Learning From The World.

One of the things that bring me real joy, and is officially now a favourite past time, is watching international or foreign movies.

If you think about it, by the time you hear or know about it, these movies have already undergone a trial by public opinion in their native countries so that you don't have to sift through the rubbish movies in order to get to the good ones. Time saved!

I am not so much interested in being specialised and watching films that no one else would have heard about. What I am interested is in the stories that unite us, and those that set us apart, and the lessons that we all have to teach each other that transcends race, religion or creed. Stories like Roberto Bognini's Life is Beautiful and Jeunet's quirky Amelie comes to mind.

Thanks to the beauty of some of these movies being available on Youtube, I have recently seen two really high quality Indian movies - Kahaani and 3 Idiots. (All subtitled of course. Mere (My) Hindi is very rusty.)

Talk about Indian movies and all you have is the stereotype of 3 hours of catchy music, gaudy costumes and trees galore for the multitudes of Indians who somehow spontaneously break into song and dance several times a day.

Kahaani was a classy departure from that stereotype - an Indian thriller featuring an assured pregnant heroine (played by a classy Vidya Balan) and a gripping storyline which keeps you guessing till the end. The mood and the cinematography was of the highest quality for this movie, despite being made on a shoestring budget.

3 Idiots is still fresh in my mind right now - one of the highest-grossing Hindi movies of all time, both in India and abroad - it follows the life of two guys who enter an engineering college carrying all the hopes and pressures of their respective families, and have their lives changed by a remarkable friend they make in college. Kind of like Dead Poet's Society, but better, and with song-and-dance sequences thrown in for good measure.

The writing was of the highest quality and you just kept being delivered life lesson after life lesson without being preachy in a very entertaining comedy. The casting was perfect and I just can't recommend it enough if you have, oh about 2 hours and 44 minutes to kill. Absolutely worth it.

So in my quest for more excellent foreign films, have you guys seen anything lately that you can recommend?

Chinese, Korean, Indonesian, Japanese, European, South American to name a few - the world has so much to say, and I would like to see it for myself.