Have you seen The Pillow Book? It’s been years since I’ve seen it. The filmmakers made use of the screen space as a layout area, incorporating multiple picture areas and non-standard subtitles. At the time, I’d never seen anything quite like it. Plus, it’s a beautiful and fascinating film.

I’m not sure what you’re trying to evaluate here. Film studies has the concept of mise-en-scene to refer to all the elements of design (set design, costuming, lighting) and other formal choices (acting) that take place before shooting or in front of the camera.

But your list seems equally concerned with cinematography and editing (Psycho) or even thematics (American Beauty). If “design” refers simply to films that are well-done, it’s really not a specific idea at all.

I’m a cinephile and not a designer, but let me add some entries for best designed mise-en-scene.

Metropolis: a joy of set design that stylizes the architecture and design motifs of modernity.

All That Heaven Allows: all of Douglas Sirk’s Universal-period melodramas are interesting in their use of formal elements to question the narrative surface, but this one is the most inventive in its use of expressionist color, lighting and interior architecture to convey social anomie.

Red Shoes: a fancify art musical from Powell-Pressberger, with some of the most amazing Technicolor and set design I’ve seen.

In the Mood for Love: Wong Kar-Wai’s sumptuous period film, whose costuming and interior spaces are given further life with the darkly saturated color cinematography.

Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: the first German Expressionist film, with wonderful modernist set design.

Kill! Baby, Kill!: Italian horror directed by Mario Bava, whose use of color is every bit as unexpected as Eisenstein’s Ivan the Terrible.

Secret Behind the Door: Spellbound’s Dali dream sequence gets all the attention, but I like this women’s gothic film from Fritz Lang. Never has the cheapness of sound stage sets seemed so evocative.

Umbrellas of Cherbourg: Jacques Demy’s fanciful musical that blends the vibrant color of the Hollywood musical with the realism of the French New Wave. The sets and location shooting blend seamlessly into a dreamlike whole.

Parallax View: much of the wonder of Pakula’s conspiracy thriller lies in the editing and framing, but there’s also a great attention to architecture as expression of a generalized paranoia.

Trouble in Paradise: 1932 Lubitsch comedy, notable for Hans Dreier’s personal Bauhaus collection populating the Art Deco luxury milieu of the set.

Chirs Cagle, You make an interesting point, and I thought I might have to address that at some point. I was looking at these movies through the lens of a graphic designer. I think all of the movies that I mentioned, have a little extra “graphic” quality that most movies don’t possess. When I talk about design in movies, I can’t really separate the formal aspects from the theme, editing, etc. I now these are things that film makers have been talking about for decades, but I thought it would be an interesting discussion to view it from a designer’s perspective.

You bring up some movies that I haven’t seen, but sound interesting. Thanks for your input. Metropolis did cross my mind and is probably one that should be on the list. I was spellbound the entire movie. It is too bad that the entire film isn’t completely intact.

DC1974, The Cook … is a movie I have watched (although it wasn’t in a theatre) but can’t really think about in a design sense. I don’t think I have been physically appalled as much by a movie as I was by this movie. I guess it must have really appealed to the senses in a way that most movies can not. I felt like I could smell the rotting food in one of the scenes. I do remember it being very well done and beautiful, but I don’t really want to experience it for a second time.

Chris Rugen, I will have to check out The Pillow Book.

Dave, I can’t say that I have spent much time thinking about the design while I was actually watching a movie. Most of my observations were done in hindsight.

“Cabinet of Dr. Caligari: the first German Expressionist film, with wonderful modernist set design.”

That film’s set is nuts. Good call. I’ve been thinking about things along the lines that Chris Cagle mentioned. I have a hard time separating the design inherent to film and the graphic layer that Bennett is referring to. I agree that Amelie has those qualities, but as soon as I include it in my own mental list, I feel compelled to include films like Fight Club, which oozes with visual style and even plays some great typographic tricks (when Norton’s character walks through his apartment and labels float near all of his furniture like an Ikea catalogue).

Neil, I had totally forgotten about 12 Monkeys. Good call.

Fight Club is up there for me as well. I was just waiting for Adrian to add that to the list.

I’d have to say that Amelie struck my design fancy…after watching the about section on the DVD, I noticed how much attention to detail they paid…especially with colors. In one seen they muted everything but the corner market…in another, she has a bright green tv or an orange lamp is illuminated. I like it’s subtleness and I think that’s why it strikes me as brilliant.

March of the Penguins

The whole experience: voice, composition, pacing, color. This is a modernists movie with a little heartfelt emotion thrown in. I want a penguin!

Peteski, Chill the heck out. Obviously you missed the ENTIRE point of the post … to share some movies that I thought had a graphic quality and then get some other people’s opinions as well. It is obvious that you only value opinions that are similar to your own.

After I posted this list, I realized it was a bit heavy on the recent movies side. What can I say, I still have another 20 movies to watch on the AFI top 100.

If you want to make a comment that isn’t “worthless”, how about adding something useful to the conversation and share some film noir films that you think should be included. Maybe then I can watch the movies and be as enlightened as you.

btw. the goal was to just have one movie on the list that sucked.

Oh, Cocktail wrote the book on design in movies. That neon, behind the bar? The trendy Miami club scene? Timeless.

Timeless.

no kill bill? no sin city?

I am suprised that Psycho beat out North by Northwest as the best designed Hitchcock movie. Psycho has the best title sequence and the shower scene is sooooooo good, but the qustion is “What are the best designed movies of all time?” Not “What are the movies with the best designed scenes? (or sets, props or costumes, which are are part of Production Design, not exactly what I think the question is refering to)” I don’t like NNW as much as any of his other movies, but speaking from a graphic design sense, the theme is carried more consistantly throughout the entire film. I think people are missing this point when giving their opinion, and some movies are suggested that while visually awesome, the sense of design only comes through in a single scene, or else is incited by cutting and editing rather than composition and color design elements.

That Said, in my opinion The Cook… takes the cake.

Not sure if I understand the criteria for a film to be included here but if you are asking for films that are beautiful to look at:

Megan listed one of my choices, Hero. I would also add House of Flying Daggers. Very deep focus used to great effect in some scenes.

Cabinet of Dr. Caligari was mentioned but I didn’t see Nosferatu listed. It deserves a place here. So does M.

It may not be obvious but I would also add The Searchers. John Ford’s films were “designed” more than they let on.

Eraserhead (Silly movie but great to look at) 2001: A Space Oddity The Graduate (great compositions) Ran (or practically any Kurosawa film for that matter) Raging Bull (great use of composition and deep focus) The Battleship Potemkin The Wild Bunch (more deep focus)

I should stop before this becomes just a list of my faves….

Bennett: maybe a little off topic but I just finished designing a book (in bookstores soon my little chickadees) about the recording of Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon and there are quotes inside from David Gilmour lamenting the playing of Dark Side and watching Oz. He calls it “just sad” and without merit. I haven’t seen the film with the Floyd “soundtrack” but have always meant to, regardless of what Gilmour thinks!

I was going to mention Crouching Tiger but thought it too obvious. I’m glad you listed it.

More to add: Wings of Desire and The Million Dollar Hotel by Wim Wenders; also Dead Man by Jim Jarmusch (fantastic score by Neil Young only enhances the majesty); Blade Runner;

And perhaps the most “designed” film of all time: La Jetee by Chris Marker, a series of still photos on which 12 Monkeys was based.

Maybe I’m too old for this conversation, but what about Belle du Jour, or A Clockwork Orange?? Both a bit freaky as well.

Fast forward to more recent: The English Patient and The March of the Penguins is awesome too.