The 10 Best Directors Who Defined Surrealism in Movies

Many directors have attempted surrealist cinema, but these are the ones who defined it.

Since the infancy of cinema, surrealism has been a powerful tool that some talented filmmakers use to empower their films. Often illegible and always bizarre, cinematic surrealism is characterized by reflections of the subconscious, unconventional approaches to storytelling, strange imagery, and dreamlike tones. There have been many outstanding surrealistic movies made over the decades, expanding and enriching the movement.

While quite a few directors have tried their hand at enveloping some of their movies with surrealistic elements, only a few can be said to have truly revolutionized and defined surrealism in film. From early masters of the style such as Federico Fellini, to more modern contributors such as Satoshi Kon, the best surrealist filmmakers always find a seminal place in film history.

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10. Satoshi Kon
Most Notable Work: 'Perfect Blue' (1997)

Satoshi Kononly made four feature films before his untimely passing from pancreatic cancer in 2010, but that was more than enough to cement him as one of the greatest anime directors in the history of Japan's film industry. He's known for his fun and energetic stories, which are always complemented by a snappy editing style and a strong, often dreamlike atmosphere.

Of Kon's four movies, three are notably surrealistic. Perfect Blueis a tremendous debut still remembered as the director's best work and one of the best movies about artistic obsession; Millennium Actress is a fascinating journey into the memories and subconscious of an actress; and Paprika is a jaw-dropping exploration of dreams, which some argue had a clear influence on Christopher Nolan's Inception. It's a stunning body of work by anime's most famous surrealist.

9. Jan Švankmajer
Most Notable Work: 'Faust' (1994)

Criminally underrated though he may be, Czech filmmaker Jan Švankmajer has had an impact on cinematic surrealism that simply can't go understated. Often relying on delightful mixtures of live-action and animation, Švankmajer takes in a single movie twice as many risks as most directors take in their whole careers, with narratives that are simply impossible to pin down.

Švankmajer is best known for his unique and bizarre approach to stop-motion animation, but that's only one of the elements that make him so special. From a surrealistic version of Alice in Wonderland in his horrifying masterpiece Alice, to a brilliant folk horror satire of the caliber of Little Otik, this is a director who deserves much more praise than he gets.

8. Alain Resnais
Most Notable Work: 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' (1959)

Throughout his six-decade career, Alain Resnais proved time and time again why he was one of the greatest French filmmakers ever. Concerned with themes of memory, consciousness, and imagination, he employed subtle surrealistic tools in many of his films, even having cited André Breton (one of the chief founders of the surrealist movement) as one of the key inspirations of his work.

From Hiroshima Mon Amour, one of the best directorial debuts of all time, to the gorgeous poetic masterpiece that is Last Year at Marienbad, Resnais built a body of work much stronger and more colorful than the vast majority of his contemporaries. He wasn't afraid to experiment and do unconventional things with camerawork, editing, and story structure, which makes him all the more valuable as an artistic voice.

7. Terry Gilliam
Most Notable Work: 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' (1975)

Who would have guessed that a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe would go on to become one of cinema's most famous surrealist directors? Terry Gilliam has made a name for himself as one of the medium's most unashamedly experimental auteurs, with a style that's every bit as endlessly imaginative and fantastical as it is darkly humorous and scathingly satirical.

There's no doubt that Gilliam makes some of the weirdest movies one can find. Even from his early work in films like Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Brazil, you can see playful elements of absurd surrealism. However, it was in later films like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas he would truly let loose with his eccentric ideas and weird visuals.

6. Federico Fellini
Most Notable Work: 'La Dolce Vita' (1960)

Federico Fellini isn't only one of the most important Italian filmmakers ever, but one of the most important filmmakers in general. His work was fun and varied, and it remains highly influential even to this day. Though, in the early years of his illustrious career, he contributed to Italian Neorealism, one of the most crucial film movements of all time, he's best known for what he made later: Some of the most ambitious, extraordinary, and surrealistic movies in Italy's history.

Some of his surrealistic work is pretty well-known and well-regarded by movie fans, such as the extraordinary and extensive meta-character study 8½. Some of the rest need even more recognition, such as the masterpiece about dreams and reality Fellini Satyricon. What all his films have in common is that they're the phenomenal work of one of cinema's best auteurs.

5. Ingmar Bergman
Most Notable Work: 'The Seventh Seal' (1957)

The massively prolific Swedish director Ingmar Bergman is always praised as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time by cinephiles, and for good reason. He was a poet with a camera, a philosopher on a mission, and an artist unlike any other there ever has been. Complex, gorgeous, and emotionally dense, all of his movies have something valuable to offer for those willing to look deep enough.

Bergman used elements of surrealism to empower the themes and atmosphere of many of his best works, such as the classic psychological drama The Seventh Seal and the potent character study Wild Strawberries. It happens that these two masterworks were released in the same year, making Bergman one of the few filmmakers who made two exceptional movies in the same year.

4. Andrei Tarkovsky
Most Notable Work: 'Stalker' (1979)

Arguably the best Russian filmmaker of all time, Andrei Tarkovsky was one of cinema's greatest poets. Slow-burning, introspective, and exquisitely meditative, his style is one of the strongest and most instantly recognizable of any surrealist director. Although he made less than ten features due to his unfortunate passing from cancer in 1986 (which he may have gotten due to filming Stalker in dangerously radioactive environments), many of them had powerful surrealistic elements that proved Tarkovsky had a unique eye for that kind of style.

Whether he was making a timeless sci-fi classic like Solaris or a reflexive quasi-autobiography like Mirror, Tarkovsky could always be trusted to deliver a movie that demanded that audiences put in the work to fully appreciate them, and rewarded that effort with beautiful imagery, memorable narratives, and fascinating themes.

3. Alejandro Jodorowsky
Most Notable Work: 'The Holy Mountain' (1973)

French-Chilean auteur Alejandro Jodorowsky is unarguably one of the most popular surrealist artists of modern times, having explored both comic book writing and filmmaking in-depth. His relentless style and fascination with taboo topics like sex, violence, and social critique made him a massively controversial director in his time, and have earned him the incredible fame he holds today.

From masterpieces like the mind-bending The Holy Mountain, one of the best psychedelic movies of all time, to the acid Western par excellence, El Topo, Jodorowsky has never been the least bit afraid to make surreal films that come across as extreme, unsettling, and even fairly uncomfortable. Those qualities are precisely what makes his filmography so unique and influential.

2. David Lynch
Most Notable Work: 'Mulholland Dr.' (2001)

Simply due to the inherent niche nature of their style, surrealist filmmakers aren't often treated to as much fame as the majority of their less-strange peers. So, the fact that David Lynch has garnered unparalleled acclaim and become the face of the modern cinematic surrealist movement is no small feat.

Lynch has made some of the most popular films in this category, from the nightmarish character drama Mulholland Dr.to his stunning psychedelic horror debut, Eraserhead. Lynch's work is as elusive as any other surrealist's, but it's so compellingly written and masterfully executed that it becomes enthralling for even mainstream audiences. Lynch is perhaps the best-known director who makes movies as weird as his, and that's a well-earned title.

1. Luis Buñuel
Most Notable Work: 'The Exterminating Angel' (1962)

It's hard to top the one who started it all. Luis Buñuel was a Spanish director who's considered the father of cinematic surrealism, and thus easily one of the most influential directors of all time. He was obsessed with ideas of morality, repressed behavior, and organized religion, making some of the most complex and important surrealist movies in the history of the art form.

Surrealism in film arguably started with Buñuel and Salvador Dalí's Un Chien Andalou, and the auteur's style only got better from there. Making powerful social critiques like the Mexican The Exterminating Angel and biting satires like the French The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Buñuel changed the face of cinema forever.