10 Great Films That Are Ugly On Purpose
5. Man On Fire
Though the latter half of Tony Scott's filmography is largely remembered for its hyperactive "MTV-style" visuals - characterised by over-saturated colour grading, shaky cam, and frantic editing - it's a technique which Scott both debuted and perfected in his criminally underrated 2004 thriller Man on Fire.
The film is focused on the efforts of alcoholic, world-weary mercenary-turned-bodyguard John Creasy (Denzel Washington) to rescue nine-year-old Pita Ramos (Dakota Fanning) from kidnappers.
The movie's entire visual design is intended to reflect Creasy's own fractured mental state, envisioned here through its sickeningly rich colour palette, jarringly erratic editing choices, and frequent use of double exposure photography to make the image "ghost."
Better still, the utter visual chaos Scott splashes on screen for 146 action-packed minutes reflects the film's own anxiety-soaked setting, taking place as it does within an especially violent area of Mexico City.
You might not like Scott's approach, but it's another great example of daring visuals supporting a film's themes and character work exceptionally well.