Lately, the options for what to consume in the culture are overwhelming and the algorithm is making it impossible to figure out what’s actually good. That’s where Cult Following, CULTURED’s new monthly advice column by writer and cultural omnivore Delia Cai, comes in. Did you catch Covid again and need recommendations on what shows to binge? Want pointers on how to get cultured while living in a small town? Or maybe you just want to feel a little more impressive and hold your own at that next dinner party? Cult Following exists not only to narrow down your choices, but also to help all of us confront our deeper anxieties about navigating the wild, beautiful world of art and culture.
This week, Delia offers foreign-language film recs for a budding cinephile who loves bank heists and Barbie.
Dear Cult Following,
When did everyone start having such snobby taste in movies? Sorry, I mean “films.” I grew up watching all the regular stuff they showed at my suburban movie theater, but now all of a sudden, I’m in my late 20s and everyone’s acting like I’m a total boor just because I don’t know who Fellini is, or because my favorite genre is “bank heist,” or because I actually liked Barbie. What gives? When did everyone go to Film 101 without me, and how do I fake it when everyone starts talking about the latest [insert foreign language indie movie here]?
Signed,
Girl Who’s Out of Flicks To Give
I once knew a guy who, upon moving to Los Angeles, became so overwhelmed by the nonstop movie talk that would permeate everyday interaction out there that he assigned himself a strict movie viewing schedule. Every day for nearly two years, he made a point of watching one movie with dinner and another one before going to bed. It sort of worked; cinephiles love talking about how modern film is relatively new as a medium (compared to say, painting), so you ostensibly can cram everything notable in that way. But I also remember my friend admitting, rather sheepishly, that he kind of can’t remember anything about most of those movies. I’m not opposed to the belief that sometimes getting cultured should feel like homework, but it shouldn’t be a slog! And it should definitely leave an impression.
Anyway, I can absolutely relate to your frustration with everyone adopting de facto film-school sensibilities out of nowhere. Film snobbery has overtaken music snobbery as a cultural signifier, and the advent of at-home streaming and Letterboxd have made yet another form of leisure once centered in the collectivity of public space—the theater—into a personal arms race of taste. Don’t let the snobs get you down; being cultured is ultimately more about cultivating a taste for what you like (and what you don’t like) than it is about binge-watching the 700 most essential films of the century. It’s a bit of a long game; most of your well-movied peers likely owe their deep watchlogs to their parents or cooler older siblings. The other open secret is proximity to a great indie or repertory cinema.
That’s the real shortcut, if I’m being honest (and one that doesn’t require you to live like a movie monk for years!). These types of cinemas make it their business to curate actually interesting films and educate the masses. They’re far from a big city anomaly. When I was going to college in Columbia, Missouri, all my cool J-School friends were constantly making pilgrimages to Ragtag Cinema, this little two-screen theater that wound up exposing me to the most amazing movies I would have never seen anywhere else—and certainly not on Netflix. (It’s also worth looking up local film festivals in your area or any potential public programming the nearest college with a film department might have; mid-Missouri’s annual True/False Film Fest is both spectacular and accessible.)
And if there isn’t a theater like this within driving radius of where you live, might I plug my favorite local theater in New York, which is Metrograph? They’ve got a healthy online library that you can stream for $50/year; I find their picks to be more tightly curated and their subscription to be much cheaper than Criterion Collection or Mubi, though those are obviously wonderful, too.
But let me give you some specific recs to get started. First of all, if you’re a bank heist fan, you absolutely need to watch the 1964 film Topkapi, which is a gorgeous Technicolored caper involving priceless jewels and subterfuge set in Istanbul. (It’s also one of Christopher Nolan’s favorite movies.) Secondly, the film bros who’ve been talking your ear off have likely already impressed upon you the importance of Wong Kar-Wai and Tony Leung, so let’s get you up to banter speed with the similarly suspenseful cops-and-robbers goodness that is As Tears Go By (WKW’s first film from 1988, starring Andy Lau as a noble gangster); Infernal Affairs (the 2002 thriller where Leung faces off against Lau); as well as the 2007 Ang Lee spy period drama Lust, Caution (where Leung smolders some more, and the plot thickens deliciously with every minute).
As for the Barbie-sized hole in your heart, I’ve got a few foreign-language recs allllll about the rather universal agony and ecstasy of girlhood and growing up. My biggest recommendation is the 2000 Hong Kong film (you’re noticing my own proclivities showing, I imagine) Spacked Out, which follows the exploits of four trouble-making tween schoolgirls. The immaculate Y2K styling here—flip phones and all—would make ol’ Gerwig shake with envy. I also think you’d like the 2014 Iranian horror, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, which is about a young female vampire who can skateboard; it’s not any scarier than Twilight, and there’s a scene of her falling in love that I truly think about all the time.
If you haven’t seen the 2021 Norwegian rom-com (though it’s more of a dark humor) The Worst Person in the World, it’ll reset your standards for the “messy young woman” arc. For something a little more heartwarming, we’re going back to the Ang Lee archives and watching the 1994 Oscar-nominated Taiwanese rom-com Eat Drink Man Woman, which depicts the chaos of being one of three daughters against a backdrop of exquisite foodie porn. It’s perfect. They all are. I desperately wish I could experience each of these movies I’ve mentioned for the first time again, which is another way to say that as a budding cinephile, you are in for so much good stuff. It’s you the snobs should be jealous of!
Do you have a question about how to enrich your culture diet? Email cultfollowing@culturedmag.com.
