European films request
Leigh Charles Goldstein
From: 5kh5bo...@VMS.CSD.MU.EDU
Subject: European films
5kh5bourgeoi wrote-
> I have recently become interested in classic European films. I have seen
>and enjoyed La Dolce Vita, L'Avventura, The Seventh Seal, and Wings of Desire.
>Could any of you give me recommendations on what some of the best classic and
>recent European films are? Thank you.
This is a pretty broad request. I would be happy myself to never see another
post 1960 Hollywood film. There's a tremendous number of films. Any good
book on film history should give you plenty of suggestions. A lot depends on
your taste, too.
Some suggestions:
Jean Cocteau's films are worth watching as classics of poetic cinematography.
Simple yet allegorical and moving.
The French New Wave (La Nouvelle Vague) generated some amazing films;
Godard's Breathless (A Bout de Souffle) is powerful (and important); Bertrand
Blier's films (more recent) I find to be great fun (_Get Out Your
Handkerchiefs_).
A great double bill from Italian cinema is The Bicycle Thief (d. Vittorio de
Sica, _Ladri di Biciclette_, 1948) a masterpiece of Italian Neo-Realism (one
of the more important film buzzwords) and The Icicle Thief (d. Maurizio
Nichetti, _Ladri di Saponette_, 1989) a hilarious spoof of neo-realism and
many other things as well.
From India, Satyajit Ray's films are unique studies of the human heart;
from Japan, Akiro Kurosawa's films are very popular and seem similiar
in some ways to the films you have mentioned.
Then there is German cinema, South American cinema, Scandinavian Cinema,
Spanish cinema, and even an English cinema <g>. In fact many countries
have produced films.
If you are really into following the history of cinema, there are many
must see silent films as well.
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Leigh Charles Goldstein gold...@essex.hsc.colorado.edu
voice: 303-478-5292 (USA) CIS 70304,211