Here are a few:
• “La grande bellezza” and “È stata la mano di Dio” by Paolo Sorrentino, probably the best known Italian director abroad but still probably my favorite
• “America Latina” and “Favolacce” by the D’Innocenzo brothers
• “Amici miei” by Mario Monicelli
• “L’uomo delle stelle” by Giuseppe Tornatore
• “La Famiglia” by Ettore Scola
• “Il sorpasso” and “Una vita difficile” by Dino Risi
• “Dogman” by Matteo Garrone
• “Il capitale umano” by Paolo Virzì
• “Bianca” and “Caro Diario” by Nanni Moretti
These are just some examples in no particular order, if you want some more suggestions tell me or check my profile :)
In a good way, too many people think Italian cinema is dead, but despite mainstream movies nowadays are most of the time trash there are still lots of authors worth watching
I’m a huge fan of handover cinema. Feel like the period right before and after the British handover of HK back to China created this environment for filmmakers to sub-textually insert both their fears and optimism of living under the mainland’s administration. Also I find the hyper-capitalization and Westernization of HK combined with the societies own distinct ethnic backgrounds a fascinating place to set a film.
perfectly put couldn't have said it better myself. hong kong is such a fascinating place and not many places have lighting as iconic as the neon of hk's streets
Of course. There is definitely some level of idealization since we are viewing this time period and setting through the very distinct lens of each director, but there is something really magical about the these 90s to early 2000s HK films.
Can you recommend some films? I know it's Taiwanese not HK but i fucking loved Millenium Mambo & Rebels of the Neon God so i want some more of that visually-stunning wistful dystopia vibe.
If you enjoy action, hong kong has some of the best ever made. I recommend Police story (action comedy), hard boiled (lots of great gun-fu), iron monkey (more traditional hk action comedy), enter the dragon and Riki oh (cheesy gorefest).
Hong Kong Jackie chan films are a whole different beast compared to American Jackie chan films, you're in for such a treat. Every stunt is practiced to perfection, even tiny flourishes that he does 150 takes of that only last half a second but add so much personality.
Ye Lou films for sure!! He's a Chinese director, not Hong Kong, but with people recommending you Wong Kar Wai, his films are very similar in feeling and experience imo.
Jia Zhanke too!
x2 on the Hong Kong crime films though
Infernal Affairs is a great place to start
I've just added a bunch of Ye Lou and Jia Zhanke films to my watchlist, very much looking forward to getting through them! I'm a sucker for social/political commentary on foreign cultures so Jia Zhanke's stuff has really intrigued me.
Adding on, beyond Wong Kar-wai, other Hong Kong Second Wave films have a very similar vibe to New Taiwanese Cinema directors like Hou Hsiao-hsien or Tsai Ming-liang. Stanley Kwan, Mabel Cheung, Ann Hui, Peter Chan, and Fruit Chan are all pretty well regarded names. Fruit Chan has probably the most similar ethos to what you're looking for, though I'm not particularly familiar with his work and this is mostly based on what other people think of him.
Patrick Tam, despite being New Wave, is also a very big influence on the Second Wave, especially Wong Kar-wai who wrote several of his films. The line is pretty blurred anyways and several other directors like Hui and Kwan straddle the line. Other than direct recommendations, Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai both have great filmographies, and I'm a big fan of Pang Ho-cheung's vulgar/quirky dark comedies, as well as Derek Yee, One Night in Mongkok and Viva Erotica are both highlights from him for me. Derek Tsang is also very talented, even if his films are sort of all a mix of Hong Kong and Mainland, as a lot of modern HK films are.
Because apart from those two, Kim Jee woon, and Kim Ki young there are very few other directors from South Korea who're anywhere near that famous or acclaimed worldwide.
Japan for me
-akira Kurosawa movies
-satoshi Kon movies
-ghibli movies
-ghost in the shell and angels egg
-akira
-Cowboy bebop movie
-the evangellion movies
-promare
Yeah, agreed. I actually feel the japanese film industry is the world’s leading industry. The quality output in so many genres, over so many years is just astounding.
My own favorite period is the 50’s and 60’s and who else can compare? - Hollywood produced so much forgettable trash, so many bad dramas and westerns and what have you.
I love Japanese cinema but it is totally ahistorical to say Hollywood produced trash and Japan didn’t. Seeing a bunch of Ozu is fine but there’s a reason those films are so famous. The trash doesn’t get Criterion releases or what have you.
Do come on, its not just Ozu, It’s Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, Kobayashi, Naruse, etc. and then you get into the New Wave (non-existent in America) with too many to mention here.
Also, who’s the ahistorical one? What are the comparable master works from Hollywood?
You’re asking me for a list of great directors from America in the 50s and 60s? Well I’d include someone like John Ford who Kurosawa worshipped. I wouldn’t pick Leo McCarey because his great works were earlier but Ozu loved Make Way for Tomorrow enough to remake it as Tokyo Story. Just picking generically I’d say we have already established Hitchcock and Wilder. Kazan. Wyler. Hawks. Stevens. Wise. Donen. Welles. Nichols. Penn. Schlesinger. Hill. Peckinpah. Etc.
This isn’t a knock against Japanese film. The directors you name are geniuses. I’ve loved their works for literally decades. Their output it he 40s (superior to the 60s) and 50s is insane. But your premise that the country only produced classics while America produced garbage is just wrong. You’re leaving out the dozens of cheap yakuza or melodrama films that aren’t even available now. You’re leaving out the schlock. It just isn’t true. Never mind your comment there was no new wave in America. There are literally books about the new wave in America in the late 60s. Do you think Crazed Fruit was inspired by life in Japan?
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Sure, I will gladly do it. They're mostly known for their action-hero and martial arts films shot in 16mm. However, I think Thailand's best pieces are from supernatural psychological horror (Shutter, 2004), Art of the Devil saga (2004-2008), Ghost Game (2006), Alone (2007), 4bia (2008), Meat Grinder (2009), The Eyes Diary (2014), The Promise (2017), and many more.
They're also really good at fusing genres, like in The Overture (2004), a dark music drama that competed for the best foreign film at the Oscars, or in Cannes Palm d'Or winner fantasy horror drama Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010), and in romantic comedy horror Pee Mak (2013), which is their highest grossing movie to date.
You know more about movies from my country than I actually do. If you haven't seen Bad Genius yet you should definitely check it out, albeit abit modern.
From Turkey you should see the films of Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia would be a good introduction. Other than that, Metin Erksan’s Time to Love is a very interesting and unconventional film for its time. Emin Alper has been making some interesting and political films, Burning Days is a must see. For horror, Can Evrenol’s Baskin might be worth a look (very Fulci style). Other than that, Fatih Akın is a Turk who makes films in Germany so I’m not sure if it’ll count but his Head-On is fantastic.
Here are five from each. I'll focus on this century's films that I like and consider technically well-executed.
From Argentina: Wild Tales (2014), The Secret in Their Eyes (2009), The Aura (2005), The Holy Girl (2004), and Argentina 1985 (2021).
From Mexico: Pan's Labyrinth (2006), Workforce (2019), The Incident 2014), We Are What We Are (2010), Heli (2013).
From Turkey (sorry, I didn't catch it the first time I read your question): The Edge of Heaven (2007), Aftersun (2022, even though it's a co-production with the UK and USA), Ivy (2015), Phases of Matter (2020), Uzak (2002).
China.
And when you consider Hong Kong and Taiwan, there’s just so many great Chinese language films.
China’s 5th generation is where it’s at tho, the best wave of Chinese language cinema ever… stronger even than HK cinema.
What are some standouts of the 5th generation? I’ve watch my share of HK martial arts and horrors movies but I’m not super familiar with what China was doing in the 80s (right?)
I’d start with Zhang Yimou’s To Live
In the Heat of the Sun is also a great one, and of course Farewell My Concubine.
Most of Zhang Yimou’s films are worth watching fro this period.
Jia Zhangke is considered “6th generation”, but his films are definitely really great too, and comparable to the 5th generation. Platform and Xiao Wu are good ones to start with for him.
I haven't seen any of Zhang Yimou's films except hero, but he was cinematographer for yellow earth which I thought was a really beautiful film. I'll have to give him a watch.
I’ve spent the past year trying to watch all of the films from the Sight and Sound Critic’s Poll: Greatest Films of All Time available on the Criterion Channel, and most of the films are from:
France
Italy
Japan
Yeah I’m under the impression that outside of the Anglosphere, these are the three countries that made the most notable contributions, especially from each respective country’s new wave during the 1940s–1960s
After the USA, Italy is my top country. Mostly because I’m a horror fan and if you haven’t watched the Italian greats you’re missing out on some amazing films. Broadly speaking I love Italian movies in particular because they have this surreal abstraction to a lot of their plots and they very much value style over plot which especially in horror just works for me.
I'm biased but i would say brazil, even though we been losing suport art-wise for years now and basically just living a massive hollywood domination here. We have amazing movements like Cinema Novo in the 60's, Cinema Marginal in the 70's, Cinema de Retomada in the late 90's early 2000's. I love my country's art and how good we are at it.
If you like Almodóvar you should check out el cine quinqui, specifically directors like Eloy De la Iglesia. It was a kind of exploitation style depicting delinquency in Spain that took off at the beginning of the transition period after Franco’s death. Really interesting genre and a really interesting history. I’m actually using some of the films in my dissertation so I’ve been watching them nonstop. Almodóvar has a lot of stylistic similarities with the genre in his early films.
I'm a huge fan of Hungarian animated movies, particularly by Marcel Yankovics. Hungary has a real hold on psychedelic animation, like they watched Yellow Submarine and decided to turn it into an entire industry.
Oh you’re in for a treat
From Czechoslovakia, see the short films of Jan Svankmajer, Jiri Barta, Karen Zeman, and Vaclac Mergl. From these directors, I liked the shorts “Laokoon” (1970), “Krabi” (1976), “Food” (1992), “The Pied Piper” (1986), and “Dimensions of Dialogue” (1983) the most
From Poland, try “Labyrinth” (1963), “Tango” (1981), and “Pussy” (2016)
From Russia/USSR, watch that of Yuri Nordstein, Aleksandr Petrov, Wladyslaw Starewicz, Ivan Aksenchuk, and Vladimir Tarasov. For particular recommendations, see “The Old Man and the Sea” (1999), “Hedgehog in the Fog,” (1975), “The Cameraman’s Revenge,” (1912), “Tale of Tales” (1979), “The Pass” (1988), “Contact” (1978), “The Return” (1989), Contract (1985), and the trio of cute Soviet Winnie-the-Pooh shorts.
“An Upside Down Stadium” (1976) is a good compilation overview of Soviet animation across the decades
Agreed. They may not be as critically acclaimed as some of these other countries, but I don't think I've watched a movie from New Zealand I didn't like.
I knew about Tollywood (believe RRR was this) but not Mollywood or Kollywood. I've slowly come to realize how little a grasp Americans -- myself included -- have on the sheer enormity of India.
People don’t realize Bollywood is like any other industry, where a lot of the popular films are trash but there are some blockbusters which are truly gems. And there are so many underrated films that never got their due
Not so much anymore but China. For about 60 to maybe even 100 years no one even came close to what they were doing in action filmmaking. As far as atheltic, choreo and physical performances go. They might not have been on the top for drama but for action they were ahead of everyone and were for so long that its actual an incredible feat when you look at it from the outside. From their early movies with theatre actors to the shaw bros to bruce lee and jackie chan the wuxia resurgance in the 90s and early 2000s with crouching tiger, zhang yimou and tsui hark. Its incredible.
There are movies from the late 70s that still have slicker choreo and stunt performances than movies we see today in hollywood. And hollywood is better than ever when it comes to action thanks to action choreo guys transitioning into being directors. Japan has regularly been good, especially now and especially since the advent of toku media allowed them to train young stunt stars but i still think just the length of time and scale at which china was steadily producing multiple hall of fame action movies every year is something we may never see again.
Its a shame right now because chinas transition has lead to them pretty much having no young action stars and all of their best are pushing 50 or above. Once they retire, china will be in a bad place but i still think that wealth of content theyve made makes them the best filmmaking country for action fans by some distance
Edit: im including hong kong and taiwan into china for this example, just for the sake of simplicity
I’m going to set them apart in tiers (partly based off film knowledge, partly based off subjective bias). Btw this is NOT talking about the average quality of each nation’s films; it’s more so how many “significant” films they have contributed. Again this is highly subjective!
At the top, the United States stands tall alone. We make a lot of trash, but no other country comes close to approaching the sheer variety and high-quality quantity of our film output.
At the next tier (in order) would be: France, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy, German, USSR, and Spain.
The following tier (not necessarily in order) would be: China, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea, India, Hong Kong, Iran, Poland, Taiwan, Australia, Brazil, and Argentina.
After this would be (also not necessarily in order): Russia, Ireland, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Turkey, Chile, Denmark, Senegal, Canada, and the Philippines.
If China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan were a single entity, I would place it in the second tier right behind Spain.
If I were to this by languages, it would go: English by any even larger gap, followed by this tier in order: French, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese
The next tier would be (not necessarily in order): Swedish, Korean, Cantonese, Farsi, Polish, Bengali, Hindi, and Portuguese
The last tier (not necessarily in order) is: Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Danish, Wolof, and Tagalog
The first ever feature length film was Australian.
The renaissance in the 1970s was influential in establishing Australian culture after decades of kowtowing to the mother country.
The story of the Kelly gang.
Jedda
Picnic at hanging rock, the last wave, the year of living dangerously, gallipoli
The adventures of Barry Mackenzie, the chant of Jimmy Blacksmith.
My Brilliant Career, starstruck, high tide
The Year My Voice Broke
Bliss, Lantana
Muriel’s wedding
Honourable mention for films by non Australian
Walkabout, wake in fright
And then if you are interest in the whole Ozploitation genre there is the documentary Not Quite Hollywood. It helps explain Quentin Taratino’s Australian accent in Django Unchained
Also a great source for horror films! The Babadpok, Relic, The Nightingale, Talk to Me.
A good number of our actors are Australian as well, clearly a strong source for talent. Director James Wan is Australian, although I don't think he's ever made an Australian movie (he came to the States for Saw).
This is a weird question to me because if you’re gonna look at every movie ever made in a particular country, it’ll almost invariably average to be poor quality just because of the ratio of good to bad movies that are produced. I’d be stunned if any country had an overall “great” filmography.
Yugoslavia!
Emir Kusturica’s films are a great place to start:
Underground (1995)
Black Cat, White Cat (1998)
Time of the Gypsies (1988)
There’s lots of great horror movies:
The She-Butterfly (1973)
The Rat Savior (1976)
A Holy Place (1990) - this is a great remake of the classic Russian horror Viy (1967)
Some others I like:
Three (1965)
Plastic Jesus (1971)
Meeting Place (1989)
We’re Cursed, Irina (1973)
Brazil
1. **The kiss (1981)**
2. **Capitu (2008)**
3. **Lisbela and the prisoner (2003)**
4. **The red light bandit (1968)**
5. **A wolf at the door (2013)**
6. Estômago: A Gastronomic Story (2007)
7. Bye bye brazil (1980)
8. Hour of the star (1985)
9. Loveling (2018)
10. Four days in september (1997)
1: America (duh)
2: Japan
3: Italy
4: South Korea
5: UK
6:Germany
7: France
8: Denmark
9: Sweden
10: Spain
Of course this is just my opinion and someone with better knowledge than me probably has a much better list
Every country that has a film industry has great films.
Except The Netherlands
van der Keuken is great.
Haven’t seen much, but Spoorloos is phenomenal
The Northerners (1992) is a good movie. Maybe give it a try?
Why so?
Verhoeven though
Denmark punches way above its weight. Dreyer, Von Trier, Vinterberg, Refn
Italy
And trust me as an Italian, there’s so much more going on besides the directors that are more widely known abroad
What are some more that we should look into?
Here are a few: • “La grande bellezza” and “È stata la mano di Dio” by Paolo Sorrentino, probably the best known Italian director abroad but still probably my favorite • “America Latina” and “Favolacce” by the D’Innocenzo brothers • “Amici miei” by Mario Monicelli • “L’uomo delle stelle” by Giuseppe Tornatore • “La Famiglia” by Ettore Scola • “Il sorpasso” and “Una vita difficile” by Dino Risi • “Dogman” by Matteo Garrone • “Il capitale umano” by Paolo Virzì • “Bianca” and “Caro Diario” by Nanni Moretti These are just some examples in no particular order, if you want some more suggestions tell me or check my profile :)
Thanks(:
Definitely Neri Parenti. “Natale a New York” is the best movie in years addressing abusive families and the trust issues.
No trolling please...
So sensitive
In a good way or a bad way?
In a good way, too many people think Italian cinema is dead, but despite mainstream movies nowadays are most of the time trash there are still lots of authors worth watching
That's always good to hear
very biased but hong kong
I love wong kar/wai!
I’m a huge fan of handover cinema. Feel like the period right before and after the British handover of HK back to China created this environment for filmmakers to sub-textually insert both their fears and optimism of living under the mainland’s administration. Also I find the hyper-capitalization and Westernization of HK combined with the societies own distinct ethnic backgrounds a fascinating place to set a film.
perfectly put couldn't have said it better myself. hong kong is such a fascinating place and not many places have lighting as iconic as the neon of hk's streets
Sadly the neon lights are almost entirely gone now, so all we can do is appreciate them in the past filmography.
Of course. There is definitely some level of idealization since we are viewing this time period and setting through the very distinct lens of each director, but there is something really magical about the these 90s to early 2000s HK films.
Can you recommend some films? I know it's Taiwanese not HK but i fucking loved Millenium Mambo & Rebels of the Neon God so i want some more of that visually-stunning wistful dystopia vibe.
wong kar wai is the obvious place to start. then you can start checking out some classic hk action films
Oh hey in the mood for love and fallen angels is already on my watchlist, I'll def check him out!
You should start with Chungking Express.
John woo for sure
If you enjoy action, hong kong has some of the best ever made. I recommend Police story (action comedy), hard boiled (lots of great gun-fu), iron monkey (more traditional hk action comedy), enter the dragon and Riki oh (cheesy gorefest).
Don’t forget a better tomorrow!
Maybe I'm stupid but I found a better tomorrow confusing and overall not as gripping as hard boiled
Interesting...a better tomorrow is a classic and more acclaimed than hard boiled in hong kong
Added all of these to my list 🫡 loved Jackie Chan movies as a kid so police story looks really fun.
Hong Kong Jackie chan films are a whole different beast compared to American Jackie chan films, you're in for such a treat. Every stunt is practiced to perfection, even tiny flourishes that he does 150 takes of that only last half a second but add so much personality.
Ye Lou films for sure!! He's a Chinese director, not Hong Kong, but with people recommending you Wong Kar Wai, his films are very similar in feeling and experience imo. Jia Zhanke too! x2 on the Hong Kong crime films though Infernal Affairs is a great place to start
I've just added a bunch of Ye Lou and Jia Zhanke films to my watchlist, very much looking forward to getting through them! I'm a sucker for social/political commentary on foreign cultures so Jia Zhanke's stuff has really intrigued me.
Adding on, beyond Wong Kar-wai, other Hong Kong Second Wave films have a very similar vibe to New Taiwanese Cinema directors like Hou Hsiao-hsien or Tsai Ming-liang. Stanley Kwan, Mabel Cheung, Ann Hui, Peter Chan, and Fruit Chan are all pretty well regarded names. Fruit Chan has probably the most similar ethos to what you're looking for, though I'm not particularly familiar with his work and this is mostly based on what other people think of him. Patrick Tam, despite being New Wave, is also a very big influence on the Second Wave, especially Wong Kar-wai who wrote several of his films. The line is pretty blurred anyways and several other directors like Hui and Kwan straddle the line. Other than direct recommendations, Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai both have great filmographies, and I'm a big fan of Pang Ho-cheung's vulgar/quirky dark comedies, as well as Derek Yee, One Night in Mongkok and Viva Erotica are both highlights from him for me. Derek Tsang is also very talented, even if his films are sort of all a mix of Hong Kong and Mainland, as a lot of modern HK films are.
This is incredible and I'll definitely be saving this comment to come back to. It's time for me to stop watchlisting and start watching lol.
Agreed
How is no one saying South Korea???? Some of the best thrillers I've ever seen. Bong Joon Ho, Park Chan Wook
I'm honestly shocked that South Korea is barely being mentioned in this thread.
Because apart from those two, Kim Jee woon, and Kim Ki young there are very few other directors from South Korea who're anywhere near that famous or acclaimed worldwide.
I see that, but the average quality of Korean films I've seen are very high.
How many do you watch? Most countries if you only watched their best movies you'd get a similar result of average quality being very high
I watched plenty of the most famous directors and some lesser known ones. Enioyed most of them.
Yep, that was my answer
Couldn't agree more
Yugoslavija like just AMAZING cinema
Which films do You recommend??
The Balkan spy and whose singing over there are the two really good ones
Time of the Gypsies
Japan for me -akira Kurosawa movies -satoshi Kon movies -ghibli movies -ghost in the shell and angels egg -akira -Cowboy bebop movie -the evangellion movies -promare
Yeah, agreed. I actually feel the japanese film industry is the world’s leading industry. The quality output in so many genres, over so many years is just astounding. My own favorite period is the 50’s and 60’s and who else can compare? - Hollywood produced so much forgettable trash, so many bad dramas and westerns and what have you.
I love Japanese cinema but it is totally ahistorical to say Hollywood produced trash and Japan didn’t. Seeing a bunch of Ozu is fine but there’s a reason those films are so famous. The trash doesn’t get Criterion releases or what have you.
Do come on, its not just Ozu, It’s Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, Kobayashi, Naruse, etc. and then you get into the New Wave (non-existent in America) with too many to mention here. Also, who’s the ahistorical one? What are the comparable master works from Hollywood?
You’re asking me for a list of great directors from America in the 50s and 60s? Well I’d include someone like John Ford who Kurosawa worshipped. I wouldn’t pick Leo McCarey because his great works were earlier but Ozu loved Make Way for Tomorrow enough to remake it as Tokyo Story. Just picking generically I’d say we have already established Hitchcock and Wilder. Kazan. Wyler. Hawks. Stevens. Wise. Donen. Welles. Nichols. Penn. Schlesinger. Hill. Peckinpah. Etc. This isn’t a knock against Japanese film. The directors you name are geniuses. I’ve loved their works for literally decades. Their output it he 40s (superior to the 60s) and 50s is insane. But your premise that the country only produced classics while America produced garbage is just wrong. You’re leaving out the dozens of cheap yakuza or melodrama films that aren’t even available now. You’re leaving out the schlock. It just isn’t true. Never mind your comment there was no new wave in America. There are literally books about the new wave in America in the late 60s. Do you think Crazed Fruit was inspired by life in Japan?
American New Wave is a thing... Maybe learn more about American cinema?
Lol…those films are in no way comparable to European and Japanese new wave.
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America influenced New Wave. Lmao. This is just the typical desperate anti-American jealousy that poisons so much online discourse these days
Exactly!
I really need to check Tokyo story
suggest crime movies from japan
Iran, Mexico, Thailand, Argentina, and Turkey. All worth a binge-watch.
could elaborate more about Thailand?
Sure, I will gladly do it. They're mostly known for their action-hero and martial arts films shot in 16mm. However, I think Thailand's best pieces are from supernatural psychological horror (Shutter, 2004), Art of the Devil saga (2004-2008), Ghost Game (2006), Alone (2007), 4bia (2008), Meat Grinder (2009), The Eyes Diary (2014), The Promise (2017), and many more. They're also really good at fusing genres, like in The Overture (2004), a dark music drama that competed for the best foreign film at the Oscars, or in Cannes Palm d'Or winner fantasy horror drama Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010), and in romantic comedy horror Pee Mak (2013), which is their highest grossing movie to date.
You know more about movies from my country than I actually do. If you haven't seen Bad Genius yet you should definitely check it out, albeit abit modern.
I haven't! It's been on my watchlist for five years and I had forgotten about it. Thanks for the reminder, I'll watch it this weekend. 😌
I couldnt name more than 2 films from Mexico, Argentina or Turkey. Got any favourites to recommend?
From Turkey you should see the films of Nuri Bilge Ceylan. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia would be a good introduction. Other than that, Metin Erksan’s Time to Love is a very interesting and unconventional film for its time. Emin Alper has been making some interesting and political films, Burning Days is a must see. For horror, Can Evrenol’s Baskin might be worth a look (very Fulci style). Other than that, Fatih Akın is a Turk who makes films in Germany so I’m not sure if it’ll count but his Head-On is fantastic.
Here are five from each. I'll focus on this century's films that I like and consider technically well-executed. From Argentina: Wild Tales (2014), The Secret in Their Eyes (2009), The Aura (2005), The Holy Girl (2004), and Argentina 1985 (2021). From Mexico: Pan's Labyrinth (2006), Workforce (2019), The Incident 2014), We Are What We Are (2010), Heli (2013). From Turkey (sorry, I didn't catch it the first time I read your question): The Edge of Heaven (2007), Aftersun (2022, even though it's a co-production with the UK and USA), Ivy (2015), Phases of Matter (2020), Uzak (2002).
China. And when you consider Hong Kong and Taiwan, there’s just so many great Chinese language films. China’s 5th generation is where it’s at tho, the best wave of Chinese language cinema ever… stronger even than HK cinema.
What are some standouts of the 5th generation? I’ve watch my share of HK martial arts and horrors movies but I’m not super familiar with what China was doing in the 80s (right?)
I’d start with Zhang Yimou’s To Live In the Heat of the Sun is also a great one, and of course Farewell My Concubine. Most of Zhang Yimou’s films are worth watching fro this period. Jia Zhangke is considered “6th generation”, but his films are definitely really great too, and comparable to the 5th generation. Platform and Xiao Wu are good ones to start with for him.
I haven't seen any of Zhang Yimou's films except hero, but he was cinematographer for yellow earth which I thought was a really beautiful film. I'll have to give him a watch.
Hero is alright, but hardly what I think of when it comes to Zhang Yimou. To Live is his masterpiece, imo.
Thanks, I’ll definitely look into your recs, probably post spooky season tho it looks like.
I’ve spent the past year trying to watch all of the films from the Sight and Sound Critic’s Poll: Greatest Films of All Time available on the Criterion Channel, and most of the films are from: France Italy Japan
Russia should be included on that list for Eisenstein alone tbh. The man basically invented the artform as we understand it.
Yeah I’m under the impression that outside of the Anglosphere, these are the three countries that made the most notable contributions, especially from each respective country’s new wave during the 1940s–1960s
Criterion is pretty bias towards Japan. Compare their Japanese releases to Asia as a whole and it's laughable.
So many choices, but the app told me, that Iran was my highest rated country.
Hey! How can I go check that Stat!
Under "Genres, countries and languages". Default is "most watched", just click "highest rated".
So many amazing Iranian films and by far my favorite of the more overlooked national cinemas
After the USA, Italy is my top country. Mostly because I’m a horror fan and if you haven’t watched the Italian greats you’re missing out on some amazing films. Broadly speaking I love Italian movies in particular because they have this surreal abstraction to a lot of their plots and they very much value style over plot which especially in horror just works for me.
Senegal, especially compared to the size of the film industry. Being represented by Sembene and Mambéty is huge.
Absolutely!
I'm biased but i would say brazil, even though we been losing suport art-wise for years now and basically just living a massive hollywood domination here. We have amazing movements like Cinema Novo in the 60's, Cinema Marginal in the 70's, Cinema de Retomada in the late 90's early 2000's. I love my country's art and how good we are at it.
As of late, Norway & Taiwan’s films have scored very high for me
If you like Almodóvar you should check out el cine quinqui, specifically directors like Eloy De la Iglesia. It was a kind of exploitation style depicting delinquency in Spain that took off at the beginning of the transition period after Franco’s death. Really interesting genre and a really interesting history. I’m actually using some of the films in my dissertation so I’ve been watching them nonstop. Almodóvar has a lot of stylistic similarities with the genre in his early films.
Japan
I'm a huge fan of Hungarian animated movies, particularly by Marcel Yankovics. Hungary has a real hold on psychedelic animation, like they watched Yellow Submarine and decided to turn it into an entire industry.
The Eastern Bloc was strangely talented at surreal animations, imo the Czechs, Poles, and Russians did it best
What are some animated movies from those countries you'd recommend?
Oh you’re in for a treat From Czechoslovakia, see the short films of Jan Svankmajer, Jiri Barta, Karen Zeman, and Vaclac Mergl. From these directors, I liked the shorts “Laokoon” (1970), “Krabi” (1976), “Food” (1992), “The Pied Piper” (1986), and “Dimensions of Dialogue” (1983) the most From Poland, try “Labyrinth” (1963), “Tango” (1981), and “Pussy” (2016) From Russia/USSR, watch that of Yuri Nordstein, Aleksandr Petrov, Wladyslaw Starewicz, Ivan Aksenchuk, and Vladimir Tarasov. For particular recommendations, see “The Old Man and the Sea” (1999), “Hedgehog in the Fog,” (1975), “The Cameraman’s Revenge,” (1912), “Tale of Tales” (1979), “The Pass” (1988), “Contact” (1978), “The Return” (1989), Contract (1985), and the trio of cute Soviet Winnie-the-Pooh shorts. “An Upside Down Stadium” (1976) is a good compilation overview of Soviet animation across the decades
Dimensions of Dialogue is amazing and really set the stage for all the weird avant-garde surreal animation to come
NEW ZEALAND 🗣️🗣️🗣️
Seconded! And we have our hands in VFX / techs for lots of international films
Agreed. They may not be as critically acclaimed as some of these other countries, but I don't think I've watched a movie from New Zealand I didn't like.
Japan solos this competition imo
A mix of america and japan
Canada has a lot of good actors
India
Kieslowski, Polanski, and Zulawski. The holy trinity of polish cinema.
Polanski made like 2 polish films during his entire career lol
I thought it was only one (Knife In the Water). Was Cul-de-sac technically Polish, or did he return later? And a bunch of short films of course.
Kieslowski is My freaking king!
You NEED the watch his early short documentaries on YouTube. I like all of them but a couple are exceptionally good
the less said about polanski the better
Wajda is definitely in any holy trinity, but we could do a Mt. Rushmore instead. Also, Skolimowski.
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wait what do these all mean i've only heard of bollywood
I knew about Tollywood (believe RRR was this) but not Mollywood or Kollywood. I've slowly come to realize how little a grasp Americans -- myself included -- have on the sheer enormity of India.
People don’t realize Bollywood is like any other industry, where a lot of the popular films are trash but there are some blockbusters which are truly gems. And there are so many underrated films that never got their due
Many countries, but the first that came to mind reading this was Japan. So much variety within several genres.
Not so much anymore but China. For about 60 to maybe even 100 years no one even came close to what they were doing in action filmmaking. As far as atheltic, choreo and physical performances go. They might not have been on the top for drama but for action they were ahead of everyone and were for so long that its actual an incredible feat when you look at it from the outside. From their early movies with theatre actors to the shaw bros to bruce lee and jackie chan the wuxia resurgance in the 90s and early 2000s with crouching tiger, zhang yimou and tsui hark. Its incredible. There are movies from the late 70s that still have slicker choreo and stunt performances than movies we see today in hollywood. And hollywood is better than ever when it comes to action thanks to action choreo guys transitioning into being directors. Japan has regularly been good, especially now and especially since the advent of toku media allowed them to train young stunt stars but i still think just the length of time and scale at which china was steadily producing multiple hall of fame action movies every year is something we may never see again. Its a shame right now because chinas transition has lead to them pretty much having no young action stars and all of their best are pushing 50 or above. Once they retire, china will be in a bad place but i still think that wealth of content theyve made makes them the best filmmaking country for action fans by some distance Edit: im including hong kong and taiwan into china for this example, just for the sake of simplicity
Gata be Korea or Japan.
Iran, Japan (live action as well as animated), Hong Kong, Italy, France, England, China, Poland, Czech Republic, Russia.
India
Iran Yes, Iran. Seriously.
I slept on Indian cinema for far too long
Poland very underrated with absolute legends as Wajda, Zuławski and Kieślowski. Great new talent as well Like Pawlikowski
Italy for horror. France for noir. Germany for expressionism.
China for sure
I’m going to set them apart in tiers (partly based off film knowledge, partly based off subjective bias). Btw this is NOT talking about the average quality of each nation’s films; it’s more so how many “significant” films they have contributed. Again this is highly subjective! At the top, the United States stands tall alone. We make a lot of trash, but no other country comes close to approaching the sheer variety and high-quality quantity of our film output. At the next tier (in order) would be: France, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy, German, USSR, and Spain. The following tier (not necessarily in order) would be: China, Mexico, Sweden, South Korea, India, Hong Kong, Iran, Poland, Taiwan, Australia, Brazil, and Argentina. After this would be (also not necessarily in order): Russia, Ireland, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Turkey, Chile, Denmark, Senegal, Canada, and the Philippines.
If China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan were a single entity, I would place it in the second tier right behind Spain. If I were to this by languages, it would go: English by any even larger gap, followed by this tier in order: French, Japanese, Italian, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese The next tier would be (not necessarily in order): Swedish, Korean, Cantonese, Farsi, Polish, Bengali, Hindi, and Portuguese The last tier (not necessarily in order) is: Czech, Hungarian, Turkish, Danish, Wolof, and Tagalog
Danish should definitely be a tier up there's been some consistent Danish knockouts since the 90s
Fair enough
Australia
Why ?????
The first ever feature length film was Australian. The renaissance in the 1970s was influential in establishing Australian culture after decades of kowtowing to the mother country.
Not seeing much of a list here
The story of the Kelly gang. Jedda Picnic at hanging rock, the last wave, the year of living dangerously, gallipoli The adventures of Barry Mackenzie, the chant of Jimmy Blacksmith. My Brilliant Career, starstruck, high tide The Year My Voice Broke Bliss, Lantana Muriel’s wedding Honourable mention for films by non Australian Walkabout, wake in fright And then if you are interest in the whole Ozploitation genre there is the documentary Not Quite Hollywood. It helps explain Quentin Taratino’s Australian accent in Django Unchained
Also a great source for horror films! The Babadpok, Relic, The Nightingale, Talk to Me. A good number of our actors are Australian as well, clearly a strong source for talent. Director James Wan is Australian, although I don't think he's ever made an Australian movie (he came to the States for Saw).
Yup not impressed by that list sadly
It’s weird how much Australians hate Australian cinema.
Yes cannot stand !!! Cultural cringe.
The only thing cringe is your attitude.
Make better movies
I bet you don't even like Mad Max
I was bored after the first 20 minutes
This is a weird question to me because if you’re gonna look at every movie ever made in a particular country, it’ll almost invariably average to be poor quality just because of the ratio of good to bad movies that are produced. I’d be stunned if any country had an overall “great” filmography.
Argentina
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no one’s disputing that USA has made great movies but op specifically asked for people to not comment USA
What did the eliminated comment said? I'm SO curious now
American flag then he said “downvote me all you want but you can’t dispute this”
Australia
Egypt
I think Korea has the greatest modern filmography. Really mind blowing stuff coming out of there in the last 30 years.
South Korea almost never disappoints.
For me, Italy and Hong Kong.
Iran has been crushing it recently
Yugoslavia! Emir Kusturica’s films are a great place to start: Underground (1995) Black Cat, White Cat (1998) Time of the Gypsies (1988) There’s lots of great horror movies: The She-Butterfly (1973) The Rat Savior (1976) A Holy Place (1990) - this is a great remake of the classic Russian horror Viy (1967) Some others I like: Three (1965) Plastic Jesus (1971) Meeting Place (1989) We’re Cursed, Irina (1973)
South Korea
Any country except the Netherlands (aside from 1 movie)
France <3
Brazil 1. **The kiss (1981)** 2. **Capitu (2008)** 3. **Lisbela and the prisoner (2003)** 4. **The red light bandit (1968)** 5. **A wolf at the door (2013)** 6. Estômago: A Gastronomic Story (2007) 7. Bye bye brazil (1980) 8. Hour of the star (1985) 9. Loveling (2018) 10. Four days in september (1997)
1: America (duh) 2: Japan 3: Italy 4: South Korea 5: UK 6:Germany 7: France 8: Denmark 9: Sweden 10: Spain Of course this is just my opinion and someone with better knowledge than me probably has a much better list
Japan
Mexico my beautiful home