15. Jean de Florette (1986)
> Starring: Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Elisabeth Depardieu
> Director: Claude Berri
> IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (25,595 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 95% (14,148 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (23 votes)
This French period drama based on a novel by Marcel Pagnol, which takes place after WWI, weaves a tale of provincial greed and subterfuge. On the outskirts of a small village, two corrupt farmers scheme for a plot of land. It makes up the first half of a two-part saga (“Manon des Sources” is the second part) which was collectively France’s most expensive production of its time.
14. Umberto D. (1952)
> Starring: Carlo Battisti, Maria Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari, Ileana Simova
> Director: Vittorio De Sica
> IMDb user rating: 8.2/10 (25,476 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (6,825 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 97% (33 votes)
From the director of “Bicycle Thieves” comes this similarly-themed slice of Italian neorealism. It centers on the title character (Carlo Battisti), an elderly man who struggles to survive on his government pension.
13. Ivan’s Childhood (1962)
> Starring: Nikolay Burlyaev, Valentin Zubkov, Evgeniy Zharikov, Stepan Krylov
> Director: Andrei Tarkovsky, Eduard Abalov
> IMDb user rating: 8.0/10 (35,852 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 93% (5,845 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (24 votes)
Tarkovsky’s directorial feature debut culled from the scraps of a previously abandoned film project. It takes place during WWII and tells the story of an orphaned child turned Soviet spy. Writing for the Independent, critic Geoffrey Macnab noted that Tarkovsky “pays full attention to the squalor and pity of war but never loses his sense of poetry.”
12. Where Is the Friend’s House? (1987)
> Starring: Babek Ahmed Poor, Ahmed Ahmed Poor, Khodabakhsh Defaei, Iran Outari
> Director: Abbas Kiarostami
> IMDb user rating: 8.1/10 (14,332 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 92% (2,591 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 100% (11 votes)
Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami kicked off an unofficial trilogy with this understated drama about childhood innocence. In possession of his friend’s notebook, a young boy seeks to return it in the neighboring village.
11. The Cranes Are Flying (1957)
> Starring: Tatyana Samoylova, Aleksey Batalov, Vasiliy Merkurev, Aleksandr Shvorin
> Director: Mikhail Kalatozov
> IMDb user rating: 8.3/10 (17,174 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes audience score: 94% (4,370 votes)
> Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer score: 96% (25 votes)
Youthful romance is disrupted by the horrors of WWII in this award-winning Soviet drama. It features groundbreaking handheld camerawork from cinematographer Sergey Urusevskiy, who learned the technique as a military cameraman during the actual war.
Sponsored: Tips for Investing
A financial advisor can help you understand the advantages and disadvantages of investment properties. Finding a qualified financial advisor doesn’t have to be hard. SmartAsset’s free tool matches you with up to three financial advisors who serve your area, and you can interview your advisor matches at no cost to decide which one is right for you. If you’re ready to find an advisor who can help you achieve your financial goals, get started now.
Investing in real estate can diversify your portfolio. But expanding your horizons may add additional costs. If you’re an investor looking to minimize expenses, consider checking out online brokerages. They often offer low investment fees, helping you maximize your profit.
