GUEST COLUMN: 3 Reasons Why You Should Start Watching Foreign Films

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3 Reasons Why You Should Start Watching Foreign Films

by Kevin Gardner

Each country or culture has a unique way it approaches filmmaking. Moviegoers worldwide enjoy settling in for lengthy mental escapes to unknown lands and new characters. It is a visual art form that can be drastically different from one country to the next. Watching a foreign film will immerse you into a microcosm in which you are highly unfamiliar. It allows you to experience new landscapes, food, and customs. Get away from the familiar and delve into the world of international film. Here are three good reasons to make an effort to see films from far-away lands.

1. Encounter New Landscapes

The U.S. landscape is just as diverse as any other country; however, how native landscapes are navigated by the people who inhabit them can be different from navigating your own nature-space. How the land is used for farming or how natural resources are used for everyday activities can differ wildly. Foreign films broaden perspectives on how people live. The streets, the dwellings, and the transportation system can look acutely different from those found in your American town or city. For example, many foreign towns do not have paved roads, and people may not rely on cars as their primary transportation mode in larger cities. One of the main forms to get around could be by bike (Denmark), tuk-tuks (Thailand), or ATVs (Costa Rica). You can indulge in this perspective-taking journey by streaming a foreign film on any IP address device from the comfort of your own home at any time. A new worldly experience is always at your fingertips.

2. Experience Different Cuisine and Dining Customs

From eating bugs and local animals to dining strictly on native plants, there is something new to learn for both the herbivores and carnivores. You can acquire new ways to prepare and visually present food or witness dining customs that are dramatically different from your own. For example, when offered food and drink in South Korea, you must grab it with both hands. In Thailand, chopsticks are used for noodle dishes, not with rice dishes, and eating with your left hand in the Middle East is considered vulgar. These customary nuances can be extracted from the screen and enrich your worldly knowledge.

3. Get a New Perspective on Filmmaking

Watching a foreign movie is not a passive experience. It is an active process because there is more to decipher. You may have to read subtitles, glean information from non-verbal communication that is unfamiliar to you, or you may need to draw conclusions based on the director's use of imagery and metaphor that is deeply rooted in a specific culture. The native perspective gives rise to variegated storytelling that is unlike U.S. storytelling norms.

Advertisers or commercial incentives do not heavily influence many foreign film markets. Therefore, the goal is to create an authenticity that is not confined by outside influence or corporate money. There is no agenda other than to create a meaningful experience.

American films usually have a feel-good happy ending or an ending where you are given closure, and all or most questions have been answered. This has proven to be a popular approach to U.S. filmmaking; however, this tidiness is not always found in the international film market. Life is presented differently, pieced together in thought-provoking ways that leave you hanging. It is uncharted narrative territory and visual poetry.

Here are some global film recommendations to fill the senses and provide an intellectual holiday from mainstream US filmmaking:

• 8 ½ (Italy)

• My Name is Khan (India)

• Nobody Knows (Japan)

• The Wave (Germany)

• The Intouchables (France)

• Let the Right One In (Sweden)

• Ola Bola ((Malaysia)

• Eat Drink Man Woman (Taiwan)

Movies shot from an American perspective can be just as poignant and leave a lasting impact. However, the U.S. format is culturally driven, and therefore highly familiar. A journey into international films can broaden your knowledge base and immerse you into an active visual and intellectual experience that will leave an indelible impression.

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