Introduction to World Cinema 

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I have been watching movies made in countries other than the US for more than a decade, perhaps more than two decades. Recently I had a moment of illumination, which was this. Some of the best movies I have seen, or maybe all of the really excellent movies I watched were made in France, Argentina, Germany, Italy, Norway, Korea, Denmark, Sweden, Brazil, Romania, Turkey and other countries. 

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It is hard to put a name on these pieces, or to say what they are, but probably the best word is feuilletons, which of course, were short pieces in European newspapers about subjects like cinema. But no matter what they are called, they are appreciations of the work of actors, screenwriters and directors from outside the United States. The films they make are compelling, or so it seems to me, because these movies are not concerned with car crashes, special effects and the like, but with the dramatic complications, both funny and serious, of the human heart. These pieces admire the work of such directors and actors as Jacques Audiard, Marion Cotillard, Sandrine Bonnaire, Fabrice Luchini, Ricardo Darin, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, and, of course, many others.