Six movies recommended by Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis
After founding one of America’s pinnacle alternative rock bands, Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis has explored various values throughout his and the group’s music. Their early lyrics depicted the stereotypical rock and roll lifestyle of sexual ventures and a carefree nature in an LA backdrop before branching into more mature concepts of addiction and loss.
These themes appear in the art Kiedis creates and also vessel out into some of the musician’s favourite movies he recommends to Lebeau’s Le Blog. Some present stories of familial hardships and substance abuse appear, featuring talented actors under some attentive direction. Kiedis also enjoys psychological examinations of addiction’s emotional effects and other interior issues featuring ensemble casts.
The musician does show a lighter side in his cinematic taste, enjoying the occasional comedic musical comprised of vibrancy and energy. This taste channels into the group’s more upbeat records and visual design, capturing all the colour and eccentricities of the 1990s in both the music Kiedis makes and the movies he occupies time with.
The singer opens his list with some gritty and intense depictions of brutality that requires a committed watch. “Amores Perros out of Mexico City totally rocked my world. That was my favourite movie of the year,” Kiedis shares. “I’m excited that Mexico is starting to churn out movies because the world can use a new epicentre of fresh ideas in moviemaking.”
This is the 2000 Mexican psychological drama film directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, which focuses on a series of storylines which somehow all come together to create one tale. Amores Perros stars Emilio Echevarría, Gael García Bernal, Goya Toledo, Álvaro Guerrero, Vanessa Bauche, Jorge Salinas and Adriana Barraza in a stylistic examination of Mexican criminal life.
Kiedis adds: “I saw an older movie last month that knocked my socks off–A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. I had never seen it before. It was hysterical, and showed me where Woody Allen derived his career from.”
This is Richard Lester’s 1966 musical comedy starring Zero Mostel, Jack Gilford, Phil Silvers, Buster Keaton, Michael Crawford and Michael Hordern. Based on the original musical, the film tells the story of a Roman enslaved person who schemes his way to freedom by playing matchmaker for his master’s son.
The musician then follows his movie recommendations with an emotional 1990s classic that brought two of the decade’s biggest heartthrobs onto one shared screen. “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is my kind of movie–it’s not trying too hard or trying to manipulate you,” Kiedis shares. “I liked all the cast, including Johnny Depp, though these days when I see Johnny Depp in a movie, I don’t see the character he’s playing, I see Johnny Depp, and that bugs the shit out of me.”
This film sees Depp play the older brother of Leonardo DiCaprio, who plays a mentally challenged teenager in a quiet Iowa town. What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, directed by Lasse Hallström, tells a sentimental but challenging story of family, judgement and identity.
Anthony Kiedis’ six favourite movies:
- Amores Perros (Alejandro González Iñárritu, 2000)
- A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Richard Lester, 1966)
- What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (Lasse Hallström, 1993)
- On the Waterfront (Elia Kazan, 1954)
- Leaving Las Vegas (Mike Figgis, 1996)
- Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)
Kiedis also references a thematic landscape in his recommendations, discussing some brutal yet compelling portrayals of addiction. “Leaving Las Vegas was a brilliant portrayal of alcoholism. I don’t know where Nicolas Cage got that from, but he captured the indescribable depression that comes along with that affliction,” he explains. “Days of Wine and Roses was also accurate, though a little more filmified. I’ve heard Requiem for a Dream was so accurate that maybe I don’t want to go see it.”
Another addition to the musician’s list is some signature Lynchian filmmaking, one that has an erotic effect on Kiedis. “Mulholland Drive–my God, an incredibly sexy movie. I was turned on for about three days after I saw it.”
This surreal dissection of Hollywood’s inner circles stars Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Ann Miller, Mark Pellegrino, and Robert Forster. It tells the story of an aspiring actor who befriends a woman suffering from memory loss as she finds in her aunt’s LA home.
