Ari Aster names the “really depraved” movie he wants everyone to see: “It’s great”
For many filmmakers who have made their debut feature in the past decade, horror has been the easiest gateway.
While the genre has never been the most successful during awards season, a good horror movie can easily capture the attention of movie-goers, especially if it’s genuinely scary. For Ari Aster, horror proved to be his way in, and he made an unforgettable mark on the industry when he released Hereditary in 2018.
Made on a budget of just $10million, the movie was a success, with audiences genuinely disturbed by what they’d witnessed. Moreover, this wasn’t just a film full of cheap and predictable scares, this was a chilling psychological tale of grief, family, and obsession, with Toni Collette delivering an Oscar-worthy monologue in the process.
Following the success of Hereditary, Aster had big boots to fill, but luckily he achieved further acclaim with Midsommar. Similarly exploring grief and trauma, the terrifying depiction of a Swedish cult was significantly inspired by folk horror, but by bringing the sub-genre into a modern setting, Aster proved his ability to take his influences and craft them into something new. It’s already considered a modern horror classic, and as such, Aster is considered a modern horror icon.
Yet, Aster never intended to pigeonhole himself into the horror genre – even if he did follow Midsommar with a third horror film, Beau Is Afraid. His most recent project, however, is Eddington, a western story of small-town rivalry steeped in black comedy. That doesn’t mean it’s not full of darkness and commentary on our society’s inherent bleakness.
Aster seems inherently drawn to stories that are rather disturbing and depraved, peeling back layers of society to reveal corruption, trauma, grief, and paranoia – things that affect all of us that we often try to forget or bury under the surface. If anyone is going to recommend movies that fall into this category, it’s Aster, and he recently shared a must-see movie that he believes is “really depraved”.
Talking to Letterboxd, he highlighted his love for the 1983 movie The Ballad of Narayama, directed by Shōhei Imamura. The period film follows a woman who lives in a small Japanese village where it is tradition for people to be left on a mountain to die once they reach the age of 70. A compelling tale of life and death, Aster explained, “That’s a really great village movie, and a really depraved one. It’s great,” adding, “Everyone should see The Ballad of Narayama.”
It’s certainly not an easy watch, and one that isn’t for the weak of spirit, but Aster believes it’s essential viewing that asks us questions about what it means to get older, the value of life, and our relationships to others and tradition. Imamura’s movie won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, although it hasn’t endured as much popularity as many other winners.
Perhaps the film’s harsh nature makes it more of a niche pick, but if we’re to listen to Aster, we need to put it on our watchlists for a night of truly depraved cinema.
