Movies Like Ballet Mécanique (1924)

Ballet Mécanique is a 1924 documentary, fantasy film from Fernand Léger with a MovieMagicScore of 6.5/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with At Land and Time Piece.

Documentary Fantasy

At Land

1944

A woman washes up on a beach and embarks on a surreal journey, encountering others and fragmented versions of herself in a quest for identity.

7.2

MagicScore

Time Piece

1965

Dislocation in time, time signatures, time as a philosophical concept, and slavery to time are some of the themes touched upon in this 9-minute experimental film, which was written, directed, and produced by Jim Henson. Screened for the first time at the Museum of Modern Art in May of 1965, "Time Piece" enjoyed an eighteen-month run at one Manhattan movie theater and was nominated for an Academy Award for Outstanding Short Subject.

7.1

MagicScore

Witch's Cradle

1944

The surrealist film shows repetitive imagery involving a string fashioned in a bizarre, almost spiderweb-like pattern over the hands of several individuals, most notably an unnamed young woman and an elderly gentleman. The film also shows a shadowy darkness and people filmed at odd angles, an exposed human heart, and other occult symbols and ritualistic imagery which evokes an unsettling and dream-like aura. Considered an unfinished film.

6.6

MagicScore

The Starfish

1928

The romantic relationship between a man and a woman.

6.9

MagicScore

The Life and Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra

1928

This short experimental film tells the story of a man who comes to Hollywood to become a star, only to fail and be dehumanized. He is identified by the number 9413 written on his forehead.

6.5

MagicScore

The Seashell and the Clergyman

1928

Obsessed with a general's wife, a clergyman has strange visions of death and lust, struggling against his own eroticism.

6.6

MagicScore

The Very Eye of Night

1958

Dancers, shown in photographic negative, perform a series of ballet moves, solos, pas de deux, larger groupings. The dancers glide and rotate untroubled by gravity against a slowly changing starfield background. Their movements are accompanied by music scored for a small ensemble of woodwind and percussion.

5.9

MagicScore

Mirror

1975

A dying man in his forties recalls his childhood, his mother, the war and personal moments that tell of and juxtapose pivotal moments in Soviet history with daily life.

7.9

MagicScore

Any Virgin Left Alive?

2015

According to an English legend, Joan of Arc never died at the stake. Her eyes were seared with hot pokers and she was deflowered by an English stud. She was then sentenced to wander on the battlefields, like a vulture, on the look-out for life and searching for any virgins left alive.

4.6

MagicScore

#10

(NULL)

2013

An unknown girl breaks out of her daily grind by undergoing an intense audio-visual trip.

8.1

MagicScore

#11

Dickson Experimental Sound Film

1894

William K.L. Dickson plays the violin while two men dance. This is the oldest surviving sound film where sound is recorded on the phonograph.

6.0

MagicScore

#12

Préhistoric Cabaret

2015

In Arnarstapi (Iceland), during a cabaret number, a mistress of ceremonies proposes to us a journey into the center of her organs to go and meet the original being. During the journey, the public enters into a trance to reach the ecstasy.

4.4

MagicScore

#13

Emotion

1966

Experimental short film depicting the life, perhaps real, perhaps a dream, of a young girl named Emi. Emi travels to the city where she encounters her counterpart, Sari, and falls in love with…a vampire?

6.8

MagicScore

#14

Taris

1931

Short documentary directed by Jean Vigo about the French swimmer Jean Taris. The film is notable for the many innovative techniques that Vigo uses, including close ups and freeze frames of the swimmer's body.

6.2

MagicScore

#15

Rabbit's Moon

1950

A Japanese fairy tale meets commedia dell'Arte. All in white, the naïf Pierrot lies in a wood. Doo-wop music plays as he rises, stares about, and reaches for the moon. Although music abounds and the children of the wood are there at play, Pierrot is melancholy and alone. Harlequin appears, brimming with confidence and energy. He conjures the lovely Colombina. Pierrot is dazzled. But can the course of true love run smooth?

6.2

MagicScore

#16

Nymphlight

1957

A short, avant-garde movie, starring twelve-year-old ballet student Gwen Thomas, Nymphlight is a lovely blend of fact and fiction, using Bryant Park at the New York Public Library as a stage set for the fantasy inclusion of a certain nymph. A meditation on an ephemeral day in the the life of a park shared by birds, the young and the old.

5.4

MagicScore

#17

Our Lady of the Sphere

1969

Animation using cutout animation to craft a bizarre science fiction experiment. Moving spheres, such as balloons and bubbles, are superimposed on static backgrounds to suggest travel and discovery.

4.9

MagicScore

#18

Autumn Mists

1929

An early impressionist short featuring a woman who dreams of, and escapes into, an autumn forest.

6.3

MagicScore

#19

The Dante Quartet

1987

A visual representation, in four parts, of one man's internalization of "The Divine Comedy." Hell is a series of multicolored brush strokes against a white background; the speed of the changing images varies. "Hell Spit Flexion," or springing out of Hell, is on smaller film stock, taking the center of the frame. Montages of color move rapidly with a star and the edge of a lighted moon briefly visible. Purgation is back to full frame; blurs of color occasionally slow down then freeze. From time to time, an image, such as a window or a face, is distinguishable for a moment. In "existence is song," colors swirl then flash in and out of view. Behind the vivid colors are momentary glimpses of volcanic activity.

6.3

MagicScore

#20

Diagonal Symphony

1924

A tilted figure, consisting largely of right angles at the beginning, grows by accretion, with the addition of short straight lines and curves which sprout from the existing design. The figure vanishes and the process begins again with a new pattern, each cycle lasting one or two seconds. The complete figures are drawn in a vaguely Art Deco style and could be said to resemble any number of things, an ear, a harp, panpipes, a grand piano with trombones, and so on, only highly stylized. The tone is playful and hypnotic.

5.5

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Ballet Mécanique?

The top films similar to Ballet Mécanique by MovieMagicScore are At Land (7.2), Time Piece (7.1), Witch's Cradle (6.6). Each shares documentary/fantasy themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Ballet Mécanique worth watching?

Ballet Mécanique holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.5/10 from 109 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Ballet Mécanique?

Ballet Mécanique (1924) is a documentary, fantasy film directed by Fernand Léger, starring Kiki of Montparnasse, Fernand Léger, Katrin Murphy.

Where can I find more recommendations like Ballet Mécanique?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more documentary recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like At Land Movies like Time Piece Movies like Witch's Cradle Movies like The Starfish Movies like The Life and Death of 9413: A Hollywood Extra Movies like The Seashell and the Clergyman

About movies like Ballet Mécanique

This ranked list pairs Ballet Mécanique (1924), a documentary and fantasy film from Fernand Léger, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Kiki of Montparnasse take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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