AIBU to think you can't name 5 foreign films

[subjecttoavailability]

I have moved to the UK from another country and I have noticed that on TV they only show American and English films/shows. In my country (ex ussr) foreign films/ TV series are quite popular and often shown at prime time but seems its not the case in the UK with few exceptions like bbc4. Am I wrong? Do people watch Indian, Brazilian,
Corean films? Please vote.
AIBU- I (and most of my friends/family) can name 5 foreign films produced in 5 different countries. If so, which films are these?
YANBU - I can't name 5 foreign films.

I'll start:
Fantomas -France
Seeta and Geeta - India
Wild rose - Mexico
The taming of the scoundrel- Italy
Mole cartoon - Czech

Kuch Kuch hota hai (Bollywood)
Tune in for love (Korean)
In the mood for love (Chinese)
Taste of Cherry (Iranian)
The Russian Ark (Russian)

Plus I've watched loads of kdramas but you've asked about films!

I didnt think I'd be able to but;

Metropolis,Nosferatu, Das Boot - Germany
Parasite, Alive - Korea
Ringu, Battle Royale - Japan
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Armour of God, Wheels on Meals - China
Un Chien Andalou - Spain
The Night Eats The World - France

Watched? I've subtitled a couple! And, in doing so, hit upon the problem. One of the Russian films for which I helped to translate subtitles into English was a quite nice coming of age drama called 'Americkanka'. Engaging, well made, fairly entertaining ... but really offered nothing that a small-town coming of age movie from anywhere in the world might have. So I'd guess its international appeal was pretty limited.

Which is why 'foreign cinema' gets that highbrow rep. The OP mentioned coming from the former USSR. If you ask my dad about Soviet cinema, he'll talk enthusiastically about Eisenstein, Tarkovsky, Человек с киноаппартом and so on. Great films, but if you look at the biggest cinema hits in the Soviet Union, you won't find them on the list. But stuff like Volga! Volga! (Stalin's favourite musical, doncha know!) or Ironiya Sudby (Irony of Fate, a kind of Soviet 'It's a Wonderful Life') won't get much of an audience outside of Russia - partly because if I want festive schmaltz, I'll watch Wonderful Life.

The same principle is true today, but some Russian indie directors are genuinely interesting, and produce some work that (for me) is worth exploring. Zvyagintsev springs to mind if you like heavy social commentary; Tarkovsky's influence looms large over films like Ostrov (The Island - I'm thinking of the Pyotr Mamonov as monk film, not any of the other 'Ostrovs' committed to celluloid), and in the early 2010s there was a wave of quite fun, quirky films like Неадекватные Люди (lit. Inadequate People, but perhaps better translated as 'misfits') or Географ глобус пропил (The Geographer Drank his Globe away) that I really enjoyed. But Russia was a big part of my life. A Chilean equivalent probably wouldn't do much for me because a lot of the cultural shorthand would sail over my head.

@andyindurham thanks so much for your list, I’m a big Tarkovsky fan so will look up the others you mentioned

Which is why 'foreign cinema' gets that highbrow rep.

Yes, all the rubbish gets filtered out. (Or most of it, anyway.) I assume countries which dub or subtitle English language films don't bother with the less good ones, either, and we're just left with them at 2:30 in the afternoon on some random channel you discover when just randomly flicking through.

Plus I've watched loads of kdramas but you've asked about films!

I clearly did not read this properly as I mentioned lots of series and only a few films, but to be fair I was trying to settle DC who never needs sleep.

@subjecttoavailability

That's a fair question, I'd say foreign film is a film produced outside of US, UK, New Zealand, Canada and Australia, so Welsh probably won't qualify but Nigerian film in English would.

I haven't read all 13 pages but you haven't excluded Irish films in your list so I'll claim The Commitments, The Snapper and The Van, all based on Roddy Doyle's Barrytown Trilogy.

Still need two more so I'll have Betty Blue (French) and Fermat's Room (Spanish).

They've probably already been named, I haven't RTFT, but I've watched a lot of foreign films, particularly French and Spanish/Latin American as I speak French and Spanish. Also seen quite a few older Japanese and Korean movies as I have a good friend who is a huge fan and we used to watch them together. Off the top of my head...

City of God
Amores Perros
Y Tu Mamá También
Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios
¡Átame!
Volver
Todo Sobre Mi Madre
La Mala Educación
Hable Con Ella
El Secreto de Sus Ojos
Como Agua Para Chocolate
Diarios de Motocicleta

Welcome
La Haine
Être et Avoir
Delicatessen
À Bout de Souffle
De Battre Mon Coeur s'est Arrêté
Amélie
Jean de Florette
Manon des Sources
Three Colours trilogy

La Vita è Bella
Cinema Paradiso

All Studio Ghibli
Oldboy
Hana Bi
Zatoichi
Kikujiro
Sonatine
Infernal Affairs
Battle Royale
Ringu
Sympathy For Mr Vengeance
Ju-On: The Grudge
Dark Water

.... and you’d be absolutely right !

Die Walle, Keinohrhasen, Downfall - Germany
Amélie - France
Spirited away - Japan
Parasite - South Korea
Cinema Paradiso - Italy and France, I think?

Quite a few German options springing to mind right away

Nope i cant but its generally cos i dont wanna read my movies
Yep im lazy lol
The amount of times me and dp found something on netflix, then its come up in sub titles and we turn it off, too much effort involved, if i have to read the movie, i cant browse online at same time.

Yep and I'll happily pick some out of this thread to watch too

Like Water for Chocolate
Trollhunter
Max Manus: Man of War
Das Boot
Seven Samurai
Three Colours Red, White and Blue
Lots of Bruce Lee

The Godzilla films in Japanese
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, as many people have mentioned and it's a very beautiful film.

Un homme et une femme
Amelie
M. Hulot
Etre et Avoir
L'homme inconnue

Betty Blue we were shown by a French assistant at school before GCSEs (for those who don't know it, it's an 18.) There's a lot of not speaking in it and the only vocab I remember learning from it was merde, which was no use for exams. It was quite educational in some ways, especially for those of us who had never even kissed anyone.

The French assistant did not complete her expected time in the school, and I suspect Betty Blue had quite a lot to do with that decision...

In the past three weeks, I've seen:

Angelitos Negros (1948) Mexico with Pedro Infante

Pistoleros Famosos (1981) Mexico and one of its actors, Lorenzo de Monteclaro, is my father's cousin.

Ran (1985) Japan

Entre Nous (1983) France

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1990) Spain

Suspiria (1977) Italy with the gorgeous Miguel Bosé

@andyindurham

Watched? I've subtitled a couple! And, in doing so, hit upon the problem. One of the Russian films for which I helped to translate subtitles into English was a quite nice coming of age drama called 'Americkanka'. Engaging, well made, fairly entertaining ... but really offered nothing that a small-town coming of age movie from anywhere in the world might have. So I'd guess its international appeal was pretty limited.

Which is why 'foreign cinema' gets that highbrow rep. The OP mentioned coming from the former USSR. If you ask my dad about Soviet cinema, he'll talk enthusiastically about Eisenstein, Tarkovsky, Человек с киноаппартом and so on. Great films, but if you look at the biggest cinema hits in the Soviet Union, you won't find them on the list. But stuff like Volga! Volga! (Stalin's favourite musical, doncha know!) or Ironiya Sudby (Irony of Fate, a kind of Soviet 'It's a Wonderful Life') won't get much of an audience outside of Russia - partly because if I want festive schmaltz, I'll watch Wonderful Life.

The same principle is true today, but some Russian indie directors are genuinely interesting, and produce some work that (for me) is worth exploring. Zvyagintsev springs to mind if you like heavy social commentary; Tarkovsky's influence looms large over films like Ostrov (The Island - I'm thinking of the Pyotr Mamonov as monk film, not any of the other 'Ostrovs' committed to celluloid), and in the early 2010s there was a wave of quite fun, quirky films like Неадекватные Люди (lit. Inadequate People, but perhaps better translated as 'misfits') or Географ глобус пропил (The Geographer Drank his Globe away) that I really enjoyed. But Russia was a big part of my life. A Chilean equivalent probably wouldn't do much for me because a lot of the cultural shorthand would sail over my head.

That's very interesting insight Andy, thank you. I agree it's natural people prefer to watch something familiar, what I'm surprised to find though that when people decide to go for a foreign film they choose quite high brow stuff. Like if I have to name British film off the top of my head I would choose one of the Bond movies or Harry Potter not The cook, the thief, his wife and her lover. So I was expecting to see more action/comedy type stuff but I was wrong:)

PigsInHeaven yes, genuinely haven't heard of Das Boot or Babette's feast, I guess they were not shown in my home country as I checked local film review site and they have just few thousands of reviews while e.g. French movie Intouchables have 1 mln+

OP, you haven't told us why Irish films are foreign and Australian and American films are not?

@MayYouLiveInInterestingTimes

I was curious if there are any foreign movies which became a wide-known cultural reference in the UK I'm curious about why. The UK is a place with a lot of subcultures and interests. Among different interest group areas there will be well-known references. From martial arts films many people will recognise Jackie Chan's name: not long ago he was pretty mainstream. Some will recognise Jet Li's. Are they what you're looking for?

Yes, was thinking more along the lines of Jackie Chan. I think that TV and films can give a lot of insights on what kind of perceptions people have about particural culture, so was trying to figure out which countries managed to get some presence in uk popular culture.

@subjecttoavailability l know what you mean. It's more "specialty" foreign movies here. Most people I talked about movies with in the UK never heard of Policemen (or Troops as some translations say) of St Tropez with Louis de Funès. I always thought it's famous everywhere because it was just such a great comedy 😂 Lots of people told me there really weren't French movies on a TV here (note, I am talking pre all these super subscriptions). I don't know if that's right, but it was interesting to compare with what was on our TV.

From where I'm sitting I can see on the shelf:
Volver
Bad Education
Amelie
Cave of the Yellow Dog
La Vie en Rose
Etre at Avoir
The Spirit of the Beehive
I've Loved you so Long
The Three Colours trilogy
Manon des Sources
Jean de Florette
Y tu Mama Tambien
All About my Mother
Tell No one
Mulan
Untouchable
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Ten Canoes
Apocalypto
Priceless
The House of Flying Daggers
Hero

And probably a tonne more upstairs. Plus the kids have a stack of Studio Ghibli.

Given it isnt representative of the entire global film production industry, but does that prove anything?

As others have said BBC4 has a lot of foreign language films, a wide varierty of languages too!

Ones I have seen, may own on DVD:

Raise the Red Lantern - Japan
Jean de Florette /Manon des Sources - France
Pan's Labrynth - Mexico/Spain
The White Ribbon - Germany
Syndromes and a Centiry - Thailand

what I'm surprised to find though that when people decide to go for a foreign film they choose quite high brow stuff. Ooh! I go for high drama, emotional stuff or to se an historical figure form another perspective.

Not run of the mill or populist. So I would have gone for The Cook... over Potter

A Chilean equivalent probably wouldn't do much for me because a lot of the cultural shorthand would sail over my head

I think it's the opposite for me I know I watch foreign films and TV that I probably would be unlikely to watch if they were made in English and set in the UK, precisely because I'm fascinated by the norms of other cultures. I have zero interest in police dramas, but I adored The Killing, in part at least because of its Danishness, I find the workings of the very different French legal system one of the most interesting things about Engrenages (Spiral French cop drama), and it's the politics of Israel/Palestine that interests me most in Fauda (Israeli-made drama about an undercover anti-terrorist Israeli unit that enters Palestinian areas).

OP, I was just trying to think where and how I saw Das Boot and Babette's Feast, which I agree are both very famous, but which are not likely to be frequently shown on TV anywhere. I think I saw Babette's Feast at a film festival in the 90s (part of a day that showed films about food and included an excellent dinner!) and I think I saw Das Boot at an arthouse cinema, but I also think it's very widely known and influential -- it's been shown as a tv miniseries, and in several different length film versions, and there was a big deal about the directors cut which must have been released 20 years after the original.

@Saisong I'll have to go up in the loft now! Your list has reminded me of some great films we haven't watched for a few years!