The second would be probably The Pharaoh - https://easterneuropeanmovies.com/drama/pharaoh - for its scenography + for the script which focuses on a quite interesting problem (politics + well.. astronomy;)
The vast majority of those movies will most likely seem quite atypical for a person who is mostly familiar with modern Hollywood/world cinema, as they're in most cases slow-paced, melancholic, and in many cases focusing on intellectually-interesting problems (e.g. The Pharaoh's 'dilemma')
I can maybe compare them to video games from 80's and 90's. Today's games are visually beautiful and movie-like, but it's those games from 80's/90's which have 'soul' and ability to captivate players through well thought-out stories and hand-drawn art.
From the Romanian movies present there, I liked Aferim - https://easterneuropeanmovies.com/comedy/aferim - but only because it's a sobering look at our history; for non-romanians, it might not be so good. Filantropica (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314067/) is also a great movie that illustrates well the post-revolution atmosphere in the country (and it's more likely to be universally-enjoyed than Aferim), but they don't have it on this site.
"The Pharaoh" is interesting in that it is based on the Polish novel by Prus which besides being (I'm sure) important to Polish literature, is also important to Esperanto culture, as Kabe's 1907's translation of it ("La Faraono") is still considered a model of clean, non-idiomatic prose in Esperanto.
> as they're in most cases slow-paced, melancholic
Only Russian.
There is a whole genre of crazy Czech comedies from the 60ies which are even better than the wellknown Japanese crazy comedies.
Hungarian movies from the 70ies were the best in the world, likewise Romanian neorealistic movies starting with the Death of Mr Lazetescu end of the 90ies. Poland dominated the 80ies.
Russian movies from the Petersburg producer group around Balabanov were outstanding in the 00ies. Still very influential.
"atypical" and "melancholic" feels so sugarcoated to me! Watching most of these is like letting one share some psycho-trauma with you, with little regard to balance the experience for average Joe (which I'm sure film creators have profiled many times). I understand that making a movie as niche somewhat hedges it against the fallout of ending up a commercial utter failure, but when most of the filmmakers do that the market at large is left pretty dry. Why are we chocked up with Hollywood movies? Because (just like in other industries) the local producers play it safe.
If movies were software, The Saragossa Manuscript would be a Go application and The Pharaoh — a Java application. I would add to them a JavaScript move: Innocent Sorcerers (1960; https://easterneuropeanmovies.com/melodrama/innocent-sorcere...), a paragon of intimate New Wave cinema demonstrating how to build erotic tension without any sex scenes.
I wonder if national experience rubs off on movies. Many Hollywood movies have historically been optimistic because in general, a the American myth[0] has been pretty much optimistic and triumphalist (until recently, with People's History of the United States maybe the first popular work challenge the myth). Eastern Europe on the other hand has endured centuries of misery. As the war zone between Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire, as the war zone between Protestants and Catholics, as the war zone between the French and the Austrians, as the war zone between the Germans and Austrians, as the War zone between the Russians and Ottomans, as the war zone between the Germans and Russians, as the war zone between the Germans and Soviets, as the war zone between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. This suffering may have caused a certain melancholic outlook on life which is reflected in the movies.
0. The American myth goes that our forefathers came to a wilderness, built the colonies, fought and won against the super power of the age, marched West and conquered the rest of the continent, fought a war to ensure Union and free the slaves, industrialized, saved Europe twice from the Germans, became a super power, saved the world from Communism, landed a man on the moon, and is the shining city on a hill that people all over the world aspire to come to, and other countries envy. Like all myths, there is a lot that is not true, but a lot people in the US embrace this myth.
Both of those are great movies that are even more amazing books. Saragossa Manuscript in particular if you like gothic/spooky fiction; it's a lot older than Poe.
On a related note, Mosfilm has a Youtube channel with high quality version of many of their films, including most Tarkovsky. The channels is all in Russian but English sub are typically available, and search works in English too.
With regards to copyrights, it seems all films released after 1973 are covered by it, however the laws between ex-Soviet countries differ. Sources:
I would encourage people to use legal means to watch these movies, especially in Europe where many of them have been re-published legally with English subs, often by small/indie companies.
The other day I watched "White Sun of the Desert", and found it excellent: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066565/ - very much reminded me of the Dollars trilogy.
(recommendation from Chris Hadfield, of all people; apparently this film is traditional to watch the night before Soyuz launches)
"Mosfilm" is a good search term and for more lighter and fun content is "Soyuzmultfilm", which is kind of the Russian Disney. Especially the older children series like Cheburashka are interesting and contemporary Masha and the Bear is immensely popular.
I could not find them on Eastern European Movies but the movies directed by Andrei Tarkovsky left an impression at me. While some were made when he lived in exile and are therefore technically not Eastern European they still fit the genre. Besides the obvious Solaris and Stalker I can recommend Nostalghia and especially The Sacrifice.
On a more lighter note I really enjoyed the children movies and TV series that were made in Czechoslovakia in the 80s a lot as kid and so does my kid today. My favorite is The Visitors aka Adam '84. Classics are also Pan Tau, all the fairy tale movies from Hofman/Polák, Lucie, postrach ulice and Létající Čestmír. Generally everything out of studio Barrandov is worth to have a look at.
I love The Visitors - it has a great mix of fun and playfulness combined with a touch of beautiful nostalgia, anyone who has ever traveled to some distant location and had the time of their life there can relate.
Couple years ago, my american boss mentioned that he liked the poisoned cup scene in Princess Bride, and if you do also, you should watch the poisoned cup scene in "The Emperor and the Golem". The movie itself I am not sure, but the sheer brilliance of that one scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zYy9lXwumQ (unfortunately no subtitles)
The premise of the scene is that emperor Rudolf II. invites Tycho de Brahe to explain heliocentrism, and he uses cups of wine to demonstrate, but the emperor's one is poisoned.
I just saw кин-дза-дза for the first time this last weekend and I can't recommend it highly enough. It's just genius, and hilarious. It feels like Soviet Terry Gilliam, but definitely unique and artful in its own right.
This and Stalker, I think are one of the best Soviet sci-fi movies. But unlike Stalker, Kin-Dza-Dza is very difficult to understand for foreigners (based on watching it with different people over the years). Only someone who lived through transition from Communism to Capitalism will relate to the protagonist.
I took a quick glance through the Polish collection and I was floored by how gorgeous the majority of posters were. Many of them made intriguing statements about the movie without giving anything away, and they looked so perfectly designed.
I understand there's business motivations behind today's bland "cram in the stars, put on an organge/purple filter, and throw an explosion in the background" approach, but I'd be so much more likely to click a streaming link and/or buy a physical copy if it was displayed with an enticing work of art.
As someone who grew up in the Eastern Bloc and went through the usual hipster phases in my youth, we used to think of movies made in the West as "commercial" movies - as in, they had to make a buck, and were forced to make compromises for that reason.
The truth is somewhere in between, and everywhere else at the same time, of course, but that current of thought was quite prevalent in my social circles back then.
It's about a dreamer misfit during wartime and his relationship with the world and a romantic interest in particular. This movie in many ways showcases the best qualities in people, and highlights the random nature of the world. The way the main character and others deal with what comes their way is so deeply human and sincere, I consider this movie a timeless masterpiece for anyone who identifies with the main character.
One more movie that I think a larger audience may appreciate, is the most famous movie to have been made in Russia (not USSR) called 'Brat' (Brother).
Having talked about it with many people, people see and appreciate different aspects of it but one comment I've heard over and over again, is that it speaks deeply to the way Russian people felt, during those difficult and chaotic years (1990s).
The Red, White and Blue trilogy by Krzysztof Kieślowski is pretty cool. Each film is beautifully shot with theme and a color grading matching its title.
I've seen Blue in film, in an old historic cinema in Vancouver called The Roxy. To this day it's made me appreciate the dynamic range of film. And just sitting there through out this film, and being enveloped in different shades of blue light for two hours.
So happy to see the Dekalog here. It's hard to find it streaming. Dekalog 1 is a particularly relevant film for HN since it deals with a programmer and his idolization of technology. There's a small moment at a shrine with wax that is immensely beautiful. Kieslowski has such a great eye for the small details and poetry within the scene.
I wondered about this too. In the DMCA policy they state that authors can self-publish on their platform but they don't monitor, screen or review uploaded media, which means they don't have any contact with the authors. Too bad. They could start getting infringement notices.
But in most of the eastern Europe movies are not commercial anyway. They are financed by different sponsorships from state and local companies. They don't make a lot of money once they are made, with rare exceptions. For older movies it's hard to find actual copyright owners. I think some of them could be considered abandonware.
Russia (USSR) wasn't on the list, but I can recommend THE IRONY OF FATE (1976)
> The film is widely regarded as a classic piece of Russian popular culture and is traditionally broadcast in Russia and almost all former Soviet republics every New Year's Eve (Andrew Horton and Michael Brashinsky likened its status to that held by Frank Capra's 1946 It's a Wonderful Life in the United States as a holiday staple).
Super! This may well beat the old school method, which involved searching for video and subtitles separately (if not simply watching undubbed).
I found:
https://sovietmoviesonline.com/ru/melodrama/345-dom-durakov.... (set in the chechen wars)
but can't remember the name of a former-yugoslav dark comedy, in which a bunch of slavs go underground during WWII, only to emerge forty years later to find the countryside is riven by war and everyone is still fighting "fascists". (on the other hand, maybe it's just as well, given how many former-yugoslavia refugees we have in my area, that I've forgotten how to say "flipping fascist melonfarmers" in one of their local languages) Can any kind HN'ers remind me? Thanks!
Incidentally, comparing soviet-era movies to western fare clearly shows how different the censorship was on each side of the iron curtain. One can probably quickly get an idea just from browsing the placards, without even watching any.
I live in Poland and recently played Witcher 3.
It made me realize how different it is from many Hollywood tropes. It really has a distinct European vibe.
There are so many movies here, that I didn't know about!
"The promised Land" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072446): a film set during the rapid development of textile industry in XIX century Łódź, where fortunes could be made relatively quickly.
"Camouflage" (legal link with Eng subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciGr-hi9He4): a story of a PhD student entering the corrupted science world of communist Poland. Relevant to basically anyone who has to function within a corrupted institution (which makes all of us?).
"The structure of crystal" (legal link with Eng subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qozV9J8bVA0): similar to the previous one (same director), but this time the young PhD student explores more philosophical questions.
There's plenty more of great stuff if one wants to explore (Kieślowski, Wajda, Zanussi, the whole movement of "cinema of moral anxiety"), Polish cinema during communism was really prolific for some reason.
Any chance you remember the name of the movie that is about dwarfs living in a weird totalitarian regime trying to get some magic potion and escape to our normal-sized world? I saw it as a child and I loved it but I only remember it vaguely.
[+] [-] jagrsw|5 years ago|reply
The second would be probably The Pharaoh - https://easterneuropeanmovies.com/drama/pharaoh - for its scenography + for the script which focuses on a quite interesting problem (politics + well.. astronomy;)
The vast majority of those movies will most likely seem quite atypical for a person who is mostly familiar with modern Hollywood/world cinema, as they're in most cases slow-paced, melancholic, and in many cases focusing on intellectually-interesting problems (e.g. The Pharaoh's 'dilemma')
I can maybe compare them to video games from 80's and 90's. Today's games are visually beautiful and movie-like, but it's those games from 80's/90's which have 'soul' and ability to captivate players through well thought-out stories and hand-drawn art.
[+] [-] virgilp|5 years ago|reply
From the Romanian movies present there, I liked Aferim - https://easterneuropeanmovies.com/comedy/aferim - but only because it's a sobering look at our history; for non-romanians, it might not be so good. Filantropica (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314067/) is also a great movie that illustrates well the post-revolution atmosphere in the country (and it's more likely to be universally-enjoyed than Aferim), but they don't have it on this site.
[+] [-] jhbadger|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rurban|5 years ago|reply
Only Russian.
There is a whole genre of crazy Czech comedies from the 60ies which are even better than the wellknown Japanese crazy comedies.
Hungarian movies from the 70ies were the best in the world, likewise Romanian neorealistic movies starting with the Death of Mr Lazetescu end of the 90ies. Poland dominated the 80ies.
Russian movies from the Petersburg producer group around Balabanov were outstanding in the 00ies. Still very influential.
[+] [-] userulluipeste|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mci|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] RcouF1uZ4gsC|5 years ago|reply
I wonder if national experience rubs off on movies. Many Hollywood movies have historically been optimistic because in general, a the American myth[0] has been pretty much optimistic and triumphalist (until recently, with People's History of the United States maybe the first popular work challenge the myth). Eastern Europe on the other hand has endured centuries of misery. As the war zone between Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire, as the war zone between Protestants and Catholics, as the war zone between the French and the Austrians, as the war zone between the Germans and Austrians, as the War zone between the Russians and Ottomans, as the war zone between the Germans and Russians, as the war zone between the Germans and Soviets, as the war zone between NATO and the Warsaw Pact. This suffering may have caused a certain melancholic outlook on life which is reflected in the movies.
0. The American myth goes that our forefathers came to a wilderness, built the colonies, fought and won against the super power of the age, marched West and conquered the rest of the continent, fought a war to ensure Union and free the slaves, industrialized, saved Europe twice from the Germans, became a super power, saved the world from Communism, landed a man on the moon, and is the shining city on a hill that people all over the world aspire to come to, and other countries envy. Like all myths, there is a lot that is not true, but a lot people in the US embrace this myth.
[+] [-] scottlocklin|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] anthk|5 years ago|reply
As a Spaniard, the usage of Flamenco chords in Aragon puts me really out of place.
[+] [-] cyjyar2|5 years ago|reply
With regards to copyrights, it seems all films released after 1973 are covered by it, however the laws between ex-Soviet countries differ. Sources:
http://www.kirj.ee/public/trames_pdf/2014/issue_3/Trames-201...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_law_of_the_Soviet_Un...
I would encourage people to use legal means to watch these movies, especially in Europe where many of them have been re-published legally with English subs, often by small/indie companies.
[+] [-] pjc50|5 years ago|reply
(recommendation from Chris Hadfield, of all people; apparently this film is traditional to watch the night before Soyuz launches)
[+] [-] weinzierl|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] weinzierl|5 years ago|reply
On a more lighter note I really enjoyed the children movies and TV series that were made in Czechoslovakia in the 80s a lot as kid and so does my kid today. My favorite is The Visitors aka Adam '84. Classics are also Pan Tau, all the fairy tale movies from Hofman/Polák, Lucie, postrach ulice and Létající Čestmír. Generally everything out of studio Barrandov is worth to have a look at.
[+] [-] honzzz|5 years ago|reply
Also, when you mentioned Czechoslovak children movies, it reminded me of Karel Zeman. Some of those are poetic but surprisingly dark, like Krabat - The Sorcerer's Apprentice - https://easterneuropeanmovies.com/animation/krabat-the-sorce...
[+] [-] david927|5 years ago|reply
Here is a shot vs shot comparison with Iñárritu's 2016 The Revenant film which won an Oscar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpcdhNq_VPM
[+] [-] dreamercz|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 082349872349872|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] TomMarius|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jablan|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jagrsw|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] js8|5 years ago|reply
The premise of the scene is that emperor Rudolf II. invites Tycho de Brahe to explain heliocentrism, and he uses cups of wine to demonstrate, but the emperor's one is poisoned.
[+] [-] Razengan|5 years ago|reply
Also has a very good animated remake: https://youtu.be/tRwuvQUSG5c
[+] [-] SauciestGNU|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] stas2k|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nandreev|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] myth_drannon|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Atatator|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] schnevets|5 years ago|reply
I understand there's business motivations behind today's bland "cram in the stars, put on an organge/purple filter, and throw an explosion in the background" approach, but I'd be so much more likely to click a streaming link and/or buy a physical copy if it was displayed with an enticing work of art.
[+] [-] SSLy|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Florin_Andrei|5 years ago|reply
The truth is somewhere in between, and everywhere else at the same time, of course, but that current of thought was quite prevalent in my social circles back then.
[+] [-] omega3|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] alexashka|5 years ago|reply
Having seen a lot of them, I can recommend this, being my favorite movie of all time:
https://sovietmoviesonline.com/melodrama/252-zhenya-zhenechk...
It's about a dreamer misfit during wartime and his relationship with the world and a romantic interest in particular. This movie in many ways showcases the best qualities in people, and highlights the random nature of the world. The way the main character and others deal with what comes their way is so deeply human and sincere, I consider this movie a timeless masterpiece for anyone who identifies with the main character.
One more movie that I think a larger audience may appreciate, is the most famous movie to have been made in Russia (not USSR) called 'Brat' (Brother).
https://sovietmoviesonline.com/melodrama/68-brat.html
Having talked about it with many people, people see and appreciate different aspects of it but one comment I've heard over and over again, is that it speaks deeply to the way Russian people felt, during those difficult and chaotic years (1990s).
[+] [-] jungletime|5 years ago|reply
I've seen Blue in film, in an old historic cinema in Vancouver called The Roxy. To this day it's made me appreciate the dynamic range of film. And just sitting there through out this film, and being enveloped in different shades of blue light for two hours.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Colours_trilogy
[+] [-] lalalandland|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] SauciestGNU|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] _hardwaregeek|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] timurlenk|5 years ago|reply
I would like to know if the access fee benefits the artists in any way - the east european movie industry is not exactly swimming in money.
[+] [-] miroz|5 years ago|reply
But in most of the eastern Europe movies are not commercial anyway. They are financed by different sponsorships from state and local companies. They don't make a lot of money once they are made, with rare exceptions. For older movies it's hard to find actual copyright owners. I think some of them could be considered abandonware.
[+] [-] dangelov|5 years ago|reply
I did notice North Macedonia is missing from the list so here are a couple of recommendations for amazing movies (imo) for those interested:
- Honeyland (2019, Oscar nominee, Documentary)
- Before the Rain (1994, Oscar nominee, Drama)
- Bal-Can-Can (2005, 2nd highest grossing)
- Secret Ingredient (2017, comedy)
[+] [-] ranit|5 years ago|reply
It seems there are only old (before 1990) films there. The list of the countries is from that time: Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia.
[+] [-] bjoveski|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] philshem|5 years ago|reply
Russia (USSR) wasn't on the list, but I can recommend THE IRONY OF FATE (1976)
> The film is widely regarded as a classic piece of Russian popular culture and is traditionally broadcast in Russia and almost all former Soviet republics every New Year's Eve (Andrew Horton and Michael Brashinsky likened its status to that held by Frank Capra's 1946 It's a Wonderful Life in the United States as a holiday staple).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Irony_of_Fate
[+] [-] rayrag|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] 082349872349872|5 years ago|reply
I found: https://sovietmoviesonline.com/ru/melodrama/345-dom-durakov.... (set in the chechen wars) but can't remember the name of a former-yugoslav dark comedy, in which a bunch of slavs go underground during WWII, only to emerge forty years later to find the countryside is riven by war and everyone is still fighting "fascists". (on the other hand, maybe it's just as well, given how many former-yugoslavia refugees we have in my area, that I've forgotten how to say "flipping fascist melonfarmers" in one of their local languages) Can any kind HN'ers remind me? Thanks!
Incidentally, comparing soviet-era movies to western fare clearly shows how different the censorship was on each side of the iron curtain. One can probably quickly get an idea just from browsing the placards, without even watching any.
[+] [-] artpi|5 years ago|reply
I live in Poland and recently played Witcher 3. It made me realize how different it is from many Hollywood tropes. It really has a distinct European vibe.
There are so many movies here, that I didn't know about!
[+] [-] burntoutfire|5 years ago|reply
"The promised Land" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072446): a film set during the rapid development of textile industry in XIX century Łódź, where fortunes could be made relatively quickly.
"Camouflage" (legal link with Eng subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ciGr-hi9He4): a story of a PhD student entering the corrupted science world of communist Poland. Relevant to basically anyone who has to function within a corrupted institution (which makes all of us?).
"The structure of crystal" (legal link with Eng subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qozV9J8bVA0): similar to the previous one (same director), but this time the young PhD student explores more philosophical questions.
There's plenty more of great stuff if one wants to explore (Kieślowski, Wajda, Zanussi, the whole movement of "cinema of moral anxiety"), Polish cinema during communism was really prolific for some reason.
[+] [-] honzzz|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] efrafa|5 years ago|reply
[+] [-] joyj2nd|5 years ago|reply
Loved it when I was a child. But I will give you a few excellent Russian movies:
Duelist https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5282006/
Kollector https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5031998/
Mermaid (more a girls movie but underrated in my opinion) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7162390/
[+] [-] dzhiurgis|5 years ago|reply
I love watching movies in local language, will have to look into these.
Others being Aurora and Parasite.