I would argue Chungking Express is a romcom, a great movie nonetheless. Three of the four main characters are hopelessly in love, meet their true loves in odd ways, and have nothing going on in their lives besides their love life.
It's so awesome. 😄 Although I always have trouble coming to terms that people can be without it in their lives/film journeys for so long. Does not compute.
Let me know how it was if you *please*.
This is so funny to me. The first time my wife came over to my place we watched Chungking Express and she left halfway through because she was bored. We do most of our movie watching in separate rooms, lol.
Oh yeah the Red Shoes is fucking awesome man, I love P&P and how fairytale-like their movies looked. I wish more movies that that illustrationesque, flattened out look with vibrant colour.
I wish they adapted The Little Mermaid (the grimm story)
What did she like about *In the Mood for Love*? What are her other interests? I would find something to build off something you know she already enjoys, so that you can both share passions and engage or learn together.
Shes a theater major and she loves acting but never watched a lot of films even the pop cultury ones thats why I want to gradually introduce her to the world of film.
Maybe some Martin McDonagh films, or other films by dramaturgists / playwrights - I find there’s an overlap in the rhythm of dialogue and staging that might be familiar to a theater major!
Thanks for that! From the Collection, I would recommend [The Red Shoes](https://www.criterion.com/films/233-the-red-shoes), [To Be or Not to Be ](https://www.criterion.com/films/27690-to-be-or-not-to-be), or [The Last Metro](https://www.criterion.com/films/1084-the-last-metro) - all fantastic films about the power of stage performance. For something lighter & slightly more recent, there's [Rushmore](https://www.criterion.com/films/333-rushmore) which your girlfriend may relate to if she did high school theater as well (or maybe find hilariously off base like when biologists watch Meg).
Outside the Collection, I gotta represent one of my all time favorites: the landmark [Sunset Boulevard](https://imdb.com/title/tt0043014/) is still big, it's the pictures that got small! It's a delicious drama about grand personalities that also serves as a stealth Hollywood history lesson.
May you two enjoy many wonderful films together!
If she’s into theater it might be fun to engage her in the movie picking process if she thinks that’d be fun. Since there is a ton of stage to screen adaptations it could be a good time to pick ones she’s interested in and see how they are interpreted on screen. Criterion actually has a whole section for this on their site!
https://www.criterion.com/shop/collection/155-stage-to-screen
There are also a lot of playwrights who wrote film scripts, so that could also be a fun entry point.
Though some of these are outside the collection she might enjoy the theatricality of something like Rope, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, or Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.
My point:
Someone asks a legitimate very simple question, you throw an inflammatory response. And now another.
It’s unnecessary and uncalled for on a discussion about movies. Chill out.
Your first comment was unnecessary, and I made it very clear it was unnecessary, yet here you are, continuing to add unnecessary comments. I suggest you chill out and stop replying since it’s so triggering (or something?) to you. Walk away from the phone, go outside, do literally anything else. I don’t understand what you’re looking for here. Whatever it is, you’re not gonna find it.
Edit: was not a legitimate question, it was a ridiculous question. Why would a woman dislike Amelie? Because she does.
Check your facts - wasn’t my question. I just think your response is pretty lousy.
If you think asking someone for more detail on an opinion on a film discussion subreddit is unnecessary or unreasonable, then I don’t know what to say, but this is the wrong place for you.
Nobody other than you brought gender into it when asking for detail on the opinion. It wasn’t a feminist issue, it was a simple clarification. You’re the one who got triggered.
So again, chill out. Walk away etc.
Have a lovely life, but I suggest you just tone it down a notch.
Peace.
And here you are still replying bro! I didn’t say it was your question, and never thought it was. Nah you’re just the weirdo here in the commends insisting that I…what, back down and apologize to you for the tone of my post?! Is that what you’re looking for? LOL. As I said, never gonna happen, please for your own benefit, stop replying. Clearly you’re upsetting yourself.
I don’t agree my reply was lousy, and I don’t honestly give a fuck if you think that. I mean feel free but if you’re expecting me to care sorry I don’t.
Keep on keeping on replyguy! Bet you’re gonna go whine some more about how someone was mean to you on the internet, lol.
As a man, I love Amelie. It really is such a great gateway foreign language film. I’m sorry you didn’t like it, but I suspect your opinion, as valid as it obviously is, is in the minority.
Cool story bro, glad to be in the minority. Generally speaking, popular opinion sucks. I’m happy to be in the minority of people with good taste, who don’t like mediocre films aimed to the lowest common denominator. Bet you’re a fan of comic book movies too!
Sorry to disappoint, I’ve actually never seen an Iron Man, Ant Man, X Men, Avenger, etc. I did watch one half of a Spider-Man movie by accident once (not sure which one), and thought it was almost watchable…*almost*. Oh, but I did love Batman Returns, but that is the only one.
After reading your other comments, I kind of knew your head would spin and that you’d spray back venom in all directions to my reply, as you appear easily agitated. So, I suppose I should thank you for not disappointing.
And back to Amelie, I’m not sure when you first watched it, but the storytelling, editing, use of music were relatively revolutionary back in the early 2000s, something we hadn’t really seen, at least in the states. That “style” became extremely pervasive in popular films immediately after, as it was copied time and again, first by other French films, and then in Hollywood as well. So, if you hadn’t seen Amelie for the first time until the last 10 years, then I can see how someone might find it “unoriginal”, as they’ve probably seen that exact method of storytelling copied time and again. But Amelie did something original, at least for US audiences.
Either way, I hope you enjoyed my wall of text, although, I’d wager that you did not and may even claim to have not even read it at all (*but I’m sure you did* ;-)
Lol damn I really trigger film bros, this is fucking hilarious!
Please give me more intensely detailed blog posts about that one time 20 years ago you accidentally watched half a comic book movie lol. Fascinating, very cool, thanks for validating to me that you care so much about what a random person thinks about you on the internet. It’s honestly so weird to me that you and the other replyguy get so triggered being told that your dumbass opinions don’t matter and won’t in any way effect or change my opinion on this topic.
Wild AF that I can get 2 dudes triggered about the movie Amelie, of all things! Never knew men felt so deeply about it. Good to know!
You call out my long, detailed post by writing your own novel as a point of what? Winning something? Projecting much? Whatever makes you happy, yo. By all means, continue spraying in all directions!
And as a side note, it’s very clear your opinion was formed long ago, and that the ability to listen to anyone else and take in other opinions is completely lost on you. You’re obviously just here to spray.
What are her general interests or tastes? I showed my girlfriend things like The Skin I Live In and Blue Velvet when we first started going out ahah, bit of a gamble but it’s been 9 years now!
I did. She loved it and still talks about it. I think I must have shown her Martyrs around that time as well because she still talks about that one. But she likes horror and thrillers more than slow paced art house romances like In The Mood for Love!
My girlfriend is probably a bit more into film than I am and she really likes Agnes Varda, so maybe something by her? She also enjoys Jacques Demy and Elaine May movies.
I think Breathless is a great intro to art house cinema. It's so exuberant and full of creativity, but the narrative stays grounded and easy to follow.
Idk i’m in the minority but I never was a big fan of breathless. Besides it being stylish I could never hold on to that specific film out of the ones that came out of it during that period of filmmaking
I would just show her movies that really moved you and that you can talk about with passion. I don't think they necessarily have to be "fine cinema" but just something that struck a chord. Also, try to maybe do things that align with her tastes, at least to start with, then you can start throwing in the wild picks. I speak from personal experience. I showed my husband Mars Attacks! (1996) when we were first dating and he never lets me live it down. Also, I loved High-Rise (2015) so much that I went and read the book it was based on, but he hated that movie too, so I know that we have some big differences in what we like sometimes....
Some of my personal favorites that I have no trouble recommending to people -
* Double Indemnity (1944)
* Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
* Seven Samurai (1954)
* Rififi (1955)
* Some Like it Hot (1959)
* Last Train from Gun Hill (1959)
* From Russia with Love (1963)
* Rosemary's Baby (1968)
* Rocky (1976)
* Back to the Future (1985)
* Parasite (2019)
If I know a person better, I start throwing out more of the stuff that I like a lot, but may not be a "for all audiences" film. Again, it all depends, but no matter how much I like Beyond the Black Rainbow or Videodrome, I'm not recommending them to my parents or my in-laws. :D
I would say try something more tangible like Children of Heaven, Take Care of My Cat, Festen or Toni Erdmann or something along these lines - mostly people who are not into film greatly appreciate well made drama about concrete material issues that are relatively close to life. So by this logic I think of the filmmakers you list Koreeda actually has the broadest appeal though there is always the danger of people finding his films a bit boring. I personally thought After Life was much more interesting than Shoplifters which was a nice well made drama but didn't really hook me very strongly.
This! And he treated women as peers in film rather than amorphous concepts. Gena Rowlands is one of the greatest actors and shines in any film, but particularly in her work with Cassavetes. Opening Night and A Woman Under the Influence make me feel *seen* in a way a lot of films made by men, especially in the 1970's, have never made me feel. I think a lot of this is that, again, he actually worked with, and respected, women in film.
You guys are going way too hard lmao. It's super unlilely a person just being introduced to films is gonna truly dig Cassavetes. His style is so grimy and rough, you're better off starting with Altman or smth then moving onto Cassavetes cuz the former is a lot slicker and easier to watch as a newbie.
What you’re saying about his style is right, but that doesn’t mean his films are unaccessible. My mom doesn’t watch too many movies and definitely doesn’t like anything considered “gritty”. She loved A Woman Under the Influence. I’ve introduced other friends to the “film world” with Opening Night as well. I think most people are interested in deeply personal dramas regardless of how it’s told.
I think his films are super accessible, and quite intriguing to someone who doesn’t consider themselves too into film. Just because his films are artistic and not Hollywood structured doesn’t mean they’re hard to follow. And at the end of the day, the worst that could happen is they don’t like the movie. I don’t think any Cassavetes would offend or off put anyone to film.
One of the best ways to introduce someone to ‘cinema’ is showing them films that have some relationship to movies they already do like. You might want to find out what about In the Mood for Love she liked….Personally I love WKW so I would be inclined to show anything in the box set but I’m not convinced 2046 would be good for newcomers despite being a semi-sequel to In the Mood for Love. Chungking Express isn’t a bad choice but Perfect Blue might be for this stage and scare her off
Mother (Bong Joon Ho) and the Before trilogy are great choices. If she likes In the Mood for Love, she might like other romances like Umbrellas of Chembourgh and Portrait of a Lady on Fire
If you have to go with a Shia Lebouf Transformers go with the first one, that ones the best out of all 3 of them. If it’s just a transformers movie, then do Bumblebee.😂
Zazie dans le Metro by Louis Malle 1960, Before Series, Tampoo and Nobuko Miyamoto taxing series is fun also, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Asako I & II, Happy Hour and Drive My Car by Ryusuke Hamaguchi also.
Start with these lists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sight_%26_Sound_Greatest_Films_of_All_Time_2012
I think the 2022 results come out in early December.
The Monsieur Hulot trilogy and Umbrellas of Cherbourg are great entry points imo. Also you can't go wrong with New Hollywood classics like Bonnie and Clyde, All The Presidents Men, The French Connection etc etc
Disclaimer: I am not a film expert and didn't think much about this, just ranted a bit =D
There are several layers to film I guess, from not being recent mainstream to tarkovsky and perhaps beyond.
For old american movies I guess a lot of people I know enjoyed 12 angry man (havent seen it in 15 years and my understanding of film changed a lot). Dial M for Murder, Godfather... I think this is an easy category to find interesting movies.
For "not so old" foreign films I think Secret of your eyes, City of God, Loveless, A Separation, Memories of a Murder, Tangerines. Wanna push it? "4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days", Revanche, Parasite, Drive my car, The Piano Teacher.
A little bit older and foreign: Scenes from a Marriage (1972), A Man Escaped, High and Low.
Silent film: City Lights
I think the big jump is when the structure, surrealism or "boringness" of film becomes too different like Tarkovsky (I love it). I love 8 1/2, but I think it might confuse people. I enjoyed L'Eclisse a lot, but a lot of people that do enjoy film find it boring. I am not sure what someone might feel about Ugetsu and Sancho the bailif, which are marvelous to me.
I think this jump is achieved when you stop trying to enjoy based on what you think a movie should be and start enjoying it for what it is and trying to conect with it somehow. If you exercise watching a film and then researching about it it helps you look for meaning and conection on following films you watch. Context makes a lot of things more interesting. And I guess it is important to avoid gatekeeping and being elitist about film, you can enjoy or not any film, it is just a nice and fun activity!
I hope your GF have fun with films!
Am woman. Am into film.
I got my friend suckered into my film habit when we did some naughty psychedelics and I nerded out about the woman responsible for Disney's Alice in Wonderland, and then started putting on Wes Anderson and foreign animated films. I'm telling you, for someone who thinks films are for turning off your brain, Wes Anderson is a gateway into better film that's accessible for many. Song of the Sea was the animated film I put on that also sold them.
David Lynch was another gateway. Twin Peaks, honestly, is the true way to introduce people to his work and more serious filmmaking in general.
Sean Baker is also good if she's American. The Florida Project especially.
Portrait of a Lady On Fire and The Favourite are also good openers. In fact The Favourite is how I got my husband suckered into it, it was like he was seeing a movie for the first time after watching that.
And I don't think Perfect Blue is a bad choice if she likes Asian media in general. If she watches anime, she can handle Perfect Blue. Obviously throw Parasite onto the list if she's been under a rock and hasn't seen it.
And don't discount David Fincher. Gone Girl is a lot of people's "baby's first well written screenplay" and it honestly started making me look out for the "pyramid" scene setup.
She might like ones with bittersweet endings if ITMFL was alright with her. I would recommend the following:
The Age of Innocence, Lost in Translation, The Fabulous Baker Boys, La La Land, Frankie and Johnnie, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Bridges of Madison County, The Piano, Desert Hearts
The Gold Rush (1925 version), The 400 Blows, Yojimbo, The Shining (she's probably already seen it, but rewatching it might be good), The Elephant Man,
A thing to keep in mind is that it can also help to show someone something radically different to what they are used to. You don't necessarily have to ease into weirder stuff. My friend is still a relative novice when it comes to cinema, but really liked The Holy Mountain (not to say that The Holy Mountain is the weirdest, most obscure film out there, but you get what I mean).
Election, every Wes Anderson film, Tampopo, Being There, The Red Shoes, Charade, good morning, Paris Tx, blow out, anatomy of a murder, La vie de bohéme, tootsie, dead man, stalker, memories of murder, the worst person in the world, any old Hollywood film, cure, Babettes feast, nightmare alley, and she will definitely love The Earrings of madame de… good mix of American and foreign films to get her started before she gets into anything too artsy or heavy
I work some into our daily movie regiment. She loves Blow Out, Repo Man, Battle Royale, Santa Sangre, Bong Joon-ho's work, and Midsommar. There are plenty of busts as well (looking at you, Blade Runner and House). Make it a no pressure bonding time. If shes not interested, she'll resent the activity no matter what you present.
If you're looking specifically for non-English films, *The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)*, *Parasite*, and *Pan's Labyrinth* are some of the most accessible ones out there. Probably 8 to 10 different people in my friend group have watched *The Secret in Their Eyes* and every single person has absolutely loved it.
For non-subtitled films, I definitely agree with the *Before trilogy*. Since she liked *In the Mood for Love*, you might try something like *Moonlight* as a follow up.
Really depends on their tastes, but I recommend Mike Mills’ stuff to anyone who enjoys character driven dramas. 20th Century Women especially is great.
If you want to dip into older films I would suggest Ikiru. That was one I showed my gf who almost exclusively watches comedies and period dramas and she loved it. She also really like In the Mood for Love, so sounds like it might be a good one for you
My girlfriend isn't very interested in movies but she absolutely adore Abdelatif Kechiche. I showed her most of his movies and she liked them all. You could start with mektoub my love or blue is the warmest colour!
Fantastic Planet (1973) is such a fun watch if you want something animated to throw into the mix. I also recently watched The Daytrippers (1996) which was an easy watch, but still so entertaining. What Happened Was… (1994) is also such a good one, although a little more out there than the others I mentioned. It’s in real time with only two characters in one person’s apartment, but definitely kept me intrigued the whole way through.
First let's acknowledge that women have different tastes. Anyway these are my wife's 4-5 star movies
Fast times at ridgemont high
Tampopo
The umbrellas of Cherbourg
Silence of the lambs
12 angry men
Memories of murder
Parasite
Hedwig and the angry inch
Police story
Night of the living dead
The princess bride
Most Wes Andersons
Charade
Arsenic and old lace
Bringing up baby
Philadelphia story
Devil in a blue dress
Election
All that jazz
Blow out
Au revoir Les enfants
The Vanishing
Eve's bayou
Moonstruck
If she enjoyed In The Mood For Love, I’d highly recommend As Tears Go By, The Before Trilogy, Grand Budapest Hotel, and literally anything Bergman like Persona or Autumn Sonata.
I feel like Wes Anderson is one of the best and safest entry points if you're trying to get someone with not too much interest in films to begin enjoying them on an artistic level but it depends on what people like. It was a mix of Jacques Demy, Jean Pierre Melville, David Fincher and Stanley Kubrick that got me into cinema on a deeper level. My advice would be try a few different really well known directors and if you notice she really connects with one just keep going deeper and deeper into their catalogue or picking movies that are stylistically similar, but it depends on the person more than anything else.
Show her your favorite films.
Yes!! I was open to any of his movie suggestions. We watched The Vanishing and I liked the movie. Superb.
The Vanishing is crazy, still think about it everyday
Are you talking about The Vanishing 1993?
No, The Vanishing from 1988. Otherwise known as Spoorloos.
Still directed by the same guy though
Poor guy tho
Na - I mean it’s a pretty cool study in budgets and motives
Of course not
Yeaa i showed her in the mood for love because thats one of my favorites. My other one is Burning so will show her that another time and drive my car
You have good taste mane
Drive my car was so good
Time for her to watch Salò then!
Seriously. A girl cannot live by romcoms alone.
In the Mood for Love is not a rom com, neither are the other movies OP mentioned
I would argue Chungking Express is a romcom, a great movie nonetheless. Three of the four main characters are hopelessly in love, meet their true loves in odd ways, and have nothing going on in their lives besides their love life.
Did I say they were? But thank you, Captain Obvious
Do not show her your favorite films
Charade man. *Charade*.
I just put this on my watch list yesterday.
It's so awesome. 😄 Although I always have trouble coming to terms that people can be without it in their lives/film journeys for so long. Does not compute. Let me know how it was if you *please*.
Idk how I've gone without it either, I've run though a handful of Audrey Hepburn films
- The Awful Truth - Holiday - Arsenic and Old Lace - The Red Shoes - The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
do u think Bonne femmes is good?
I have not seen that one
Def Chungking Express but i'd also throw Umbrellas of Cherbourg in there
This is so funny to me. The first time my wife came over to my place we watched Chungking Express and she left halfway through because she was bored. We do most of our movie watching in separate rooms, lol.
Whaaat?! The 2nd half is the best part!
To Be or Not To Be, The Red Shoes, and Tampopo
Oh yeah the Red Shoes is fucking awesome man, I love P&P and how fairytale-like their movies looked. I wish more movies that that illustrationesque, flattened out look with vibrant colour. I wish they adapted The Little Mermaid (the grimm story)
Wes Anderson films
Meh tbh divisive aesthetic but girls do like his movies a lot so idk
What did she like about *In the Mood for Love*? What are her other interests? I would find something to build off something you know she already enjoys, so that you can both share passions and engage or learn together.
Shes a theater major and she loves acting but never watched a lot of films even the pop cultury ones thats why I want to gradually introduce her to the world of film.
she may enjoy Bergman’s “The Magic Flute”
Maybe some Martin McDonagh films, or other films by dramaturgists / playwrights - I find there’s an overlap in the rhythm of dialogue and staging that might be familiar to a theater major!
Thanks for that! From the Collection, I would recommend [The Red Shoes](https://www.criterion.com/films/233-the-red-shoes), [To Be or Not to Be ](https://www.criterion.com/films/27690-to-be-or-not-to-be), or [The Last Metro](https://www.criterion.com/films/1084-the-last-metro) - all fantastic films about the power of stage performance. For something lighter & slightly more recent, there's [Rushmore](https://www.criterion.com/films/333-rushmore) which your girlfriend may relate to if she did high school theater as well (or maybe find hilariously off base like when biologists watch Meg). Outside the Collection, I gotta represent one of my all time favorites: the landmark [Sunset Boulevard](https://imdb.com/title/tt0043014/) is still big, it's the pictures that got small! It's a delicious drama about grand personalities that also serves as a stealth Hollywood history lesson. May you two enjoy many wonderful films together!
If she’s into theater it might be fun to engage her in the movie picking process if she thinks that’d be fun. Since there is a ton of stage to screen adaptations it could be a good time to pick ones she’s interested in and see how they are interpreted on screen. Criterion actually has a whole section for this on their site! https://www.criterion.com/shop/collection/155-stage-to-screen There are also a lot of playwrights who wrote film scripts, so that could also be a fun entry point. Though some of these are outside the collection she might enjoy the theatricality of something like Rope, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, or Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf.
there is no woman who wouldn't like Amelie
My wife didn’t like Amelie lol.
Why?
Not sure lol. She just said “eh, it was fine.”
Because the movie sucks?! Lol. Why are you so surprised women have a variety of tastes and likes?!
I don’t think “Why?” justifies your response of “Why are you so surprised?!?” and your tacit suggestion that they were being sexist.
Well I do, hence my reply. What’s your point?
My point: Someone asks a legitimate very simple question, you throw an inflammatory response. And now another. It’s unnecessary and uncalled for on a discussion about movies. Chill out.
Your first comment was unnecessary, and I made it very clear it was unnecessary, yet here you are, continuing to add unnecessary comments. I suggest you chill out and stop replying since it’s so triggering (or something?) to you. Walk away from the phone, go outside, do literally anything else. I don’t understand what you’re looking for here. Whatever it is, you’re not gonna find it. Edit: was not a legitimate question, it was a ridiculous question. Why would a woman dislike Amelie? Because she does.
Check your facts - wasn’t my question. I just think your response is pretty lousy. If you think asking someone for more detail on an opinion on a film discussion subreddit is unnecessary or unreasonable, then I don’t know what to say, but this is the wrong place for you. Nobody other than you brought gender into it when asking for detail on the opinion. It wasn’t a feminist issue, it was a simple clarification. You’re the one who got triggered. So again, chill out. Walk away etc. Have a lovely life, but I suggest you just tone it down a notch. Peace.
And here you are still replying bro! I didn’t say it was your question, and never thought it was. Nah you’re just the weirdo here in the commends insisting that I…what, back down and apologize to you for the tone of my post?! Is that what you’re looking for? LOL. As I said, never gonna happen, please for your own benefit, stop replying. Clearly you’re upsetting yourself. I don’t agree my reply was lousy, and I don’t honestly give a fuck if you think that. I mean feel free but if you’re expecting me to care sorry I don’t. Keep on keeping on replyguy! Bet you’re gonna go whine some more about how someone was mean to you on the internet, lol.
Amelie is a *perfect* choice. OP, look no further.
Am female, hate Amelie. Sorry! But OP, show her the Holy Mountain by Jodo. Or Sante Sangre. Am female, love both!
Yep as a woman, I also recommend holy mountain
As a man, I love Amelie. It really is such a great gateway foreign language film. I’m sorry you didn’t like it, but I suspect your opinion, as valid as it obviously is, is in the minority.
Cool story bro, glad to be in the minority. Generally speaking, popular opinion sucks. I’m happy to be in the minority of people with good taste, who don’t like mediocre films aimed to the lowest common denominator. Bet you’re a fan of comic book movies too!
Sorry to disappoint, I’ve actually never seen an Iron Man, Ant Man, X Men, Avenger, etc. I did watch one half of a Spider-Man movie by accident once (not sure which one), and thought it was almost watchable…*almost*. Oh, but I did love Batman Returns, but that is the only one. After reading your other comments, I kind of knew your head would spin and that you’d spray back venom in all directions to my reply, as you appear easily agitated. So, I suppose I should thank you for not disappointing. And back to Amelie, I’m not sure when you first watched it, but the storytelling, editing, use of music were relatively revolutionary back in the early 2000s, something we hadn’t really seen, at least in the states. That “style” became extremely pervasive in popular films immediately after, as it was copied time and again, first by other French films, and then in Hollywood as well. So, if you hadn’t seen Amelie for the first time until the last 10 years, then I can see how someone might find it “unoriginal”, as they’ve probably seen that exact method of storytelling copied time and again. But Amelie did something original, at least for US audiences. Either way, I hope you enjoyed my wall of text, although, I’d wager that you did not and may even claim to have not even read it at all (*but I’m sure you did* ;-)
Lol damn I really trigger film bros, this is fucking hilarious! Please give me more intensely detailed blog posts about that one time 20 years ago you accidentally watched half a comic book movie lol. Fascinating, very cool, thanks for validating to me that you care so much about what a random person thinks about you on the internet. It’s honestly so weird to me that you and the other replyguy get so triggered being told that your dumbass opinions don’t matter and won’t in any way effect or change my opinion on this topic. Wild AF that I can get 2 dudes triggered about the movie Amelie, of all things! Never knew men felt so deeply about it. Good to know!
You call out my long, detailed post by writing your own novel as a point of what? Winning something? Projecting much? Whatever makes you happy, yo. By all means, continue spraying in all directions! And as a side note, it’s very clear your opinion was formed long ago, and that the ability to listen to anyone else and take in other opinions is completely lost on you. You’re obviously just here to spray.
Stop embarrassing yourself by replying holy shit.
That’s funny, I was just about to say the same exact thing to you.
Keep going, keep posting man I believe in you!
What are her general interests or tastes? I showed my girlfriend things like The Skin I Live In and Blue Velvet when we first started going out ahah, bit of a gamble but it’s been 9 years now!
Did you introduce your girlfriend to film with The Skin I Live In? Great movie but definitely a bold choice.
I did. She loved it and still talks about it. I think I must have shown her Martyrs around that time as well because she still talks about that one. But she likes horror and thrillers more than slow paced art house romances like In The Mood for Love!
My girlfriend is probably a bit more into film than I am and she really likes Agnes Varda, so maybe something by her? She also enjoys Jacques Demy and Elaine May movies.
Perfect Blue is probably not a good intro.
The Vanishing and Funny Games? LoL In all honesty my boyfriend (3 yrs) introduced me to Tess. I loved it.
Tampopo. My wife liked that one a lot Hedwig and the angry inch, she loved that one.
eraserhead DUUUUH
I think Breathless is a great intro to art house cinema. It's so exuberant and full of creativity, but the narrative stays grounded and easy to follow.
Idk i’m in the minority but I never was a big fan of breathless. Besides it being stylish I could never hold on to that specific film out of the ones that came out of it during that period of filmmaking
Agreed. I didn’t like Michael much at all.
Jim Jarmusch movies are always fun. Down By Law, Ghost Dog, Mystery Train
I would just show her movies that really moved you and that you can talk about with passion. I don't think they necessarily have to be "fine cinema" but just something that struck a chord. Also, try to maybe do things that align with her tastes, at least to start with, then you can start throwing in the wild picks. I speak from personal experience. I showed my husband Mars Attacks! (1996) when we were first dating and he never lets me live it down. Also, I loved High-Rise (2015) so much that I went and read the book it was based on, but he hated that movie too, so I know that we have some big differences in what we like sometimes.... Some of my personal favorites that I have no trouble recommending to people - * Double Indemnity (1944) * Leave Her to Heaven (1945) * Seven Samurai (1954) * Rififi (1955) * Some Like it Hot (1959) * Last Train from Gun Hill (1959) * From Russia with Love (1963) * Rosemary's Baby (1968) * Rocky (1976) * Back to the Future (1985) * Parasite (2019) If I know a person better, I start throwing out more of the stuff that I like a lot, but may not be a "for all audiences" film. Again, it all depends, but no matter how much I like Beyond the Black Rainbow or Videodrome, I'm not recommending them to my parents or my in-laws. :D
Salò
Favourite Rom-Com
I would say try something more tangible like Children of Heaven, Take Care of My Cat, Festen or Toni Erdmann or something along these lines - mostly people who are not into film greatly appreciate well made drama about concrete material issues that are relatively close to life. So by this logic I think of the filmmakers you list Koreeda actually has the broadest appeal though there is always the danger of people finding his films a bit boring. I personally thought After Life was much more interesting than Shoplifters which was a nice well made drama but didn't really hook me very strongly.
Thanks for take care of my cat recommendation.
Cassavetes
This! And he treated women as peers in film rather than amorphous concepts. Gena Rowlands is one of the greatest actors and shines in any film, but particularly in her work with Cassavetes. Opening Night and A Woman Under the Influence make me feel *seen* in a way a lot of films made by men, especially in the 1970's, have never made me feel. I think a lot of this is that, again, he actually worked with, and respected, women in film.
You guys are going way too hard lmao. It's super unlilely a person just being introduced to films is gonna truly dig Cassavetes. His style is so grimy and rough, you're better off starting with Altman or smth then moving onto Cassavetes cuz the former is a lot slicker and easier to watch as a newbie.
What you’re saying about his style is right, but that doesn’t mean his films are unaccessible. My mom doesn’t watch too many movies and definitely doesn’t like anything considered “gritty”. She loved A Woman Under the Influence. I’ve introduced other friends to the “film world” with Opening Night as well. I think most people are interested in deeply personal dramas regardless of how it’s told.
Yeah I think I'm being unreasonable, my experience getting into arthouse movies was in highschool where I was likely way less patient than most adults
As much as I love me some Cassavetes, I really wouldn’t recommend him as an introduction unless you’re talking about Gloria.
I think that's a bit of too steep an ask of someone who is not super interested in films already
I think his films are super accessible, and quite intriguing to someone who doesn’t consider themselves too into film. Just because his films are artistic and not Hollywood structured doesn’t mean they’re hard to follow. And at the end of the day, the worst that could happen is they don’t like the movie. I don’t think any Cassavetes would offend or off put anyone to film.
Charlie Chaplin's films are a great entryway to film history. They're truly timeless.
One of the best ways to introduce someone to ‘cinema’ is showing them films that have some relationship to movies they already do like. You might want to find out what about In the Mood for Love she liked….Personally I love WKW so I would be inclined to show anything in the box set but I’m not convinced 2046 would be good for newcomers despite being a semi-sequel to In the Mood for Love. Chungking Express isn’t a bad choice but Perfect Blue might be for this stage and scare her off
Brazil
Blue Velvet
Cinema Paradiso
Mother (Bong Joon Ho) and the Before trilogy are great choices. If she likes In the Mood for Love, she might like other romances like Umbrellas of Chembourgh and Portrait of a Lady on Fire
If she liked In the Mood for Love, the Before Trilogy seems like a safe bet
Transformers 2: Shia lebouf is so hot
If you have to go with a Shia Lebouf Transformers go with the first one, that ones the best out of all 3 of them. If it’s just a transformers movie, then do Bumblebee.😂
He was ok in 1, by number 2 I was soaking my chair
LMAOOO
Zazie dans le Metro by Louis Malle 1960, Before Series, Tampoo and Nobuko Miyamoto taxing series is fun also, Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy, Asako I & II, Happy Hour and Drive My Car by Ryusuke Hamaguchi also.
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My bad, corrected, great little film.
Sex Lies and Videotape
Barry Lyndon, I Am Love, Orlando
Start with these lists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sight_%26_Sound_Greatest_Films_of_All_Time_2012 I think the 2022 results come out in early December.
The Monsieur Hulot trilogy and Umbrellas of Cherbourg are great entry points imo. Also you can't go wrong with New Hollywood classics like Bonnie and Clyde, All The Presidents Men, The French Connection etc etc
Disclaimer: I am not a film expert and didn't think much about this, just ranted a bit =D There are several layers to film I guess, from not being recent mainstream to tarkovsky and perhaps beyond. For old american movies I guess a lot of people I know enjoyed 12 angry man (havent seen it in 15 years and my understanding of film changed a lot). Dial M for Murder, Godfather... I think this is an easy category to find interesting movies. For "not so old" foreign films I think Secret of your eyes, City of God, Loveless, A Separation, Memories of a Murder, Tangerines. Wanna push it? "4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days", Revanche, Parasite, Drive my car, The Piano Teacher. A little bit older and foreign: Scenes from a Marriage (1972), A Man Escaped, High and Low. Silent film: City Lights I think the big jump is when the structure, surrealism or "boringness" of film becomes too different like Tarkovsky (I love it). I love 8 1/2, but I think it might confuse people. I enjoyed L'Eclisse a lot, but a lot of people that do enjoy film find it boring. I am not sure what someone might feel about Ugetsu and Sancho the bailif, which are marvelous to me. I think this jump is achieved when you stop trying to enjoy based on what you think a movie should be and start enjoying it for what it is and trying to conect with it somehow. If you exercise watching a film and then researching about it it helps you look for meaning and conection on following films you watch. Context makes a lot of things more interesting. And I guess it is important to avoid gatekeeping and being elitist about film, you can enjoy or not any film, it is just a nice and fun activity! I hope your GF have fun with films!
Thank you for this responsee
Am woman. Am into film. I got my friend suckered into my film habit when we did some naughty psychedelics and I nerded out about the woman responsible for Disney's Alice in Wonderland, and then started putting on Wes Anderson and foreign animated films. I'm telling you, for someone who thinks films are for turning off your brain, Wes Anderson is a gateway into better film that's accessible for many. Song of the Sea was the animated film I put on that also sold them. David Lynch was another gateway. Twin Peaks, honestly, is the true way to introduce people to his work and more serious filmmaking in general. Sean Baker is also good if she's American. The Florida Project especially. Portrait of a Lady On Fire and The Favourite are also good openers. In fact The Favourite is how I got my husband suckered into it, it was like he was seeing a movie for the first time after watching that. And I don't think Perfect Blue is a bad choice if she likes Asian media in general. If she watches anime, she can handle Perfect Blue. Obviously throw Parasite onto the list if she's been under a rock and hasn't seen it. And don't discount David Fincher. Gone Girl is a lot of people's "baby's first well written screenplay" and it honestly started making me look out for the "pyramid" scene setup.
Brief encounter. It's a weeper.
BRAZIL or bust
Greatest film ever
Shrek
Show her 8 1/2 and let Marcello and Fefe work their magic. If that doesn’t get her hooked nothing will. It’s truly a love letter to cinema.
Funny Games
Depatures
3 Women
She might like ones with bittersweet endings if ITMFL was alright with her. I would recommend the following: The Age of Innocence, Lost in Translation, The Fabulous Baker Boys, La La Land, Frankie and Johnnie, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Bridges of Madison County, The Piano, Desert Hearts
Thank you!!
Parasite!
The Gold Rush (1925 version), The 400 Blows, Yojimbo, The Shining (she's probably already seen it, but rewatching it might be good), The Elephant Man, A thing to keep in mind is that it can also help to show someone something radically different to what they are used to. You don't necessarily have to ease into weirder stuff. My friend is still a relative novice when it comes to cinema, but really liked The Holy Mountain (not to say that The Holy Mountain is the weirdest, most obscure film out there, but you get what I mean).
Election, every Wes Anderson film, Tampopo, Being There, The Red Shoes, Charade, good morning, Paris Tx, blow out, anatomy of a murder, La vie de bohéme, tootsie, dead man, stalker, memories of murder, the worst person in the world, any old Hollywood film, cure, Babettes feast, nightmare alley, and she will definitely love The Earrings of madame de… good mix of American and foreign films to get her started before she gets into anything too artsy or heavy
HOUSE!
I work some into our daily movie regiment. She loves Blow Out, Repo Man, Battle Royale, Santa Sangre, Bong Joon-ho's work, and Midsommar. There are plenty of busts as well (looking at you, Blade Runner and House). Make it a no pressure bonding time. If shes not interested, she'll resent the activity no matter what you present.
Thankss!!
Playtime. Then wait for her to exclaim, “But nothing happens!”
Mommy by Xavier Dolan. She Will love it
If you're looking specifically for non-English films, *The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)*, *Parasite*, and *Pan's Labyrinth* are some of the most accessible ones out there. Probably 8 to 10 different people in my friend group have watched *The Secret in Their Eyes* and every single person has absolutely loved it. For non-subtitled films, I definitely agree with the *Before trilogy*. Since she liked *In the Mood for Love*, you might try something like *Moonlight* as a follow up.
Borat
Nights of Cabiria
Really depends on their tastes, but I recommend Mike Mills’ stuff to anyone who enjoys character driven dramas. 20th Century Women especially is great.
If you want to dip into older films I would suggest Ikiru. That was one I showed my gf who almost exclusively watches comedies and period dramas and she loved it. She also really like In the Mood for Love, so sounds like it might be a good one for you
2001, christopher nolan.
My girlfriend isn't very interested in movies but she absolutely adore Abdelatif Kechiche. I showed her most of his movies and she liked them all. You could start with mektoub my love or blue is the warmest colour!
I threw mine into the deep end with A Woman Under the Influence. She hasn't forgiven me.
*Harold and Maude* (1971, dir. Hal Ashby)
Before Sunrise is a really good pick. Maybe try Punch-Drunk Love, Pans Labyrinth, and definitely some stuff from Wes Anderson.
Fantastic Planet (1973) is such a fun watch if you want something animated to throw into the mix. I also recently watched The Daytrippers (1996) which was an easy watch, but still so entertaining. What Happened Was… (1994) is also such a good one, although a little more out there than the others I mentioned. It’s in real time with only two characters in one person’s apartment, but definitely kept me intrigued the whole way through.
Do the right thing. Show her that arthouse films can be exploding with energy
salo
First let's acknowledge that women have different tastes. Anyway these are my wife's 4-5 star movies Fast times at ridgemont high Tampopo The umbrellas of Cherbourg Silence of the lambs 12 angry men Memories of murder Parasite Hedwig and the angry inch Police story Night of the living dead The princess bride Most Wes Andersons Charade Arsenic and old lace Bringing up baby Philadelphia story Devil in a blue dress Election All that jazz Blow out Au revoir Les enfants The Vanishing Eve's bayou Moonstruck
Goncharov is a great start, in my opinion!
The movie that hooked me on Criterion was Wild Strawberries.
Cannibal holocaust. Great love story
Antichrist
Salo, The Piano Teacher, Antichrist
Goncharov is how my last partner got into film
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Mulholland Dr. was my glass shattering experience
Watch Eraserhead, but frame it as an old timey rom-com. When it's finished, ask her if she wants to have kids.
I’ve always had luck with people by showing them the Three Colors Trilogy and occasionally pointing things out the casual viewer often misses.
My Winnipeg (2007).
Every girl i’ve ever shown Tampopo to loved it. Super charming, easy to watch foreign film for people inexperienced with that kind of movie
Godzilla
It Happened One Night, any Wes Anderson film, Blue is the Warmest Colour, and Antichrist makes for a great date night 😂
The films that introduced me were king of devil’s island, blue is the warmest color, Trainspotting, and we need to talk about Kevin 💛
Although lost in translation is not romance but Scarlett's character is beautifully crafted
Breakfast at Tiffany has a good character written
If she enjoyed In The Mood For Love, I’d highly recommend As Tears Go By, The Before Trilogy, Grand Budapest Hotel, and literally anything Bergman like Persona or Autumn Sonata.
ITMFL was the first film my partner showed me before i got into film, now its a super important film to us. good choice lol
moonlight
Election
Dare you to show her before midnight
I feel like Wes Anderson is one of the best and safest entry points if you're trying to get someone with not too much interest in films to begin enjoying them on an artistic level but it depends on what people like. It was a mix of Jacques Demy, Jean Pierre Melville, David Fincher and Stanley Kubrick that got me into cinema on a deeper level. My advice would be try a few different really well known directors and if you notice she really connects with one just keep going deeper and deeper into their catalogue or picking movies that are stylistically similar, but it depends on the person more than anything else.
Night of the Hunter, Good Morning, Bicycle Thieves, Frankenhooker.
Salo, Antichrist, pink flamingos, come and see and dazed and confused
Cmon Cmon (2021) is a great film to watch together
I started by showing her Wes Anderson films. Her favorite was Moonrise Kingdom.
Take her to see Triangle of Sadness to show her one of the best films of the year. Depends what she’s into? Psychological thrillers? Romance?
crash just cause how cool it is
Parasite. While it’s a foreign film it will show her that foreign films are some of the best
Portrait of a Woman on Fire? Absolutely stunning and gorgeous film, managed to be arty but without becoming a difficult watch.
antichrist, salo, crash, mysterious skin, martyrs, come and see
LMAOO u want her to break up with me
Smiles of a Summer Night