There are films routinely broadcasted on television during the Christmas season, for example like Home Alone and Harry Potter series, or romance films like Love. Why not for this year’s Christmas watch visually beautiful arthouse films for your entertainment? For those who feel tedious about watching the same movies again during the Christmas season, I have brought up THREE visually wonderful films below strongly recommending you to watch during Christmas.
1) Christmas in August (1998) by Jin-ho Hur
The first film is one of the romance films by Korean director, Jin-ho Hur, who is known in Korea as a master of romance films. Christmas in August was Hur’s major work as well as his debut film which gave him the reputation of today. His film was sensational for the tone and atmosphere which portrayed the romance between two characters, Jung-won and Darim, in the film very lyrically and aesthetically. As the title of the film implies, most of the story of the film is set in summer, which seems ironic and contradictory to the situation of Jung-won who is given only a few months to live. However, it is the perfect setting to describe the moment where love blossoms between Jung-won and Darim. Also, the way how the film delineates the relationship between these two characters slowly but without direct explanations makes the story more romantic and classic.
2) Big Fish (2003) by Tim Burton
The second film is arguably one of the most underrated films by Tim Burton describing the tall tales of father Edward and his son, Will, who is fed up with listening to those stories. Alienated from his father for three years, Will returns to his hometown, Alabama, by the tidings that his father is about to die. The story’s main focus is on the relationship between father and son, especially the process the son finally gets to understand his father and reconciles his life. Moving back and forth to the past and the present, the most wonderful scene of this movie would be the scene where the young Edward makes a proposal of marriage to young Sandra, who later becomes his wife, on the field of yellow daffodils.
3) The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) by Wes Anderson
The last film would be one of the well-known art house films by Wes Anderson, widely known for his unique style of cinematography attracting many cinema fans around the world. The film retrospects back to the past of the owner of the Grand Budapest Hotel, Zero Moustafa, when he once used to work as a lobby boy of the hotel under the supervision of the concierge, Gustave. Most of the story consists of the adventure of Gustave which is sparked by Madame D’s unexpected murder and the subsequent tension between her son, Dmitri, in the issue of bequeathing the masterpiece, A Boy with Apple. The most distinctive about the film would be the ratio of the screen which shifts as the time period the story sets in changes as well as the use of a vivid color palette for the costumes, props, and set. These two representative features offer the audience the biggest visual pleasure for them to enjoy.