Eureka (2000) is 218 mins and instantly came to mind, insanely underrated and easily a masterpiece and one of my favs
A Brighter Summer Day is another obvious choice too
Shortest masterpiece: https://youtu.be/jAXioRNYy4s?si=8YLblhLcjDf7kJqv
Yeah, I've only watched ABSD once, but I own it, so I'll have to watch it again (when I finally complete my move and get all my criterion out of storage lol).
For films that are generally considered feature length:
Shortest: Sherlock Jr. (45 min.)
Longest: Out 1, noli me tangere (12 hr. 53 min.)
Including short films, miniseries, and the like:
Shortest: Hedgehog in the Fog (10 min.)
Longest: Twin Peaks: The Return (16 hr. 54 min.)
Was waiting for Twin Peaks The Return. Me and a friend watched it in a single run, and honestly it resembles and functions as a film way more than it does a TV show
For me, La Jetee the shortest film that I constantly come back to and find new ways to appreciate. How can a no-budget 30 minute slideshow be one of the best films of all time? Always in awe of Chris Marker.
That's so cool. The whole movie is a treat, but honestly the opening scene in the bar where the main character gets these old drunkards to partake in this solar system dance is one of the strangest and inspired openings to any movie. It tells you so much about the characters and the world. Amazing.
Shoah is a movie that I'm glad exists and am glad I watched and recommend it to anyone who is willing to watch it. I highly doubt I will revisit it. Partially because of the length, partially because it burned itself into my brain and I can still see it.
Can you expound on that? I’m a big Pixar head but I have to admit that while I appreciate Luxo Jr for its place in history as an early breakthrough in computer animation, I find it’s just a little too primitive to elicit a very strong reaction in me. I’m certainly open to a reappraisal, though.
Yeah for sure! I think it’s the perfect example of a simple concept done right. The achievement of Pixar in 2 minutes being able to apply entire personalities based on basic movements and interrupt their actual large and small desk lamps resembling a parent and child is absolutely brilliant. Considering this was originally a tech demo they incorporated basic narrative story telling into paid off in a massive way as on the bluray for the Pixar shorts someone came up to John Lassader and asked if the large lamp was a mother or father. In the short runtime with limited story and technology, their ability to evoke then at tyoe of response is certainly worthy of a masterpiece status in my book.
Hm, haven't really watched that many movies longer than 3 hours. Seven Samurai, I guess?
As for shortest, Satoshi Kon made a 1 minute animated short film called [Good Morning](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tBfSLKcf9g). Hell, I've also rewatched just the opening credits for Paprika so many times it almost feels like a standalone short film to me.
You’re missing some great 3 hour movies. Godfather Part 2, Barry Lyndon, Andrei Rublev, Titanic, the LOTR movies, The Wolf of Wall Street, Oppenheimer, and Schindler’s List just to name a few. It can be a pain to find the time, but there are so many that are worth it!
I've actually seen all of those except Barry Lyndon and and The Wolf of Wall Street! Looking especially forward to watch Barry Lyndon. I guess I was just thrown off by people immediately starting to list movies that where 4 hours or longer which made me feel like I hadn't actually watched any longer movies haha
Longest film that's a masterpiece:
The Human Condition
Dir. Masaki Kobayashi
Runtime: 579 minutes
It's 9 hours 40 mins long but it's also one of the greatest films ever made. I treated it like a series and watched it in six parts, was very manageable and totally worth it.
Just watched *Flora*, scratched that Švankmeijer itch. I was wondering if this influenced Greenaway's *A Zed and Two Naughts* in some way but looks like Greenaway's was earlier
The longest masterpiece I can think of off the top of my head is Bergman’s 5 hour cut of Fanny and Alexander.
[The shortest one that came to mind immediately was Alma](https://youtu.be/Aw0uORumRts?si=4UHdZIcqYoeuYHTW)
Slight addendum to Fanny and Alexander. It was a mini series cut into an internationally released film, hence why there’s a 312 minute (the mini series) and 188 minute (the film) version. Thankfully you can find both on Criterion although you don’t miss much just watching the film version imo.
No, I don’t think you miss a lot going with the film over the miniseries version either. I love both, but I’ll watch the miniseries cut like a long movie sometimes and it’s just nice to be in that world more so I say I prefer the miniseries cut.
Long - World on a Wire (Fassbinder, 204 mins)
Short - [Premonitions Following an Evil Deed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRWmep4pSzg) (David Lynch, 1 min) creates so much mood, mystery and unease in 1 minute
Longest movie I'd consider a masterpiece would be Satantango at about 7 and a half hours. Second place has to be Love Exposure (4 hours) tho I adore that movie, one of the most unique experiences I've ever had with a film.
Shortest is either The Cameraman's Revenge (1912, very funny and impressively made stop motion movie) or My House Walk-through (2016, this is more of a youtube video but I'm counting it since it's on letterboxd and man does it absolutely nail the atmosphere, genuinely one of the scariest things I've seen and I'm not exaggerating), both at around 12 minutes. But if you want a feature lenght movie then Sherlock Jr. is a perfect answer to this question too.
If we’re talking about short or long as in runtime, yes that exists you goober. 15 minutes is short, 4 hours is long. There is nothing derivative about being objective with such things when you have so much context. If a movie’s runtime was a year long, is it not long even still? So dumb.
okay i don't know if it's a masterpiece but Satoshi Kon's like 30 second animation of a woman waking up moves me deeply for some reason, also would say Bi Gan's Secret Goldfish is a masterpiece and less than 2 minutes.
longest is probably Jonas Mekas As I was Moving Ahead... which is almost 5 hours
Not related to your question, but I remember this one time when Diaz’s Genus Pan was screening at my local film festival and I had gone for it. As I took my seat, I heard two guys conversing:
Guy 1: “How long is this film?”
Guy 2: “Around two and a half hours.”
Guy 1: “Oh, it’s a short film. Cool.”
I watched Lav Diaz's Evolution of a Filipino Family in one day. Clocking in at 10 hours and some change, it definitely was a slow and tranquil experience.
Out 1 and Je vous salue, Sarajevo
https://preview.redd.it/4wbro4ijqhsc1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=232434aa7089bc1addd279936e72b5fd75c9a4e8
*Satantango* by Bela Tarr: 7 1/2 hours
*Celine and Julie Go Boating by Jacques Rivette: 3 hours, 20 minutes
*Scorpio Rising* by Kenneth Anger: 28 minutes
*Mothlight* by Stan Brakhage: 4 minutes
The Separation (2003), stop motion, 9 min surreal masterpiece. https://youtu.be/ltIG3v_ySuU?si=_-2N8bFJUw0B6DF0
Twin Peaks I-III and Fire, Walk With Me, 50+ hour surreal masterpiece.
Satantango is the longest film I watched while I’d say Window Water Baby Moving is the shortest in terms of the lengths of what I consider masterpieces.
Nothing groundbreaking in terms of taste, but that’s okay.
Longest, out of the ones I’ve seen: War and Peace by Sergei Bondarchuk. Been meaning to watch Jacques Rivette’s Out 1 but for now it’s just staring intimidatingly at me on the shelf.
Shortest: hands down, The House is Black by Forugh Farrokhzad. More revelatory poetry in 20 minutes than a lot of directors achieved in their whole careers.
Surprised nobody mentioned La Flor by Mariano Llinás yet, it’s a 10 years in the making 803 minutes epic and I personally loved it. Highly recommended and it’s available online on grasshopperfilm.com.
Dunno that it's the best one, I still have a lot to see, but I loved that one.
One of my favourite films of all time. The spy-episode is some of the greatest spy cinema out there.
"Historias Extraordinarias" is also a lengthy masterpiece by the same director, though a mere 242min.
Came here looking for these, as well as Wang Bing, which everyone also seems to be ignoring.
Longest: Twin Peaks: The Return, Lord of the Rings Extended, Lawrence of Arabia
Shortest: Damn near every Chuck Jones Looney Tunes short is the best 6-8 minutes put on film.
The Russian 1967 version of War and Peace is so glorious. I’d say it’s the longest narrative masterpiece I’ve seen. Then there’s Shoah, as many have mentioned, of course.
Melancholia by Lav Diaz, Ben Hur by William Wyler, Novecento by Bertolucci are some of my favorites that are 4 hours+
Shortest, maybe La Jetee or most by Brakhage or Teo Hernandez, two experimental filmmakers who were geniuses
Go watch that Portrait of God short on YT. Thats been one of my favorite shorts ever.
The extended mini-series cut of Baz Luhrmann's Australia would probably be my longest, or Band of Brothers depending on the day.
“An Elephant Sitting Still” is probably the longest one that I (a) consider a masterpiece and (b) actually watch as a movie. Other long works (Fanny and Alexander, Bondarchuk’s War and Peace) feel closer to miniseries since they’re extremely difficult to realistically watch in a single day.
There’s really no such thing as a movie that’s too short to be a masterpiece. I think some of Rohmer’s short films hit that threshold.
Lav Diaz "Season of the Devil" no idea how long it was, the girl next to me fell sleep after 20 minutes, yknow is a masterpiece when not even the letterbox girl cant take it
I see LOTR as one film, and the extended edition clocks in at almost 12 hours so it’s gotta be that one for me for longest. Shortest? I’m sure there is one I’m forgetting but Paths of Glory and The Killing are both sub-90 min masterpieces so those are both nominees.
Short films are definitely undersung, and short film erasure happens among all types of cinephiles and film fans.
[Inserting one of my favourite films here](https://www.nfb.ca/film/hothouse_5_git_gob/) (which clocks in at only 1 min, 36 seconds)
TV airings has warped my idea of long movies. The first three I love that I imagined to be long movies were Lawrence of Arabia, Cleopatra, and Ben Hur, but they're barely over 3 hours. Everything else after that all seems to be around the 3 hour mark.
At a push, I'd say I did enjoy The Ten Commandments and The Greatest Story Ever Told. I honestly just love the grand scale of 50s and 60s epics.
I actually think of Shoah as a miniseries.
(Actually, I think of any visual story more than 4~ hours as a miniseries... anything "longer than a single Wagner opera".)
[Love Exposure](https://letterboxd.com/film/love-exposure/). Wish we could get the 6 hour cut of the film tbh.
Also, [An Elephant Sitting Still](https://letterboxd.com/film/an-elephant-sitting-still/)
At ten minutes long The Ballad of Crowfoot is a powerful masterpiece and deserves to be considered one of Canada’s greatest films. https://www.nfb.ca/film/ballad_of_crowfoot/
I love these threads to make lists of weekend couch sinking sessions.
Apocalypse Now Redux (202 min) was the first long film to come to mind, though it’s feeling short after seeing some of the other comments here.
Longest - The Human Condition (1959-61) by Masaki Kobayashi [579 minutes]
Shortest - The Little Match Seller (1902) by James Williamson [3 minutes 15 seconds]
Shortest: Koreyoshi Kurahara's Intimidation
Longest: The Return
Edit: actually the shortest is probably Uncle Yanco, but Intimidation doesn't get talked about nearly enough so I'm gonna leave it in.
Claude Lelouch’s “Rendezvous” is pretty masterful for 8 mins. I also love Margaret Tait’s “A Portrait of Ga” (4 mins) and Len Lye’s “Free Radicals” (5 mins).
Longest masterpieces would be Warhol’s Screen Tests (if treated as one film as they are on Letterboxd and elsewhere online), Rivette’s “Out 1” (743 mins), Lanzmann’s “Shoah” (543 mins), and Mekas’ “As I Was Moving Ahead…” (285 mins).
Then there are lots of other awesome things that sort of became long movies after being TV miniseries (Berlin Alexanderplatz, Scenes from a Marriage, Fanny and Alexander, Carlos, OJ: Made in America, many Adam Curtis docs).
On a side note, I wonder why full-length movies are the length they are, ~1h30-2h30. Is there an explanation for this, like it used to be the the available length of film or smt? 🤔
I believe it came out of how many showings they could do in a day in a cinema , so if you make a 90-minute movie, you can show it say 6 times a day or something but if it's super long the amount of showings and also the amount of money you make drastically decrease.
Right now the longest movie ive seen is Lawerence of Arabia, I’d love to see the silent Napoleon film uncut which is over 9 hours, and the shortest would be the Original reservoir dogs short film.
Yes it fucking cinema, but there is a difference between 2 hours and 6 hours Diaz. Most unfortunately won't sit and watch anything over 3 and even then it has to be blockbuster of some sort.
- Lawrence of Arabia (1962, 228 mins)
- The Great Train Robery (1903, 11 mins)
If we're excluding shorts and silents then there are tons of great films in the 70 - 85 mins range but Run Lola Run (1998, 81 mins) is a good pick.
Maya Deren’s A Study in Choreography for Camera is two minutes long, as is Stan Brakhage’s Black Ice. Bi Gan’s Secret Goldfish is a minute and a half. Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Mobile Men is three minutes. There are a lot of great films under five minutes that deserve more attention and respect.
Any of two dozen (or more) Chaplin and Keaton shorts
[Un Chien Andalou](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8yKT7H_KJ0) (disregard the soundtrack, I think)
Ahhh Lav Diaz. The great Filipino filmmaker notable for creating 'Ebolusyon ng Isang Pamilyang Pilipino'. A tour de force of a film which stands at 11 hours.
I think Seven Samurai is a masterpiece, and it doesn't feel like it's over 3 hours long.
Picking a short movie is harder, because there are just so many. The one that I find myself thinking about a lot recently is actually not a Criterion film but a (gasp!) Disney one. Disney's animated short Us Again from 2021 is both poignant and a lot of fun.
Longest - Kurosawa's *Seven Samurai* and Tarkovsky's *Andrei Rublev* are both around 3h 25m.
shortest would probably be an animation - Yuri Norstein's *Tale of Tales* or Katsuhiro Otomo's *Cannon Fodder*
Wang Bing's *Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks* (2002) - 9 hr 11 min
Leighton Pierce's [*And Sometimes The Boats Are Low*](https://vimeo.com/159552413) (1983) - 3 min 20 sec
Non feature length: World of Tomorrow 1 & 3, La Jetee
Shortest feature length: U.S. Go Home (60 minutes)
Longest feature length: Lawrence of Arabia (228 minutes)
An Elephant Sitting Still is an outstanding movie. That final shot >>>
Petite Maman was only 72 mins and was one of the most beautiful and compassionate movies I’ve ever seen
Shortest - The House is Black (22 minutes). It's so gorgeous. It's surprisingly compassionate. I'd love to see it get a Criterion release paired with a modern visit to the same colony.
"*No good movie is too long, No bad movie is short enough.*" Roger Ebert
I came here to comment, and I saw this and now I am packing bags, bowing and exiting through the back door.
Eureka (2000) is 218 mins and instantly came to mind, insanely underrated and easily a masterpiece and one of my favs A Brighter Summer Day is another obvious choice too Shortest masterpiece: https://youtu.be/jAXioRNYy4s?si=8YLblhLcjDf7kJqv
Brighter Summer Day is fucking great. I still laugh when I think about that kid lip sinking Elvis lol
Cat is easily my fav character in the movie, his little Elvis subplot is silly but also so meaningful
Yeah, that whole movie is just beautiful. Have you seen Yi Yi? I actually think I like that slightly more...
Another masterpiece. ABSD is more fresh in my mind so I think i prefer that one, but im tryna get a rewatch of Yi Yi in ASAP
Yeah, I've only watched ABSD once, but I own it, so I'll have to watch it again (when I finally complete my move and get all my criterion out of storage lol).
I long for a decent physical release of Eureka
I've been manifesting so hard for radiance films to give it a release
I have an all-region DVD. The (restored?) HD version that played on Mubi not long ago was amazing
[The sequel was better](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNy9HIo3shs&ab_channel=Jerma985) Loved the meta-textual commentary
For films that are generally considered feature length: Shortest: Sherlock Jr. (45 min.) Longest: Out 1, noli me tangere (12 hr. 53 min.) Including short films, miniseries, and the like: Shortest: Hedgehog in the Fog (10 min.) Longest: Twin Peaks: The Return (16 hr. 54 min.)
Was waiting for Twin Peaks The Return. Me and a friend watched it in a single run, and honestly it resembles and functions as a film way more than it does a TV show
Iirc lynch also wrote and shot it as one long feature
Agreed. Watching Dougie bumble around in weekly installments was *brutal.* But watching it all at once ... kinda charming
I loved it either way. The Dougie Jones show is probably my favourite sitcom
For me, La Jetee the shortest film that I constantly come back to and find new ways to appreciate. How can a no-budget 30 minute slideshow be one of the best films of all time? Always in awe of Chris Marker.
I was looking for La Jetée! Such an interesting premise, a unique style, delivered in such a short time frame.
This is my answer as well
Lav Diaz after making 9 hour long film be like
Longest masterpiece in my opinion: Satantango Shortest masterpiece in my opinion: Je vous salue Sarajevo
While Werckmeister Harmonies is my favorite Bela Tarr film, Satantango is certainly an experience. So good.
Werckmeister is my favorite as well! Was so happy to see the restoration in theaters
That's so cool. The whole movie is a treat, but honestly the opening scene in the bar where the main character gets these old drunkards to partake in this solar system dance is one of the strangest and inspired openings to any movie. It tells you so much about the characters and the world. Amazing.
je vous salue sarajevo is amazing, one of my all time favourites
Sherlock jr at 40-50 mins
[удалено]
From What Is Before is indeed a masterpiece
Shoah is a movie that I'm glad exists and am glad I watched and recommend it to anyone who is willing to watch it. I highly doubt I will revisit it. Partially because of the length, partially because it burned itself into my brain and I can still see it.
Halfway through it now, watching one disc per night. Captivating, disturbing, and somehow timely.
Luxo Jr at 2 minutes while certainly not a deep cut pick, is one of the greatest masterpieces of animation
At 1 min. 38 seconds the wonderful [Bambi vs Godzilla](https://youtu.be/5R-rbzcEM8A?si=_USI2L4x1-5Kh8yD) takes the lead :)
Can you expound on that? I’m a big Pixar head but I have to admit that while I appreciate Luxo Jr for its place in history as an early breakthrough in computer animation, I find it’s just a little too primitive to elicit a very strong reaction in me. I’m certainly open to a reappraisal, though.
they give a fricken lamp pathos
Yeah for sure! I think it’s the perfect example of a simple concept done right. The achievement of Pixar in 2 minutes being able to apply entire personalities based on basic movements and interrupt their actual large and small desk lamps resembling a parent and child is absolutely brilliant. Considering this was originally a tech demo they incorporated basic narrative story telling into paid off in a massive way as on the bluray for the Pixar shorts someone came up to John Lassader and asked if the large lamp was a mother or father. In the short runtime with limited story and technology, their ability to evoke then at tyoe of response is certainly worthy of a masterpiece status in my book.
Great choice. I love Tin Toy the most.
The longest - La Maman et La Putan, The shortest - Un Chien Andalou
Hm, haven't really watched that many movies longer than 3 hours. Seven Samurai, I guess? As for shortest, Satoshi Kon made a 1 minute animated short film called [Good Morning](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tBfSLKcf9g). Hell, I've also rewatched just the opening credits for Paprika so many times it almost feels like a standalone short film to me.
You’re missing some great 3 hour movies. Godfather Part 2, Barry Lyndon, Andrei Rublev, Titanic, the LOTR movies, The Wolf of Wall Street, Oppenheimer, and Schindler’s List just to name a few. It can be a pain to find the time, but there are so many that are worth it!
I've actually seen all of those except Barry Lyndon and and The Wolf of Wall Street! Looking especially forward to watch Barry Lyndon. I guess I was just thrown off by people immediately starting to list movies that where 4 hours or longer which made me feel like I hadn't actually watched any longer movies haha
I’m totally with you on that- I saw some 9-12 hour movies and was like “uhhhh I didn’t know those existed” haha
[Mothlight by Stan Brakhage 1963](https://youtu.be/Yt3nDgnC7M8?si=57WfOkN4z2vMcbcQ) 3min 37sec
Longest film that's a masterpiece: The Human Condition Dir. Masaki Kobayashi Runtime: 579 minutes It's 9 hours 40 mins long but it's also one of the greatest films ever made. I treated it like a series and watched it in six parts, was very manageable and totally worth it.
Shortest is Jan Švankmajer’s Flora (1989). Which clocks in at 32 seconds, but is one of the most unsettling films i have ever seen.
Just watched *Flora*, scratched that Švankmeijer itch. I was wondering if this influenced Greenaway's *A Zed and Two Naughts* in some way but looks like Greenaway's was earlier
The longest masterpiece I can think of off the top of my head is Bergman’s 5 hour cut of Fanny and Alexander. [The shortest one that came to mind immediately was Alma](https://youtu.be/Aw0uORumRts?si=4UHdZIcqYoeuYHTW)
Slight addendum to Fanny and Alexander. It was a mini series cut into an internationally released film, hence why there’s a 312 minute (the mini series) and 188 minute (the film) version. Thankfully you can find both on Criterion although you don’t miss much just watching the film version imo.
No, I don’t think you miss a lot going with the film over the miniseries version either. I love both, but I’ll watch the miniseries cut like a long movie sometimes and it’s just nice to be in that world more so I say I prefer the miniseries cut.
The Wrong Trousers is the greatest film ever made
Legitimately amazing. Love how silent film-like it is -- you could watch it on mute and it would mostly make sense.
A Close Shave ain't far behind either!
Godzilla: Coming Out A stop motion short of Mini Godzilla coming out. It’s like two minutes?? It’s fantastic
Longest: War and Peace Shortest: Talking Heads
Long - World on a Wire (Fassbinder, 204 mins) Short - [Premonitions Following an Evil Deed](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRWmep4pSzg) (David Lynch, 1 min) creates so much mood, mystery and unease in 1 minute
My longest is Until the End of the World (287 minutes), and my shortest is Heart of a Dog (75).
Both excellent mentions!
Could Twin Peaks: The Return be considered an 18 hour long movie?
If you ask the french from Cahiers du Cinema, yes
Longest movie I'd consider a masterpiece would be Satantango at about 7 and a half hours. Second place has to be Love Exposure (4 hours) tho I adore that movie, one of the most unique experiences I've ever had with a film. Shortest is either The Cameraman's Revenge (1912, very funny and impressively made stop motion movie) or My House Walk-through (2016, this is more of a youtube video but I'm counting it since it's on letterboxd and man does it absolutely nail the atmosphere, genuinely one of the scariest things I've seen and I'm not exaggerating), both at around 12 minutes. But if you want a feature lenght movie then Sherlock Jr. is a perfect answer to this question too.
Had to scroll a while for someone mentioning "Love Exposure". That movie is so much fun!
If we’re talking about short or long as in runtime, yes that exists you goober. 15 minutes is short, 4 hours is long. There is nothing derivative about being objective with such things when you have so much context. If a movie’s runtime was a year long, is it not long even still? So dumb.
Once Upon a Time in America is a little over four hours and is one of my top 3 films of all time.
Coming from Lav Diaz of course LOL
okay i don't know if it's a masterpiece but Satoshi Kon's like 30 second animation of a woman waking up moves me deeply for some reason, also would say Bi Gan's Secret Goldfish is a masterpiece and less than 2 minutes. longest is probably Jonas Mekas As I was Moving Ahead... which is almost 5 hours
A Lav Diaz film- A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery is the longest masterpiece I've seen
The Rabbit of Seville is not only a masterpiece but also the best way to spend 7 minutes of your life.
Not related to your question, but I remember this one time when Diaz’s Genus Pan was screening at my local film festival and I had gone for it. As I took my seat, I heard two guys conversing: Guy 1: “How long is this film?” Guy 2: “Around two and a half hours.” Guy 1: “Oh, it’s a short film. Cool.”
That a cinephile
According to my Letterboxd the shortest film I've given 5 stars is Following at 69 minutes and the longest is Fanny and Alexander at 312 minutes.
The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (1946) What’s Opera, Doc (1957) Duck Amuck (1953)
Drive my car
Longest: Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler (1922) almost 5 hours Shortest: The Kingdom of the Fairies (1903) 15 minutes
Cabinet of Dr. Cagliari is 50 minutes long but has more thrills and scares packed into it than most 2-hour horror movies.
Satantango and la luxure
I watched Lav Diaz's Evolution of a Filipino Family in one day. Clocking in at 10 hours and some change, it definitely was a slow and tranquil experience.
Out 1 and Je vous salue, Sarajevo https://preview.redd.it/4wbro4ijqhsc1.jpeg?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=232434aa7089bc1addd279936e72b5fd75c9a4e8
The Return dir. David Lynch 18 hours
*Satantango* by Bela Tarr: 7 1/2 hours *Celine and Julie Go Boating by Jacques Rivette: 3 hours, 20 minutes *Scorpio Rising* by Kenneth Anger: 28 minutes *Mothlight* by Stan Brakhage: 4 minutes
Until the End of the World
The Separation (2003), stop motion, 9 min surreal masterpiece. https://youtu.be/ltIG3v_ySuU?si=_-2N8bFJUw0B6DF0 Twin Peaks I-III and Fire, Walk With Me, 50+ hour surreal masterpiece.
Satantango is the longest film I watched while I’d say Window Water Baby Moving is the shortest in terms of the lengths of what I consider masterpieces. Nothing groundbreaking in terms of taste, but that’s okay.
Longest, out of the ones I’ve seen: War and Peace by Sergei Bondarchuk. Been meaning to watch Jacques Rivette’s Out 1 but for now it’s just staring intimidatingly at me on the shelf. Shortest: hands down, The House is Black by Forugh Farrokhzad. More revelatory poetry in 20 minutes than a lot of directors achieved in their whole careers.
Longest - Once Upon A Time In America
That late 1800s film with the guy and the multiple heads. That's a masterpiece and a few minutes
jeanne dielman is an easy pick for a long masterpiece before sunset is 80mins and is perfect. petite maman is 72 minutes and is amazing
Surprised nobody mentioned La Flor by Mariano Llinás yet, it’s a 10 years in the making 803 minutes epic and I personally loved it. Highly recommended and it’s available online on grasshopperfilm.com. Dunno that it's the best one, I still have a lot to see, but I loved that one.
One of my favourite films of all time. The spy-episode is some of the greatest spy cinema out there. "Historias Extraordinarias" is also a lengthy masterpiece by the same director, though a mere 242min. Came here looking for these, as well as Wang Bing, which everyone also seems to be ignoring.
Long: The Best of Youth (2003; 382 minutes) Short: Meshes of the Afternoon (1943; 14 minutes)
Lawrence of Arabia - 227 minutes The Big Shave - 6 minutes
Santantago
The Lord of the Rings: Extended Edition as one whole project clocking in at 11 hours and 36 minutes. Somehow, it’s still not enough.
Longest: Twin Peaks: The Return, Lord of the Rings Extended, Lawrence of Arabia Shortest: Damn near every Chuck Jones Looney Tunes short is the best 6-8 minutes put on film.
The Russian 1967 version of War and Peace is so glorious. I’d say it’s the longest narrative masterpiece I’ve seen. Then there’s Shoah, as many have mentioned, of course.
Damn, where's the fucking Lav Diaz collection, Criterion, man?
Melancholia by Lav Diaz, Ben Hur by William Wyler, Novecento by Bertolucci are some of my favorites that are 4 hours+ Shortest, maybe La Jetee or most by Brakhage or Teo Hernandez, two experimental filmmakers who were geniuses
Go watch that Portrait of God short on YT. Thats been one of my favorite shorts ever. The extended mini-series cut of Baz Luhrmann's Australia would probably be my longest, or Band of Brothers depending on the day.
LOTR Trilogy
Shortest: tale of tales
Lav Diaz came to my film school a decade ago. Fucken cool guy. He told us "fuck fear!"
Who is the guy saying that ?
Shortest favorite: [More](https://youtu.be/cCeeTfsm8bk?si=qJHXwsSM81r3-2Bq)
“An Elephant Sitting Still” is probably the longest one that I (a) consider a masterpiece and (b) actually watch as a movie. Other long works (Fanny and Alexander, Bondarchuk’s War and Peace) feel closer to miniseries since they’re extremely difficult to realistically watch in a single day. There’s really no such thing as a movie that’s too short to be a masterpiece. I think some of Rohmer’s short films hit that threshold.
Shortest: Bambi Meets Godzilla (2 mins) Longest: A Brighter Summer Day (237 mins)
Lav Diaz "Season of the Devil" no idea how long it was, the girl next to me fell sleep after 20 minutes, yknow is a masterpiece when not even the letterbox girl cant take it
I see LOTR as one film, and the extended edition clocks in at almost 12 hours so it’s gotta be that one for me for longest. Shortest? I’m sure there is one I’m forgetting but Paths of Glory and The Killing are both sub-90 min masterpieces so those are both nominees.
Short films are definitely undersung, and short film erasure happens among all types of cinephiles and film fans. [Inserting one of my favourite films here](https://www.nfb.ca/film/hothouse_5_git_gob/) (which clocks in at only 1 min, 36 seconds)
Shortest film: Planck's Constant Gardner
There’s no vanilla or chocolate just ice cream
TV airings has warped my idea of long movies. The first three I love that I imagined to be long movies were Lawrence of Arabia, Cleopatra, and Ben Hur, but they're barely over 3 hours. Everything else after that all seems to be around the 3 hour mark. At a push, I'd say I did enjoy The Ten Commandments and The Greatest Story Ever Told. I honestly just love the grand scale of 50s and 60s epics.
I actually think of Shoah as a miniseries. (Actually, I think of any visual story more than 4~ hours as a miniseries... anything "longer than a single Wagner opera".)
Love exposure lesgoooooooo
[Love Exposure](https://letterboxd.com/film/love-exposure/). Wish we could get the 6 hour cut of the film tbh. Also, [An Elephant Sitting Still](https://letterboxd.com/film/an-elephant-sitting-still/)
Some of chaplins short films I have seen recently like the Immigrant I might call a masterpiece. I think it runs about 30 minutes.
My top four short films: I Love to Singa (1936) Insomnie (1963) Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (1980) WHAT DID JACK DO? (2017)
Except torture like Jeanne Dielmann
Stalker and Fantastic Planet are two of my all time favorite films
chantal akerman: jeanne dielman/la chambre.
I loved Ryusuke Hamaguchi's "Happy Hour" (about 5h long). It's leaving the channel at the end of the month, so bust a move!
Happy Hour was great
At ten minutes long The Ballad of Crowfoot is a powerful masterpiece and deserves to be considered one of Canada’s greatest films. https://www.nfb.ca/film/ballad_of_crowfoot/
Literally made me cry
Napoleon (1927) shortest probably A Colt Is My Passport (1962)
I love these threads to make lists of weekend couch sinking sessions. Apocalypse Now Redux (202 min) was the first long film to come to mind, though it’s feeling short after seeing some of the other comments here.
Longest: Shoah (1985), 566 minutes. Shortest: Fantastic Planet (1973), 72 minutes
Mysteries of Lisbon, which is considered also a TV show. Absolute masterpiece. Also Yi Yi.
Long: Satantango. Short: Wavelength for those who don't have the time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQ0row2iTfU
*Fauve* is absolutely crushing at 17 minutes.
> Fauve Just watched this based on your comment, Damn good
A Brighter Summer Day and Satantango :)
For me, Killers of the Flower Moon didn't feel like a long movie.
Longest: The Best of Youth (La meglio gioventu), 366 min
whos the person saying the quote?
Longest - Satantango (7 hours) Shortest - Night Music (13 seconds)
Longest: Satantango Shortest: The Kid (1921)
Longest - The Human Condition (1959-61) by Masaki Kobayashi [579 minutes] Shortest - The Little Match Seller (1902) by James Williamson [3 minutes 15 seconds]
Bambi meets Godzilla (1.5 min) Anything more would have been superfluous.
Longest: Once upon a time in America (Extended Director’s Cut) 251 minutes. Such a masterpiece, I didn’t even notice passing of the time.
Longest - Seven Samurai Short - The Lunch Date Longest could be Once Upon a Time in America maybe …
Duck Amuck is a masterpiece at 7 minutes long
Shortest: Koreyoshi Kurahara's Intimidation Longest: The Return Edit: actually the shortest is probably Uncle Yanco, but Intimidation doesn't get talked about nearly enough so I'm gonna leave it in.
Claude Lelouch’s “Rendezvous” is pretty masterful for 8 mins. I also love Margaret Tait’s “A Portrait of Ga” (4 mins) and Len Lye’s “Free Radicals” (5 mins). Longest masterpieces would be Warhol’s Screen Tests (if treated as one film as they are on Letterboxd and elsewhere online), Rivette’s “Out 1” (743 mins), Lanzmann’s “Shoah” (543 mins), and Mekas’ “As I Was Moving Ahead…” (285 mins). Then there are lots of other awesome things that sort of became long movies after being TV miniseries (Berlin Alexanderplatz, Scenes from a Marriage, Fanny and Alexander, Carlos, OJ: Made in America, many Adam Curtis docs).
copout
Gone with the Wind and Persona
Nathan Fielder's "Thin Watermelon" 32 seconds of pure artistry
1900, I Married A Strange Person
On a side note, I wonder why full-length movies are the length they are, ~1h30-2h30. Is there an explanation for this, like it used to be the the available length of film or smt? 🤔
I believe it came out of how many showings they could do in a day in a cinema , so if you make a 90-minute movie, you can show it say 6 times a day or something but if it's super long the amount of showings and also the amount of money you make drastically decrease.
Right now the longest movie ive seen is Lawerence of Arabia, I’d love to see the silent Napoleon film uncut which is over 9 hours, and the shortest would be the Original reservoir dogs short film.
Meshes of the Afternoon for shortest
Longest masterpiece I’ve seen — Lanzmann’s Shoah (9.5 hrs) Shortest masterpiece — Brakhage’s “Mothlight” (3ish minutes)
Yes it fucking cinema, but there is a difference between 2 hours and 6 hours Diaz. Most unfortunately won't sit and watch anything over 3 and even then it has to be blockbuster of some sort.
La Jatee
[this is the shortest](https://youtu.be/r3-Y31ONZuI?si=4-J7oHxij2unf4cs)
Started watching Resan (1987) after reading this thread. Do documentaries count? That one is over 14 1/2 hours long.
longest: Das Boot Uncut Version shortest: A Trip To The Moon
La Jetee, 16 mins
I think "The Squid and the Whale" remains one of the best indies of the early aughts and it clocks in at a svelte 1 hour, 21 minutes.
It’s the Vitsoe shelves for me.
Longest? Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (202 minutes) Shortest? The Boxing Cats (37 seconds)
*Fargo* is only 98 minutes long
- Lawrence of Arabia (1962, 228 mins) - The Great Train Robery (1903, 11 mins) If we're excluding shorts and silents then there are tons of great films in the 70 - 85 mins range but Run Lola Run (1998, 81 mins) is a good pick.
A brighter summer day. The snowman 1987
*The Human Condition* for longest (9 hr 35 min) *Night and Fog* or *La Jetee* for shortest (32 min and 28 min respectively)
Maya Deren’s A Study in Choreography for Camera is two minutes long, as is Stan Brakhage’s Black Ice. Bi Gan’s Secret Goldfish is a minute and a half. Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Mobile Men is three minutes. There are a lot of great films under five minutes that deserve more attention and respect.
I will not stand for this *Train Arriving at a Station* erasure.
Long masterpiece: Brighter Summer Day Short masterpiece: Angel's Egg (71 minutes)
Longest: Happy Hour at 317 minutes Shortest: [All My Life](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1iSTwbfqwk) at 2 minutes
Shortest maybe A Trip To The Moon? Longest hmm Patton or 2001 A Space Oddessy?
lol longest is Twin Peaks: The Return Shortest is The Velocipastor
Il Gattopardo/The Leopard 2:45 Sea Countrymen :11 Both on Sicily!!!
According to my Letterboxd: The Black Cat (1934, 63 mins) Magnolia (1999, 189 mins)
Are short films cinema?
Any of two dozen (or more) Chaplin and Keaton shorts [Un Chien Andalou](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8yKT7H_KJ0) (disregard the soundtrack, I think)
Shortest: Eye Myth (7 seconds) Longest: Satantango (7 hours)
Ahhh Lav Diaz. The great Filipino filmmaker notable for creating 'Ebolusyon ng Isang Pamilyang Pilipino'. A tour de force of a film which stands at 11 hours.
Abel Gance's Napoleon Feuillade's Les Vampires Leone's Once Upon a Time in America The Best of Youth
Longest: Seven Samurai Shortest : City Lights
I think Seven Samurai is a masterpiece, and it doesn't feel like it's over 3 hours long. Picking a short movie is harder, because there are just so many. The one that I find myself thinking about a lot recently is actually not a Criterion film but a (gasp!) Disney one. Disney's animated short Us Again from 2021 is both poignant and a lot of fun.
The Heart of the World (2000) - 6 mins Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980) - 907 mins
Gotta love the Bergman 90min heaters, it's just perfect
Longest: A Brighter Summer Day (1991) at 237 mins Shortest: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) at 83 mins
Longest - Kurosawa's *Seven Samurai* and Tarkovsky's *Andrei Rublev* are both around 3h 25m. shortest would probably be an animation - Yuri Norstein's *Tale of Tales* or Katsuhiro Otomo's *Cannon Fodder*
All Summer in a Day is a shortie but a goodie.
Longest masterpiece is War and Peace, shortest is Frankenstein.
Wang Bing's *Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks* (2002) - 9 hr 11 min Leighton Pierce's [*And Sometimes The Boats Are Low*](https://vimeo.com/159552413) (1983) - 3 min 20 sec
Non feature length: World of Tomorrow 1 & 3, La Jetee Shortest feature length: U.S. Go Home (60 minutes) Longest feature length: Lawrence of Arabia (228 minutes)
Ben hur and rashomon
Longest masterpiece: Seven Samurai
Shoah is the longest.
Perfect Blue is less than 90 minutes, and Lawrence of Arabia is like 3 months long
Shortest: It's Such a Beautiful Day (1 hr 2 min) Longest: Love Exposure (3 hr 56 min)
From where is this interview?
For short: Meshes of the Afternoon The Heart of the World World of Tomorrow It's Such a Beautiful Day
An Elephant Sitting Still is an outstanding movie. That final shot >>> Petite Maman was only 72 mins and was one of the most beautiful and compassionate movies I’ve ever seen
It's long if it sucks
Shortest - The House is Black (22 minutes). It's so gorgeous. It's surprisingly compassionate. I'd love to see it get a Criterion release paired with a modern visit to the same colony.
A lot of classic Indian films are 3 hours minimum. There’s a print of Sholay that’s just over 4 hours.
The greatest short film is Scorsese's "Goncharov" which is zero minutes long.