Posted by By Anna Goodman, Staff Writer
Some of the best pieces of media I’ve ever seen aren’t in English. But, I often feel like, when we discuss great films or TV shows, they’re excluded from the conversation. So here are ten movies and series, from a Kenyan coming-of-age romance to a Polish police drama to a Thai adapted play, that, in my opinion, should be held up as great examples of their genres. (All of these can be found on Netflix besides Rafiki, Margarita With A Straw, and 180 Degrees of Longitude Passes Through Us.)
Rafiki “Friend” (romance) (KENYA)
Inspired by an Ugandan short story, Rafiki follows two girls, Kena and Ziki, living in Nairobi, who are the daughters of two politicians both campaigning for the same local election. They’re aware that they like each other from the moment that they meet, and begin a tentative relationship that is more dangerous than either one knows. The movie’s name, Rafiki (friend, in Swahili) was chosen because many queer people in Kenya, where homosexuality is illegal, are forced to introduce their life partners as their friends. The main actors, though both young, are great, and manage to bring a warmth, vibrance, and powerful kind of joy to what could be such a painful experience. Though it’s not an entirely happy story, it does end with the hope that things will get better. (Rated: R)
Song: Suzie Noma by Muthoni Drummer Queen
Quote: “Let’s make a pact. That we’re never going to be like any of them down there. Instead, we’re going to be something real.”
“Kleo” (black comedy) (GERMANY)
After being sentenced to jail on trumped-up charges of treason, former Stasi assassin Kleo Straub vows revenge on the people who framed her. When the Berlin wall finally falls and she’s released, she embarks on a partly tragic, partly hilarious journey of vengeance, aided by her bizarre, bohemian roommate, her former lover, and the mysterious tapes left behind by her grandfather, and chased by an overworked, bumbling West German policeman. Kleo is part political spy thriller, part black comedy, and part action tv show, and somehow all incredible. (Rated: Mature)
Song: Jahreszeiten by Puhdys
Quote: “You can’t be serious. No choice? Was there no other option? Do you know what they did to me? I lost my baby. You took her away from me, and I can’t ever have one again. I’m the one who has no choice now. And now neither do you, if I have anything to say about it.”
映画 聲の形 “A Silent Voice” (anime) (JAPAN)
One of the most acclaimed of Kyoto Animations’ films, A Silent Voice tells the story of Shōya Ishida, a depressed high school student who viciously bullied a deaf girl, Shōko Nishimiya, years ago, and his attempts to make amends for all that he’s done to her. They slowly begin to form a tentative friendship that unexpectedly leads to healing, redemption, and a new lease on life for them both. Beautifully animated, voiced, and written, the film is understated and gentle while touching on mental health, bullying, and, most importantly, forgiveness. (Rated: PG-13)
Song: Uroko (Scale) by Onew
Quote: “I want to tell you that I’m sorry. I never apologized for all the things I did to you when we were kids, or anything afterward either. But the thing is, even though you were going through so much, I was being selfish and only focused on myself. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Las Chicas Del Cable” “Cable Girls” (telanovela) (SPAIN)
Originally centering around four women—country girl Marga, runaway criminal Lidia, heiress Carlota, and mother Angeles—and the difficulties they encounter as telephone operators in late 1920’s Madrid, Cable Girls eventually becomes a story of found family, fighting against oppression, and the struggle for independence in an extremely misogynistic society. As the spector of facism looms in the late 30’s, the women deal with abusive men, conversion therapy, the Great Depression, and eventually the government itself, and begin to realize that they aren’t only fighting for their own freedom, but for every woman in Spain. (Rating: Mature)
Song: Hablaran De Ti y De Mi by Vanesa Martín
Quote: “Brave, selfless, proud women. Women who fought and still fight for equal rights and freedom for all human beings. This is our tribute to you…We will find a way out. They may have the weapons, but if we stand together, we can make sure they can’t have their way. We started this, and we will finish this together. Are you with me?”
“Hiacynt” “Operation Hyacinth” (thriller) (POLAND)
Based on a real Polish police operation that aimed to identify all queer people in the midst of the AIDS crisis—ostensibly for safety but in reality, for blackmail—Operation Hyacinth (a slang term used as a slur) follows a young policeman named Robert as he investigates a serial killer targeting gay men who none of his fellow officers care enough to. Unsatisfied with the too-easy way the case was solved, Robert decides to go undercover and catch the murderer on his own, ending up discovering both a web of deep-rooted corruption and his own repressed identity. Taking cues from film noir, police procedurals, and classic thrillers, Hiacynt is a love story wrapped up in a compelling crime drama. (Rating: NC-17)
Song: Nieznajomy (Stranger) by Tulia
Quote: “This party might be the last of its kind. You think they’re going to stop? They’ve been sweeping us up, arresting us, soon they’ll ban us from meeting up. You can’t always be running scared. You can’t be scared of freedom. You can’t be scared of me.”
“Margarita With A Straw” (coming-of-age) (INDIA)
A groundbreaking film, for both disability representation and queer representation, this story centers around Laila, an Indian teenager with cerebral palsy, who decides to go on a journey of self-reflection and self-discovery when she goes to study abroad at NYU. Margarita With A Straw was actually based on the director’s sister’s experiences, and her irritation that disabled characters were so often infantilized and so rarely the driving force behind a narrative. Frank, colorful, and very much down to earth, it marries together American coming-of-age stories with a sense of Bollywood grandeur, that doesn’t spend time wallowing in sadness but instead takes a brighter, funnier route that only makes it more loveable. (Rated: R)
Song: Tu Jo Mila by Pritam & KK
Quote: “So what we’re going to do is we’re going to have an assignment in which you’re going to write from all of your senses. Write a story, a poem, a rap song. Write from your heart, write from your eyes, write from your liver!”
“Trees Of Peace” (indie) (RWANDA)
For 81 days during the extermination of the Tutsi ethnic group by the Hutu in the Rwandan genocide, four women (Tutsi nun Jeanette, Tutsi assault survivor Mutesi, Hutu moderate Annick, and American volunteer Peyton) hide from the advancing militias in a storage room under Annick’s kitchen. Though they all have their own reasons to despise their situation—and to despise each other—the women form an indestructible bond as they’re forced to rely on each other and become the very thing that saves themselves. Beautifully acted, directed, and written, and the only completely English-language entry on this list, Trees Of Peace is both a very specific tale in a very specific place and a far-reaching story of love that can speak to almost everyone. (Rated: R)
Song: Lo Chiamavano King by Edda Dell Orso
Quote: “We survived 81 days in that room. It seemed we lost everything. But we found the most important thing we never knew to look for: each other. They say I saved them, but really, they saved me. My sisters. And now together, we will find healing. We will claim peace.”
아가씨 “The Handmaiden” (horror) (KOREA)
Hired by a conman to assist in his scheme to take the fortune of mysterious and aloof Japanese Lady Hideko, Korean pickpocket Sook-hee takes a position as the lady’s handmaiden, but has no way of knowing the web of lies, conflicting plots, and murder that she’s getting herself into. Spanning three acts and almost three hours, The Handmaiden may be a horror movie, but is more a story of womanhood, sexuality, and liberation, as Hideko and Sook-hee fall in love and aim to find some way to carve a happy ending for themselves out of the backdrop of the 1930’s Japanese occupation of Korea. (Rated: NC-17)
Song: The Song Of Dann by The Kingdom
Quote: “The daughter of a legendary thief, who sewed winter coats out of stolen purses. Herself a thief, pickpocket, swindler. The savior who came to tear my life apart. My Tamako. My Sook-hee.”
Bazaar de La Charite “Bonfire Of Destiny” (historical fiction) (FRANCE)
In the aftermath of a real-life 1897 fire at a charity that tragically killed or badly injured over 300 people, three women use the opportunity to reinvent their lives; Adrienne runs from her abusive husband and attempts to save her young daughter from his clutches, Alice rejects her arranged marriage and falls for a young radical, and Rose assumes the identity of a dead woman at the behest of her mother. Together, they begin to unravel a conspiracy of silence and fight towards a better life for themselves and their loved ones. It feels like a Romantic era novel by Victor Hugo, or a French version of the late-90’s movie Titanic, commenting on the class differences, political conspiracies, and gender roles that force the women to make the difficult decisions that they do. (Rated: Mature)
Song: A Qui La Faute (Who’s At Fault) by Christophe Mae
Quote: “Half an hour and it was gone. Burned to the ground. Hundreds of victims. High society ladies and their maids. No men. You pushed us. You trampled on us. All of you. Monsters.”
เส้นลองจิจูดที่ 180 องศาลากผ่านเรา “180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us” (drama) (THAILAND)
Originally a stage production, 180 Degrees follows 20-year-old Wang and his mother Sasiwimol, who take an impromptu road trip to visit Inthawut, an old friend of Wang’s deceased father. What follows shouldn’t be as gripping as it is; the eight episodes barely feature anyone other than the three main characters and are almost all set in one house, in just a handful of minimalistic rooms. Yet the central performances are breathtaking as they unpack generational trauma, repressed desire, and the intersection between genuine love and a need for control, only complicated when Wang discovers that his father and Inthawut had a far deeper bond than he knew or that his mother has let herself believe. (Rated: Mature)
Song: Phi (Ghost) by Jeff Satur
Quote: “There are people who don’t fight for it and die. You saw what happened to him. But I’m not a coward like you. You’re afraid to bring it out into the open. That’s why you’re running. You think by doing nothing, not taking sides, you’re making a sacrifice? Not me.”
If you’re still looking for other works, look at the Columbian political telenovela Las Villamizar, the Taiwanese historical drama Your Name Engraved Herein, the Nigerian epic War Wrath and Revenge, or the Russian fairytale romance Silver Skates, .
The Maroon 