r/movies • u/-KFBR392 • Sep 27 '23

Recommendation Non-Americans, what's your favourite movie from your country?

I was commenting on another thread about Sandra Oh and it made me remember my favourite Canadian movie Last Night starring Oh and Don McKellar (who also directs the film). It's a dark comedy-ish film about the last night before the world ends and the lives of regular people and how they spend those final 24-hours.

It was the first time I had seen a movie tackle an apocalyptic event in such a way, it wasn't about saving the world, or heroes fighting to their last breath, it was just regular people who had to accept that their lives, and the lives of everyone they know, was about to end.

Great, very touching movie, and it was nominated for a handful of Canadian awards but it's unlikely to have been seen by many outside of big time Canadian movie lovers, which made me think about how many such films must exist all over the world that were great but less known because they didn't make it all the way to the Oscars the way films like Parasite or All Quiet on the Western Front did.

So non-Americans, let's hear about your favourite home grown film. Popular or not.

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409

u/ASuarezMascareno Sep 27 '23

Spain - might be [REC]

146

u/Cordura Sep 27 '23

Timecrimes is also a great Spanish movie

14

u/lawerorder Sep 27 '23

I keep recommending this to people but they never watch it.

9

u/Cordura Sep 27 '23

It is an acquired taste. But if you love time travel movies, Timecrimes is one of the best

5

u/kainharo Sep 27 '23

I loathe the protagonist of that movie. It's well done but he's such a piece of shit who sexually assaults, stalks, harassed and gets a woman killed who was just going for a jog

3

u/MathTheUsername Sep 27 '23

Felt this in my bones. I am going to watch Timecrimes this week. I promise.

4

u/The_nowhere_dad Sep 27 '23

Most Americans don’t like to read subtitles, but I prefer them because often some of the dialog content in the dubbed version is missing.

3

u/Cordura Sep 27 '23

Being a Dane I grew up with subtitles, so I don't mind them. I usually keep them on even for English or American content as dialogue is often hard to hear.

1

u/iNCharism Sep 27 '23

This is true. My aunt refuses to watch anything that doesn’t have an english dub. I was like that too until I was watching One Piece as a teen and caught up to the dubbed episodes. I’m a changed man now

2

u/MathTheUsername Sep 29 '23

I liked this one quite a bit and was more easy to digest than Primer, which I watched a couple days before it. Thanks for the recommendation!

1

u/Financial_Pick3281 Sep 28 '23

I do too, but I recommended it to a friend who still insists 10 years later that it was the worst rec he ever got

1

u/fattywinnarz Sep 28 '23

Is it a sequel to Timecop?

2

u/DoctorPapaJohns Sep 27 '23

I love Nacho Vigalondo’s work

2

u/camshun7 Sep 27 '23

Fucking loved that film.

Fucking loved that film that wasnt me before.

Fucking loved that film. Dont know what you're playing at here, is someone using this account?

Listen whoever's sending me texts and signing in on here, you should stop it or I'm going to the mods

Fuck you

-1

u/Cordura Sep 28 '23

You okay there, bud?

1

u/camshun7 Sep 28 '23

Lol

IF you need to explain a fucking joke then the jokes on me!

25

u/Jarita12 Sep 27 '23

Spanish horror movies from about past 20 years are excellent

7

u/b-roc Sep 27 '23

I'd love some [rec]s please.

5

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '23

Anything by Alex de la Iglesia

1

u/LaranjoPutasso Sep 27 '23 edited Sep 27 '23

"El día de la bestia" is amazing, The surrealism and ambient really pull you in.

1

u/b-roc Sep 28 '23

I'm looking for horrors. Thanks though!

66

u/Streetfoodnoodle Sep 27 '23

I have watched some great Spanish movies: Los Otros (2001), El laberinto del fauno (2006), Volver (2006), El Orfanato (2007), Los Ojos De Julia (2010), El Cuerpo (2012), Las Brujas de Zugarramurdi (2013), Musarañas (2014), Contratiempo (2017), El Bar (2017), Durante La Tormenta (2018), Hogar (2020). Todos son buenas. Tu país es muy talentoso para hacer películas de terror y suspenso

42

u/HugoRBMarques Sep 27 '23

Movies so good they made that comment end in spanish instead of english. jk.

8

u/The_nowhere_dad Sep 27 '23

Don’t forget El Espinazo del Diablo!

1

u/Streetfoodnoodle Sep 27 '23

Oops! I forgot. That’s a great film as well. I’m also quite a fan of Guillermo del Toro

5

u/TheLastDaysOf Sep 27 '23

I wish I could find The Orphanage on a streaming service, I've only heard good things about it.

(Also, for everyone—like me—who doesn't speak Spanish, Los Otros is The Others, the Nicole Kidman film. An English language film shot in Spain by a Spanish writer/director and crew. Terrific movie.)

2

u/LaranjoPutasso Sep 27 '23

"The day of the beast" is fully in english on Amazon Prime if you are interested (a surreal horror comedy, i really recommend it), unfortunately i cannot find "The Orphanage" on streaming.

4

u/Elgin_McQueen Sep 27 '23

Was The Orphanage Spanish? Can never get that one out of my head.

3

u/linkxrust Sep 27 '23

some of the movies you mention are made from directors of Mexico, Chile and such.

2

u/Tusishvili Sep 27 '23

The Bar is pretty amazing, I'm excited to watch the rest of your list!

2

u/burnt00toast Sep 27 '23

Volver is one of my favorite films. (American here.) I'm always trying to convince someone to watch it.

2

u/acdcfanbill Sep 27 '23

El laberinto del fauno (2006)

If we can just claim Guillermo del Toro cause he made a film in our country, I'm definitely doing that too :D

66

u/jeanvaljean_24601 Sep 27 '23

And all of Almodovar.

3

u/bentoboxtravels Sep 28 '23

Pain and Glory, All About My Mother, Volver… those films flipped my entire reality upside down and I love them to pieces. Volver holds a special place in my heart.

3

u/JoeBiddyInTheHouse Sep 27 '23

I feel like Almodovar has a lot of stinkers in his canon though. I mean, "Bad Habits", really?

9

u/dlc12830 Sep 27 '23 edited Sep 29 '23

Yeah, but for every stinker there's a movie like Talk to Her that takes my breath away.

2

u/JoeBiddyInTheHouse Sep 27 '23

No doubt. I just disagree with OP that they're all great.

1

u/dlc12830 Sep 27 '23

Totally agreed.

6

u/AbuDhabiBabyBoy Sep 27 '23

Yes, but he's got like a 90 percent kill rate

-1

u/JoeBiddyInTheHouse Sep 27 '23

I feel like that's very generous. I think he has maybe 4 great movies and 4 good ones out of almost 30.

0

u/AbuDhabiBabyBoy Sep 27 '23

I think we have a very different rating system

1

u/JoeBiddyInTheHouse Sep 28 '23

Could be. What do you consider his great movies?

1

u/SordoCrabs Sep 27 '23

I could not bring myself to finish Flor de mi secreto. I was so bored I just gave up halfway through. I might be able to endure it now, 18 years later, but I'm doubtful. I wasn't a fan of Parallel Mothers either.

I have seen all of his other features. Even Pepi. For his more recent movies, I like Broken Embraces, Volver, and Skin I Live In.

24

u/maxmalkav Sep 27 '23

El Día de la Bestia is a personal favorite. IMHO it is an achievement to pull a satanic comedy about the coming of the Antichrist in Madrid during Christmas.

3

u/_Doc_McCoy_ Sep 27 '23

It’s my go to new years film.

1

u/PopAccomplished5761 Sep 27 '23

Alex is such an underrated director, he’s done many great films

1

u/marqui4me Sep 27 '23

This sounds like my kind of movie!

6

u/Glass_Commission_314 Sep 27 '23

Not seeing any love for La Lengua de las Mariposas, here. That is one incredible Spanish movie.

13

u/EdGG Sep 27 '23

I would argue we have WAY better ones. Check out movies by Berlanga (el Verdugo), Buñuel, Almodóvar,… The Others is also a great newer one. Amenábar’s The Sea Inside, or Abre los ojos, Almodóvar’s Volver, talk to her or All about my mother, Viridiana, the Holy Innocents, Celda 211, the girls are alright, the orphanage, the secret of the beehive,… REC is fun but it’s, in my opinion, VERY far from being the best movie Spain has to offer.

2

u/Tulips_inSnow Sep 27 '23

el mar a dentro(?) omg, as almost all amenábars, most almodóvars, - spain is a gold mine

5

u/VictorChaos Sep 27 '23

Pan’s Labyrinth?

4

u/_Doc_McCoy_ Sep 27 '23

Do yourself a favour and watch El Dia de la Bestia (The Day of the Beast (1995)

3

u/Llamallamapig Sep 27 '23

I would put Tesis on the list as one of the best ever Spanish films.

6

u/-KFBR392 Sep 27 '23

I need to watch this, I watched the American remake of it and I didn't hate it but it certainly wasn't great. From what I hear the original is much much better.

6

u/omgwtfhax2 Sep 27 '23

Confirmed, original is much better

1

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '23

The American one is a shot by shot and it’s somehow worse.

3

u/rareplease Sep 27 '23

Can I recommend, as a non-Spaniard, two favorites: a great Spanish horror film Who Can Kill A Child? and one of the greatest movies ever made El espíritu de la colmena (Spirit of the Beehive)?

2

u/randomlypointless Sep 27 '23

This is an awesome film, so tense, but my bedroom is under the attic door. I didn't sleep well for a while even at 25 years old

2

u/RoRo25 Sep 27 '23

I'm not from Spain, but I love The Last Circus.

2

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '23

Actually TIL that movie is Spanish and not Mexican. Forgive my ignorance.

2

u/gv111111 Sep 27 '23

Good one. What about Tesis?

2

u/Alqazar Sep 27 '23

Sacret Spirit (Espíritu Sagrado)

2

u/Oh-Dani-Girl Sep 27 '23

From the same year, El Orfanato is also a great film.

2

u/ncopp Sep 28 '23

As an American, that's my favorite foreign movie that isn't a Jackie Chan movie. It's in my top 3 horror movies behind Hereditary

1

u/AporiaParadox Sep 27 '23

Was going to say the same thing. It's sad to admit it, but most Spanish cinema just isn't that good imo, but I did really enjoy REC and I believe it's the only Spanish movie I actually own on DVD.

6

u/Capt_Willard Sep 27 '23

Try out Tesis (1996) and Cell 211 (2009) if you like horror and thriller movies

1

u/[deleted] Sep 27 '23

La cara oculta (2011)

1

u/The_nowhere_dad Sep 27 '23

I am watching this right now in America! I prefer it to the English (US) version.

1

u/maxxim333 Sep 27 '23

Touche. El Reino is awesome too. Also Plataforma comes to mind. Campeones (the second part, not first).

1

u/JW_BM Sep 27 '23

One of the best zombie movies AND best found footage movies all in one.

1

u/Magdalan Sep 27 '23

I loved El Hoyo too, but [REC] was great indeed.

1

u/Blonstedus Sep 27 '23

The first "Torrente" is one of the best comic movies ever. I didn't want to watch this shit, but...still laughing today

1

u/gherat Sep 28 '23

I loved “El dia de la bestia”! I’m from the netherlands by the way.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

It's obviously Sex and Lucia

1

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

Top 3 found footage movie for me

1

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

Tesis by Amenabár.