Subgenre Sampler
Foreign Cinema > Comedy: 606 Films to Buy & Rent
Martha (1974)
- Dir. Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Feat. Margit Carstensen, Karlheinz Bohm
- Addressing his favourite subject, emotional cruelty, Dir. Fassbinder skillfully works a vein of pitch–black comedy in depicting Margit…
Phantom of Liberty, The (1974)
- Dir. Luis Bunuel
Feat. Jean-Claude Brialy, Monica Vitti
- The great surrealist's penultimate film uses a Chinese–box structure to weave a dream–like tableau of set pieces that waver from to the…
Love and Anarchy (1973)
- Dir. Lina Wertmuller
Feat. Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato, Eros Pagni
- Cult director Lina Wertmuller's political parable about the would–be assassin of Mussolini who falls in love with a prostitute at his…
Slightly Pregnant Man, A (1973)
- Dir. Jacques Demy
Feat. Marcello Mastroianni, Catherine Deneuve
- Minor, though broadly enjoyable Demy farce partners Mastroianni and Deneuve as expecting husband and wife. The twist? He's pregnant! Gender politics…
Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe / Return of the Tall Blond Man (1973)
- Dir. Yves Robert
Feat. Pierre Richard, Bernard Blier, Jean Rochefort
- A secret service chief arranges for his assistant to investigate an innocent person chosen at random in order to prove him inept.
A little dated…
A Gorgeous Girl Like Me (Une Belle Fille Comme Moi) (1972)
- Dir. Francois Truffaut
Feat. Bernadette Lafont, Andre Dussollier
- Twisted French black comedy of a licentious, manipulative murderess recounting her sordid past to a green criminology student. Dripping in silly…
Cesar & Rosalie (1972)
- Dir. Claude Sautet
Feat. Yves Montand, Romy Schneider, Sami Frey…
- French romantic drama with Yves Montand and Sami Frey playing contrasting romantic rivals to divorced single mum Romy Schneider. Montand is a coarse…
Discreet Charm of the Bourgeiosie (1972)
- Dir. Luis Bunuel
Feat. Fernando Rey, Delphine Seyrig, Stephane Audran…
- Best Foreign Film Oscar–winner in which six guests convene for a meal they never actually get to eat! Bunuel veers between reality and illusion…
Lo Scopone Scientifico (1972)
- Dir. Luigi Comencini
Feat. Bette Davis, Alberto Sordi, Silvana Mangano…
- Little–known Italian comedy stars Bette Davis as a wealthy, Nora Desmond–esque countess who entices those less fortunate to gamble with…
Seduction of Mimi, The (1972)
- Dir. Lina Wertmuller
Feat. Giancarlo Giannini, Mariangela Melato
- Satirical comedy taking plenty of shots at Italianisms, about a poor labourer who is forced to leave his family in Sicily to take an illegal factory…