European Film

Best European Films

From Alfred Hitchcock to Federico Fellini and Ingmar Bergman to Jean-Luc Godard, Europe has birthed many of film’s greatest innovators. And that’s just to name a few. The more you dig into the world of European film, the more and more gems you find. Scroll down to find the best European films currently reviewed on FilmRoot, or pick a country if you know what you’re after:

Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom

The Lobster

Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Greek director, Yorgos Lanthimos creates a darkly funny dystopian like you have never seen before. With 1 part Napoleon Dynamite, 1 part Gattaca, and 2 parts art-house, The Lobster deserves its recognition at the Cannes Film Festival 2015.

Why watch The Lobster?

You have watched loads of dystopian films like The Hunger Games, Bladerunner, and The Matrix and want to see a refreshing turn in the genre.
For laugh out loud awkwardness throughout.
What’s your spirit animal? Now’s the time to think of it!
Look ma… no subtitles!

A long shot of a woman driving starts of this slow burner from Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos. We watch her driving, with the sound of windscreen wipers and the car engine being the only sounds we hear. She stops, gets out of the car and walks over to a deer or horse and shoots it dead. Bam – the title credits appear! Welcome to another art-house film!

The premise of this one is intriguingly unique. Being single is banned. All ‘loners’ are taken to this Hotel where they have 45 days to partner up with one of the other temporary residents there. If you fail – you are turned into an animal of your choice (Colin Farrell wants to be… a Lobster). Sound fun!? You’ll find out some of the other strange rules as you watch and you’ll also notice the hilarious awkwardness of everyone there. Single people can be hilarious!

To heighten the awkwardness director Lanthimos uses a few camera techniques. Firstly he uses still long-takes to make everything feel awkward. Just as in the editing in Androids Dream emphasises the absurdity of everything on screen with fixed long-takes The Lobster makes everything look darkly comedic by making you look at the dancing/singing/hotel masturbation for longer than you need to. Secondly, most obviously in the hunt, Lanthimos uses slow-motion to emphasise the absurdity of what the whole hunting event. The people look even more stupid running around with tranquilizers in suits in slow motion. What’s more is that this slow-motion is accompanied by orchestral music, making it all appear even more like a weird ritual or charade.

Lastly, the actors and actresses top off the awkwardness with their speech. Every line is uttered clearly and quickly, and is always followed by a brief silence before the person being talked to actually replies. Their conversations are stunted and artificial which makes their relationships look artificial as well.

For a dystopia like you’ve probably never seen before (unless you’ve seen previously reviewed sci-fi Androids Dream) I’d definitely recommend this one. Just don’t expect a fast-paced thriller – expect an artistic and innovative take on the genre.

The Hunt (Denmark) – A Teacher’s Worst Nightmare

The Hunt Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

If you’re a teacher, The Hunt is your worst nightmare. Set in a small town in Denmark, The Hunt shows how one lie can bring down a credible and likeable man and turn him into the victim of a modern day witch hunt.

From: Denmark, Europe
Watch: Trailer, Amazon Prime, Amazon (rent)
Next: Festen, The Shining, Gone Girl

A War – Experience the Pressures of Army Life

A War Film Difficulty Ranking:3

If you enjoy watching people try to deal with high pressure scenarios then check out A War. A husband and wife face two uniquely high pressure situations – the husband in organising his squadron in Afghanistan, and his wife in bringing up 3 kids on her own. Unfortunately the husband is the first to crack and the consequences are bad.

From: Denmark, Europe
Watch: Trailer, Netflix, Rent on Amazon, Buy on Amazon
Next: Hurt Locker, Manchester by the Sea, The Insult

The Load – A Road Trip Through Serbia’s Wasteland

The Load Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

If you’re looking for a fun road movie like Thelma and Louise or Y Tu Mama Tambien, you’ve come to the wrong place. The Load is a brutal depiction of a country traumatised by war – it’s not a place where humour exists. There are no bright colours and no sweeping landscape shots. No one really knows what they’re doing, and there aren’t any dreams.

From: Serbia, Europe
Watch: Trailer
Next: Shok, The Trader, Mardan

If Only – International Competition – SBIFF

In If Only, Alma and her older brothers are sent to Rome to spend New Years skiing with their dad. Life with him is a world apart from their mother. He’s a disorganised failing scriptwriter with a young partner whilst their mother is a converted orthodox Christian with a strict husband. Instead of skiing, which is just a front to show his ex wife he is a success, he takes them to his friend’s beach house.

By the beach, the kids make friends with some of the locals whilst their father and his younger partner argue, make love, and write. They are your typical dysfunctional family.

Nothing much happens in If Only which feels for the most part like your typical light hearted Italian art house film. As a result, it’s quite hard to describe. However, it succeeds because of the performances of Alma, her dad and his partner.

Alma, the 8 year old daughter, has the benefit of the narrative voice, which she uses to comically picture her dreams of reuniting her mother and father. She’s the naive one – always blissfully unaware of her fathers current relationship with his partner and her and her brothers. Her rose tinted glasses make this a heart warming disfuncional family film rather than a more depressing one.

Her dad plays the stereotypical Italian dad. He’s all over the place and always emotional. One second he’s writing and angry at anyone who disturbs him, the next he’s a loving dad that’s present but will disappear in another second. His partner plays a free loving, spontaneous woman that doesn’t shy away from anything. However she’s always the one in control vs. Alma’s dad.

The other two brothers don’t offer too much, apart from two events which the director uses to help bring the film to a close.

Ultimately, If Only is a nice coming of age Italian art house film featuring a dysfunctional family. It’s a light and enjoyable watch. However, outside of the three characters, there isn’t much to distinguish it from other films in the genre.