Can you guys recommend me some moody, atmospheric films?

Try this one: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Damned weird.

You might want to check out Wings of Desire by Wim Wenders. It’s one of my all time very favorite films and I, at least, would put it somewhere solidly in the moody, atmospheric range. It’s German though, not Asian at all.

Eraserhead. Moody, and it certainly has atmosphere.

Yeah, David Lynch (the director of Eraserhead) is the go-to man for dark, moody and weird.

This one was pretty dark to me:

Breaking The Waves (Lars von Trier)

And here’s some good old stuff:

The Seventh Seal (Ingmar Bergman)
Hiroshima Mon Amour (Alain Resnais)
La Jetée (Chris Marker) Terry GIlliam’s 12 Monkeys is based on this film.
Un chien andalou (Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dali) OK, this one should be filed under “intense”.
M (Fritz Lang)

“it’s hard to search for films by feel or mood”

Try Jinni. :)

@lillycoyote – I love Wings of Desire but hated City of Angels. Nick Cage does nothing for me.
@aprilsimnel – Nice list…I will have to look some of those up. Oooorrrr, you can come by with a few and we can have a slumber party. I’ve got popcorn…wanna share?

You might like Dark Corners, I know I really enjoyed it and it’s quite Lynchian; it fits twisty anyway, and 50% of the film has a dark and gothic feel to it. I especially loved the bus scenes.

And, if you haven’t seen it, there’s also Memento, which fits twisty but lacks on the moody.

@Corporate_Avenger I had no desire at all to see City of Angels so I never did. Wings of Desire is a masterpiece in my opinion and I wasn’t going to bother with any sort of remake at all. Why remake something that was nearly perfect to begin with?

“Moody and atmospheric”? Well then…Not at all sure if you mean “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” or “2001: A Space Odyssey”? “Chariots of Fire” (just) might fulfill your requirements; if not, then perhaps “Old Yeller”, “The Notebook”, or “Lifetime Channel ‘in general’”. ;)

Take a look at some of Gong Li’s movies, such as Raise the Red Lantern and Red Sorghum.

Val Lewton produced some wonderful black and white suspense/horror films in the 40s. My favorite is I Walked With a Zombie but Cat People and The Bodysnatcher are also very good.

Also, the original 1932 version of Island of Lost Souls with Charles Laughton and Bela Lugosi. “Are we not men? What is the law? Not to go on all fours that is the law…The House of Pain…”

@MagsRags – No spill blood!

Ozu’s “Tokyo Twilight.” Made in 1956, it was ahead of its time with a story about a girl getting an abortion. It’s a moody movie with a smoky, heavy atmosphere. Another one is Kurosawa’s “Ikiru”, about a man who worked hard all his life and suddenly discovers he has cancer and a short time to live. Depressing, but engaging nevertheless.

Another (early) Kurosawa film is “The Bad Sleep Well” about a man who changes his identity in order to worm his way into the inner circle of a corrupt construction company executive who forced his father to commit suicide.

Dark City
Memento
Fanny and Alexander
Babel
Freaks

Thanks, everyone! It will take me some time, but I’m going to try to look into all of your suggestions.

@anon Woah, that rules. Exactly what I was looking for.

@CorwinofAmber Lifetime and My Big Fat Greek Wedding are so not what I’m looking for. But props for your username. The Chronicles of Amber is one of my favorite series ever!

I agree with filmfann. Dark City puts me in a weird mood.
Altered States with William Hurt is interesting also.

Lost in Translation
Once
Secrets and Lies
Magnolia

How could I have forgotten, “Blade Runner” IS atmospheric and moody. ;)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uUyfFvpL9E

@Corporate_Avenger not to spill blood, that is the law. Not to eat meat, that is the law The movie was actually banned in England until 1958. Damn, I wish it was available on DVD.

I’m still in Black & White mode because it’s hard to beat for atmospheric. guess that’s why they call it Film Noir. Anyway, Night of the Hunter is a masterpiece of suspense and mood – stars Robert Mitchum in probably his darkest role, with a young Shelly Winters and the great silent film star Lillian Gish. The only film directed by Charles Laughton. It is available on DVD.

Also, The Third Man with Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles, set in post WW2 Vienna. Wonderful, even the zither music soundtrack.

Oops. Wrong tab.

This might or might not fit your defifition, but I thought “The Spanish Prisoner” might be a good suggestion for you. The one I saw was with Steve Martin, I was waiting for him to crack funny, but that never happened – -

You can see this one right now on your computer.
Koyaanisqatsi

all 1:25:54 of it

Here’s a shorter video of one of the parts I like.
Koyaanisqatsi – Vessels

:-D

Here’s one that I happened to stumble onto and that has stayed with me for many months since I saw it. It has extraordinary depth and mystery while remaining a comprehensible and compelling story.

Karakter (Dutch/Belgian, 1997)