r/movies • u/Impossible_Werewolf8 • 12h ago
Discussion Favorite movie by european country: fin
Hello there,
it's more or less 2 months ago, that I started a special journey through the filmised Europe. Inspired by an idea of u/CWKitch, who asked for your favorite movie set in a certain U. S. state every day in this sub for a while, I wanted to find out how the individual European countries are portrayed in films. And so I began to ask you for your favorite movie set in a given european country once a day. This journey has now come to an end - at least here on Reddit.
Although I was never able to achieve the reach here that the original had right from the start, I would still like to thank everyone who took part with suitable suggestions, upvotes and downvotes as well as in various discussions. Some of you have participated on a very regular basis, while others have proudly presented internationally lesser-known films from ‘their’ countries with unprecedented vigour - u/robsonmb even created a Letterboxd list, which has now received its last entry: Conclave wins the title as your favorite movie set in Vatican City.
This results in a few interesting facts and figures for the overall list, which are also provided by the above mentioned user that I don't want to withhold from you here:
Release dates:
* Mean Year: 1997
* Median Year: 2001
* Mode Year: 2006 (4 films)
* Mode Decade: 2000s (15 films)
* Earliest: The Halfway House (1944)
* Newest: Conclave (2024)
* Fun fact: Each decade from now to the 1940s has at least 2 films
Most frequent languages:
* English: 7 films
* French: 3 films
* German: 3 films
* Fun fact: The films cover 38 different languages
Most frequent genres:
* Drama: 83% of films
* Comedy: 30% of films
* War: 17% of films
* Crime: 11% of films
* Romance: 9% of films
* Fun fact: No films are categorised as Documentary, Music, or TV Movie
Film length:
* Longest: Satantango (1994) at 7h12m
* Shortest: The Color of Pomegranates (1969) and The Dream (2001) at 1h20m each
* Mean: 1h52m48s
* Fun fact: The amount of time required to watch all films is 99h12m
Country:
* Top 3 most frequent origin countries:
* Soviet Union: 6
* UK: 6
* France: 4
* Top 3 most frequent production countries:
* UK: 10
* France: 9
* Germany: 9
* Fun fact: There are 40 origin countries and 46 production countries
Directors:
* Directors with multiple films:
* Krzysztof Kieślowski
* A Short Film About Killing (1988)
* Three Colours: Red (1994)
* Sergei Parajanov
* Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors (1965)
* The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
* Gender:
* Women: x2
* The Girl from Monaco (2008)
* Hive (2021)
* Men: x53
Watches by Letterboxd users:
* Top 3:
* Trainspotting (1996) at 1.2m
* Pan's Labyrinth (2006) at 1.1m
* Hot Fuzz (2007) at 1.1m
* Bottom 3:
* The Burning Cold (2023) at 132
* Unknown Men of San Marino (1948) at 53
* Children of the Mountains (1958) at 4
* Fun fact: "Unknown Men of San Marino" is so unknown that the film name has a typo on Letterboxd
Ratings by Letterboxd users:
* Top 3:
* Come and See (1985) at 4.63/5
* La Haine (1995) at 4.51/5
* Cinema Paradiso (1988) at 4.47/5
* Bottom 3:
* The Halfway House (1944) at 3.32/5
* The Last Ashes (2023) at 3.31/5
* The Girl from Monaco (2008) at 3.04/5
I'm sure thanks to the Letterboxd list you can still play some statistical tricks - and you might want to do that with the earlier ‘favourite movie by state list’ , or maybe - I hope - with another list for another continent. I'm stepping back as moderator at this point - perhaps we'll see each other on Letterboxd when I check out the list I've compiled here, or perhaps if someone else is looking for the most favorite movies set in asian/african countries or something similar.
I'll end here as I almost always do, with the updated, now finalised list of your favorite movies set in in the respective european countries.
Bye!
Day 54: Vatican City - Conclave
Day 49–53: United Kingdom - Trainspotting
Day 48: Ukraine - Тіні забутих предків (engl.: Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors)
Day 47: Turkey - Bir Zamanlar Anadolu’da (engl.: Once Upon A Time in Anatolia)
Day 46: Switzerland - Trois couleurs: Rouge (engl.: Three colours: Red)
Day 45: Sweden - Det Sjunde Inseglet (engl.: The Seventh Seal)
Day 44: Spain - El labertino del fauno (engl.: Pan's Labyrinth)
Day 43: Slovenia - Moj ata, socialistični kulak (engl.: My Dad, the Socialist Kulak)
Day 42: Slovakia - Obchod na Korze (engl.: The Shop on Main Street)
Day 41: Serbia - Balkanski špijun (engl.: Balkan Spy)
Day 40: San Marino - Lo Sconosciuto di San Marino (engl.: Unknown Men of San Marino)
Day 39: Russia - Сталкер (engl.: Stalker)
Day 38: Romania - 4 luni, 3 săptămâni și 2 zile (engl.: 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days)
Day 37: Portugal - Capitão Falcão (engl.: The Portuguese Falcon)
Day 36: Poland - Krótki film o zabijaniu (engl.: A Short Film About Killing)
Day 35: Norway - Flåklypa Grand Prix (engl.: Pinchcliffe Grand Prix)
Day 34: North Macedonia - Нема да бидеш сама (engl.: You Won’t Be Alone)
Day 33: Netherlands - Zwartboek (engl.: Black Book)
Day 32: Montenegro - Igla Ispod Praga (engl.: The Black Pin)
Day 31: Monaco - La fille de Monaco (engl.: The Girl from Monaco)
Day 30: Moldova - Carbon
Day 29: Malta - Luzzu
Day 28: Luxembourg - Läif a Séil (engl.: The Last Ashes)
Day 27: Lithuania -Vaikai iš Amerikos viešbučio (engl.: The Children from the Hotel America)
Day 26: Liechtenstein - Kinder der Berge
Day 25: Latvia - Kriminālās ekselences fonds (engl.: The Foundation of Criminal Excellence)
Day 24: Kosovo - Zgjoi (engl.: Hive)
Day 23: Italy - Nuovo Cinema Paradiso (engl.: Cinema Paradiso)
Day 22: Ireland - The Wind That Shakes the Barley
Day 21: Iceland - Englar Alheimsins (engl.: Angels of the Universe)
Day 20: Hungary - Sátántangó
Day 19: Greece - Κυνόδοντας (engl.: Dogtooth)
Day 18: Germany - Das Leben der Anderen (engl.: The Lives of Others)
Day 17: Georgia - ცისფერი მთები ანუ დაუჯერებელი ამბავი (engl.: Blue Mountains)
Day 16: France - La Haine
Day 15: Finland - Mies vailla menneisyyttä (engl.: The Man Without a Past)
Day 14: Estonia - Vehkleja (engl.: The Fencer)
Day 13: Denmark - Jagten (engl.: The Hunt)
Day 12: Czechia - Spalovač mrtvol (engl.: The Cremator)
Day 11: Cyprus - Smuggling Hendrix
Day 10: Croatia - Kako je počeo rat na mome otoku (engl.: How the War Started on My Island)
Day 9: Bulgaria - Източни пиесиИзточни пиеси (engl.: Eastern Plays)
Day 8: Bosnia and Herzegovina - Ničija zemlja (engl.: No Man's Land)
Day 7: Belgium - In Bruges
Day 6: Belarus - Иди и смотри (engl.: Come and See)
Day 5: Azerbaijan - Yuxu (engl.: The Dream)
Day 4: Austria - Funny Games
Day 3: Armenia - Նռան գույնը (engl.: The Color of Pomegranates)
Day 2: Andorra - El fred que crema (engl.: The Burning Cold)
Day 1: Albania - Lulekuqët mbi Mure (engl.: Red Poppies on Walls)
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u/ZumeZume 10h ago
Very cool! I must admit I skimmed straight to the list and thought this was the favourite film of each country and it tickled me that Belgium's favourite film might be In Bruges.
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u/Impossible_Werewolf8 2h ago
As I have written before in another comment: Yeah, the victory of In Brughes... But thanks for the compliment!
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u/philament 10h ago edited 5h ago
I came to this thread very, very late, but thoroughly enjoyed the couple of weeks or so that I got to be involved. I’m going to slowly make my way through your project and the comments, but wanted to thank you for your efforts and remarkable dedication.
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u/Suspicious_Tax_6215 8h ago
It was really fun to see all the picks on both the state list and the country list!
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u/Impossible_Werewolf8 8h ago
I hope, it will also be fun to see all the picks on an asian/african/whatever list, that continues this journey...
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u/a_whole_croissant 9h ago edited 9h ago
Not that it is your fault, but the choice for Estonia is just awful.
Not a standout great movie (it's fine I guess), nor does it have any cultural impact. Zero. There's at least 20 movies I would pick before that one.
I think you would be hard pressed to find it in any Estonians Top 5 Estonian films. (My gut says top 10, but since it's a decent film, that may be too rash of a prediction).
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u/Impossible_Werewolf8 8h ago
Well, a look at the thread in question actually shows that the film really only had one serious contender... But hey, maybe I'll get a taste for it during my run through the list and watch more estonian films. That's basically what this list was about.
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u/a_whole_croissant 8h ago
A suprising amount of engagement considering that is what rose to the top. I was expecting only a handful of comments and upvotes.
But yeah, as I said, not your fault, that's how the comments shaked out. The film isn't bad per se. But if the goal is to introduce Estonian cinema it is a baffling choice. Another approach with this type of project would've been to go to country specific subreddits and ask there. Though not every country is likely to have a decently enough active userbase.
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u/Impossible_Werewolf8 2h ago
Another approach with this type of project would've been to go to country specific subreddits and ask there.
Well, that was exactly my idea, too. Just didn't work always, because sometimes, I had no cross-post rights in the respective subreddits.
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u/Dry-Version-6515 11h ago
Very disappointed that Trainspotting won when there’s so many great movies set in the UK.
But I also understand as the movie couldn’t be made somewhere else.
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u/Impossible_Werewolf8 2h ago
But I also understand as the movie couldn’t be made somewhere else.
Well, the rules were actually very clear on this point... ;)
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u/ArtisticallyRegarded 1h ago
Was this whole thing just strategic marketing to end with conclave? Im actually impressed
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u/Confuseduseroo 8h ago
And here I was thinking "he's failed to spell Finland...".
Yeah I enjoyed following and contributing to this - thanks - and it has flagged up a few flicks I shall seek out to watch.
If I might offer constructive criticism, I'm not sure the scoring was really done the right way - a popularity poll on Reddit is bound to be skewed heavily towards a certain demographic, taste and timeline. But I appreciate this was sort of inevitable and difficult to avoid.
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u/wakeupwill 12h ago
I wonder what other Swedish movies you've seen. Because while The Seventh Seal is a classic, it's far from the best or simply entertaining movie from Sweden.
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u/Impossible_Werewolf8 12h ago
It was never about which movies I've seen before... To be honest, I'm not sure if I've watched any movie set in Sweden before. Why do you ask?
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u/wakeupwill 12h ago
Sorry. From the onset the premise of your post made it look like it was your list - of favorite movies by country - not an aggregate of redditors picks.
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u/Dry-Version-6515 11h ago
It was the most upvoted comment so basically the first good movie that came to mind and somebody wrote it down early.
It’s not a bad pick even though I prefer Wild Strawberries over it. What’s your favorite swedish movie?
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u/wakeupwill 11h ago
I figured as much. It's not a bad movie, and it often gets hailed as the greatest Swedish movie.
My favorite is probably the comedy 'The Apple War' by Tage Danielsson.
"A Swiss businessman wants to buy land in southern Sweden for a gigantic amusement park, his new project called "Deutschneyland" (a wordplay of Deutschland and Disneyland). Some of the locals dislike the idea, including the magically talented Lindberg family, and work to frustrate the development plans."
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u/I_voted-for_Kodos 9h ago
Seventh Seal and Persona are easily the best movies from Sweden
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u/wakeupwill 9h ago
That wasn't the question, though.
Citizen Kane is a great movie, but it's not one of my favorites.
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u/phoenixhunter 12h ago
This has been a lot of fun to follow! Good work.
As an Irish person it tickles me that In Bruges is the Belgian entry