While American cinema is known for its focus on thrills and adrenaline-pumping sequences, European films often target a different array of emotions and ideas, compelling viewers to re-evaluate their lives and goals.
European "seventh art" slows viewers down from the hustle of day-to-day life and nudges them to appreciate relationships that may seem a given. It invites viewers to savor the joy of delicious food, confront fears of isolating depression, and stop seeking a reason behind everything, embracing the world's randomness instead.
Some of the most prominent European cinematic works have resisted the frenzied pace set by social media and the minute-by-minute updates of tragedies and wars. Below, we've selected the best European films of 2023 that deserve your attention:
1- Fallen Leaves (Finland)
Finnish director Aki Kaurismäki, known for his poetic touch and disinterest in media coverage, has crafted 20 works about the working class in tales so ordinary yet infused with life's love and cruelty. "Fallen Leaves" was showcased at the Cannes Film Festival, winning the Jury Prize, and was Finland’s submission for Best International Feature at the Oscars, making it to the shortlist indeed. The film marks the latest addition to his "Proletariat" series that began in 1986.
The story revolves around a young woman with an unstable job in a store. She meets a construction worker living on the fringes of society; they both share their sorrows, mainly through drinking. A romantic relationship weaves between them amid material and social hardships.
"Fallen Leaves" epitomizes what modern European cinema can offer: real-life vignettes that forego thrill for the charm hidden in life's monotony and struggles, like an unexpected love that rescues the protagonist from addiction and the heroine from emotional emptiness.
2- The Taste of Things (France)
From the Finnish everyday life, we move to 19th-century France and a captivating relationship between a chef and a seasoned food connoisseur. Working together for 20 years, they taste life in everything around them, from fresh vegetables right out of the garden to seafood straight from the ocean. The film by director and writer Anh Hung Tran won Best Director at Cannes, featuring Oscar winner Juliette Binoche as the chef Eugénie and Benoît Magimel, the connoisseur Daudin, who was awarded Best Actor at Cannes in 2001.
"The Taste of Things" transports viewers to a more peaceful past through its use of natural lighting and cinematography, showcasing the beauty of Eugénie and Daudin's life. Like "Fallen Leaves," the film presents a simple love story – what modern fast-paced viewers might be craving for genuine taste.
3- Bad Living (Portugal)
While the characters in "The Taste of Things" relish tasting life, the heroine of "Bad Living" is haunted by a persistent sadness without knowing why. Directed by João Canijo and starring Anabela Moreira and Rita Blanco, "Bad Living" premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, winning a Jury Prize and representing Portugal in the Oscars for Best International Feature.
The film unfolds in a hotel by the Portuguese coast, run and inhabited by several generations of women from the same family, unraveling complex familial ties following the arrival of a granddaughter who lost her father. The mother, Bia Din, suffers from chronic depression, depicted through distant, isolated shots, emphasizing her enduring desolation.
4- Io Capitano (Italy)
"Io Capitano" begins its narrative in Africa, though it's an Italian film. It chronicles the epic journey of two young men from Senegal seeking to escape poverty. Their paths take them across several African countries, showcasing the harsh realities they face. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, with director Matteo Garrone winning Best Director and the Silver Lion, and Sidou Sarr, the lead actor, receiving the award for Best Young Actor.
"Io Capitano" may hint at a grand adventure but is essentially a simple film about friendship and sacrifice at its most innocent, laid bare on the vast stage of the desert.
5- Anatomy of a Fall (France)
How does a murder mystery transform into an in-depth lesson on marital relationship complexities? Director and writer Justine Triet's "Anatomy of a Fall" achieved just that, winning the Palme d'Or at Cannes and making it to the Oscars shortlist.
The film starts with an isolated family in a French village, the mother a successful writer and the father an abandoned writer due to his son's blindness from his neglect.
The viewer only sees the father as a corpse in the snow after falling from the chalet's upper balcony. Suspicions swirl around the wife, who becomes the prime suspect, forced to dissect the complex marriage.
"Anatomy of a Fall," like many courtroom dramas, hinges on compelling dialogue and cinematography, which capture the broad, snowy expanses symbolic of modern man's isolation.
These films are part of a 2023 European cinema wave that attempts to slow not just cinematic pace but viewers' lives, encouraging them to reflect on heroes who might mirror their personal experiences.
