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Isle of Flowers poster

Movies that feel likeIsle of Flowers (1989)

A tomato is planted, harvested and sold at a supermarket, but it rots and ends up in the trash. But it doesn’t end there: Isle of Flowers follows it up until its real end, among animals, trash, women and children. And then the difference between tomatoes, pigs and human beings becomes clear.

If you loved Isle of Flowers, the closest films we have are The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On (1987), Cane Toads: An Unnatural History (1988) and Streetwise (1984). All three share Isle of Flowers' contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary (1997).

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If Isle of Flowers hit the spot, these will too

The Emperor's Naked Army Marches On poster
🍅 100%★ 8.2documentary

Contemplative documentary, and it commits to that

Kenzo Okuzaki, a 62-year-old veteran of the New Guinea campaign in World War II, sets out to conduct interviews with survivors and relatives to find the truth behind atrocities committed by Japanese military, in particular the unexplained killing of two Japanese privates in his unit.

Cane Toads: An Unnatural History poster
Cane Toads: An Unnatural History
1988 · dir. Mark Lewis
🍅 88%★ 7.6documentary

Documentary with a pulse of stillness, in both cases

A documentary detailing the spread of Hawaiian sugar-cane toads through Australia in a botched effort to introduce them as counter pests.

Streetwise poster
Streetwise
1984 · dir. Martin Bell
🍅 92%★ 8.2documentary

Both lean on stillness more than on documentary

This documentary about teenagers living on the streets in Seattle began as a magazine article. The film follows nine teenagers who discuss how they live by panhandling, prostitution, and petty theft.

Powaqqatsi poster
Powaqqatsi
1988 · dir. Godfrey Reggio
🍅 56%★ 7.2documentary

Both know what they want from documentary

An exploration of technologically developing nations and the effect the transition to Western-style modernization has had on them.

Brother's Keeper poster
Brother's Keeper
1992 · dir. Bruce Sinofsky
🍅 100%★ 7.5documentary

Both working the same documentary territory

This documentary by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky details the murder trial of Delbert Ward. Delbert was a member of a family of four elderly brothers, working as semi-literate farmers and living together in isolation from the rest of society until William's death.

Burden of Dreams poster
Burden of Dreams
1982 · dir. Les Blank
🍅 92%★ 7.9documentary

The documentary is handled with the same confidence

The Amazon rain forest, 1979. The crew of Fitzcarraldo (1982), a film directed by German director Werner Herzog, soon finds itself with problems related to casting, tribal struggles and accidents, among many other setbacks; but nothing compared to dragging a huge steamboat up a mountain, while Herzog embraces the path of a certain madness to make his vision come true.

Little Dieter Needs to Fly poster
Little Dieter Needs to Fly
1997 · dir. Werner Herzog
🍅 93%★ 8documentaryPrime Video

Documentary of the same temperament

Three decades after German-American pilot Dieter Dengler was shot down over Laos, he returns to the places where he was held prisoner during the early years of the Vietnam War. Accompanied by director Werner Herzog, Dengler describes in unusually candid detail his captivity, the friendships he made, and his daring escape. Not willing to stop there, Herzog even persuades his subject to re-enact certain tortures, with the help of some willing local villagers.

Hoop Dreams poster
Hoop Dreams
1994 · dir. Steve James
🍅 98%★ 8.3documentaryMax

Both are documentary through and through

Every school day, African-American teenagers William Gates and Arthur Agee travel 90 minutes each way from inner-city Chicago to St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominately white suburban school well-known for the excellence of its basketball program. Gates and Agee dream of NBA stardom, and with the support of their close-knit families, they battle the social and physical obstacles that stand in their way. This acclaimed documentary was shot over the course of five years.

Sans Soleil poster
Sans Soleil
1983 · dir. Chris Marker
🍅 88%★ 7.7documentary

Documentary approached the same way

A woman narrates the thoughts of a world traveler, meditations on time and memory expressed in words and images from places as far-flung as Japan, Guinea-Bissau, Iceland, and San Francisco.

Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary poster
Hands on a Hardbody: The Documentary
1997 · dir. S.R. Bindler
🍅 84%★ 7.6documentary

Both play documentary straight

Filmmaker S.R. Bindler profiles Texas contestants trying to win a truck by keeping one hand on it longer than everyone else.

Harlan County U.S.A. poster
Harlan County U.S.A.
1976 · dir. Barbara Kopple
🍅 100%★ 8.2documentaryMax

The same documentary instincts

A heartbreaking record of the thirteen-month struggle between a community fighting to survive and a corporation dedicated to the bottom line.

Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse poster
Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse
1991 · dir. George Hickenlooper
🍅 100%★ 8.1documentary

Documentary in the same key

A chronicle of the production problems — including bad weather, actors' health, war near the filming locations, and more — which plagued the filming of Apocalypse Now, increasing costs and nearly destroying the life and career of Francis Ford Coppola.

In the mood for more contemplative?

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The best-reviewed films that share Isle of Flowers’ defining feeling.