Watching a great film in a comfortable cinema is a marvellous experience. It’s clearly not quite the same experience, but nonetheless, can be an equally enjoyable one, watching a film at home on television. Nowadays, for example, there is unparalleled access to a wide catalogue of old and new movies at home, many of which would not necessarily be shown in cinemas.

We watch a lot of subtitled foreign language films in addition to American and British cinema. Here are some films we have seen over the years that I would definitely recommend.

Our favourite cinema is the Watershed, Bristol.

FRENCH

LES RIPOUX (1984) – One of my all time favourites. Philippe Noiret stars as René, a genially corrupt cop in Paris who tries to entice his new partner into his petty deals and schemes but gets in deeper than he intended.

JEAN DE FLORETTE & MANON DES SOURCES (1986) – sumptuous adaptation of novels by Marcel Pagnol set in the provençal countryside. A tale of greed, revenge and reconciliation.

TOUS LES MATINS DU MONDE (1991) – 17th century story of the reclusive Monsieur de Sainte Colombe, master of the viola da gamba and teacher of Marin Marais. Fabulous soundtrack.

JULES ET JIM (1962) – early Truffaut cult film examining a love triangle.

LE DERNIER METRO (1980) – later Truffaut set in occupied Paris with another love triangle and multiple layers of reality. I taught this film to sixth formers for many years and never tired of it.

L’ARMEE DES OMBRES (1969) – “The” film about the French Resistance, its day-to-day workings, challenges, cameraderie, tragedies and danger.

L’INTOUCHABLE (2012) – wonderfully uplifting and funny film set in Paris about a drifter from the banlieue who becomes the unlikely carer for a wealthy paraplegic intellectual.

BIENVENUE CHEZ LES CH’TIS (2008) – a very funny film about about a civil servant who is transferred from Provence to the North of France with all the prejudices and preconceptions that involves. Brilliant moment when he drives past a ‘Welcome to the North-Pas de Calais’ sign and it immediately starts to rain.

LE FABULEUX DESTIN D’AMELIE POULAIN (2001) – a captivatingly beautiful film. Watching it is nothing less than a life-enhancing experience.

DELICATESSEN (1991) – a surreal black comedy set in a post-apocalyptic world that is hugely inventive and strangely entertaining.

GERMAN

GOOD BYE LENIN! (2003) – A comedy drama set in Berlin at the time the Wall came down. Amongst all the social upheavals, Alex tries to keep the news from his gravely ill East German mother to protect her from the shock and ropes everyone in to his complex subterfuges. An excellent film!

DAS LEBEN DER ANDEREN (2006) – An outstanding movie set in 1984 East Germany about a Stasi surveillance agent who becomes increasingly drawn into the lives of the couple he is observing. Won the Oscar for Best FL Film and deservedly so.

LOLA RENNT (1998) – Set in Berlin. A ‘what if’ story with alternative endings depending on fate and minor events.

DAS WUNDER VON BERN (2003) – Great little film telling the true story of West Germany’s unlikely success in the 1954 Football World cup augmented by a fictional background story.

DAS BOOT (1981) – amazingly vivid picture of the claustrophobic, grimy and dangerous lives of a WWII U-Boat crew. Stunning!

BARBARA (2012) – the story of Barbara, an East German doctor, and her plans to defect from the 1980s’ GDR.

LORE (2012) – as WWII comes to a close, Lore leads her siblings, the children of a Nazi couple, across Germany in search of safety, a journey that forces her to reevaluate her upbringing. An extraordinary, powerful film.

DAS WEIßE BAND (2009) – strange events in a North German village at the beginnning of the 20th century.

DER HIMMEL ÜBER BERLIN (1987) – Wim Wenders’ fabulous film set in divided Berlin. Two angels observe the human condition until one falls in love with a human. A truly magnificent movie starring Bruno Ganz with a role for Peter Falk (Columbo).

A HIDDEN LIFE (2019) – Set in the Nazi period, an alpine farmer refuses join the German army with catastrophic consequences.

ITALIAN

CINEMA PARADISO (1989 Italy) A film of great beauty and full range of emotions. Certainly in my top three. Worth watching the director’s cut for the full story.

---

LAZZARO FELICE (2018 Italy) – We were so taken with this remarkable film that we saw it twice in one week at the cinema. Outstanding!

IL POSTINO (1994) – a beautiful story of the effect of Pablo Neruda’s love poetry on a simple postman on a small Italian island.

LA VITA È BELLA (1997) – a beautiful, amusing and uplifting film about love, optimism and inner strength against the improbable background of the holocaust. Won 3 Oscars including best actor for Roberto Benigni.

OTHER LANGUAGES

1945 (2017 Hungary) – two Orthodox Jews arrive by train at a remote Hungarian village bringing two mysterious trunks. Nothing is said but village life begins to fall apart. A magnificent film of immense power and subtlety.

IDA (2013 Poland) – a novice nun uncovers an uncomfortable family secret. A moving and extraordinary film. Oscar winner.

BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN (1925 Soviet Union) – one of the greatest and most innovative films ever that contributed significantly to the burgeoning language of cinematography. Sergei Eisenstein’s film is about a mutiny in the Tsarist navy with clear revolutionary overtones. The famous pram on the Odessa steps sequence has been much imitated, including by Alfred Hitchcock.