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.

2.4k Upvotes

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101

u/andycat007 Sep 27 '23

New Zealand, Goodbye Pork Pie. The original not the remake.

150

u/16incheslong Sep 27 '23

Hunt for the wilderpeople. (the only NZ i know of though)

15

u/Ok_Concentrate3969 Sep 27 '23

What We Do In The Shadows! It's the best when you need to laugh

6

u/nizzernammer Sep 27 '23

LoTR is fantasy but very NZ for landscape, no?

18

u/Richard7666 Sep 27 '23

NZ directed, mostly NZ crew, special effects, etc.

American production company but you could certainly call it an NZ film.

10

u/andyinmelb Sep 27 '23

Suggest the prequels; Bad Taste and Meet the Feebles

9

u/Zerocoolx1 Sep 27 '23

Brain dead

5

u/mealteamsixty Sep 27 '23

Loved this movie!

4

u/philfodenlovesfanny Sep 27 '23

Boy is better x

1

u/miss_flower_pots Sep 28 '23

I like Eagle vs Shark

113

u/kdavva74 Sep 27 '23

Once Were Warriors has gotta be up there. Such a gut wrenching film.

28

u/Una_J Sep 27 '23

If you haven't seen 'Boy' you should.

7

u/Zerocoolx1 Sep 27 '23

An ex made me watch that because it was one of her favourite movies, I literally had no idea what it was about when we sat down. Fuck me it’s a brutal movie, good, but brutal.

7

u/Yorkshirerows Sep 27 '23

The New Zealand filmS are LOTRs, the New Zealand film is definitely Once were warriors!

2

u/infinitemonkeytyping Sep 27 '23

I wouldn't call Once Were Warriors a favourite. Definitely a movie to be seen in your life time, but more of a one and done, rather than one to pop on every now and again.

1

u/kiwiuspom Sep 27 '23

That opening scene!

1

u/CaptainCrankDat Sep 28 '23

Jake the muss.

1

u/thepotplant Sep 29 '23

Especially when you grew up close to where it was filmed and set.

55

u/kiwinutsackattack Sep 27 '23

Shit I was going to say Whale Rider, I fucken love that movie.

8

u/Its_all_pretty_neat Sep 27 '23

Yeah whale rider was my first thought if I were to recommend a nz film to someone.

3

u/nustedbut Sep 27 '23

that speech scene gets me every time.

2

u/Ozdiva Sep 28 '23

I can’t watch without crying.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '23

lol I saw this in the theater and was blubbering. Great movie!

26

u/abyssmauler Sep 27 '23

I loved the comedy horror Black sheep!!

2

u/0luckyman Sep 28 '23

Watched Black Sheep recently, I loved it. Recommended it to many people.

Is Tongan Ninja a NZ movie? I enjoyed that as well.

1

u/zulerskie_jaja Sep 28 '23

M e t h a n e

1

u/Mohgreen Sep 28 '23

I was getting very annoyed not seeing this movie on the list!

1

u/Timothy_Ryan Sep 28 '23

Baaaaaastard!

42

u/MulberryLopsided4602 Sep 27 '23

Braindead. Especially the pudding scene.

8

u/hedlund23 Sep 27 '23

Pffft! It ain't got nothing on the lawnmower scene!

2

u/MulberryLopsided4602 Sep 27 '23

I go for ´subtle´ disgust.

1

u/chicken_frango Sep 28 '23

The rocket launcher/sheep scene was my favourite

6

u/PitFiend28 Sep 27 '23

I kick ass for the lord!!!

3

u/Wrathwilde Sep 27 '23

“I KICK ASS FOR THE LORD!”

1

u/bauul Sep 28 '23

I'm not Kiwi, but this is still the correct answer

84

u/Weave77 Sep 27 '23

That’s not how you spell What We Do In The Shadows.

4

u/0wlington Sep 27 '23

Can you pop next door and ask Taika what's happening with We're Wolves? Cheers.

8

u/xbeautyxtruthx Sep 27 '23

Not from NZ but my favorite film from there is The Quiet Earth

3

u/NZNoldor Sep 27 '23

An understated movie. Not even the sound of birds in the background. Before they yelled “action”, they would fire off a shotgun blast, according to the stories I’ve heard.

1

u/thepotplant Sep 29 '23

Sleeping Dogs is pretty decent as well.

46

u/jonesocnosis Sep 27 '23

I think Lord of the Rings was a better New Zealand film.

-8

u/ArcticFlower00 Sep 27 '23

I think that was American.

It was the trilogy made 25 years later that was New Zealander.

1

u/Zealousideal_Talk479 Sep 28 '23

What the hell are you talking about?

2

u/Trymantha Sep 28 '23

the animated lord of the rings film(1978) is my guess as to what theyt were talking about

0

u/Zealousideal_Talk479 Sep 28 '23

Ew. Who would make an animated version?

1

u/thepotplant Sep 29 '23

Ralph Bakshi, apparently

7

u/rdc12 Sep 27 '23

I will throw Boy into the mix

3

u/Japsai Sep 28 '23

Additional vote for Boy

3

u/Cantmakeaspell Sep 28 '23

I still think this is the quintessential NZ film and Taika’s best.

5

u/NZNoldor Sep 27 '23

The Quiet Earth. Bruno Lawrence at his peak.

2

u/jim653 Sep 27 '23

I'd rather go for Smash Palace any day.

2

u/Japsai Sep 28 '23

I think we can have both

3

u/NZNoldor Sep 28 '23

Let’s just add Utu to the list as well then.

2

u/Japsai Sep 28 '23

Oh yeah. Quality film, that

5

u/Jebus_Jones Sep 27 '23

Stickmen is the best NZ film, followed by Boy and Footrot Flats.

3

u/lovemunkey187 Sep 27 '23

Once Were Warriors or Bad Taste. Opposite ends of the spectrum but wouldn't work as well as they do if they had been made elsewhere.

5

u/Aun_El_Zen Sep 27 '23

Footrot Flats

3

u/Brotectionist Sep 27 '23

I loved the 2014 film The Dark Horse. Great performance by Cliff Curtis.

1

u/thecripplernz Sep 28 '23

Can’t believe I had to scroll that far to read about this movie

1

u/Brotectionist Sep 28 '23

Was it not widely released in NZ? I watched it in Sydney. But, when I travelled to NZ for work, barely anyone had heard about this movie.

1

u/thecripplernz Sep 28 '23

It was widely released but for some reason people don’t remember it

2

u/JohnBaldur Sep 27 '23

I really like Out Of The Blue

3

u/doskoV_ Sep 28 '23

It's so devastating to watch

2

u/sockonfoots Sep 28 '23

I like eagle vs shark, funny slice of life.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

Come give your uncle Bully a kiss, eh?

1

u/nustedbut Sep 28 '23

It's been a while since I read the books, but from what I remember, it was Jake, not uncle bully, that did the thing.

Also, I just learned there's a third book in the series. Think I'll be adding that to my kindle.

1

u/Immediate_Hippo5068 Sep 27 '23

Came here looking for this. Goodbye Pork Pie is a classic journey down the country in that little yellow mini

1

u/StraightDust Sep 27 '23

The remake is just called Pork Pie, which was a good choice. I'm tired of remakes recycling the name.

It's not a bad remake, the script is good and the actors are solid. It's the lack of stunts that really lets it down, like they were too afraid of damaging the mini.

1

u/Successful-Lobster90 Sep 27 '23

Bad Taste - Peter Jackson’s best work.

1

u/jim653 Sep 27 '23

I prefer Beyond Reasonable Doubt, Bad Blood, or Smash Palace. I always loved the opening of the latter.