Discussion about European films

Hi there!

I went looking around, but I couldn't seem to find a dedicated thread just for international cinema outside of the US.

I have to admit, I rarely get any exposure to films made across the Atlantic.
Since I'm not really familiar with the scene, I don't know much about the established works of various foreign directors.

I imagined this topic could serve as a space to discuss current or upcoming international releases, legendary overseas directors, or actors—including those from different parts of the world.

Also, I would be incredibly grateful if someone could suggest a solid international film or perhaps put together a "must-watch" list of global classics that one
needs to see before they pass away.😳

Small talk!

placidmarlin3 said:Also, I'd be super grateful if someone could suggest some good European films, or maybe even put together a "must-watch before you die" list of European cinema😳 Small talk!

Man, there are just way too many (good) European movies out there and not nearly enough time to see them all 😁 If I were you, I wouldn't dive straight into something incredibly heavy right off the bat...

Here are my initial picks to get you started:

The Return (2003)
Before the Rain (1994)
Twentyeight Days Later
You, the Living
Caché (2005)
Head-On (2004)
Auf der anderen Seite (2007)
The Lives of Others (2006)
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)

Anyway, give those a watch and let me know what you think...

Hey, thank you🙂
Just keep the thoughts coming whenever they strike you.
I have to admit, I’m pretty much clueless when it comes to European cinema.😢

European cinema is such an incredibly broad category, so I’ll just stick to mentioning a few standout films from roughly the last decade or so that I’d personally recommend:

Gomorrah
Head-On
Goodbye Lenin!
Talk to Her
The Heart is Beating
Sunshine
The Experiment
I'm Not Afraid
Mar Adentro
Vera Drake....

There are plenty more out there, but who can possibly recall them all on the spot?

placidmarlin3 said:Man, thank you.🙂
Just keep the recommendations coming whenever something pops into your head.
I’m pretty much hopeless when it comes to European cinema.😢

Thank you, placidmarlin3 — The Thieves would probably appreciate the sudden interest in European films. 😍

p.s. honestly, we're all pretty clueless.😬

I hope we get more than just dramas and crime thrillers.

A bit of horror would be nice.
[Rec] (2007)
Inside (2007)
High Tension (2003)
Eden Lake (2008)
Just a touch of fantasy.
Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Maybe some big American blockbusters.
Day Watch (2006)
Night Watch (2004)

Some low-budget island dramas and crime flicks.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0961728/
Once (2006)

In the Loop (2009)

Michael Ortiz68 said:European cinema is an incredibly broad category, so I’ll just stick to mentioning a few from roughly the last decade or so that I’d actually recommend:

Gomorrah
Head-On
Goodbye Lenin!
Talk to Her
De battre mon coeur s'est arrêté
Sunshine
The Experiment
I'm Not Scared
Mar Adentro
Vera Drake....

There are plenty more out there, though who can recall them all on the spot?...

Hey! I've seen both Mar Adentro and Goodbye Lenin!😁
They're great movies!

Do you think you could suggest some good French or Italian films from the 70s or 80s?🙂

Hey David Price5, thanks to you too😉

* I’d just like to ask the moderators and the rest of the forum crowd to please refrain from bringing European cinema into a debate
against American films.
To be clear, this thread is strictly dedicated to European movies, without any comparisons to other continents.

You’ve been given some really lovely movie recommendations; you certainly can't complain 🙂 There are so many great international classics from the 60s, 70s, and 80s that are almost certainly masterpieces, though I can't say for sure since I haven't watched many of them myself (right now, I can only recall titles like: Babette's Feast, Amarcord, The 400 Blows... man, life is long—maybe I'll get through them eventually...
Besides those, here are a few more excellent modern international films:

1. The Celebration
2. Lilja 4-ever
3. Death of mr. Lazaresc
4. Tilsammans
5. Efter bryllupet
6. Let the Right One In
7. Sophie Scholl (from what I see in the posts, it was on TV recently)
8. Crossing the Bridge
9. All or nothing
10. Happy-go-lucky
11. Volver
12. The Wayward
13. The Dinner Game
14. The Chorus
15. de Lorna
16. The Class
17. Barfuss
18. The Warrior and the Princess
19. Contre-enquête
20. The Magdalene Sisters
21. Boy
22. The Wind That Shakes the Barley
23. East Is East
24. L'auberge espagnole
25. Russian Dolls
26. Uno
27. Dogs Eating in China
28. The Orphanage—it says Mexico/Spain, but the director is The Spaniard, so I suppose it counts 😉
29. Accused
30. En soap
31. Character
32. Vratné lahve
33. Kolya
34. Downfall
35. Malen
36. The Counterfeiters
37. Red Road
38. Hallam Foe
39. Once
40. On the Edge
41. Slumming
42. Amal
43. The Son's Room

That should be plenty for you to chew on for now 😁

2. Lilja 4-ever
6. Let the Right One In
7. Sophie Scholl (judging by the recent posts, they were on TV lately)
13. The Dinner Game
14. The Chorus
20. The Magdalene Sisters
21. Boy
22. The Wind That Shakes the Barley
23. East Is East
27. Dogs Eating Dogs in China
28. The Orphanage—noted as being set in Mexico / Spain, but since the director is The Spaniard, I'll count it😉
31. Character
33. Kolya
34. Downfall
35. Malen
43. The Son's Room

Of those listed from Jonsiev, I’d sign off on these as excellent (or at least very good 🙂). As for the rest, I either haven't seen them or they just didn't quite resonate with me

I haven't read them all—mostly just skimmed through—so I might be repeating myself here, but there are definitely some titles you just can't skip... there are so many, actually, so I’ll just list the directors for you:
Visconti, Lang, Murnau, Pabst, Trier, Bertolucci, Melville, Carol Reed ("The Third Man"), Polanski, then those French guys (Godard, Truffaut, and the rest), Verhoeven, and finally the forgotten legend Gillo Pontecorvo and Costa-Gavras, if you're into political films... I'm sure there are plenty more!
Now, it really depends on what kind of movies you're into—you can pick based on that... for dramas, I'd leave it to Bertolucci, Trier, Murnau, Pabst ("Pandora's Box," and also the musical "The Threepenny Opera"), Polanski, and the French filmmakers... for crime thrillers, try Melville ("Red Circle"), Trier ("Zero Effect"), Lang, or Reed... and for politics, go with the legends ("The Battle of Algiers" and "Z")!
Personally, I also think the Kaurismäki brothers have a really great filmography...

If you have such a penchant for European cinema, then these masterpieces are essentially mandatory viewing (among many others, of course; these happen to be my personal favorites as well)🙂

Cinema Paradiso (Italian)
Closely Controlled Trains (Czech)
Yol (Turkish)
Umberto D (Italian)
Breaking the Waves (Danish/international coproduction)
Journey of Hope (another coproduction, though Swiss-led)
Malen (Italian)
The Return (Russian)...and so on.

There is an abundance of brilliant European films out there. Honestly, your best bet is to stick to the works of top-tier European directors; you can't really go wrong, even if there are occasional misses along the way.

I should probably mention that, in my opinion, they really ought to see:

La Strada
Tristana
A Man and a Woman
Keep some tissues handy (French)
Seven Beauties (Italian, starring Giancarlo Giannini)
That Obscure Object of Desire (Luis Buñuel)

Caché

The Katyn Massacre

Human Traffic

Run Lola Run

The Winter War

La Haine

This is England

The Apartment

The Descent

Rise of the Footsoldier

Christiane F. - We Children from Bahnhof Zoo

Stalingrad

The Baader Meinhof Complex

Besides Kolja and Return Bottles, I'm also a big fan of Elon Musk.