Best World Cinema On BBC iPlayer (17th November)

Last weekend we posted ‘Best Free Films On BBC iPlayer (14th November)‘ and we have to say we we’re impressed what was on offer. We know everyone doesn’t have Sky or Virgin Media and Freeview is your only option, it’s not the only option neither. We hope to try out with future features and articles on those other options, today we are going continue with the BBC iPlayer option.

When we where creating that feature we noticed there was also a wide selection of World Cinema choices. Below is our favourites on offer at BBC and new films do come to the channel every week. also many leave after a certain period of time.

We appreciate overcoming the one inch tall barrier of the subtitles might be bit too much for some and that’s okay. If you try you might be surprised at the wonder world of film is waiting for you to explore! So beware some of the films below might be limited time only,

PORTRAIT OF A LADY ON FIRE DRAMA, ROMANCE

With filmmaker Céline Sciamma’s follow up film set for release in the UK this coming Friday Petite Maman, why not check out the film that mesmerized critics? In late 18th-century Brittany, painter Marianne is commissioned by an affluent countess to paint a portrait of her sheltered daughter Héloïse so that she can be appraised by a prospective suitor in Milan.

A previous attempt couldn’t be completed as Héloïse refused to pose for the artist, so Marianne has to finish the portrait in secret by pretending to be a companion for Héloïse, who is unhappy at the prospect of marriage to a stranger.

In French with English subtitles. | Read our Review | Watch film.

THE SALESMAN DRAMA

When it comes to things Iranian we only hear about the negative things in the news. Asghar Farhadi is one of the positives from the country delivering honest, dramatic filmmaking that captures the heart and soul of ordinary people.
An acting couple find their relationship tested when the wife is attacked in their home as they work on a production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. The husband is determined to find the assailant, despite his wife’s objections.

In Farsi with English subtitles | Watch Film

THE TRUTH DRAMA

Hirokazu Kore-eda’s is one Japan’s best filmmakers and this film marks his non Japanese language debut. It’s in French and English, it may not be considered his best work, but the flawed film has the touches that made us fall in love with his films plus it has the ageless Catherine Deneuve in it too!

The daughter of a famous French actress visits her mother from America, troubled by the star’s memoir being far from truthful. Joining her on set, while she is filming the role of an aged child whose mother never grows old, offers a surreal parallel to their simmering resentments.

In French and English with subtitles. | Read Review | Watch Film

THE SPY GONE NORTH DRAMA, THRILLER

If you enjoy the cold war thriller/dramas in the frame of Tinker Tailor, Soldier Spy, this slow burning Korean film you’ll enjoy. Engrossing and taut, fascinating film about the long running Korean war.

In 1993, Park Seok-young, an army major in South Korean military intelligence, is assigned a mission to determine whether the North Koreans are adhering to their commitment to cease developing nuclear weapons.

Based in Beijing, Park disguises himself as a businessman, desperate to trade with North Korea, and soon reaches the attention of Lee Myng-woon, a high-ranking North Korean official.

In Korean with English subtitles. | Read review | Watch Film.

THE AGE OF SHADOWS ACTION, HISTORY, DRAMA

Another Korean war film, this pulsating period action drama from the filmmaker behind I Saw The Devil, Tale Of Two Sisters. Starring Kang-Ho Song (Parasite) and Gong Yoo (Train To Busan, Squid Game), Lee Byung-hun (Squid Game, I Saw The Devil). If you enjoy well crafted action scenes this one is a must and the train scene is intense stuff.

Period action thriller. In Japanese-occupied Seoul in the 1920s, the police try to infiltrate the Korean resistance as they plan an attack.

In Korean and Japanese with English subtitles | Watch Film

A WHITE, WHITE DAY DRAMA, MYSTERY

Darkness of grief and jealousy is put in the spotlight in this atmospheric Icelandic drama. As a widowed policeman tries to come to terms with the death of his wife in a car accident, he discovers that she had been cheating on him.

In Icelandic with English subtitles | Read Review | Watch Film

THE GANGSTER, THE COP, THE DEVIL CRIME, THRILLER, ACTION

The final of the Korean films and one thing Koreans are good at is crime thrillers. This one has a bit of action and a now familiar face Ma Dong-seok (Train To Busan) who is currently starring in Marvel’s Eternals.

Jang, a non-conformist and cocky cop, realises there is a serial killer at large, randomly selecting his victims in the city. When one of those victims is Jung, a noted crime boss who manages to escape with his life, an unlikely coalition is formed to bring the perpetrator to justice, by fair means or foul.

In Korean with English subtitles. | Watch Film

BALLOON HISTORY, DRAMA, THRILLER

Fascinating story of families attempting to escape for a better life. It may drift into clichés every so often, there’s enough emotion and entertainment in this one to check it out.

1979, Thuringen, East Germany. Like many of the country’s citizens, the Strelzyk family are desperate to escape to the west.

Under the watchful eye of the Stasi and the fearsome lieutenant colonel Seidel, they pursue a plan so crazy that most of their neighbours would not believe it if they saw it. With the help of their friends the Wetzels, they try to cross the border in a homemade hot air balloon.

In German with English subtitles. | Watch Film