Americans tend to only get a distinctly Western view of movies, with superheroes, Oscar season, and the occasional British romcom. However, if they looked across the Pacific Ocean, they would be surprised to find a host of wonderful films from all sorts of places.
Below are 6 examples from 6 different countries of some of the great storytelling out there to help expand your perspective, and find connections to the rest of humanity!
Multiple wives vie for the affection of their husband in 1920s China.
Most Chinese Moment
Either the dim sum brunches, or the literal title.
Why You Should Give It a Shot
This movie is Yimou Zhang‘s breakout. For those of you that don’t know him, he’s one of the great martial arts filmmakers making classics like Hero, Shadow and House of the Flying Daggers. In this film, he proves how adept he is at telling this tale of deception, with Gong Li’s educated new wife learning the perils and constraints of her new life. This movie also looks spectacular (a Zhang feature), with beautiful shots giving the movie an idea of how repressive and suffocating this castle actually is.
Russian propaganda film about the titular hero and his two front victory.
Most Russian Moment
The final battle, outlined below.
Why You Should Give It a Shot
With the money of the Russian government behind him, Sergei Eisenstein pulls out all the stops. This movie makes the Russian medieval hero look like one, as he stops all the evil people from doing things, like throwing babies into fires. Yes really. But the big reason to watch is the big climactic battle, shot on a frozen lake between two armies. Pretty amazing, even moreso if you consider the year it was made!
Martial arts champion, seeking revenge for his sister, enters a competition on a fortified remote island.
Most HK Moment
Rival street gangs in Hong Kong would pick fights with Bruce Lee on set.
Why You Should Give It a Shot
This was the last of Bruce Lee‘s films before he tragically passed away. Lee not only stars in this movie, he choreographed most of the fight sequences too, which explains why this film is so beloved and exciting to watch still today. One of those legendary sequences is set in a hall of mirrors, thrilling and deceptive all at once.
A zombie outbreak happens as a young dad and his kid board a train to the city of Busan.
Most Korean Moment
The main character is an overworked financial analyst.
Why You Should Give It a Shot
It’s really hard to find a different way into a story about zombies, as the genre has only so many directions it can go. So props to Yeon Sang-ho, for finding a clever twist to the zombies here: they are normal speed, but they only react to what they can see or hear, and are easily blinded. This slight shift turns the story into a great allegory about what blinds us all, and a study of who we want to be in times of crisis.
Elderly couple take one last trip to visit their kids before their bodies become too old to do so.
Most Japanese Moment
Meals are all eaten on the floor without chairs for the most part.
Why You Should Give It a Shot
Though it’s wordy and still, this is one of the great scripts about day to day existence ever written. Yasujiro Ozu’s tale essentially takes the concept of generational misunderstanding and turns it into a tragic, poetic tale about the inevitable failure to understand and communicate with people whom grew up under vastly different circumstances than yourself, despite everyone’s best intentions.
A poor poet tries to get his voice into a world filled with people obsessed with power, money, and life’s comforts.
Most Indian Moment
Paying respects to a dead person is done by the riverbed.
Why You Should Give It a Shot
This movie is about art and poetry, and tells its story with that poet heart. Guru Dutt’s masterpiece sees him tell a tale of the trials and tribulations of artists: beholden to a society that will leech off them if they’re popular and cast them away if they’re not. It’s a careless cruel world, but even in that cruelty the artists and true fans can find some light, and share in the beauty of those precious little moments. Also, the songs, a Bollywood staple, are used in ways that mostly help the story, not slow it down.
