I am interested in movies from around the world and want to increase breadth of my knowledge of world film.
As an Indian, these are the films I recommend, one from each decade, starting from the 50s (I cheated. Once.):
From imdb A talented but indigent poet Vijay struggles for love and recognition in this selfish world.
From imdb Inspired by true events, a 16th century prince falls in love with a court dancer and battles with his emperor father.
3. Anand (1971):
From imdb The classic story of a terminally ill man who wishes to live life to the full before the inevitable occurs, as told by his best friend.
From imdb Two friends, attempting to start-up their own photo studio, come across shady dealings, corruption and murder, and must fight to bring the guilty to light.
5. Roja (1992)
From imdb Roja lives in a Tamil village, and her sister is about to marry a man from the city, who decides to marry Roja instead and gets a job assignment in Kashmir, where some militants decide to kidnap them.
6. Dil Chahta Hai (2001)and Lagaan (2001)
Both Aamir Khan starrers from 2001,
From imdb:
Dil Chahta Hai The film is about three distinct characters, Akash (Aamir Khan), Sameer (Saif Ali Khan) and Siddharth (Akshaye Khanna), their individual relationships and the effect that these relationships have on them.
Lagaan The people of a small village in Victorian India stake their future on a game of cricket against their ruthless British rulers.
7. Gangs of Wasseypur, Parts 1and 2 From imdb A clash between Sultan (a Qureishi dacoit chief) and Shahid Khan (a Pathan who impersonates him) leads to the expulsion of Khan from Wasseypur, and ignites a deadly blood feud spanning three generations.
From the US: The Royal Tenenbaums, The Godfather, Star Wars, To Kill a Mockingbird, Forest Gump, Apocalypse Now, Most of which appear on the American Film Institutes Top 100, This makes me think we should resurrect the #hubskifilmclub and instead of picking a film each week, just make our way from 100 to 1 on the AFI top 100 list. Any thoughts? humanodon, b_b, insomniasexx, cW, bgood79, khaaan, steve, JakobVirgil, NotPhil, b_b, caio, Hein, cgod, mk -All past participants. Anyone else in? flagamuffin, lil?
I was thinking of something really simple, for example this would be a post: Weekly Film Club: This weeks film: Citizen Kane -Discuss... #hubskifilmclub and then in the post, shout-out to all of those interested in being a part of it and maybe have some conversation starting questions. Some weeks may be really quiet but others may get more participation depending on the film. The nice part about it is that there is no selecting of what film is next. Honestly, this takes a ton of time usually. Couldn't hurt to try it and also try the #weeklydj style.
Oh sure. The biggest advantage I see in choosing from the AFI top 100 is that we'd have a lot of people who can contribute. I'm sure many of us have seen many of the films on the list, and have clearly formed opinions on them, making discussions that much more in-depth.
Perhaps we could use the #weeklyDJ style of hosting a movie every week, but have to select the movie from the AFI Top 100 list. It doesn't have to be in any particular order, either. Without order, it would give the host the freedom to choose from the AFI list.
You know, when the film club started we decided on 2 films from Sidney Lumet because of his then recent passing. I recently watched the 2 films because I never got round to it (12 Angry men and Before the devil knows you are dead) and I was really impressed. I still have to watch more of his movies if those 2 were a decent representation of his work.
If you want a couple other Lumet films, Dog Day Afternoon and Network are both fantastic. DDA is probably one of my favorites. thenewgreen, I'd be down for film club
Better late than never. I was blown away by 12 Angry Men. Not so much by Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.
Whale Rider was great. I watched that movie with my wife shortly after we started dating years and years ago. We watched it in my room at my apartment. It was the first time she and I were alone in a bed. My memories of the film are likely way different than most peoples. -Good memory, thanks for that.
Here's the Thriller haka / Poi E mashup from the ending credits of 'Boy' Which makes a little more sense if you know the original Poi E
UK:
Green Street - That film with Elijah Wood about football hooliganism in London This Is England - A film about the skinhead culture of the mid-80s in the Midlands Trainspotting The Inbetweeners Movie I would recommend the TV show(orignial version) more but the movie is still pretty good Tyrannosaur There are loads more but these have been my favourites recently.
Oh, The Inbetweeners is such a good TV show. The movie is okay too. There's another coming out next year, I hear. On a side note, the scene in This is England with the Indian shopkeeper and Combo is really very good.
It captures the insecurities one feels at that age so well. Being an awkward teenager is universal, as is humour, and that show is the perfect mix. But, yeah, growing up where they shot that, I envy you. Looking through the wiki page, it seems that one of the writers was also involved with Peep Show, wow.
Trainspotting is superb. Also, Nuts in May, which I suppose is classed as a a 'TV movie', but is really entertaining.
What an interesting question Jay. I like the way you organized by decade. Lots of great movies have been made in Canada: Indian movies, Chinese movies, French movies. Hollywood movies.
ha ha. That's Canada. For personal reasons, my favourite Canadian Hollywood movie is "Meatballs," winner of several Canadian Oscars (the Genis) in 1979. A non-profit organization in Canada called Reel Canada exists for the sole purpose of teaching Canadian culture (whatever that is) to high school students. They have wonderful Canadian film festivals in high schools across the country. Of course they must exclude "adult" movies in order not to get in trouble with parent
Here's their list of Canadian films.
Thanks mate. I've enjoyed some beautiful movies from Canada. Wilby Wonderful and The Sweet Hereafter come to mind. Edit: Editing to thank lil for the link to Reel Canada. It's a very interesting site. Thanks.
The greatest American movie is Casablanca. It's set in (and came out in) the early 1940s, in semi-neutral Morocco, and involves the struggle of various European citizens attempting to flee to the United States via Africa, where the Nazi presence is weaker.
"Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship" "Oooh, best last line of a movie ever"
Good Dutch movies? Well, never seen many as most of them suck. Also a warning, many dutch producers are obsessed with "functional nudity". Soldaat van Oranje (There is a dub called Survival Run) Zwartboek Komt een vrouw bij de dokter Loft De Aanslag Doodslag If you ever watch these, be prepared for some heavy shit. Soldaat van Oranje, De Aanslag and Zwartboek are about WW2. Komt een vrouw bij de Dokter, Loft and Doodslag are pretty heavy human dramas. A more lighthearted but typical movie would be New Kids Turbo. Do not actually watch this and expect some high quality movie... Also, The American was made by a Dutchy. Great movie.
Oooh, The American is Anton Corbijn, isn't it? I love Control. It's a beautiful movie. Will check out the American; I haven't had a chance to catch it.
Yep, Anton Corbijn it is. Never seen Control, but I'll have a look at it soon. Looking up all these Dutch movies made me see how much of a backlog I have to go through :P
I've seen New Kids Turbo multiple times and and it never got less funny. The first 15 minutes are especially hard to understand because the original actors voiced the characters also in other languages, but after a while you get used to it and eventually start to understand them pretty good. That movie really is hilarious!
I didn't know that there were also dubs in other languages :O The funniest part of this is that people in the north tried to talk like these guys (Maaskantje is in the south, near 's-Hertogenbosch). Also, when the second movie came out, whole Eindhoven was teeming with guys dressed like them...
I'm from Germany, but there are (sadly) only few German movies which were actually successful. All of them are comedies and well known by every German: - Der Schuh des Manitu Short scene with English subtitles - (T)raumschiff Surprise Trailer with English subtitles - Der Wixxer German trailer - Neues vom Wixxer English Trailer I know that none of these movies has a high rating on IMDB and I'm also aware that the prejudice exists that Germans have no humor, but you should definitely check these movies out. I think all of them should be available with English subtitles. Edit: Formatting
Der Untergang Dont forget the downfall! It's German and very awesome.
Brilliant movie, I just reordered a new copy. I really dig how it tells the story for what it was and what it would've been like in the bunker during the final days. It doesn't glorify or excuse Hitler and his actions, but is a pretty raw and more real display of the man and the story.
The Lives of Others is one of the best films I've seen. It's German and was made in 2006. Have you seen it? It's certainly not a comedy. Heartbreaking stuff.
I'm personally a huge fan of Werner Herzog, my favourites being Stroszek, Woyzeck and Grizzly Man. Edit: There seems to be an issue with links. Here they are: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroszek
No, I haven't seen this one yet. I didn't even know that it was German... I should probably change "all of them are comedies" to "many of them are comedies" - i completely forgot movies like "Das Boot" and "Der Untergang", the ones that I named were only the first ones that came to my mind. I think I'm going to watch The Life Of The Others this weekend - from what I heard, this movie has to be pretty good.
It's a fantastic film. Let me know what you think of it.
Don't forget The Baader Meinhof Complex, directed by Uli Edel. Brilliant reconstruction of 1960's West Germany and the (slightly romanticized) story of the RAF movement.
The best German movie I can think of off the top of my head is Das Experiment One of my all time favorites. It's a fictional account of the Stanford Prison Experiment. I watched it in high school and hadn't learned about the real version yet and got me intrigued about human nature and power trips. It was one of the first movies that really made me think.
From New Zealand: Boy [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSbxwnMO0LA]
From Brazil: Central Station
Behind the Sun
(Elite Squad)[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropa_de_Elite] Although they're all great, Central Station was the only one that made me cry, so I recommend that one the most.
From Denmark
Australia chiming in! Everyone knows of The Matrix, The Great Gatsby, Priscilla, Mad Max, Moulin Rouge, Romeo+Juliet, Wolf Creek etc etc, so, I'll list up some that may not be as well known of outside our shores: 1. Snowtown (2011).
Gruesome depiction, and true story, of a group who went on a murdering spree in South Australia; you may have heard of the infamous 'Bodies in the Barrels' story - this was them. It's not a big budget flick, but there's a sense of authenticity that stems from that. 2. Stir.
One of Bryan Brown's earlier works, it's based on a true story of a remote prison with violent cons and equally nefarious screws, that leads to an all out riot. It's a pretty good look into Australian prison life during the 70's, albeit a little dated now. I was lucky enough to see this on the big screen a few years ago and meet Bryan Brown during the following Q+A they had. 3. Romper Stomper.
Early work of Russell Crowe; he leads a violent gang of Neo-Nazi skinheads who start going on a rampage in their local neighbourhood, under the pretense of foreigners moving in. Pretty confronting and brutal to watch. 4. Evil Angels.
Based on the true story of Lindsay Chamberlain and the disappearance of her baby Azaria whilst camping at Uluru/Ayers Rock; This is the story behind the "A dingo's got my baby!" reference. Harrowing story about how she went through trial-by-media and found guilty, despite a lack of credible evidence. 5. The Proposition.
Set during the colonial era of Australia's history, this is a great story about making hard choices and facing up for them. Police Captain Stanley captures two out of four brothers (Charlie and Mike), wanted for a brutal rape and murder.
Stanley tempts fate, and makes a deal to let Charlie free and for him to hunt down and kill his older brother, so that his younger brother (Mike) will be spared from the gallows. I won't give too much else away, but it is a fantastic film. Notably, the screenplay was written by Nick Cave, of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and Grinderman fame.
I am from India too but I saw that your suggestion, while quite good, is limited to Bollywood. But there is Indian Cinema beyond Bollywood, so here is my list expanding on your list from our country: 1. Chandralekha : Tamil An epic film of its time, it was originally made in Tamil and later dubbed in Hindi and became a blockbuster hit. It had the longest swordfight in cinematic history at its time. (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandralekha_(1948_film)#Impac...) 2. Pather Panchali : Bengali I can't forgive you for missing this one. Along with the Apu trilogy, this was the masterpiece created by the best film maker India has ever known Satyajit Ray 3. Harishchandrachi Factory : Marathi If you haven't seen this then I would urge you to see this Marathi movie about the man who brought the world of cinema to India - Dadasaheb Phalke. 4. Moonram Pirai : Tamil, Sadma in Hindi Popular in its hindi versin Sadma, this tells the story of a woman who looses her mind after a car crash and ends up in a brothel later rescued by a lonely school teacher who takes care of her and eventually falls in love with her. 5. Anbe Shivam : Tamil Explores different philosophies such as socialism, nihilism and atheism through the eyes of Anbarasu, a modern day guy stuck in a cyclone with a cripple by the name of Nallasivam. An excellent movie and a must watch. 6. Katha : Hindi but not mainstream Bollywood A hindi movie in 1983, it turns the classic Aesop fable of the Rabbit and the tortoise on its head. The movie tells the story of the honest and hard working Rajaram and how he is taken for a ride by his smart-ass friend. 7. Kanchivaram(http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1286811/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_11) : Tamil The story of a highly talented but impoverished silk weaver whose only goal in life is to weave the best silk sari for his daughter for her wedding. But silk weaving is completely controlled by the inconsiderate mill-owner. What can the weaver do to bring his dreams to life?
You're quite right, my list is limited to Hindi cinema (although I would not call the top-half of my list Bollywood, which has only been used as a term for Hindi cinema since the late 70s, if I'm not mistaken). Yours is a wonderful list, thanks. As a Tamilian, I can vouch for all the Tamil cinema here. Might I also add the works of a great Tamil filmmaker - K Balachander Thanks again, great list.
As a Dane, I'd recommend the classic "Olsen-banden" series of movies. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olsen-banden Get English subtitles if you need them :)