Author Topic: "Lone Wolf" movies - suggestions?  (Read 1564 times)

HazyDavy

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"Lone Wolf" movies - suggestions?
« on: April 10, 2014, 05:22:24 AM »
I've been hosting a sort of informal film club (i.e. I've had a bunch of people come over to watch movies on a regular basis) since the beginning of the year. We're currently watching a set of films revolving around the "Doppelgänger" theme (Another Earth, Never Let Me Go, Vertigo, La Double Vie de Veronique, In the Mood for Love, Mulholland Drive). For the fall I'm looking for a bunch of "lone wolf"/"loner"-themed (German: Einzelgänger) movies. Any ideas or recommendations.

On the short list so far (some of those I consider eligible because I've seen and liked them, others simply due to things I've read and heard): The Machinist (2004), The Road (2009), The Grey (2011), Groundhog Day (2011), Carrie (1976), There Will Be Blood (2007), Mad Max (1979), First Blood (1982), Rocky (1976), No Country For Old Men(2007), Leon: The Professional (1994), Rushmore (1998), Drive (2011), Taxi Driver n(1976), A Fistful of Dollars (1964), Repulsion (1965), Eraserhead (1977), The Straight Story (1999), All Is Lost (2013), Django (1966)
« Last Edit: April 10, 2014, 05:24:40 AM by HazyDavy »

verbALs

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Re: "Lone Wolf" movies - suggestions?
« Reply #1 on: April 10, 2014, 06:51:31 AM »
Have you seen Yojimbo?

Narc is a (much) better Joe Carnahan film?

A lot of the British Angry Young Men films might fit- Look Back in Anger; Saturday Night, Sunday Morning; This Sporting Life; Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner. Or go with Burton in The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. Lawrence of Arabia certainly goes his own route.

The Old Man and the Sea. Which reminds me Spencer Tracy in Bad Day At Black Rock; one man, one arm!

From those I've seen recently; Polanski's The Tenant, This Gun For Hire, Dallas Buyer's Club, The Pledge, Tyrannosaur, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest or Wise Blood. It's a wide field!

....and because nobody writes the lone wolf like James Ellroy, Rampart (because I like to mention it whenever I get the chance). It fits nicely in the renaissance period for noir with Drive and Killer Joe.
« Last Edit: April 10, 2014, 06:56:08 AM by verbALs »
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HazyDavy

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Re: "Lone Wolf" movies - suggestions?
« Reply #2 on: April 10, 2014, 08:27:37 AM »
Wow, thanks for those great suggestions, verbALs! Except for Drive and (parts of) Cuckoo's Nest I've seen exactly zero of the films you mentioned. Many of them I hadn't even heard of before, to be frank.

Probably not all that surprising, but: it seems that most loner characters in movies are men. Can anyone think of any great female examples? Wendy and Lucy comes to mind. Maybe Kill Bill (which I'm not a huge fan of) or Alien... what else?

MartinTeller

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Re: "Lone Wolf" movies - suggestions?
« Reply #3 on: April 10, 2014, 10:38:12 AM »
I don't really understand your definition of "lone wolf"/"loner".  The protagonist in Eraserhead has a girlfriend... he even complains that he hasn't gotten to see her lately.  The Straight Story is all about a guy seeking/finding companionship and human interaction.  Groundhog Day is all about a guy trying to romance a woman.  Rocky has strong family connections and an active romantic relationship.  Some of your selections seem to be about loners, some seem to be about characters who have some sort of "otherness", and a couple just seem to be lead characters.

Having said that, here are some of my favorites that may fit what you're looking for:

Nights of Cabiria
Amelie
Beyond the Forest
The Story of Qiu Ju
Not One Less
Revenge of a Kabuki Actor
Aguirre: The Wrath of God
The Trial
The Bad Sleep Well
M. Hulot's Holiday
Blast of Silence
The Bothersome Man
The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On


The first five on this list are great female examples.

HazyDavy

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Re: "Lone Wolf" movies - suggestions?
« Reply #4 on: April 10, 2014, 12:25:43 PM »
All good points, MT. As I said: Can't say much about some of these films, because I haven't actually seen them (Eraserhead and Straight Story, for example). As for my definition of "loner": I'm not necessarily looking for a character without any ties to the outside world whatsoever. What ties those movies from my list that I actually have seen together - at least for me - is that their protagonists have some sort of very specific agenda and, for the most part, a set of values and ideals (or they just behave in a way) that doesn't necessarily jive well with and isn't exactly compatible with the world they live in... That makes some of them "loners" in a more literal sense (Taxi Driver, Carrie, All Is Lost) others would maybe more accurately be described as "mavericks". Am I making any sense here? Well, let's see:

Groundhog Day is all about a guy trying to romance a woman.

Yes, it's about that, and about many other things as well, and sure: that world Phil Connors lives in is full of life and people, but the fact of the matter is that as much as he tries to be a part of that world, no matter how much of an effort he makes to connect: a couple of hours later everyone there will have forgotten all about it again. In a way that's really one of the most nightmarish visions of loneliness and solitude I've ever seen. Also, let's not forget: in that first hour of the movie, Phil isn't exactly the most sociable of fellows.

Rocky has strong family connections and an active romantic relationship.

True again. He reaches out and he forms connections, but to me he's still always felt like pretty much the archetypal loner (we're talking about the first Rocky, right?). I can't even really tell you why. He just doesn't seem to fit in somehow. He seems to solely live by his own rules, rarely takes any advice, and he certainly looks out of place on a roller skating rink.

Either way: Thanks for the suggestions. Once again, almost all of those (except Amelie and Aguirre) are completely new to me.

MartinTeller

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Re: "Lone Wolf" movies - suggestions?
« Reply #5 on: April 10, 2014, 01:09:41 PM »
Ah, it makes more sense when you put it as "maverick".

 

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