar Cowan, Dustin James Ashley, Phyllis Workman
Votes: 8,426 | Gross: $0.15M
43. Bloody Sunday (2002)
R | 111 min | Drama, History, War
A dramatization of the Irish civil rights protest march and subsequent massacre by British troops on January 30, 1972.
Director: Paul Greengrass | Stars: James Nesbitt, Tim Pigott-Smith, Nicholas Farrell, Allan Gildea
Votes: 25,752 | Gross: $0.77M
44. Manic (2001)
R | 100 min | Drama
After attacking another player with a bat during baseball at school, Lyle's sent to the psych ward. He meets other teenagers with problems. Will group therapy help?
Director: Jordan Melamed | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Bacall, Zooey Deschanel, Don Cheadle
Votes: 10,038 | Gross: $0.07M
45. The Snowtown Murders (2011)
Not Rated | 119 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Based on true events, 16 year-old Jamie falls in with his mother's new boyfriend and his crowd of self-appointed neighborhood watchmen, a relationship that leads to a spree of torture and murder.
Director: Justin Kurzel | Stars: Lucas Pittaway, Daniel Henshall, Louise Harris, Bob Adriaens
Votes: 20,610 | Gross: $0.01M
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