I was watching Donkey Skin (absolutely gorgeous costuming - the kind of thing we’ll probably never see again) and the ending involves a helicopter showing up out of nowhere. It’s kinda shocking, because the film is set in a sort of fantasy medieval Europe.
Another film that does this is Buñuel’s Simon of the Desert.
spoiler
The Devil transports Simon to a modern day club at the end.
To use a movie that more people might recognize, Monty Python and the Holy Grail’s ending with everyone getting arrested by modern cops kinda does this, but the shock of the anachronism is lessened by the fact that there are modern day scenes sprinkled throughout the film.
Are there other films that do this? I mean less like The Village where the reveal is
spoiler
they were always in the modern era.
But more surrealist films that use the sudden jump to the modern day to shock the audience.
Time Bandits sorta does this. It does a sorta “it was all a dream” thing, but then there’s overwhelming evidence it was all real, and all the adults just kinda shrug it off cuz they’re British.
Polite Society - it goes to so many unexpected places Does Everything Everywhere All At Once count?
A Knight’s Tale is a wonderful mix of medieval setting and modern music and mannerisms.
And then there’s Romeo and Juliet of course, I was practically rolling on the floor in the theatre with the jarring opening of the tv newscaster speaking Shakespearean English and the hand guns being named “dagger” and such. Plus, super cute cast all around, and great soundtrack.
I think the best use of the anachronism trope is a Knights Tale’s use of music. I know it’s his isn’t a twist ending so it’s a bit away from the question but the use of modern songs in a medieval setting should rip us out of context but it really works.
Similar but not exact match, but Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite has an incredible dance number in the middle that strives to evoke modern party atmosphere in a period piece. It’s hilarious and effective.
And credit where it’s due, Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette did it first (but not as entertainingly) with an anachronistic modern soundtrack.
I mean, I feel you’re short shifting Marie Antoinette a little bit here. It wasn’t just the soundtrack that was anachronistic, everything about the presentation is meant to encourage audiences to view the subject through a modern lens, from the lead performances all the way down to the production design. Recall that this is the movie that has a pair of hi-top Converse All-Stars included in Antoinette’s closet. If you don’t feel like it was as successful as The Favourite, that’s totally valid, but it wasn’t due to limiting the scope of its central idea to the soundtrack.
Valid points. I only watched it once when it was in theaters so I forgot a lot of those details. I appreciate the added nuance. I still enjoyed The Favourite more, but I’ll have to throw on Marie Antoinette sometime.
No problem. Of the two, I think I also prefer The Favourite, but I truly believe there was an element of misogyny which plagued the consensus response to Coppola’s movie upon release. I’m not sure I completely agree with Ebert’s 4 star assessment, but I do find an element of truth in what he wrote here: “Every criticism I have read of this film would alter its fragile magic and reduce its romantic and tragic poignancy to the level of an instructional film.”
Well put. I only have vague recollections of my experience so I don’t want to amplify them here, but either way I’m completely open to giving it a fair shake much older and wiser than I was the first time.
Blazing Saddles
The Lego MovieCabin in the woods?
Jesus Christ Superstar has some modern anachronisms in it cause it’s really just a bunch of hippies doing a reenactment in the desert
There was an anime fantasy series that did this but I forgot the name. Really pissed me off at the time.
