Film as an art form has the power to bridge barriers of language and social customs, and convey emotions and experiences of a given time or place. Join four of Lewis and Clark’s global culture and language professors as they share their recommendations of impactful foreign films. These recommendations are intended to educate as well as entertain, and are by no means purported to be from experts in either social relations or film studies. The purpose of this article is to serve as a glimpse into that region’s social structures and provide insight into how the medium of film acted as a vessel for interpreting those structures.
Maria Hristova, associate professor of Russian, Russian section head: Soviet Union
Between the 1920s and the 1970s, Soviet cinema was tightly controlled by government censorship. “Good” movies may have been made, but not in ways that are considered subversive or challenging; only after the death of Stalin did censorship loosen. Hristova recommends films following this evolution.
Sergei Eisenstein, “Battleship Potemkin,” 1925
Hristova says Einstein is a good place to start “if people are interested in early experimental filmmaking.”
As a member of the experimental filmmaker generation, Eisenstein’s work with montage influenced Western directors at the time. In the early 20th century, film in the Soviet Union was viewed as a moving theater, with a very centered camera and traditional dramatic plot developments. His work grew with the evolution of camera weight, stock editing and stylized scenery.
Sergei Parajanov, “The Color of Pomegranates,” 1969
Hristiva recommends Parajanov “for people who want to explore what Soviet cinema has to offer beyond the obvious state-approved films.”
Parajanov was prosecuted and imprisoned for his work due to Soviet censorship laws. Being of Armenian heritage, he explores their culture, history and memory in the Caucasus region throughout his works. His life’s work exemplifies the visual and intellectual ideas circulating in the 1960s and 1970s, but also the price of an artist’s vision in that contemporary moment.
“The Color of Pomegranates” is one of Parajanov’s best-known works, featuring an iconic scene on the stairs of the city of Odessa. It is incredibly experimental, featuring non-narrative yet visually captivating sequences; Hristova says that viewers should not expect “a standard Hollywood-like plot-driven film.” Parajanov’s directorial style pays homage to tableau vivant, or living pictures, an art style originating in French theater, entrancing viewers through overly stylized posing, setting and vibrant color.
Andrey Zvyagintsev, “The Return,” 2003
Zvyagintsev often features aesthetically beautiful settings, scenes and explores deep philosophical themes in his work. In “The Return,” motifs of father and child relationships and authoritarian power are at the center of the narrative. Authoritarian leaders in the Soviet period presented themselves, in a way, as the fathers of the nation. As a result, the idea of a loathed father-son relationship is frequently explored in that period. In these relationships, eventually the son has to rebel or come into his own, mirroring general Soviet attitudes toward the government.
Marie-Eve Thifault, instructor of French: Quebec
Thifault recommends exploring Québécois film. She especially suggests exploring Québécois conventions of displaying the actual social and emotional relationships of ordinary people, often done in ways that reflect national or personal identity.
Michel Brault, “Les Ordres (Orderer),” 1974
In a way that resembles modern reality television, the Québécois genre cinema direct, or direct cinema, showcases actors with a conceptual understanding of their script ad-libbing during filming. The cinema direct, “Les Ordres” was based on real events in Quebec in October 1970. In response to a violent instance of political activism, the Québécois government instituted the War Measures Act, a law that made arrest without determination of probable cause legal. Brault’s film is about the experience of everyday people who were jailed in response to this act, and explores emotional themes of fear and humiliation in a way that is described as hyper-realistic. He uses close-up shots and occasional black-and-white grading to induce an imprisoned kind of discomfort.
Jean-Marc Vallee, “C.R.A.Z.Y.,” 2005
“It’s so cool,” Thifault said.
Vallee is native to and spent most of his life in Quebec. His well-known American projects, such as “Sharp Objects,” “Big Little Lies,” and “Dallas Buyers Club,” make him a notable director in both cultures.
“C.R.A.Z.Y.” follows the main character’s coming-of-age process, moving from his birth into his 1920s in a strictly Catholic Québécois society. Throughout the film he grapples with the desire to be accepted by his family, specifically acceptance within his father-son dynamic. The music for the film is described as an omnipresent all-American 1980s soundtrack, accompanied by striking visuals.
Philippe Falardeau, “Monsieur Lazhar,” 2011
“I cry every time I see this film. It’s so good, so good.” Thifault said.
After the passing of his wife, a man leaves his home in Algeria to become a teacher in Quebec. Unlike the typical dramatization of Hollywood, the film focuses on the daily life of regular Québécois citizens and represents the diversity and multiculturalism of Quebec. The story elaborates on the relationships that exist between teachers and students, as well as the responsibility and ability to change a student’s life as a teacher.
Vanesa Arozamena Rodriguez, assistant professor of Spanish: Mexico
Arozamena Rodriguez, brings insight into a range of Latin American film cultures, including Mexico. Alongside her recommended Mexican films, she strongly encourages students to engage with films originating from Chile, Argentina and Spain. Arozamena Rodriguez noted that Latin American film features frequent cross-cultural collaboration, and many represent political tensions in some form. Her Mexican recommendations focus on the intersectionality of social classes, as well as the deconstruction of traditional views of masculinity and sexuality.
Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Amores Perros,” 2000
Thifault said, “It’s a very good reflection of the three different social classes of Mexican society.”
There are three directors commonly referred to as the three friends: Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro González Iñárritu. Many of their collaborative films, like “Amores Perros,” feature multiple converging storylines. Here, following a car crash, the lives of three strangers are brought together by chance despite the differing social classes of Mexican society.
Roger Ross Williams, “Cassandro,” 2023
“My students loved it,” Thifault said.
In Mexican wrestling, fighters who fight in drag are called ‘exóticos’. In the scripted performance, “The exótico has to lose … the exótico is the fighter everybody loves to hate.” This film is based on the true story of Saúl Armendari, who decided to fight as an exotico and win. Armendari, stage name Cassandro, changed the perception of exóticos and encouraged acceptance of queer fighters.
Alfonso Cuarón, “Y Tu Mamá También,” 2001
Thifault begged the question, “What are the consequences of challenging that sexuality or the perception of sexuality or masculinity?”
This coming-of-age film follows two friends, young Mexican boys from different social classes. The story of their trip with an older Spanish woman explores themes of sexual orientation and experimentation, while commenting on the perception of masculinity in Mexico and how it is challenged.
Therese Augst, chair of World Languages and Literatures and associate professor of German studies: Germany
Augst is a self-proclaimed German cinephile and shares her favorite films from different eras of German film history. Her recommendations follow the evolution of technique and expression of German social anxieties through film.
Fritz Lang, “M,” 1931
“Peter Lorre as the murderer may also deserve mercy,” Augst said.
As Lang’s first “talking” picture, the story of “M” is told through shifting character perspectives, following the police and a crime boss’ investigation of a series of murders. This was based on real criminal scandals at the time. The film materializes cultural fear, trauma and mistrust manifesting from the catastrophic World War I. “M” represents the peak of the German film industry between the 1920s and 1930s, and acts as a predecessor to hard-boiled American film noir, with a notable American remake made in 1951. In his work, Lang raises questions about crime, justice, punishment compared to mercy, mental illness as a defense for criminality and vengeance.
Wim Wenders, “Wings of Desire,” 1987
“Visually impressionistic, poetic, symbolic and incredibly moving as a meditation on mortality,” Augst said.
Wim Wenders, who is still filmmaking today, was one of the many German filmmakers who sought to reclaim film from propaganda by confronting the controversial past and asking difficult questions. In “Wings of Desire,” immortal angels have always resided in Berlin, invisible to everyone but children. The angels witness firsthand the trauma of the war and the divide it causes in Germany. The social separation seen throughout Wenders’ film manifests through exterior contrasts. Some examples of this in Wenders’ work are black-and-white and color grading and his use of a gentle score for angel society that is contrasted with the boisterous Berlin rock accompanying human affairs.
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, “The Lives of Others,” 2006
“It’s also just a banger of a film, with an absolutely wonderful, soulful, redeeming ending,” Augst said.
Curiosity about life in East Germany spiked after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Germans wanted to know where the Stasi, the secret police, held quiet power over their lives. The film fulfills this curiosity by telling the story of a successful artist in East Germany whom the Stasi were sent to spy on. By dealing with the effects of surveillance on emotional and social well-being, von Donnersmarck highlights the fear German people experienced when interacting with East German authority. “The Lives of Others” provides a fascinating view into the corrupt state security apparatus.
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