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With 300 films logged last year and a pace that will easily surpass that this year (270 already), my love for film is as strong as it’s ever been, even as I enter this new (financial) chapter of my life. Seriously, where’s the film history charter?

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So, in a healthy bit of angst tonight, I thought, before developing a strong study routine, why not write something about movies? To make sure I remember how I feel right now before studying takes over my life. And honestly, I have something I’m really excited to write. Now, this topic has definitely been done before, but hey, it’s never been my list!

I love geography. I love international cinema. It’s so important to watch movies with subtitles. People who are put off by that will never grasp what they’re missing out on. I’m going to choose my favorite film from every country. Yes – international cinema man here. Quickly, let’s go through the criteria for the list:

• Only countries where I’ve watched a movie that I’ve deemed a 4/4.
• Countries listed in alphabetical order.
• One movie per country.
• The majority of the production has to come from the respective country (director/producer/cast), but obviously some may not be 100% authentic to just one nation.
• I’m going to choose the movie that I think best fits the respective country.
  • Example 1: Singin’ in the Rain is one of my favorite movies of all time, and yes, it’s 100% American. But for me, it’s not even close to what comes to mind when I think of “an American movie.” Maybe that’ll help you understand what I’m going for: movies that feel like authentic pieces and are culturally significant, representing their countries.
  • Example 2: Mixed-nation movies like Paris, Texas or co-productions are off the table. Yes, Wim Wenders and the production team are German, but through and through, it feels American because of the cast and setting. It doesn’t really feel authentic to one of the nationalities, and that’s maybe even why it’s so great — a blend of the two. All I’m saying is that it or its peers in the same vein won’t be represented here.
  • Example 3: Some of the greatest directors ever are extremely difficult to categorize into one nation. I don’t know if it’s just me, but the likes of Stanley Kubrick, Chantal Akerman, Christopher Nolan, and Alfred Hitchcock seem to be a blend of nations. Unfortunately, when I feel this way about a director, their work won’t be represented here either.

Pretty much the first movies I think of when I hear their country’s name. Spain and Poland just missing the cut. Let’s go:

The List:

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🇦🇺 Australia – Mad Max 2 (1981, George Miller)
Road Warrior. It doesn’t get more Australian than this. I watched Fury Road, liked it. Years later, I watched the original. Okay. Then I watched this one — mind blown. It’s the textbook for automotive action sequences with every bit of Australian lore. All the lore possible. Please if you have a second, just go through the characters names.

🇧🇷 Brazil – City of God (2002, Fernando Meirelles)
I’d heard about this for years and thought, “This could never live up to the hype.” A movie from Brazil? It’s never been done before. Needless to say, my expectations were met, and I’m glad South America is represented here. Lil Ze the man!

🇨🇦 Canada – Incendies (2010, Denis Villeneuve)
Our country’s greatest director is undoubtedly Denis Villeneuve, over James Cameron. Once a Canadian director hits a certain threshold, everything becomes American-produced (that’s the dream, and of course, there’s more dollar signs across the boarder). But Incendies isn’t that. It has a very non-American, yet North American, feel. I’m proud to say this may be our country’s greatest accomplishment on screen. I was seriously shaken for days after finishing it. Incendies is a Canadian-made movie you’ll never forget watching the journey of first and second generation immigrants here in our amazing country.

🇫🇷 France – Playtime (1967, Jacques Tati)
French cinema is consistently the most artistic. It’s difficult to choose between this and La Haine. Obviously, there are so many iconic French filmmakers, but Tati has to be my favorite. This movie is an ever-so-smoothly flowing piece of art. It should be on a constant loop playing in the Louvre. I can’t explain how I feel when just the thought of this movie pops into my head. I want to dance.

🇭🇰 Hong Kong – Any Wong Kar-Wai movie
I can’t pick; they all sort of blend together in my head. I honestly still haven’t chosen a favorite. He’s the man and the first thing that comes to mind when Hong Kong is mentioned. Such a legend, top tier coolest person walking the planet at all times.

🇮🇹 Italy – Bicycle Thieves (1948, Vittorio De Sica)
This was a tough choice. How can I not pick Italian greats like Fellini or Leone? This just feels like the most Italian film to me. It’s heartbreaking. It feels like the most honest movie ever, and maybe that’s because it is. Italian Neorealism is the foundation of Italian cinema, and this movie is the heart of it all. True working-class Italians, not actors, portraying such raw human emotion gets me every time. That’s why it’s here and is so important to Italian History.

🇯🇵 Japan – Spirited Away (2001, Hayao Miyazaki)
This isn’t the first list I’ve made that includes Spirited Away, and I can promise you it won’t be the last. The most magical movie of all time. The greatest fantasy movie of all time. Japan is an extremely rich film nation with both Miyazaki and Kurosawa it’s fucking awesome. I want to visit Tokyo so fucing bad someday.

🇲🇽 Mexico – Y Tu Mamá También (2001, Alfonso Cuarón)
This movie blew me away the other day. I’ve been recommending it to everybody I know. Mexico is absolutely stunning in every frame, it feels so alive and friendly. The pulse of Y Tu Mamá beats hard with such young, charismatic energy; it’s the bar for a horny movie. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since the watch. This is the quintessential Mexican film.

🇳🇴 Norway – The Worst Person in the World (2021, Joachim Trier)
Awesome movie. I never really had anything come to mind from Oslo or Norway before this. I remember watching it, and within a week, I had to show Abbey. It’s one of the best portrayals modern time (2020-2024), capturing the lives of a generation of twenty-five to thirty-year-olds. Absolutely nails it and brings you around Oslo, opening my eyes to this city for the first time.

🇷🇺 Russia – Come and See (1985, Elim Klimov)
Don’t watch this movie. It’s pretty fucking great but don’t watch it.

🇰🇷 South Korea – Oldboy (2003, Park Chan-wook)
I mean, Park Chan-wook and Bong Joon-ho, am I right? Maybe the country with the highest hit rate per movie because of these two alone. Parasite might be a better representation of modern-day South Korea, with its depiction of social class differences, but I still can’t put it over Oldboy. It’s the first movie I’ll always think of from South Korea. Revenge has never, and will never, be done better. The perfect Friday night movie.

🇸🇪 Sweden – Autumn Sonata (1978, Ingmar Bergman)
Bergman, of course. It’s challenging when you hear so much about one of the greatest directors of all time but can’t stay awake during his movies. As someone I haven’t necessarily felt connected to, I watched this one because of my love for Ingrid and Liv. After finishing it, I felt almost completely changed emotionally and spiritually. I felt like I’d gone to therapy for two hours. It’s also the most Swedish movie to me because it’s the first and only time I’ve watched Swedish-born, American film icon Ingrid Bergman speak in her mother tongue. Getting to see her speak Swedish was so exciting and felt long over due. The word “masterpiece” is thrown around often, but Autumn Sonata is a movie I consider to be one, because of its simplicity on the surface, but complexity behind the story telling.

🇹🇼 Taiwan – Yi Yi (2000, Edward Yang)
Yi Yi is life. It encapsulates all of it. You get to see so much of Taiwan over the course of three hours. It should be illegal to visit Taiwan before watching this movie.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom – Lawrence of Arabia (1962, David Lean)
I could’ve gone with something fresher like Trainspotting or A Clockwork Orange, but how can you not pick Lawrence? It’s too grand. I don’t fully understand the British history with the Middle East, but isn’t this the most patriotic British movie of all time? T.E. Lawrence — the pride of the UK. The Brits will always have this. Movies have tried and failed to replicate it. It’s constantly referred to and quoted, and it’s been an inspiration for so many of us.

🇺🇸 United States of America – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019, Quentin Tarantino)
I’ve thought long and hard about this. I could make a strong case for many genres here: a true John Wayne Western? American politics or courtroom dramas? A Vietnam War movie sounds pretty patriotic? The rise and fall of an American icon?

The Graduate was my original choice. I do believe that at the time of its release, The Graduate was — and still is, in the perspective of that time — the coolest movie ever. And that’s what the USA is to me: cool. The Graduate is a staple of a page-turning moment in American film history that has never been turned back.

After weighing the options, I’ve decided to land on what I believe is the most Americana “porn” — Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

The late 1960s, across the whole world, was my favourite era, and even more specifically, in the United States, and to break it down even more, Los Angelas. This movie is America to me. Led by three of the greatest American actors of their generation and created by arguably the most important American writer/director, it portrays the auteurs favourite time in all of our planets history. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has all the American lore you think of. It’s American porn. The relationship (Pursuing/Maintaing/Falling) with Fame. Friendship. Murder. Movies. Hippies. Music. Drinking. Steve McQueen. The story as a whole and every character portrayed are a love letter to what the USA has built. I think I may just write a whole essay on why this movie is so American. I would take this Toe to toe with any of the greats. 1969 Hollywood is America to me. I just love this movie and what it stands for so fucking much.