Like a good wine,  an acquired taste may be required to appreciate a foreign language film. But it’s worth the effort. A foreign language film will open your eyes to wonderfully stimulating cultures and history. It’s fascinating to see how people from other countries live, learn, work, and love. We’ll get to understand that people from around the world are so alike  but also how different they can be. 

I selected seven foreign films that all received excellent reviews. But they weren’t blockbusters and you may have missed one or more of them. And if you have seen any them, they will still thrill you with a second or even a third viewing.

To certify that I am an equal opportunity selector, each film listed is from a different country. 

 

From China:

 

From France:

 

From Germany:

 

From India:

 

From Italy:

 

From Japan:

 

From Sweden:

 

Coming Soon, Can’t Wait

Jul 03: Disney+. Original video recording of the Broadway production Hamilton

Aug 21: HBOMax. Chemical Hearts. Emotional coming-of-age story

 

News & Commentary

“Next year HBO Max will introduce an ad-supported version of the platform.”
–Joe Flint & Lillian Rizzo, The Wall Street Journal

Commentary: Facing enormous costs in acquiring quality content and the growing cut throat competition, subscriber and transactional digital platforms like Netflix, AppleTV+, and Amazon, will  be tempted to accept minimal advertising. Netflix currently has around 180 million subscribers. If they sold just two 30-second spots BEFORE the film started, they could probably take in $100 for the minute. If you calculate  the average Netflix subscriber probably watches 5 films a year, that adds up to billions of dollars of additional revenue for Netflix, even after splitting a portion with the filmmaker/distributor.  I predict this will happen!