hmm i love japanese movies a lot, so i think i'll add a few to give some variety to the already great western movies listed if any of you are trying to get into them. i could give a whole post dedicated to european films, but i'll stick to japanese for this one.
lost in translation - american movie but set in japan, serene, interesting/strange romance movie, aesthetically pleasing, SCARLETT JOHANSSON
battle royale, confessions - mystery/horror movies with a lot of twists and turns in the plots. these really fck with your head.
there is an indie, not very well known Japanese director called hiroshi ishikawa. i have enjoyed all his movies which are petal dance, tokyo sora and su-ki-da. his movies are hard to find but i am sure i watched them on youtube actually... they are very quiet and calm movies to watch. after them you get this melancholy feeling but also a sense of appreciation for what you already have around you and forget to appreciate, like the people in your life, music, books, travel, etc.
my rainy days - romance movie (very typically japanese in the plot) but with a dark twist to the characters... emotional movie to watch to say the least, and very different from your typical romance movie. really showed me that all sorts of people deserve love at the end of the day.
lastly i would say to watch 1 litre of tears. the plot is like a lot of those tear-jerker movies you watch, those ones with the teenager who has a terminal illness. i find this one really charming, though. the mc is a character who does not see her illness as a be all and end all, but rather takes her gradual reducing mental capacity in stride and takes each day one by one, living with all her might for what she has left of it. i especially love this film because it was based off a true story (as always), and the actual girl's diary was published. the mc's perception of the world is so pure and she is appreciative of every person around her, even after the unfairness of the world has put her in such a situation and she should feel the opposite. she lives with the idea that her terminal illness has made her more appreciative of what she has and she will live to continue doing that, because she is going to die regardless anyway. i think we can all find our strength in people such as her.
hiroshi ishikawa's film su-ki-da. beautiful film, and his others can be found on YouTube also. :)
