Existentialism, which holds that life is meaningless and directed only by humans, has been popular among intellectuals since the mid-20th century. It was introduced by Kierkegaard and Nietzsche and became popular after World War II. French New Wave films, such as Breathless, were influential in the 1960s. Stanley Kubrick and Francis Ford Coppola explored existentialism in their films, as did the Coen brothers. Existentialist dramas can be brooding or darkly comic, as seen in Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life and the Coen brothers’ The Big Lebowski.
A philosophy that was popular among writers and other intellectuals in America and Europe in the mid-20th century, existentialism holds that life is essentially meaningless and is not directed by any force other than human beings, which they are often petty or ignorant. This attitude can lead to a bleak worldview, even if some interpret it as a call to live with passion and humanity. Existentialism in film has been around since the French New Wave movement of the 1960s, and the philosophy has been applied to many popular and critically acclaimed films. Filmmakers who have explored existential themes include Stanley Kubrick, Francis Ford Coppola and the Coen brothers.
Existentialism was introduced by 19th century philosophers Søren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche. It was suited to the intellectual and artistic movements of the 20th century because it does not depend on belief in God or other metaphysical factors. After the World Wars, disillusionment with past attitudes was rife, leading to works of philosophy and art that were cynical, naturalistic, and radically different from older works in tone and structure. Jean-Paul Sartre’s play No Exit and Albert Camus’ novel The Stranger, both created during World War II France, were the literary works that defined the movement. Existentialism in film began to manifest itself soon after, in the innovative and influential art films of the French New Wave.
The classic New Wave film, Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless featured a doomed and lawless protagonist, similar to that of Camus’ novel. Like many works of existentialism in film, it dispensed with traditional storytelling techniques to present a world in which life is arbitrary and absurd. Filmmakers like Francois Truffaut and Alain Resnais brought their existentialist approaches to works like Jules et Jim and Last Year at Marienbad. During the 1960s, French New Wave films were influential and critically acclaimed around the world. In the United States, they were popular with film students, including some of the most successful directors of the following decades.
Stanley Kubrick, for example, explored existentialism in films such as 1957’s Paths of Glory and 1973’s A Clockwork Orange. Both films found their central characters trapped in legal systems that were neither moral nor reasonable. Coppola’s 1979 classic Apocalypse Now took the same approach to war film, reflecting many Americans’ attitudes toward the Vietnam War. Modern films like Donnie Darko and American Beauty set absurd dramas against a suburban backdrop. In 1999’s Fight Club, the fractured protagonists use their existentialist philosophy as motivation to rebel against all of society’s standards.
In existentialism, even such events as death and imprisonment can be meaningless and absurd. Existentialist dramas have a reputation for being brooding and brooding, but existentialism in movies often plays up this nonsense to darkly comic effect. The Monty Python comedy troupe has addressed many philosophical topics in its films and skits, including existentialism. This was especially pronounced in their final film, The Meaning of Life, despite the title. Joel and Ethan Coen, known for the high intellectual level of their screenplays, put a hapless hippie at the center of their 1998 existentialist comedy The Big Lebowski.
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