# Name a country and recommend a movie from there. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 11, 2016, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605 "2016-03-11T01:46:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/1 "2016-03-11T01:46:02Z")
Or do a few countries, but limit yourself to one movie from each country. Basically just recommend a movie from there you love dearly and want others to see. Japan - [Paprika](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-QpfLV8dQw). I know, a animated movie. But, they have a wonderful animation history and Paprika is the peak. Not even a Miyazaki movie and not a children’s movie. Check it out. And prepare for your mind to be blown. Great Britain - [In Bruges](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Bruges). Well, this is one of my choices for top movies of the last decade, so no shock here. Just an amazing movie. Ireland - [Calvary](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvary_%28film%29). Now, I’m cheating because this is also a British movie, but I believe this was funded by the Irish government, while In Bruges is British-American. A story about a priest who is…good. Not a film about a rotten priest, but rather one about someone trying to do the right thing. Love it. China - [House of Flying Daggers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Flying_Daggers) - Not a hugely shocking choice here. China’s best director and certainly one of all movies best cinematographers. A great score as well. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/2 "2016-03-11T02:01:17Z")
Pan’s Labyrinth (_El Laberinto del Fauno_). Listed as Spanish/Mexican. Absolutely loved it! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/3 "2016-03-11T02:36:52Z")
Japan --\* Ikiro\*. Early Kurosawa. A small, personal story that will stick with you for years. Mexico – _El_. A story of perverse sexual obsession by Luis Bunuel. France – _Playtime_. One of the greatest comedies every made. NOTE: see this on as wide a screen as possible. Sweden – _Cries and Whispers_. Ingmar Bergman at his darkest, but a gripping movie. Russia – _[Don Quixote](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050326/)_. An excellent adaptation of the book, with the amusement of hearing the name “Don Kikhot de le Mancheski” used all the time. Ivory Coast – _Black and White in Color_. A WWI comedy set in Africa, where the French and German decide the have to fight. The title is a pun in French. Botswana – _The Gods Must Be Crazy_. How life is upset by new technology – in this case, a Coke bottle. Iran – _Children of Heaven_. Wonderful story of a boy who loses the family’s only pair of shoes and how he has to work to replace them Afghanistan – _Osama_. Life under the Taliban, where a girl has to pretend to be a boy to work. The final scene is one of the most horrifying in film history. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/4 "2016-03-11T02:55:01Z")
Germany-_Wings of Desire_. Wim Wenders film about invisible, immortal angels who watch the citizens of Berlin. One falls in love with a woman after observing her and decides to become mortal and come to earth. Bosnia-_No Man’s Land_. Two wounded soldiers from opposite sides of the Bosnian war are caught together between their respective lines. Winner of the 2001 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language film. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/5 "2016-03-11T03:09:25Z")
Chile - _Nostalgia for the Light_. Interviews and desert landscapes weave together astronomy and devastating personal loss stemming from the Pinochet regime. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/6 "2016-03-11T03:37:58Z")
Japan - **Rashomon** Greece/Algeria - **Z** China - **Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon** I haven’t seen the Iranian film **A Separation** , but everything I’ve read has praised it. ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/7 "2016-03-11T03:55:58Z")
Indonesia - **The Raid: Redemption**. Violent as hell but lots of fun if you can handle it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/8 "2016-03-11T04:27:20Z")
Spain - **Vicky Cristina Barcelona** , Bat Shit Crazy Penelope Cruz was amazing. Turns out my other ‘off the top of my head’ foreign movie was also Cruz and also from Spain (Volver), instead I’ll give you **Rabbit Proof Fence** from Australia. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/9 "2016-03-11T04:59:14Z")
Germany - [Nowhere in Africa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nowhere_in_africa). About Jews who flee from Nazi Germany to Kenya. Surprisingly beautiful, lyrical use of the German language. Won the 2002 Academy Award. France and Belgium (joint production) - [Rust and Bone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_and_Bone). About a killer whale trainer and a fighter, but really complex and surprising. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/10 "2016-03-11T05:11:43Z")
Argentina – _Motorcycle Diaries_, about a young Ernesto Guevarra (including how he got that odd nickname). Sweden – _The Apple War_, early '70s weirdness about mythical beings and a crazy German developer who wants to build Deutchneyland. Not an amazing movie, but a lot of fun; rather obscure and only possible to see in parts on youtube, unless you are in Sweden. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/11 "2016-03-11T05:26:27Z")
Canada – ᐊᑕᓈᕐᔪᐊᑦ (Atanarjuat). An Inuit myth. The land, the spirit world, community, family, love, conflict, survival. Roger Ebert: “An astonishing epic film.” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/12 "2016-03-11T05:33:45Z")
United States - _Casablanca_ What can I say? It’s my favorite movie. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/13 "2016-03-11T06:26:21Z")
Yugoslavia: _Time Of The Gypsies_ (hey, no-one said the country had to still exist) South Africa:\* The Road To Mecca\* film version of an Athol Fugard play with Kathy Bates ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/14 "2016-03-11T07:55:54Z")
Canada: _The Silent Partner_, a taut thriller involving a bank heist and fraud stemming from the heist. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/15 "2016-03-11T08:47:16Z")
Argentina: [Nine Queens](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247586/combined) New Zealand: [Once Were Warriors](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110729/combined) Scotland: [Dear Frankie](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0377752/combined) Australia: [Lantana](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0259393/combined) ---
**Author:** ![Iggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iggy/32/3364_2.png) [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/16 "2016-03-11T12:44:49Z")
Cayman Islands - [Haven](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386504/) Colombia: [Karen llora en un bus](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1754003/plotsummary?ref_=tt_ov_pl) (Karen Cries on the Bus) best film nominee Cartagena Film Festival 2011 For my most diverse nomination… [Train Station](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_Station_(film)) had [42 directors](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2575290/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_dr#directors) with a multitude of nationalities represented. Wikipedia cites it as a “American-Colombian-Iranian-Kenian-German-Romanian-Spanish-Chinese-British-Greek-Japanese-South African-Portuguese-Emirati-Indian-Brazilian-Filipino-Italian-Argentine-Hong Kongese-Malaysian-Norwegian co-production.” ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/17 "2016-03-11T14:00:14Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Argentina – _Motorcycle Diaries_, about a young Ernesto Guevarra (including how he got that odd nickname). It’s weird only if you don’t speak Spanish, _che_ 🙂 Spain, _Belle Epoque_. Had The Bestest Boyfriend in tears despite not knowing a thing about the historical and social background and having to read the subtitles. The second time he fell off his armchair laughing I suggested staying on the floor, he did. Finland, _Iron Sky_. Yes, some of it is overacted. It’s on purpose, ok? ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/18 "2016-03-11T14:31:49Z")
Finland: \*Maa on syntinen laulu \* (The Earth Is a Sinful Song). An ill-fated love affair in a remote Finnish village. Glacial pace. Beautiful scenery. Weird film. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071786/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071786/) Sweden: _Tillsammans_ (Together). Follows a small group of communists-feminists-anarchists sharing a house in 1970s Stockholm. Are they as free as they pretend to be? Great soundtrack. Even greater nostalgia value. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203166/?ref\_=fn\_al\_tt\_1](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203166/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) Belgium: _C’est arrivé près de chez vous_ (Man Bites Dog). A film crew follows a cruel, remorseless but surprisingly funny and philosophical serial killer as he goes about murdering just about anyone who crosses his path. They slowly find themselves drawn to and ultimately taking part in his gruesome crimes. Not a fan of seriously dark humour? Don’t watch this. [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103905/?ref\_=nv\_sr\_1](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103905/?ref_=nv_sr_1) ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/19 "2016-03-11T14:58:07Z")
Germany: _Lola Rennt_, or _Run Lola Run_ in English. 20 minutes to destiny, then you catch your breath, then again. [Highly recommended](http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/run-lola-run-1999). Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605/20 "2016-03-11T14:59:05Z")
Spain: _The Spirit of the Beehive_. 1973. Beautiful, beautiful. France: _The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie_. 1972. I love a lot of Bunuel, but this one might be my favorite. Germany: _Metropolis_. 1927. Greatest movie EVAR. Canada: _The Log-Driver’s Waltz_. 1979. Animated short. Epic slice of Canadiana. Three minutes long. Watch it now! [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/8NLBZrbi9Ss/maxresdefault.jpg "Log Driver's Waltz by John Weldon") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NLBZrbi9Ss) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-a-country-and-recommend-a-movie-from-there/748605.md?page=2)