In no particular order (More than 5, but I try to keep to the most influential):
You'll notice I highly enjoy self-reference (the mathematics of recursion, infinity, and fractals) mythological reference and Campbellian monomyth (I'll stick to listing the most novel uses though, i.e. no Matrix or Star Wars, mainly inverted uses appeal to me).
- Amadeus (I enjoy the aesthetic self-referencing of aesthetics.)
- A Clockwork Orange (Like the above, I enjoy the aesthetic self-reference. The main character, Alex DeLarge, being contrasted with Beethoven who both lose the ability to hear Beethoven's work. I feel like it is a tragedy that Beethoven's Grand Fugue was not used in the closing of the film, it is likely his most infamous work and is a perfect reflection of one of film's most infamous works.)
From his Ninth Symphony:
The whole audience acclaimed him through standing ovations five times; there were handkerchiefs in the air, hats, raised hands, so that Beethoven, who could not hear the applause, could at least see the ovation gestures.
From his Grand Fugue:
Beethoven originally composed the Große Fuge as the final movement of his String Quartet No. 13 (Op. 130). When the work was first performed, the audience demanded encores of only two of the middle movements of the quartet. Beethoven, enraged, was reported to have growled, "And why didn't they encore the Fugue? That alone should have been repeated! Cattle! Asses!"
However, the fugue was so demanding of contemporary performers and unpopular with audiences that Beethoven's publisher, Matthias Artaria, urged him to write a new finale for the string quartet. Beethoven, although notorious for his stubborn personality and indifference to public opinion or taste, acquiesced to his publisher's request on this occasion. He composed a replacement finale in late 1826. In May 1827, about two months after Beethoven's death, Artaria published the first edition of Op. 130 with the new finale, and the Große Fuge as Op. 133, as well as a four-hand piano arrangement, Op. 134.
- Fight Club (An inversion of the Hero's Journey)
"Refusal of the summons converts the adventure into its negative. Walled in boredom, hard work, or 'culture,' the subject loses the power of significant affirmative action and becomes a victim to be saved. His flowering world becomes a wasteland of dry stones and his life feels meaningless—even though, like
King Minos, he may through titanic effort succeed in building an empire or renown. Whatever house he builds, it will be a house of death: a labyrinth of cyclopean walls to hide from him his minotaur. All he can do is create new problems for himself and await the gradual approach of his disintegration."
- Meshes of the Afternoon (Thanks to @
Puffy for introducing it to me. See that thread for discussion.)
- Inception (Like the above deals with mise en abyme, i.e. dream within a dream and has a scene reflecting this when Ariadne faces two mirrors together. This also occurs in Citizen Kane where he has a hallway with two mirrors reflecting each other. Inception is also a strong reference to the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur with Ariadne being the one who gave Theseus the thread to navigate the labyrinth.)
- Citizen Kane (Mise en abyme; Nobody ever hears him say 'Rosebud' when he dies at the beginning of the film; The film opens and closes on the sign, 'No Trespassing,' outside of his mansion Xanadu; Famous for all the real life speculations and inferences that can be discussed; Orson Welles had made headlines previously for the infamous 'War of the Worlds' broadcast which has subsequently been called into doubt as to the actual extent of the incident.)
- Memento (This and Inception are my favorite two of Christopher Nolan's work. The editing structure is brilliant, innovative, and mesmerizing.)
Many more are in my favorites, but I feel these are the most influential so far. (If I forgot any, then I'm going to edit this.)
I just saw this epic smilie and had to put it
