10 Weird Movies That Purposely Tried To Confuse You

Complex, multi-layered narratives have infiltrated mainstream film in the twenty-first century. Just think about the excitement and confusion that followed Christopher Nolan's commercial and critical smash Inception for proof of this. Its twisted convolution of dreams and reality left audiences bewildered and amazed in equal measure. But, really, Inception is quite straightforward compared to the work of some of cinema's most experimental directors. Masters of the filmic avant-garde have drawn on the stylisation of surrealism, the self-consciousness of modernism and the existentialism of absurdism to create pieces of art that deliberately seek to confound and infuriate audiences. Some of the best films ever created are innovative because they prove that cohesive stories are not necessary to generate emotional and sensual power in cinema. Many of these films are designed to explore the medium of cinema itself, deliberately shaking the audience out of the fantasies of the cinematic world in favour of constantly reminding them that they're watching a film. Some embrace dream logic in ways that Nolan's big budget creations could never match. Ten of the most complex and unintelligible films ever conceived are included here, from such visionaries as Lynch, Bergman, Deren, Fellini and Tarkovsky. If you want to be challenged but have never seen any of these films, be prepared to fall down rabbit hole after rabbit hole in search of meanings and coherence that, ultimately, may not even exist.