The Surprising Artistic Inspirations Behind Cinema's Greatest Moments

John Summers • Contributor

Jun 26, 2024 12:00 AM EDT

Mark Twain once said, "There is no such thing as a new idea. It is impossible. We simply take a lot of old ideas and put them into a sort of mental kaleidoscope." I must say I agree with him; no artist starts from scratch. Every great piece of art is inspired by all the art that came before it. You stare at a blank canvas or a blank page and think of all the art that has inspired you in the past—and you go from there, trying to invoke the same feeling you yourself got from a different piece of art you saw.

But sometimes great artists pay direct homage to the art that inspired them. In this case, we are talking about great directors recreating famous paintings that inspired them. Even popcorn flicks like Star Wars or Alien take inspiration from classical paintings.

01
Shutter Island - Klimt's Kiss

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02
Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (George Lucas) - The Fallen Angel (Alexandre Cabanel)

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03
Alien 3 (David Fincher) - Girl’s Head beside a Skull (Rex Whistler)

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04
The Truman Show (Peter Weir) - Architecture au clair de lune (René Magritte)

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05
The Dreamers (Bernardo Bertolucci) - Venus de Milo (attributed to Alexandros of Antioch, 2nd century BC)

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Eva Green—wearing black arm length gloves—stands in the dark, gracefully recreating one of the most iconic sculptures of all time.
06
Dunkirk (Christopher Nolan) - Wanderer above the Sea of Fog (Caspar David Friedrich

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07
Lust for Life (Vincente Minnelli) - The Night Café (Vincent van Gogh)

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08
About Schmidt (Alexander Payne) - The Death of Marat (Jacques-Louis David)

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09
A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick) - Prisoners' Round (Vincent van Gogh)

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10
The Return (Andrey Zvyagintsev) - Lamentation of Christ (Andrea Mantegna)

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11
Marie Antoinette (Sofia Coppola) - Napoleon Crossing the Alps (Jacques-Louis David)

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12
Metropolis (Fritz Lang) - The Tower of Babel (Pieter Bruegel the Elder)

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13
Nighthawks (Edward Hopper) - Pennies from Heaven (Herbert Ross)

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14
Dreams (Akira Kurosawa) - Wheatfield with Crows (Vincent van Gogh)

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15
Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino) - The Blue Boy (Thomas Gainsborough)

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16
The Exorcist (William Friedkin) - The Empire of Lights (René Magritte)

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17
Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro) - Saturn Devouring His Son (Francisco Goya)

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18
Labyrinth (Jim Henson) - Relativity (M.C. Escher)

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19
Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson) - The Last Supper (Leonardo da Vinci)

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20
Shirley: Visions of Reality (Gustav Deutsch) - Morning Sun (Edward Hopper)

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21
Melancholia (Lars Von Trier) - Ophelia (Sir John Everett Millais)

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22
Malena (Giuseppe Tornatore) - Georgette Magritte (René Magritte)

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23
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (Terry Gilliam) - The Birth of Venus (Sandro Botticelli)

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24
Shirley: Visions of Reality (Gustav Deutsch) - New York Movie (Edward Hooper)

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25
Scream (Wes Craven) - The Scream (Edvard Munch)

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Director Wes Craven has expressed his admiration for Munch, describing the painting as "a classic reference to pure fear."
26
MASH and the Last Supper

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