best relatively unknown film you've ever seen and vague plot please

[alwayshappy101]

I watched a lovely film the other week called life is beautiful-bout the strength of the human spirit.was amazing,but none of my friends/family have heard of it.as I didn't before watching.

Really want to know if there are any other hidden gems out there?my fab genres are comedy,horror and ww2.

R100 Yes! This film is bizarre but has a dark, sly humour

I second The Lives Of Others.

The Consequences Of Love- Italian film; quiet besuited man lives in a hotel and has the same routine every week. Reasons become clear during the film. Seems really dull to start but I got drawn into the film. Memorable, poignant ending.

Loads of good Kiwi films- some of the best are:

Goodbye Pork Pie- a classic road trip film.

Eagle vs Shark - Weird boy meets weird girl. Funny, awkward, sweet.

Out of the Blue- A dramatised account of a real life spree killer in a tiny town. Very well done I thought, good portrayals of ordinary people trying to help each other survive. Very unHollywood.

Once Were Warriors- though not really obscure. Maori family in Auckland with a hard man father. Superb acting by everyone in it.

Irish films:

Into the West- two brothers from a traveller family in Dublin ride a horse across Ireland to the west coast.

Intermission- has Colin Farrell in it, petty crime and a clever chopped up storyline

I Went Down- has Brendan Gleeson in it. Criminal buddy road trip film.

The Hundred Foot Journey: Helen Mirran is a Michelin star restaurant owner in France and an Indian family open an Indian restaurant across the road (100ft away )
X&Y - British film about a maths prodigy. Totally understated but really beautiful film
No idea if they're obscure but the admittedly few people I've mentioned these to hadn't heard of them

Have you seen Dancer in the dark? Bjork is in it and gives an excellent performance, although, it is quite a bleak story.

I would also recommend Sweet Sixteen, it was made by Ken Loach and gives a great portrayal of how children who grow up in dysfunctional families/communities are trapped by their circumstances.

If you are looking for something less depressing I would recommend Le Reine Margot. I love this film, I saw it when it first came out in the 90's and was proper pearl clutching shocked by all the shagging and male frontal nudity.

ooh great thread - I've started a spreadsheet of things to watch! Not sure what qualifies as obscure but I'd recommend Dancer in the Dark, (try to get past Bjork's weird accent, after 10 minutes you'll be grand ;) Sad, tragic and uplifting story of a womans struggle in the form of a musical with an awesome soundtrack

Also older foreign films- tokyo story, about family duty and distance, physical and emotional - haven't seen it for years but there's not much to it, its all kind of in the unsaid. A lesser known Hitchcock that I love is the lady vanishes - mystery disappearance on a train.

Also Dursu Uzala - a Kurosawa film from the 70s, again not seen in 20 years but meaning to rewatch - basically about a nomad guiding a expedition and the mens ensuing friendship

Irreversible is memorable, its pretty harrowing and goes backwards but there is a scene at the start that may make you feel seasick and a long graphic rape scene that's difficult to watch

And then anything with Paddy Considine in it - he's my celebrity husband ;)

Agh, cross post!

Agree that memento is very good.

Big Nothing with Simon pegg and David schwimmer. I don't think it is very well known. It's a dark comedy.

Kajaki is a great film, it's a war film based in Afghanistan, its based on a true story and is not your usual war film - really highlight the futility of the war there.

Once

Like a modern day 'The Commitments'. Glen Hansard is a busker who happens to meet a classical pianist and they decide to make an album. Heartwarming, with an amazing soundtrack.

oh yes, 'Once' is great, about a busker in Dublin finding romance, they've made a west end musical of it I think - and any Ken Loach films, particularly the wind that shakes the barley or ae fond kiss

The Damned United is a bloody marvellous film. As a pp said, it's got Michael Sheen as Brian Clough, and even if you know nothing about football or even the 1970s, it's completely compelling.

However the best film I've ever seen about sport (and I really don't 'do' sport) is the documentary Senna. No narration. Visually stunning and incredibly moving. Highly recommended.

My suggestions are

My Beautiful Launderette -love story between Pakistani immigrant and an ex-National Front member (Daniel Day Lewis)
Beautiful Thing - love story between bullied teenagers in Thamesmead Estate in London - had Tameka from Strictly Come Dancing in a minor, but standout role
A Matter of Life and Death- amazing World War 2 film about pilot who is dying fighting in a "trial" of famous historical figures as to whether he should live or die
The Goodby Girl - mid 70s comedy/drama/love story with Richard Dreyfuss doing the campest Richard 111
Tampopo - Japanese comedy about the search for the perfect noodle with very sexy scene with an egg yolk

Agree with lots of the above! Great thread op. Can I add to the list a recent French film? "Intouchables" absolutely great movie so enjoyable. Funny and touching.

Quick plot: a rich French severely disabled aristocrat hires a tough rough young man from the projects to work as his carer.

Someone watch this - it's great and not well known.

yy to Blood SImple. I also like Cohen Bros movie Miller's Crossing with the lovey Gabriel Byrne yum yum. It's very violent actually but really quirky and engaging. If you like bizarre-catchphrase-filled mobster films.

I you like slushy romantic comedies there's a gorge Marisa Tomei film called Only You where she is trying to meet the supposed love of her life but keeps running into Robert Downey jr. also The Night we Never Met where Matthew Broderick and others have two nights each in a flat an the girl falls in love with him (but thinks it's the other guy). Not profound either of those but so enjoyable.

I love Only You! I've seen it so many times, I practically know it off by heart!!

Mothers and daughters

Montage piece with several sets of mothers and daughters experiencing varying degrees of relationship dysfunction. Got some fab actresses in it too, guessing not so famous as wasn't well promoted.

Primal fear - Richard gere and very early Edward Norton courtroom drama involving death of a sexually abusive priest.

Wag the dog - scary (especially these days) satire on the power of the media's influence on politics

Arlington road - SUPERB psychological thriller showing how underrated Joan Cusack is

Cellular - same makers as phone booth but WAY better psychological thriller Kim basinger.

Red Corner - Richard gere accused of murder and tied up in China's extreme legal system

Most Jim caviezel movies (bit of a knob in real life might be why he doesn't get much Hollywood support)
Deja vu - also denzel Washington, time travel action movie denzel investigating a ferry bombing.
Frequency - sci fi again, Jim's character discovers he can talk to his deceased father (Dennis quaid) via CB radio, experiencing new interest due to new Netflix series of same name and premise
High crimes - legal thriller, also starring Ashley Judd and Morgan freeman with Caviezel playing an ex black ops member on the run with his wife (Judd) didn't know his real Id

Men of honor - Cuba gooding jnr as the man who became the world's first black master diver, also Robert de niro as his (very racist) master chief (trainer).

Battle Royale - Japanese horror - think hunger games/cube/running man combined but with class!

Dirty pretty things - immigrants in London trying to survive & build new lives.

Love grosse point blank! One of my favourite films...

Also Moon - lunar miner realises something disturbing

goodnight and good luck about the McCarthy era communist witch hunts

confessions of a dangerous mind fantastic film about chuck berris who claimed he was both a game show host and a Cold War era spy.

winters bone Jennifer lawrence looks for her meth dealer dad in the ozarks.

A lovely Patagonian film (wait, stay with me) called 'Bombon: El Perro'. 50-something bloke loses his lowly job and can't find another. He somehow gets saddled with a giant dog that a friend leaves with him, and trails round feeling ever more despondent about his hopeless life, until he enters the dog for a show and....it wins first prize and lots of money. It's a wonderful heart-warming film and the lead actor isn't a professional, I think he was a lift attendant or something and was spotted by the director. He's so great in it as this downtrodden man struggling to get by (the dog's pretty good too).

Also, a Japanese film called I Wish. Two young brothers have to live apart because their parents are separated and each kid lives with one parent. They come up with this idea that if someone sees two bullet trains crossing, and makes a wish, that wish (in their case, for the family all to live together again) will come true. So they set out with some of their friends to make it happen. Again, a great and touching film.

The damned united is great - Micheal sheen is one of those actors I look out for, as is Sam Rockwell.

frost/Nixon stars them both and is great too

Sing Street. Set in 1980's Dublin. Fab soundtrack - boy forms band to impress girl. Funny and moving.

Monsoon Wedding -- Indian drama. (partly in Enligh and partly subtitled) colourful story of a big MC Indian family preparing for a wedding in Monsoon season. Funny and heartbreaking.
Tremendous atmosphere, you can almost smell the spices, mud and torrential rain hitting the dusty streets.

I second Dirty Pretty Things -- Chiwetel Ejiofor is really good.

The Guard - Brendan Gleason and Don Cheadle -- really funny story about murder and drug smuggling in the west of Ireland.
Y tu Mama También -- very erotic, very sad. Road trip about two young men and a sexy older woman.

I've enjoyed a few of the films already mentioned - The lobster, life is beautiful.
I watched a brilliant, but very sad film recommended on here called The wind that shakes the barley
The BFI player is a good source for less well known films.