The Best Films by Country (excluding U.S.A.) (A-Z write-off)
Jun 06 '05 (Updated Sep 11 '05)
The Bottom Line Use this list and the others in this write-off to find outstanding films from various countries around the world.
This post is intended as an entry in Stephen Murray's write-off Best Non-American Movies by Country . It is also my way of marking my 500th review.
Stephen Murray's list is outstanding and I heartily commend it to you. He has included some countries for which my film experience is too weak for me to include, namely Australian, The Philippines, Thailand, Senegal, Scotland, and Ireland. I concur with Stephen's implied observation that identifying films by country is not as straightforward as it might seem. Is it the subject matter and location that is relevant, the nationality of the director and/or cast, the language of the film, or the nationality of the production company? For my list (and I acknowledge that it's just one of the possible solutions to the problem), I'm going to take the IMDB listing for the film's country as definitive. For co-productions, the country listed first is the country of record. Subject matter, locale, the nationality of the director or cast, the primary language – none of those considerations will override the nationality of the production country for categorization purposes. I hope this list helps you find some enjoyable films.
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My List of Top Films By Country (exluding U.S.):
Albania:
1. Before the Rain (An easy call. It's the only Albanian film I've seen and it's outstanding.)
Algiers:
1. The Battle of Algiers
2. Z
Argentina:
1. The Official Story (agreeing with Stephen's choice; it's a great film)
2. Veronico Cruz (an underrated film in my opinion)
3. Nine Queens
4. Camila
Australia:
1. Walkabout
2. Picnic at Hanging Rock
3. Gallipoli
4. Flirting
Belgium:
1. Toto the Hero
2. No Man’s Land (acknowledging that this film is only nominally Belgian)
3. Farinelli: Il Castrato
Botswana/South Africa:
1. The Gods Must Be Crazy (the sequel is only a shade less satisfying)
Brazil:
1. Central Station (another great pick by Stephen)
2. City of God
3. Pixote
4. Black Orpheus
5. Quilombo.
The Motorcycle Diaries is excluded by my narrow criteria because the producer is American (Robert Redford). See it anyway.
Canada:
1. The Barbarian Invasions
2. The Sweet Hereafter
3. Boys of St. Vincent
4. Felicia's Journey
5. The Fast Runner
6. The Decline of the American Empire
China – Cantonese:
1. In the Mood for Love
2. Fallen Angels
3. Chungking Express
China – Mandarin:
1. Hero
2. Red Sorghum
3. Raise the Red Lantern
4. Farewell My Concubine
Cuba:
1. Strawberry and Chocolate
Stephen doesn't care for it but I enjoyed it a lot. Besides, it's the sum total of my experience so far with Cuban films.
Czechoslovakia:
1. Shop on Main Street
2. Kolya
3. Closely Watched Trains
Denmark:
1. Celebration
2. Babette's Feast
3. The Kingdom II (there's nothing wrong with The Kingdom I either; part II is just a tad better)
4. Gertrud
Passion of Joan of Arc was made in France, though the director, Dreyer, was Danish.
England:
1. Pride and Prejudice
2. Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
3. The Red Shoes
4. The Third Man
5. Lawrence of Arabia
6. The Four Feathers
7. Oliver Twist
8. Repulsion
9. Great Expectations
10. A Man for All Seasons
Finland:
1. Ariel
2. The Man Without a Past
France:
1. Blue (See Three Colors)
2. The King of Hearts
3. The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe
4. Cyrano de Bergerac
5. Children of Paradise
6. Red (See Three Colors)
7. Amélie
8. The Horseman on the Roof
9. Grand Illusion
10. Jean de Florette/Manon
Anything less than a top-ten for France would be insulting to the stature of French cinema. Even then, the list barely scratches the surface of greatness.
Germany (West, East and Unified):
1. Metropolis
2. Threepenny Opera
3. Run Lola Run
4. Wings of Desire
5. Aguirre: The Wrath of God
6. The Marriage of Maria Braun
7. The Blue Angel
8. M
I'm still waiting for German cinema to catch up to where it was from 1919-1932. Talk about a setback. I could easily interchange the order of most of the films above.
Greece:
1. Landscape in the Mist
2. Eternity and a Day
Hungary:
1. Mephisto
2. The Red and the White
3. Colonel Redl
Iceland:
1. Children of Nature (the only Icelandic film I've seen, but it's a beauty)
India – Bengali:
1. Pather Panchali
2. Charulata
3. The World of Apu
India – Hindi:
1. Mother India
2. Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India
India – Tamil:
1. The Terrorist
Ireland:
1. My Left Foot
2. The Crying Game
3. In the Name of the Father
Israel:
1. Wedding in Galilee
2. Under the Domim Tree
They're the only two I've seen thus far.
Italy:
1. Cinema Paradiso
2. L’Avventura
3. 8 ½
4. The Spider's Stratagem
5. The Conformist
6. Il Postino
7. Life is Beautiful
8. Amarcord
Iran:
1. The White Balloon
2. Taste of Cherry
3. The Circle
Ivory Coast:
Black and White in Color
Japan:
1. Ran
2. The Seven Samurai
3. Kagemusha
4. Chushingura
5. Shall We Dance?
6. Red Beard
7. High and Low
Korea:
1. Chunhyang
2. Shiri
3. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter . . . and Spring
Mali:
The only film I've see is Yeelen, also known as "Brightness." It's very interesting for its distinctly African perspective.
Mexico:
1. Los Olvidados (agreeing with Stephen's choice).
2. Maria Candelaria
3. Y Tu Mamá También
4. Like Water For Chocolate
Netherlands:
1. Soldier of Orange
2. Character
3. Antonia’s Line
4. The Assault
New Zealand:
1. Whale Rider
2. An Angel at My Table
3. The Piano
4. The Portrait of a Lady
Norway:
1. The Other Side of Sunday
2. Insomnia
Poland:
1. Knife in the Water
2. A Year in the Quiet Sun
3. The Decalogue
4. Man of Iron
Portugal:
1. The Jew
Russia (including U.S.S.R.):
1. Ivan the Terrible and Alexander Nevsky (See Eisenstein: The Sound Years)
2. Freeze Die
3. War and Peace
4. Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors
5. Come and See
6. Andrei Rublev
7. Don Quixote
8. Ballad of a Soldier
9. Dersu Uzala
10. Nostalghia
Spain:
1. Butterfly
2. Spirit of the Beehive
3. Talk to Her
4. All About My Mother
5. Cria!
6. Carmen
7. Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
8. Tie Me Up! Time Me Down!
9. Vacas
10. L’Age D’Or
11. Viridiana.
Sweden:
Hmmm. I wonder if they'll be any Bergman here?
1. Persona
2. The Seventh Seal
3. Through a Glass Darkly
4. Wild Strawberries
5. Smiles of a Summer Night
6. Miss Julie
Switzerland:
1. The Last Chance
2. Dangerous Moves
3. Messidor
4. Journey of Hope
Taiwan:
1. Eat Drink Man Woman
2. Yi Yi
Turkey:
1. Yol
Vietnam:
1. Cyclo
Yugoslavia:
1. Time of the Gypsies
2. When Father Was Away on Business
3. Underground
Last thoughts: El Norte was made in the U.S., by an independent filmmaker, but it has the feel of a Central American film.
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You might also enjoy my other lists of award winning and foreign films:
Celebrating the Oscars: All Seventy-Seven Best Picture Oscar Winners (with links to full reviews)
Celebrating the Oscar Divas: All Seventy-Seven Best Actress Oscar Winners (with links to full reviews)
All Fifty-Six Best Foreign Film Oscar Winners
All Seventy-Seven Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or Winners
National Society of Film Critics' Awards for Non-English Language Films
New York Film Critics' Circle Awards for Foreign Films (1935-2004)
Los Angeles Film Critics' Award Winners in the Best Foreign Film Category
All One-hundred and Six BAFTA Award-Winning Films
London Critics' Circle Awards for Best Foreign Film
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