
As I think about being “under the same sky,” I always go back to that evening I watched Knives Out with my host family in China. Movies are everywhere we go – everyone can enjoy them, learn something from them. There are so many movies that were written in another language at first. There are so many movies whose directors started off as small, independent filmmakers in their respective countries who are now gaining recognition at some of the largest international film award ceremonies.
As an avid movie watcher, I often find myself searching for new films to add to my watchlist. I have a number of directors who I absolutely admire for a multitude of their work. Recently, in my Chinese class, we’ve been discussing ancient Chinese literature and movies. As I think about film in China, I’ve realized how many international films and directors permeate our everyday culture. Directors don’t always get the credit for their films because they’re not on the screen. I wanted to highlight a few of my favorite directors who happen to be international and incorporate their background within some of my favorite of their films.
Luca Guadagnino
Luca Guadagnino is an Italian film director who is best known for his work in the movies Challengers, Call Me By Your Name, Bones and All, and most recently, Queer. Guadagnino has gained immense popularity here in the US, but his Italian background remains highly prevalent in his work. While he’s been in the feature film industry for over 25 years, his 2017 Call Me By Your Name (and one of my favorite movies) is what really catapulted his career. Set in Northern Italy in 1983, it is a tale of a teenage boy who stays with his family over the summer and meets an older man interning for his father. This later leads to a passionate but forbidden romance between the two men. Some people criticize the film for the age gap between the two men, which is completely reasonable. I do think, however, that the discomfort of the relationship is what makes it so authentic and emotional. My favorite moment of the movie is in the end where the protagonist, Elio, is sitting with his father. His father says the line to him,
“We rip out so much of ourselves to be cured of things faster than we should that we go bankrupt by the age of thirty and have less to offer each time we start with someone new. But to feel nothing so as not to feel anything - what a waste!”
Ang Lee
Ang Lee is a Taiwanese film director who is best known for his movies Life of Pi, Brokeback Mountain, Hulk, and Sense and Sensibility. He graduated from the National Taiwan College of Arts in 1975 and then came to the U.S. to where he received his B.F.A. Degree in Theatre/Theater Direction at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and later a Masters Degree in Film Production at New York University. Lee is best known for encapsulating emotionally-charged films, including my personal favorite, Brokeback Mountain. Brokeback Mountain is a film set over the course of 20 years beginning in 1963 Wyoming when they work as sheep herders on Brokeback Mountain. The two main characters, Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar, fall into a forbidden love affair that grows over the years and is a beautiful tale of love, loss, and longing. Ang Lee won the Academy Award for Best Director in 2006 for his work on the movie, making history as the first Asian person to win the award. My favorite line of this movie is probably when Jack opens up to Ennis,
“Tell you what... the truth is... sometimes I miss you so much I can hardly stand it.”
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry is a French filmmaker best known for his movies Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Green Hornet, Human Nature, and Tokyo! which he directed along with South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho. Gondry’s films are known for being experimental and utilizing distinctive “mise en scène,” a French term translating to “setting the stage,” used to describe how everything in a film comes together for the audience. He definitely uses this in my all time favorite movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which is a nonlinear story about a couple who decides to undergo a procedure to erase each other from their memory after a breakup. The film is so much more than just about a relationship ending; it is about the importance of memory, both good and bad. This movie makes me appreciate memories and encourages me to live in the moment, because I’ll never know when a moment will fade away. While I have way too many lines of this movie that resonate with me, my favorite would have to be when the protagonist, Joel, is having the procedure and relives a moment with his ex-girlfriend Clementine. He remarks,
“Please let me keep this memory, just this one.”
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