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I realize that being from the US, I have a perspective on film is probably similar to the way culture was for Imperial Rome or Victorian Britian- living in the big dog of the world culture the world around me is more likely to conform to my general beliefs than the other way around.

So I was wondering, what are the 'Citzen Kane's in your country?

Is Hollywood and American film the 800 pound gorilla in your film industry, or is there a strong national market?

What are some other countries highest grossing films? Are there American films that died in the US that are huge in your country. Or Vice versa. Is there home player that you abhore that see to play great elsewhere that its success baffles you?

What is the highest grossing local made film?

What genres are the strongest right now? Is there a certain quirk or style that your country like that makes your local film distinct to you?

There is a lot of questions there simply because it is an open curiousity about film around the world, and I don't want to limit the thought too much initially.

Bless you Michael Bay. Armageddon is a masterpiece.

tuan, if someone wanted to watch the best Australian films which ones would you reccomend?

What are typical quirks that generally exist in Austrailian film?

Bless you Michael Bay. Armageddon is a masterpiece.

Here's my take on the best of Irish cinema:

http://www.screenhead.com/reviews/lights-camera-begorrah-the-best-and-worst-of-irish-cinema/

I haven't looked into it, but I doubt our tastes in Ireland differ that much from the USA. I think The Wind that Shakes the Barley and Michael Collins were two "Irish" films that did exceedingly well in this country.

Sometimes, the BIG European films do way better in Europe than inthe USA. I know Perfume made about 50,000,000 in Germany alone.

Bless you Michael Bay. Armageddon is a masterpiece.

Hmm...Citizen Canes of England, lessee. I would say:

The Original "The Italian Job"

Movies like "Dam Busters" and "Zulu" - you know war stuff.

Other Brit Movies "Chariots of Fire," "Notting Hill" "Love Actually" "Trainspotting" "The Railway Children"

Oh yes, "Harry Potter"...very BIG here.

That's all I can think of right now. I am sure their are loads more.

Yanks have probably not seen some of these.

(BTW I am a Yank living in the UK, FYI)

For me the Citizen Kane of England is Kind Hearts and coronets, an Ealing black-comedy in which a man gets revenge on the family that denied his mother's heritage, by killing each of the 8 members. Each victim is played by Alec "Obi Wan" Guinness.

Anything by Powell and Prestberger. And don't forget that Hitch was a Brit.

Tuan, what about 'Walkabout', the Nicholas Roeg film? I think it's astounding. Chopper was pretty good, too.

And don't forget the "Crocodile Dundee" movies and "Kangaroo Jack"

Seriously though, I loved "Gallipoli" with a young Mel Gibson and the upcoming Baz Lurhmann offering "Australia" with Nicole Kidman, Hugo Weaving, Hugh Jackman and Brian Brown should be well worth a looky

Some of the best Australian films i have seen are The Proposition, Babe, and Strictly Ballroom. A dark answerable 'western', one of the greatest kid movie I have ever seen, and the sappiest, sweetest, most magically romantic movie made in recent years.

I have heard that there is a very strong cult following for Young Einstien, especially in Austrailia.

The hardest imports for me to watch are generally French films, outside of Luc Besson, Jean Reno and a few others. It's not a language thing. I think french film logic eludes me or apparently they are keeping all the fun films and send over only 'serious' fare.

Bless you Michael Bay. Armageddon is a masterpiece.

Did Baz give up on his Hannibal project? I know there was talk about his desire to do a Biopic about him, and I heard there was complications.

I always thought Peter Wier was one of Austrailia's film treasures. His directing range, his ability to make stars, and his meticulous attention to detail always made him a talent worth talking about.

Great thread JameyDunne, nice idea. That's a big and interesting subject.

Concerning the countries that have already been discussed, I'm personnaly a big fan of Peter Weir's The Year of Living Dangerously for Australia. Ireland I think offers one of the best european cinema. IN the past few years, films like The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Breakfast on Pluto and Bloody Sunday were all high on my year end Top 10.

Now as far as France goes, the subject is huge.
1st, the national market. Hollywood is no King Kong on french market. sure, it weighs a lot, but these last few years, French films and Hollywood are playing in the same league, each grabbing around 45% of the market, and the 10% left being mostly european cinema outside France and the rest of the world. French cinema is one of the only in the world being able to compete with hollywood on its national ground, like Korea or India does.

Last year, the highest grossing film was french comedy "Les Bronzes 3". In general, the big french comedies are atop of the box-office in France, but those are films that rarely export to the US. in 2007, the highest grossing french film is La Vie En Rose, and only Spidey 3 made more entries for the moment.

The All-time local box-office champion is a classic comedy, maybe known by some europeans, but maybe not, called "La Grande Vadrouille". It's a 1966 comedy starring french comedic stars of the time Louis de Funès and Bourvil. It made around 16 or 17 million entries. It was the historical box office champ in France til Titanic came and beat it by large (20 million entries). In 2002, Asterix : Mission Cleopatre became also a huuuuge box-office champ with more than 14 million entries.

What are the french "Citizen Kanes" ?
Hard to say, they are many. I'd say MArcel Carné's "Les Enfants du Paradis", Godard's "A bout de souffle", Truffaut's "Les 400 coups" (400 blows). Those are generally considered the best french films. Of course since 2001, Jeunet's"Amelie" became a true classic, but the film has a lot of detractors too. Personnally it's one of my favorite films ever.

As far as genres go, french cinema is famous for its auteurs, but it's a rich cinema, capable of doing strong films in all genres, noir (THe beat that my heart skipped), comedy (OSS117), animation (Triplets of Belleville), drama (Je vais bien ne t'en fais pas), fantastic (Brotherhood of the wolf)... Comedy is always the strongest at the box-office.

Now that's gotta be my biggest post ever *lol* Sorry if it was too long to read !!!

I forgot to name a few american films that made disappointing box-office in the US but found great success in France. This year, Zodiac and Fracture both made more than 1 million entries, which is an excellent score.
I also remember Andrew Niccol's Lord of War was a surprise success here, being one of the biggest american fiml that year in the box-office. Marie Antoinette also made some good business last year, almost 1.5 million entries.

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