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EASTERN EUROPEAN ELIXIRS

By: Kenji


The Peach Thief (Radev)

An assortment, in year order. Sadly, some favourites and major films are not on this site. I’ve included films i’ve not seen, some from neglected Bulgaria, Albania..) and a small number (e.g Underground, Before the Rain) i’m not too keen on as no doubt they’d be missed. And i love Double Life of Veronique too much to let its Frenchness get in the way

I’m taking the region as the old (non-Soviet) Communist Eastern bloc. With the exception of Angelopoulos’ Ulysses’ Gaze, which ventures to Sarajevo, I’ve decided after all to leave out Greece- for that, see Dimitris’ list Greece of Cinephile Dreams. I’ve done lists on Essential Hungarian Films, Albania, Poland and The Czechoslovakian New Wave, which was a tremendous achievement in the 60s. The talk now is of the Romanian “New Wave” of the last decade but there are many earlier treasures from that country too. See also lists of Bulgarian and Balkans films, Mario Gaborovic’s list Ex Yugoslavia, Bobby Wise’s list Yugoslav Black Wave and Dzimas’ list The Fabulous World of Eastern European Cinema that includes all the former Soviet states, by the Baltic and of the Caucasus, that are considered part of Europe (as per the football competitions). I’m especially pleased Dzimas has drawn attention to Karel Zeman’s fabulous world-

Missing from Mubi:

Hortobagy (Hollering)
Wild Growth

and thanks to the auteurs world cup managers of the countries involved

Suggestions for films to add very welcome

 

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Kenji

11Mar11

Yes, i know Greece wasn't Communist bloc, and so may be considered very different, but i was trying to cover neglected territory.

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Dimitris Psachos

8Mar11

I still insist that Eastern Europe should only be counted up until Romania. Anything beyond is considered South Eastern ;) Unless of course you measure Eastern Europe as a whole, Turkey, Russia etc. Oh, and Dogtooth and Weeping Meadow are NOT essential elixirs, hardly I'd say :) Remove Greece and Yugoslavia and Albania and add more Hungary and Poland. (and more Russian-related countries too)

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    Kenji

    28Aug12

    I've now removed Greece from the list, as it was always a special case!

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Myra

23Nov10

As you have probably noticed, I've been missing out on a lot of your lists kenji!

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House 0f Leaves

12Oct10

I've seen a few of these and they're some of my favorite films yet. I can't wait to dive into more Eastern European film.

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