Underrated or relatively unknown cinema

[Blackbeard]

One that had a big impact on me, over the last 6 months, has been Michael Haneke's Caché (Hidden). Disturbing, dark and ambiguous, right to the end. Superb performances by Daniel Auteil, Juliette Binoche & Maurice Benichou, amongst others.

Not quite as unsettling as "The Piano Teacher" though.

[The English Assassin]

Not quite as unsettling as "The Piano Teacher" though.
[/SIZE]

Indeed, little else is! That and The Audition are two amazing films that I have almost no desire to ever see again.

[L'Etranger]

Dalton Trumbo's Johnny Got His Gun is another nearly forgotten movie that had a considerable impact on many people and is also, um, unsettling. Seen it?

[white wolf's son]

L'Etranger, I saw this film many years on British late night television, I think it was BBC 2, the title at that time was called ' S.O.S obviously because as you say, the soldier tried to make contact via morse code from his bed by throwing his body about. The film obviously had an impact on me as I remember it vividly, particularly one point when the soldiers' former Boss is singing ' I'm the Boss, this is champagne...Merry Christmas ' . I've only seen it once but think about it often!

[L'Etranger]

Yes, it was shown very late one night in the 1970's here too.
One of those you don't forget.

Another was "O Cangaceiro" from Brazil, around 1968, of which I only remember impressions and moments - very, very violent, very exotic and totally different than the artificialness of American crime movies or Westerns of those days.

[white wolf's son]

One film I have only ever seen on television once was from Japanese cinema, Sansho Dayu ( Sansho the Bailiff ). I can't remember who the director was, it was in black and white and revolved around the fate of a Samurai Lords' family after he defied the Shogun and fell into disgrace. Luckily I recorded it onto video and still have it, it was a very haunting film with a theme of sadness throughout. Very memorable.

[Papi]

I propose "La jeté" de Chris Marker, the film which inspired "12 monkeys".

[Talisant]

Shaolin Kung Fu Mystagogue - flying propellor knives, flying propellor knife flyers, hinged hack around corners swords, hacked up pieces of a plot, peculiar editing, one of my fave '70s whacked out little known kung fu movies with my fave whacked out kung fu title.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rRh0Yua0h4

[Guzzlecrank]

"Night Tide" was a 1961 film starring Dennis Hopper as a sailor on leave in SoCal who falls in love with a freak-show woman who may or may not be a creature of the sea. Low budget, highly influenced by "The Twilight Zone", and a great cast.

The only reason I've seen it is because my wife grabbed a random handful of DVDs in a Poughkeepsie bodega for .99 apiece.

[The English Assassin]

a freak-show woman who may or may not be a creature of the sea.

I think I met her in a club once...

[johneffay]

I propose "La jeté" de Chris Marker, the film which inspired "12 monkeys".

That's actually fairly well-known and highly rated here in the UK. It crops up on many a university film studies course and shows up on late night screenings as a double billed with 12 Monkeys.

L'E, like WWS I saw Johnny Got His Gun on TV years ago: it's an astonishing film which I would like to see again, but I could not remember what it was called. Thanks!

[WhiteWolf359]

Most of these movies seem to be neither unknown nor under appreciated, just foreign. I would hardly call any movie by Kirosawa or Jodorowski "little known." Same with Bergman or Eisenstein. Given the broad sweep of film criticism and fandom, it's hard to think of many films as either little known or underappreciated. Where there's a film, there's a fan! I like a lot of smaller, independent films, particularly 1940's and 50's film noir, like "Detour," "Blonde Ice," and "Lady Gangster," but I wouldn't call any film noir "under appreciated."

[UncleDes]

Chushingura