Tediously Long Films
by dan_dassow | created - 12 Dec 2013 | updated - 17 Dec 2013 | PublicAccording to Wikipedia, these are the 35 longest films by running time. Which would you find the most tedious to watch?
You may discuss the poll here?
This list included experimental films, cinematic films and films released in separate parts. Some releases for cinematic films are extended cuts or director's cuts, are ranked according to the longest verified running time, and may differ from the running time in the IMDb.
For a longer list please see:
List of Longest Films by Running Time
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1. Modern Times Forever (2011)
14,400 min | Documentary
The ever-slow decay of Helsinki's Stora Enso headquarters building.
Directors: Bjornstjerne Reuter Christiansen, Jakob Fenger, Rasmus Nielsen, Superflex | Star: Nicolas Gaitan
Votes: 98
14400 min (240 hr / 10 days) - The film shows centuries of decay, compressed into the span of the film, marking Helsinki's Stora Enso headquarters building. The film was originally screened in front of the building itself on a 40m2 screen so people could see the original building simultaneously to the one on the screen.
2. Cinématon (1984)
TV-PG | 210 min | Documentary
A 151-hour long experimental film by French director Gérard Courant. It is considered to be the longest film ever released.
Director: Gérard Courant | Stars: Marie-Louise Alemann, Halim Anou, Tina Aumont, Cécile Babiole
Votes: 124
9660 min (161 hr / 6 days, 16 hours) - Composed over 35 years from 1978 until 2006, it consists of a series of over 2,792 silent vignettes (cinématons), each 3 minutes and 25 seconds long, of various celebrities, artists, journalists and friends of the director, each doing whatever they want for the allotted time.
3. Matrjoschka (2006 Video)
5,700 min | Drama
A German girl eats yogurt, looks through a phone book, and tries to sleep on a couch to no avail.
Director: Karin Hoerler
Votes: 44
5700 min (95 hr / 3 days, 23 hours) - The film consists of images and sequences based on a single photo. It shows a boy riding a bicycle, a street, houses, garages, and sky. Over time, the image changes, but those movements are very slow and not directly visible.
4. The Cure for Insomnia (1987)
Unrated | 5,220 min | Documentary, Music
Not really following any standard plot structure, the film mostly consists of poet L.D. Groban reciting his own poem of 4,080 pages, inter-spliced with X-rated film footage and rock music videos.
Director: John Henry Timmis IV | Stars: Cosmic Lightning, L.D. Groban, J.T.4
Votes: 418
5220 min (87 hr / 3 days, 15 hours) - Not really following any standard plot structure, the film mostly consists of poet L.D. Groban reciting his own poem of 4,080 pages, inter-spliced with X-rated film footage and rock music videos.
5. The Longest Most Meaningless Movie in the World (1970)
TV-14 | 2,880 min | Documentary, Drama, History
The Longest Most Meaningless Movie in the World is an underground movie made in the UK that runs to 48 hours long.
Director: Vincent Patouillard | Star: Bob Seely
Votes: 198
2880 min (48 hr) - No actual footage was shot for the project, which instead consists entirely of outtakes, commercials, strips of undeveloped film, Academy leader, and other filmic castoff material, creating a seemingly endless stream of newsreel and stock footage. Some portions of the film consist of the same commercial, repeated over and over again, for more than half an hour. Strips of 35mm still picture film are also included in the film; at times, the images are run upside down, and in reverse.
6. Huo shao hong lian si (1928)
1,620 min | Drama
This movie was adapted from a newspaper serial (Strange Tales of the Adventurer in the Wild Country) and released in 18 feature-length parts over a period of 3 years (1928-31). In its entirety it would be 27 hours long.
Director: Shichuan Zhang | Stars: Xiaoqiu Zheng, Peizhen Xia, Lihen Gao, Jiting Wang
Votes: 62
1620 min (27 hr) - This movie was adapted from a newspaper serial (Strange Tales of the Adventurer in the Wild Country) and released in 18 feature-length parts over a period of 3 years (1928-31).
7. **** (1967)
TV-MA | 1,500 min | Drama
Originally a twenty five hour film made up of shorter film segments. It consists of 83 reels each lasting approximately 33 minutes. A short story odyssey of film designed to be shown with two projectors playing simultaneously.
Director: Andy Warhol | Stars: Brigid Berlin, Tally Brown, David Croland, Joe Dallesandro
Votes: 103
1500 min (25 hr / 1 day, 1 hour) - The film is a 1967 avant-garde film by Andy Warhol, actually consisting of 25 hours of film. In typical Warhol fashion of the period, each reel of the film is 35 minutes long, or 1200 ft. in length, and is shot in sync-sound. The film's title is a pun on the rating system used by critics to rank films, with "four stars" being the highest rating.
8. Resan (1987)
873 min | Documentary, War
A global look at the impact of military use of nuclear technology and people's perception of it.
Director: Peter Watkins | Stars: Francine Bastien, Brian Mulroney, Mila Mulroney, Peter Watkins
Votes: 133
873 min (14 hr 33 min) - A global look at the impact of military use of nuclear technology and people's perception of it.
840 min (14 hr) - The film is a 2008 Chinese documentary film directed by Wang Bing. Filmed in the Inner Mongolian portion of the Gobi Desert, it follows a group of oil field workers as they go about their daily routine.
10. Out 1 (1971)
Not Rated | 776 min | Drama, Mystery
Following the May 1968 civil unrest in France, a deaf-mute and a con artist simultaneously stumble upon the remnants of a secret society.
Directors: Jacques Rivette, Suzanne Schiffman | Stars: Michèle Moretti, Hermine Karagheuz, Karen Puig, Pierre Baillot
Votes: 1,554 | Gross: $0.03M
773 min (12 hr 53 min) - "Out 1" is a very precise picture of post May '68 malaise - when Utopian dreams of a new society had crashed and burned.
11. Comment Yukong déplaça les montagnes (1976)
763 min | Documentary
From 1972 until 1974, Joris Ivens and Marceline Loridan, along with a Chinese film crew, documented the last days of the Cultural Revolution, marking the end of an era. The vast amount of ... See full summary »
Directors: Joris Ivens, Marceline Loridan Ivens, Jean Bigiaoui
Votes: 118
763 min (13 hr 43 min) - The Film is a 1976 French documentary film directed by Joris Ivens, about the last days of the Cultural Revolution.
12. Evolution of a Filipino Family (2004)
Not Rated | 625 min | Drama
The collapse and the struggle of a poor farming clan in Philippines.
Director: Lav Diaz | Stars: Elryan de Vera, Angie Ferro, Pen Medina, Marife Necesito
Votes: 510
643 min (10 hr 43 min) - The film is a Filipino film by Lav Diaz about a Filipino Family over a period of years.
13. The Human Condition I: No Greater Love (I) (1959)
Not Rated | 208 min | Drama, History, War
A Japanese pacifist, unable to face the dire consequences of conscientious objection, is transformed by his attempts to compromise with the demands of war-time Japan.
Director: Masaki Kobayashi | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Chikage Awashima, Ineko Arima
Votes: 9,365
579 min (9 hr 39 min) - In the World War II, the pacifist and humanist Japanese Kaji accepts to travel with his wife Michiko.
14. Shoah (1985)
Not Rated | 566 min | Documentary, History, War
Claude Lanzmann's epic documentary recounts the story of the Holocaust through interviews with witnesses - perpetrators as well as survivors.
Director: Claude Lanzmann | Stars: Simon Srebnik, Michael Podchlebnik, Motke Zaïdl, Hanna Zaïdl
Votes: 10,559 | Gross: $0.02M
566 min (9 hr 26 min) - Claude Lanzmann directed this 9 1/2 hour documentary of the Holocaust without using a single frame of archive footage.
15. Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks (2002)
551 min | Documentary
The impact of the decline of heavy industry on workers and their families in the Tiexi district of Shenyang, China, at the turn of the 21st century, documented unflinchingly by a fly-on-the-wall camera.
Director: Wang Bing
Votes: 1,328
556 min (9 hr 26 min) - The impact of the decline of heavy industry on workers and their families in the Tiexi district of Shenyang, China, at the turn of the 21st century, documented unflinchingly by a fly-on-the-wall camera.
16. Kagadanan sa banwaan ning mga engkanto (2007)
540 min | Drama
Filipino poet Benjamin Agusan (Roeder Camanag) is a hapless native who returns to his hometown Padang to witness the aftermath of the super typhoon. For the past seven years, Benjamin has ... See full summary »
Director: Lav Diaz | Stars: Roeder Camanag, Angeli Bayani, Perry Dizon, Dante Perez
Votes: 267
540 min (9 hr) - A Filipino poet named Benjamin Agusan (Roeder Camanag) is the hapless native who returns to his hometown.
17. Heremias, Book One: The Legend of the Lizard Princess (2006)
519 min | Crime, Drama
A wandering peddler separates from his fellow salesman and becomes involved with criminals in the jungle.
Director: Lav Diaz | Stars: Ronnie Lazaro, Jordan, Sid Lucero, Dante Balois
Votes: 200
540 min (9 hr) - The film is the story of a farmer (Ronnie Lazaro) who makes a pact with God to save a girl from rape"
18. Taiga (1958)
100 min | Drama
A German woman doctor in a Siberia prison camp during WWII inspires her fellow detainees with her compassion and strength.
Director: Wolfgang Liebeneiner | Stars: Ruth Leuwerik, Hannes Messemer, Günter Pfitzmann, Viktor Staal
Votes: 16
501 min (8 hr 31 min) - The film focuses on the life and rituals of nomadic peoples in Northern Mongolia, specifically the Darkhad nomads and the Sojon Urinjanghai.
19. Empire (1964)
485 min | Documentary
A single shot of the Empire State Building from early evening until nearly 3 am the next day.
Directors: John Palmer, Andy Warhol | Stars: Jonas Mekas, Andy Warhol
Votes: 1,442
485 min (8 hr 5 min) - A single shot of the Empire State Building from early evening until nearly 3 am the next day.
20. War and Peace (1965)
GP | 393 min | Drama, Romance, War
The Russian aristocracy prepares for the French invasion on the eve of 1812.
Director: Sergey Bondarchuk | Stars: Lyudmila Saveleva, Vyacheslav Tikhonov, Sergey Bondarchuk, Boris Zakhava
Votes: 8,352 | Gross: $0.13M
484 min (8 hr 4 min) - Eight-hour epic based on the book of the same name by Leo Tolstoy.
21. Melancholia (2008)
Not Rated | 450 min | Drama
Three people engage in a strange therapy to get away from their agonies.
Director: Lav Diaz | Stars: Angeli Bayani, Perry Dizon, Roeder Camanag, Dante Perez
Votes: 556
480 min (8 hr) - Three people engage in a strange therapy to get away from their agonies.
22. The Photo-Drama of Creation (1914)
480 min | Documentary, Drama, History
The Photo-Drama of Creation, is a four-part Christian film produced by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. The film presents the Bible's account of God's plan from the ... See full summary »
Director: Charles Taze Russell
Votes: 295
480 min (8 hr) - The films is a four-part Christian film produced by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania under the direction of Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the Bible Student movement. The film presented their beliefs about God's plan from the creation of the earth through to the end of the 1,000 year reign of Christ.
23. Imitation of Christ (1967)
105 min | Drama
A boy (Pat Close) wanders aimlessly and wonders about life and love.
Director: Andy Warhol | Stars: Brigid Berlin, Ondine, Pat Close, Nico
Votes: 45
480 min (8 hr) - Andy Warhol shot sixteen 32-minute reels of film for all the interior shots during January 1967 in a Hollywood Hills home called the Castle.
24. El protegido de Satán (1917)
480 min
Director: Juan María Codina | Stars: Lola París, Baltasar Banquells, Bianca Valoris, Carmen Rodríguez
480 min (8 hr)
25. The Wake (2000 Video)
462 min
A large-scale multimedia project, the main element of which is an eight-hour long silent movie. The film is based on Finnegans Wake by James Joyce (London 1939), a limit-transgressing, ... See full summary »
Directors: Michael Kvium, Christian Lemmerz | Stars: Claus Christensen, Niels Olaf Gudme, Sarah Boberg, Elina Löwensohn
Votes: 10
462 min (7 hr 42 min) - The film is based on Finnegans Wake by James Joyce (London 1939).
26. Mefisto (1917)
460 min | Thriller
Director: Juan María Codina | Stars: Josep Balaguer, Laura Bove, Julián de la Cantera, Silvia Mariátegui
460 min (7 hr 40 min)
27. Satantango (1994)
Not Rated | 439 min | Drama
On the eve of a large payment, residents of a collapsing collective farm see their plans turn into desolation when they discover that Irimiás, a former co-worker who they thought was dead, is returning to the community.
Director: Béla Tarr | Stars: Mihály Vig, Putyi Horváth, László feLugossy, Éva Almássy Albert
Votes: 12,589
450 min (8 hr 30 min) - In a small dilapidated village in 1990s Hungary, life has come to a virtual standstill.
28. Hitler: A Film from Germany (1977)
442 min | Biography, Drama
Director Hans-Jurgen Syberberg examines the rise and fall of the Third Reich in this brooding seven-hour masterpiece, which incorporates puppetry, rear-screen projection, and a Wagnerian ... See full summary »
Director: Hans-Jürgen Syberberg | Stars: Heinz Schubert, Peter Kern, Hellmut Lange, Rainer von Artenfels
Votes: 906
442 min (7 hr 22 min) - Director Hans-Jurgen Syberberg examines the rise and fall of the Third Reich in this brooding seven-hour masterpiece.
29. Lamentations a Monument for the Dead World (1985)
437 min | History, Mystery
Like Ezekiel's vision in the valley of dry bones, a typos of a new beginning. In among all the feelings of loss and deprivation occur intimations of the final culbute general, of the ... See full summary »
Director: R. Bruce Elder | Stars: Michael Cartmell, Robert Fothergill, Kristina Jones, David King
Votes: 38
427 min (7 hr 7 min) - The film comprises two parts: “The Dream of the Last Historian” and “The Sublime Calculation.”
30. The Movie Orgy (2009)
420 min | Documentary, History
A montage of 1950s B-movies, TV shows & vintage commercials create a nostalgic collage about aliens & monsters attacking America.
Director: Joe Dante | Stars: Ann-Margret, Ngo Dinh Diem, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Groucho Marx
Votes: 204
420 min (7 hr) - A compilation film designed to evoke nostalgia for the shared entertainment experiences of early baby boomers.
31. Arshin mal-alan (1917)
420 min | Comedy, Drama
Set in turn of the century Baku at the dawn of the 20th century, a young man wishes to marry. Since he is a rich and successful business man, despite his young age, he feels that he should ... See full summary »
Director: Boris Svetlov | Stars: Huseyngulu Sarabski, Ahmed Agdamski, Alakbar Huseynzade, Yunis Narimanov
Votes: 59
420 min (7 hr) - Set in turn of the century Baku at the dawn of the 20th century, a young man wishes to marry. Since he is a rich and successful business man, despite his young age, he feels that he should have his pick of any bride that he fancies, however, Azerbanjani tradition dictates otherwise.
32. The Satin Slipper (1985)
410 min | Drama
During the century of the Spanish Gold, Doña Prouhèze, wife of a nobleman, deeply loves Don Rodrigo, who is forced to leave Spain and go to America. Meanwhile Prouhèze is sent to Africa to ... See full summary »
Director: Manoel de Oliveira | Stars: Luís Miguel Cintra, Patricia Barzyk, Anne Consigny, Anne Gautier
Votes: 190
410 min (6 hr 50 min) - During the century of the Spanish Gold, Doña Prouhèze, wife of a nobleman, deeply loves Don Rodrigo, who is forced to leave Spain and go to America.
33. Star Spangled to Death (2004)
402 min | Documentary, History
Star Spangled to Death is a 2004 experimental film directed by Ken Jacobs, consisting almost entirely of archive footage, depicting the history of the United States in film.
Director: Ken Jacobs | Stars: Jack Smith, Jerry Sims, Gib Taylor, Bill Carpenter
Votes: 173
402 min (6 hr 42 min) - The film consists almost entirely of archive footage, depicting the history of the United States in film.
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