Want to Escape? Five Directors on the Movies That Take Them Away. – The Wall Street Journal

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In “The Trip to Greece,” a middle-aged bromantic odyssey, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon play versions of themselves, trading celebrity impressions and heckling each other in a way fans of “The Trip” franchise will recognize. The series started in England’s lake district in 2010 before moving on to Italy and Spain in later installments. On May 22, the fourth and final film will debut digitally and in select drive-in theaters remaining open through the pandemic.

But there are other ways to travel by movie too—the road trip through wine country (“Sideways”), the meditation on a single place (“Lost in Translation”), the trip home to see family (“The Farewell”) or even the search for danger abroad (“The Last Thing He Wanted”).

Here, we talk to the directors of all five movies to get their go-to picks for cinematic getaways. Most of the movies are available via major digital outlets; viewing platforms are listed only for more obscure recommendations.

Michael Winterbottom (“The Trip to Greece”)

“I think all films are a form of documentary,” Mr. Winterbottom says. “What you’re trying to capture is a miniature version of the experience—like you’re on a journey and the film crew is recording it.”

“Fitzcarraldo”: Some of the director’s favorite films about travel include a voyage that is itself unenjoyable, like Werner Herzog’s 1982 adventure about a madman whose quest includes pulling a 300-ton river boat over a mountain in the

Amazon.

“Aguirre, the Wrath of God”: The director loves Mr. Herzog’s 1970s film about a conquistador’s search for a fabled city of gold shot in the Peruvian rainforest. The Criterion Channel calls the historical drama “a senses-shattering journey to the edge of madness.”

“God’s Country”: French director Louis Malle’s documentary about a Minnesota farming community. (iTunes)

Alexander Payne (“Sideways”)

“Mindfulness teachers tell us always to be in the moment,” says Mr. Payne. “Well, sometimes in moments like this, it’s good to get away from the moment. Fred Astaire used to say that he really liked a movie if it made him want to have been there—there as they were shooting, and there within the world of the film.” Here are three movies from the 1950s that make Mr. Payne feel that way.

“Summertime”: David Lean’s 1955 film follows an American spinster (Katharine Hepburn) who finds love and heartbreak on her dream trip to Venice. “Who wouldn’t want to visit Venice in 1955?” Mr. Payne asks. “And with Katharine Hepburn?”

“The Red Balloon”: Another trip back in time to Europe in the 1950s. The 34-minute film from director Albert Lamorisse tells the story of a young boy and a seemingly sentient balloon that befriends him. It offers a great view of Paris street life.

“The River”: French director Jean Renoir traveled to the banks of the Ganges to make the 1951 movie, which is bathed in the gorgeous sheen of 1950s

Technicolor.

Satyajit Ray, soon to become one of India’s greatest directors, worked for Mr. Renoir as an assistant. “I remember being absolutely transported by it, lulled almost hypnotically into its vision and rhythms,” Mr. Payne says.

Sofia Coppola (“Lost in Translation”)

“Movies always let you travel to places and other times, and help you dream, and make you feel connected, especially when stuck at home,” she says. Here are her picks:

“Blade Runner”: Ridley Scott’s 1982 dystopian science-fiction thriller starring Harrison Ford as a bounty hunter—and possible android—is one of Ms. Coppola’s favorites. It reminds her of how Tokyo felt the first time she visited the city.

“In the Mood for Love”: She gravitates to director Wong Kar-wai’s stylized love story. Set in 1960s Hong Kong, it is the story of a man and woman who develop a relationship after discovering their spouses are having an affair. (Amazon Prime Video, Kanopy)

“Breathless”: French director Jean-Luc Godard’s influential feature film debut in 1960 is a favorite, about a criminal who hides out in his girlfriend’s Paris apartment.

“The Piano”: To go further in time and distance, she heads to 1800s New Zealand with Jane Campion’s 1993 drama starring Holly Hunter as a mute woman trapped in an unhappy relationship.

Lulu Wang (“The Farewell”)

The director is busy writing and tries to keep a schedule during the day, but the evenings are for escape. “Before all of this, I used to write at night,” she says. “Now cocktail hour starts at 5 p.m., or earlier, followed by dinner and a movie.”

“Belle de Jour”: Ms. Wang gravitates to classics like this one from the late 1960s, with Catherine Deneuve as a bored Parisian housewife who slips away in the afternoons to her double life as a high-class prostitute. “This erotic surrealist comedy is all about fantasizing an alternative reality than the one you’re currently living,” Ms. Wang says.

“Tampopo”: The director calls this a Japanese comedy about noodles, but it also strikes a deeper chord given the current social isolation. “Food has taken up an even more significant role in our daily lives—figuring out how to obtain it, how to prepare it, how to eat it and how often to eat it,” she says. “This film explores the many facets of eating—personal and communal, healthy and perverse. It’s sweet, funny and oddly sensual.”

“Gravity”: “If all else fails,” she says, “go to space.”

Dee Rees (“Mudbound” and the 2020 crime thriller “The Last Thing He Wanted”)

“Escaping to a different world doesn’t always mean going to a place where the weather is sunnier,” Ms. Rees says. “In fact, in difficult times, I think sometimes going to a bleaker universe lends perspective. Kind of the same logic of listening to the blues when you’re feeling down—you feel a little better to know someone’s been where you are and survived the pain.”

“Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome”: Ms. Rees travels to the post-apocalyptic Australian desert with this 1985 action picture. She is particularly transported by Tina Turner’s performance as Aunty Entity, a fierce ruler in a chainmail dress. “Aunty Entity was the literal personification of what I thought power looked like,” she says. “I’d watch it again and again for the climactic fight between Max and Master Blaster and of course my favorite line of the whole film: ‘You think I don’t know the law? Wasn’t it me who wrote it?’ Cheering for the villain is a guilty, delicious comfort.”

Write to Ellen Gamerman at ellen.gamerman@wsj.com