From neorealism to the zombie movie genre, directors have long been drawn to life-changing events in their films. Below is a list of movies that take place within 24 hours or less.
Do the Right Thing
Finishing a movie in a single day has the beauty of compressing and elevating emotion. Spike Lee’s colorful 1989 drama takes place on both fronts – from Rosie Perez’s energetic dance to Public Enemy’s Fight the Power at the beginning of the broken pizzeria window near the end – as a hot summer day in Brooklyn descends into racial violence .
Odd Man Out
An armed robbery by an IRA gang led by Johnny and James Mason goes awry, sending him on the run, badly injured, through the streets of Belfast. In Carol Reed’s brilliant thriller in 1947, elements of Christian allegory penetrate Johnny’s state as the cold day turns to night freezing and he seeks shelter and help wherever he can.
Before Sunrise
Richard Linklater is the master of the film’s life within a day (Slacker, Dazed and Confused) and Before Sunrise is his gentlest and sweetest treatment of the theme. Light but deep touching, she has Ethan Hawke’s Jesse and Julie Delpy’s Céline “meeting beautifully” and then wandering the streets of Vienna from dusk to dawn, talking about life and love.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
Time goes differently for children, so one day it may seem to change lives. Surely this is for Alan Ruck’s frozen teenager in John Hughes comedy in 1986, after best friend Ferris (Matthew Broderick) makes him leave their Chicago school for a day in the city, and Cameron discovers a feeling of self-esteem.
Bicycle Thieves
A landmark of Italian neorealist cinema, the parable of the Vittorio de Sica 1948 was realized mainly on the first day of work for Lamberto Maggiorani’s worker. When the bicycle essential to his work has been stolen, he embarks on a desperate search through Rome for him, with his young son a witness to the humiliations and injustices of poverty.
Stalker
In Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1979 science-fiction drama, a guide takes two men to the Zone, a forbidden region that contains a room where your deepest desire will be fulfilled. With the laws of physics on this mysterious earth being unstable, their search may not last just one day, as the oblique Russian author spoils time and meaning.
Groundhog Day
A simple arrogance brilliantly executed by director Harold Ramis, writer Danny Rubin and star Bill Murray. This 1993 comedy deserves repeated views – if you can listen to “I Got You Babe” stomach many times.
Night of the Living Dead
The 1968 zombie horror of George A Romero established a genre model that is still in use today. A diverse group riding on a farmhouse faces a mixed but indescribable threat as the re-animated corpses come to life in the wild, the real-time element that adds to the risk of claustrophobia. With an African-American (played by Duane Jones) as the hero, he was – unintentionally – innovative in other ways, too.
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Realized during Ceaușescu’s dictatorship in Romania, Cristian Mungiu’s 2007 drama that strains the stomach offers a cold and difficult look at ostalgia myths. Anamaria Marinca University student agrees to help her unreliable friend (Laura Vasiliu) get an illegal abortion, but the day goes far from normal. Hotel rooms have never looked so gloomy.
The Clock
A movie of the day, requiring a day to watch, Christian Marclay (2010)’s 24-hour installation features clocks from movies and TV, edited together to show the current time, commenting on how we organize it our daily lives, the history of cinema and much more. it is an infinitely rewarding experience, no matter how much you spend with it.
