Unknown movies

On this page, we talk about the best unknown and undervalued movies of yesterday, today, and always. You might have missed them when they were released, or they might not have appeared on any list of cinema classics, but that doesn’t mean they’re not worth it. So, our intention is to help you catch up, either through streaming platforms or by following the open television schedule.

The big question to answer is what constitutes a movie being undervalued or unknown. For this list, something essential is that they have failed at the box office (even if they gained a better reputation once they were available for rent or on VOD), but also films that received negative reviews and we believe are worthwhile. Also, those older films that even today have barely any visibility and deserve more.

In short, for us, an unknown and undervalued movie is one that deserves a second chance, regardless of whether they were well received by critics or whether their success in terms of viewership was noteworthy, but now seems to have no audience. With that in mind, you’ll find all of that and more here, as in addition to the entries available at the end of this text, we also offer you a list of 5 unknown films below.

Top 5 Unknown Films for (Troubled?) Youth

The Man Who Sleeps (Un homme qui dort, 1974)

This film takes reference from the book of the same title by Georges Pérec, who brought his text to the screen in a virtually literal way, under the direction of Bernard Queysanne. In both, we witness solitary states through the lens of surrealistic structuralism; a slow but mentally dizzying and maddening movie that is based on an increasingly chaotic alienation and intense isolation, until even silence is ultimately overwhelmed by the claustrophobia of having to function as a human, blending in and moving adaptively among everything around us.

A film about the voice inside your head that echoes everything you must listen to and know, pushing you further and further towards the abyss, that space where you can’t find solace even in the landscape, not even in finding a certain sense of your existence, your place, because that sense of place would only envelop you and distance you even further from a notion of your own identity.

And so, self-referencing this text with that of the movie and the book The Man Who Sleeps, you remain wandering, sleepwalking with the sounds of forgetting and a shifting sense of detachment and division. But there you also look up, and there’s someone who resembles you a bit, and when your eyes meet, you wonder: why do people look at me so strangely?

The Job (Il posto, 1961)

Characters of Vittorio De Sica in the settings of Michelangelo Antonioni, that’s Ermanno Olmi directing The Job, where he shows us the protagonist almost like a larva emerging from its cocoon (waking up from bed between the sheets) to apply for a “secure job for life” in a Milanese company that gives rise to the title of this Italian film.

A somewhat sad film, but with scenes away from the office that bring much joy, like in the scene where Domenico and Antonietta run through the city and we, the viewers, are so glad they’re running late. As if they’re savoring the naive last moments of being young and arriving a bit late to face the dull reality of adulthood.

Then comes the part about getting a job to try out this new adult role, once you’ve shed your cocoon for the butterfly, but of course, at first being an adult seems like a coat too big to fit you well. And despite it all, there’s something very special and beautiful in the way Domenico observes this new and unfamiliar world. His wide-open eyes are easy to read and speak of all the unspoken feelings of being young.

The Fire Within (Le feu follet, 1963)

When you face The Fire Within by Louis Malle, you feel as if everything around you disappears. You lose track of time, forget where you are, and it’s as if the world stops and the screen in front of you is the only thing that exists. Would you feel like watching this unknown film if we described it that way? Because The Fire Within devastates, but it’s also glorious in its intensity. A film that makes you nervous and loves you at the same time.

Love in the Afternoon (L’amour l’après-midi, 1972)

For many, Love in the Afternoon is the pinnacle of Éric Rohmer’s moral tales. A raw story about fidelity, infidelity, and couple life in general, where the French director is like water. Clear as crystal, pure, simple, fluid, and sometimes even deep.

Show Me Love (Fucking Åmål, 1998)

Show Me Love may be the most appropriate teenage film for European cinema to be seen by teenagers. At least it was when a shy, awkward, and introverted teenager saw it while doing homework on La2 and felt identified with how Agnes, the protagonist of Lukas Moodysson’s film, experiences and expresses unrequited love.

Before social media, but at the beginning of the internet, we see her writing her thoughts on the computer like an intensely private personal diary, full of secrets and loneliness. She’s in love with Elin, who on the surface seems to be the stereotypical pretty/popular girl. She has many friends and many male admirers, but no one sees the real Elin until she has a brief encounter with Agnes over a challenge.

An intense mutual attraction between them scares Elin at first, leading her to treat Agnes cruelly. However, Elin quickly proves she can open up to it. Show Me Love beautifully and movingly portrays first love becoming secondary when faced with the judgment of their peers for being homosexual. If you love seeing people fall in love, few films will make you happier than this one.