Movies like Wheel of Ashes
If you like "Wheel of Ashes" you are looking for existential, philosophical and avant garde movies about / with existential crisis, alienation, introspection, religion, isolation, hallucination and surrealism themes of Drama genre shot in France or USA.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps:
1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below).
2. Look for them in the presented list.
Wheel of Ashes (1968)
154
Genre: Drama
Country: France, USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story:
After being heralded by Jean-Luc Godard as the great hope of the New American Cinema, Peter Emanuel Goldman relocated to Paris just in time for 1968. Social dissolution permeates WHEEL OF ASHES, a stripped-down account of a young man's existential reckoning. "As dust hides a mirror, lust hides the self," reads one of the film's Vedanta-sourced intertitles. And indeed, while the Pierre Clementi protagonist's inner life remains obscure, the Saint-Germain-des-Pres neighborhood that offers his temptations appears in harrowing detail. In its nearly clinical treatment of spiritual withdrawal, WHEEL OF ASHES belongs with post-New Wave films by the likes of Jean Eustache and Philippe Garrel. - Max Goldberg
Style:
existential, philosophical, avant garde, art house, art film, melancholic, experimental, meditative, independent film, period piece ...
Plot:
existential crisis, alienation, introspection, religion, isolation, hallucination, surrealism, a vision, psychological torment, symbolism, minimalism, urban, male protagonist, haunting, friendship, sexuality, street life, beat generation, reincarnation, death, christianity, existentialism, materialism, hinduism, psychological drama ...
Time:
60s, 1960s
Place:
paris france
Movie in categories
Most similar movies to Wheel of Ashes
The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out art house, existential, melancholic and experimental films with plots about minimalism, alienation, isolation, symbolism, loneliness, psychological drama and character study mostly in Drama, Comedy and Fantasy genres. Some movies like Wheel of Ashes: 13 Summers Underwater (2017), The Grave Digger (2010), Walden: Life in The Woods (2017), Praxis (2008), The Death of Empedocles (1987). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland, UK, Brazil
Duration: 64 min.
Story:
Parallel stories connected through an intimacy with death. The living and the dead communicate through visions, memories and reality.
Style:
surreal, emotional, melancholic, existential, contemplative ...
Plot:
grief, loss, memories, intimate, afterlife, a vision, mourning, supernatural, ghost, haunting, existentialism, spirituality ...
Time:
2010s
Similarity:
100%
Genre: Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
Ever since I started making films it has bothered me in a certain sense that film images are far too concrete, because technically they try to imitate the sense of space characteristic of everyday life. So the story ignites the imagination only to ...
Style:
experimental, existential, philosophical, slow cinema, avant garde ...
Plot:
death, plague, cemetery, mourning, symbolism, isolation, alienation, minimalism, haunting, adaptation, literary, obsession ...
Similarity:
32%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
A radical, western re-imagining of Henry David Thoreau's classic, interlacing three stories about the trappings of 21st century life and those who dream dangerously of escape.
Style:
philosophical, captivating, psychological, art house, existential ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
dream, escapism, loneliness, haunted by the past, friendship, loner, social relations, life, surrealism, alone, dealing with the past, confronting the past ...
Place:
america
Similarity:
27%
164
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Praxis peels away the layers of narrative even as Brian, the film's axis, struggles to create his true self. Brian, a writer on the verge of a breakdown, is aided by Joe and an Elusive Woman as he sifts through the fragments of his persona to ...
Style:
psychological, existential, philosophical, art film, surreal ...
Plot:
male pubic hair, male nudity, gay interest, gay, lgbt, lgbtq, self discovery, identity, identity crisis, mental breakdown, character study, alienation ...
Similarity:
27%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: West Germany, France
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
Film adaptation by Straub and Huillot of Hölderlin's 1798 tragedy on the symbolic death of Empedoclus, the legislator in Ancient Greece.
Style:
philosophical, art house, meditative, intellectual, experimental ...
Plot:
literary, symbolism, minimalism, mythology, sacrifice, voice over narration, isolation, ritual, time machine, prophecy, utopia, communism ...
Place:
ancient greece
Similarity:
27%
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
A middle-aged man sets out on a symbolic journey through past, present, and future to learn why an old friend committed suicide, and learns much about his own life along the way.
Style:
reflective, existential, melancholic, bleak, philosophical ...
Plot:
suicide, memory, existential crisis, symbolism, loss, midlife crisis, self discovery, guilt, flashback, mature, regret, isolation ...
Place:
poland
Similarity:
26%
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany, Lithuania, France, Netherlands
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
The atmosphere of a corridor between yesterday and tomorrow, where many doors open into the unknown ... A series of faces, gestures and images both real and imagined time. (A fragmentary narrative without dialogue and depicts several people in ...
Style:
poetic, avant garde, slow cinema, atmospheric, art film ...
Plot:
post soviet, children, symbolism, national identity, dance, minimalism, haunting, ritual, alienation, underground, poetry, folklore ...
Place:
lithuania
Similarity:
24%
79
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
Patrick feels absolutely lonely when he decides to search for his supposable genitor after the suicide of his mother. He doesn’t have a plan, a goal or hopes. He just wants to meet the phantom that he thinks is the reason for his mother’s death.
Style:
existential, emotional, melancholic, independent film, art house ...
Plot:
grief, loneliness, isolation, identity crisis, character study, search for father, alienation, minimalism, intimate, regret, male protagonist, urban ...
Similarity:
23%
Movie in collections
Genre: Drama
Country: France, Tunisia
Duration: 77 min.
Story:
In this French tour-de-force a young student decides to have no more interaction with the world than is needed to minimally sustain life. His increasingly automaton-like behavior is coupled with a strange clarity of insight about the world around ...
Style:
experimental, art house, artsy, existential, contemplative ...
Plot:
nihilism, existentialism, depression, loneliness, minimalism, introspection, existential loneliness, boredom, loser, time travel, lsd, trauma ...
Time:
70s, 20th century
Place:
paris france, france
Similarity:
23%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min.
Story:
A young man who feels he doesn't fit in, decides to embark on an intimate journey. Three weeks for three impediments: deafness, mutism and blindness. Three weeks not to escape, but to find reality.
Style:
existential, meditative, psychological, experimental, contemplative ...
Plot:
intimate, blindness, deafness, self discovery, personal growth, existential crisis, identity crisis, loneliness, minimal dialogue, alienation, isolation, identity ...
Similarity:
23%
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 77 min.
Story:
An intimate portrait of a woman's mental confrontation and drifting between dream and reality after experiencing loss.
Style:
psychological, melancholic, contemplative, emotional, art house ...
Plot:
mental health, grief, character study, intimate, female protagonist, loss, loneliness, memory, isolation, confrontation, identity, minimalism ...
Similarity:
23%
51
Genre: Drama
Country: Romania
Duration: 116 min.
Story:
Dani, Yumi, Ovidiu, Ada and Cristi are youths addicted to one another, yet intent on escaping the pressure of their interconnectedness and frustrating realities by performing mind trips into different levels of existence and parallel worlds.
Style:
psychological, existential, surreal, psychedelic, melancholic ...
Plot:
trip, youth, friendship, escape, escapism, alternate reality, alienation, parallel world, self discovery, intimate, symbolism, identity crisis ...
Place:
eastern europe, romania
Similarity:
22%
708
Genre: Drama
Country: Hungary
Duration: 94 min.
Story:
A young doctor undergoes a spiritual crisis when he returns to his rural home.
Style:
reflective, melancholic, serious, meditative, art house ...
Plot:
village life, existentialism, character study, loss of faith, symbolism, identity, isolation, moral dilemma, getting home, alienation, post war, nostalgia ...
Time:
60s
Place:
hungary
Similarity:
22%
Genre: Drama
Country: Romania, France
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Ivan Semciuc (a journalist), is a charismatic man nonetheless guilty of cynicism and lack of compassion. A seemingly meaningless sexual encounter with a translator in a hotel room in Kabul produces a vital revolution in Ivan’s unshakeable ...
Style:
melancholic, existential, art house, surreal, moody
Plot:
death, guilt, loneliness, grief, regret, loss, memory, mourning, hotel, obsession, suicide, mature ...
Place:
bucharest, afghanistan
Similarity:
22%
Genre: Drama
Country: Canada
Duration: 88 min.
Story:
A recently released mental patient imagines himself living the lives of three different people he randomly encounters.
Style:
experimental, melancholic, existential, thought provoking, art film ...
Plot:
drug addiction, character study, heroin, mental illness, identity crisis, isolation, loneliness, alienation, imagination, hallucination, surrealism, multiple perspectives ...
Place:
canada
Similarity:
21%
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 76 min.
Story:
A documentary from Nick Peterson.
Style:
existential, contemplative, psychological, surreal, melancholic ...
Plot:
alter ego, isolation, flashback, suicide, existential crisis, identity crisis, memory, mental illness, guilt, stream of consciousness, regret, mental breakdown ...
Similarity:
21%
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
In this eerie, atmospheric tale, a young woman is on a train when she sees some people she thinks she knows from her childhood. On arriving home, her husband tells her that a certain countess has died. At that point, the film cuts to a scene of the ...
Style:
atmospheric, metafiction, art house, melancholic, ambiguous ending ...
Plot:
suicide, female protagonist, mental illness, depression, ambiguity, children, hallucination, psychiatric hospital, death, schizophrenia, uncertainty, obsession ...
Place:
paris france
Similarity:
21%
195
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
Anna, 50 years old, moves into her new house. Rooms are full of boxes which contain a lot of things and plenty of memories. Anna has lived many lives and her past comes out of these boxes. Her parents surely, but also her children and their fathers, ...
Style:
poignant, art house, melancholic, bleak, atmospheric ...
Plot:
midlife crisis, female protagonist, memory, family drama, loss, reflection, regret, ghost, family secret, grief, aging, introspection ...
Place:
brittany
Similarity:
21%
Movie in collections
161
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min.
Story:
Each character involved in this psychological exploration of family and sexuality discovers what it means to suffer inexplicable torment rather than be alone.
Style:
independent film, existential, contemplative, atmospheric, emotional ...
Plot:
desert, solitude, isolation, loneliness, character study, alienation, female protagonist, introspection, psychological torment, family secret, sexuality, artist ...
Place:
arizona, phoenix arizona
Similarity:
21%
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy, France
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Jacques Perrin was awarded Best Actor at the 1966 Venice Film Festival for his gripping portrayal of a young writer's descent into madness. Alienated, neurotic, and plagued by guilt, Perrin retreats from reality, loses interest in work, and ...
Style:
art film, art house, melancholic, bleak, intense ...
Plot:
alienation, psychoanalysis, neurosis, mental illness, existentialism, guilt, family conflict, mental breakdown, identity crisis, isolation, domineering mother, electroshock therapy ...
Place:
italy
Similarity:
21%
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 85 min.
Story:
A man returns to the place he once lived a passionate love affair with a woman who is now dead. So powerful are the emotions that seize him that he imagines she is still alive, and begins to live as if this were the case...
Style:
romantic drama, melancholic, atmospheric, art house, poetic ...
Plot:
loneliness, obsession, grief, mourning, passion, loss, memory, delusion, male protagonist, symbolism, haunting, flashback ...
Place:
india, france, normandy
Similarity:
21%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 75 min.
Story:
This film consists of 75 minutes and 6 seconds of blue screen.
Style:
avant garde, experimental, captivating, disturbing, psychological ...
Plot:
abstract art, surrealism, minimalism, entrapment, absurdism, weirdo, eccentric, hypnotic, cult
Similarity:
21%
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story:
feature film written, produced by, and starring Ralph Waite (best known as John Walton, Sr., on the long-running CBS television series, "The Waltons"). The film tells the story of Sam (Donald Moffat), a recovering alcoholic who feels ...
Style:
independent film, melancholic, emotional, art house, existential ...
Plot:
slum, homelessness, street life, alcoholism, friendship, character study, urban, male protagonist, identity crisis, social realism, poverty, survival ...
Time:
year 1980
Place:
los angeles
Similarity:
20%
Movie in collections
109
Genre: Drama
Country: France
Duration: 90 min.
Story:
A young woman, withdrawn from life, rescues a live bird that had been trapped in the wall of her apartment.
Style:
realistic, serious, touching, art house, existential ...
Plot:
estrangement, strong female presence, restaurant, loneliness, isolation, solitude, character study, female protagonist, alienation, symbolism, slow burn, intimate ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
europe, france
Similarity:
20%
Genre: Drama
Country: Turkey
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
An eternal landscape from the Yesilcam.
Style:
atmospheric, contemplative, heavy, meditative, art house ...
Plot:
memory, isolation, loneliness, reflection, symbolism, character study, minimalism, women's issues, absurdism, landscape
Similarity:
20%
19
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 78 min.
Story:
This avant-garde film is a stained glass window of emotion. 28 different people's feelings are woven into an emotional time capsule that will never exist again. A multi-dimensional bottle of feelings and time and art captured in a film.
Style:
art film, experimental, avant garde, art house, emotional ...
Plot:
empathy, intimate, memory, humanism, visionary, bittersweet, character study, identity, artistic, cult
Similarity:
20%
Genre: Drama
Country: Italy, West Germany, UK, France
Duration: 104 min.
Story:
'Dalla nube alla resistenza (From the Cloud to the Resistance ) (1978), based on two works by Cesare Pavese, falls into the category of History Lessons and Too Early, Too Late as well. It, too, has two parts—a twentieth-century text and a ...
Style:
experimental, intellectual, art house, reflective, poetic ...
Plot:
mythology, post war, literary, loss, adaptation, memory, anti fascist, minimalism, alienation, symbolism, mourning, village life ...
Time:
1940s
Place:
ancient greece, italy
Similarity:
20%
Genre: Drama
Country: Switzerland, UK, France, Italy, USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story:
In the bourgeois circles of Europe after the Great War, can anything save the modern man? Harry Haller, a solitary intellectual, has all his life feared his dual nature of being human and being a beast. He's decided to die on his 50th birthday, ...
Style:
surreal, existential, philosophical, manga, esoteric ...
Plot:
existentialism, misanthropic man, mental disorder, introspection, spirituality, buddhism, jazz, midlife crisis, mental illness, redemption, split personality, unfulfillment ...
Similarity:
20%
Genre: Drama
Country: Spain
Duration: 70 min.
Story:
A contemporary evocation of Judas Iscariot trying to escape from his own guilt after betraying his best friend. He wanders into a forest and lost in himself, meets a mysterious young man. The young companion will accompany him on this path of ...
Style:
religious drama, meditative, reflective, psychological, avant garde ...
Plot:
gay, remorse, redemption, guilt, religion, spiritual journey, forest, penance, forgiveness, ethical dilemma, character study, confession ...
Similarity:
19%
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Country: France
Duration: 114 min.
Story:
30 year old child enters the new city, riding on a donkey. He says he is the Savior. He has spent no time among men. He is trembling with cold. His clothes are soaked. His mother was overprotective ; his father conspicuously absent. He knows that he ...
Style:
avant garde, art house, experimental, bleak
Plot:
counterculture, symbolism, alienation, existentialism, surrealism, mysticism, anti establishment, absurdism, minimal dialogue, ambiguity, urban, underground ...
Similarity:
19%
Related movie lists
