Whether you are already an expat, are considering a move abroad, or are simply a curious cinephile looking for a nice movie to relax, this is for you! We have selected some of the best movies about moving and living abroad to give you a glimpse into expat life.
The Talented Mr Ripley
Herbert Greenleaf (played by James Rebhorn), a wealthy American shipowner, sends Tom Ripley (Matt Damon) to bring his son home. Dickie Greenleaf (Jud Law) is an expatriate in Italy, steeped in idleness and exhausting his father's fortune. Arriving in Italy, Tom Ripley is captivated by Dickie's world and gets immersed in it. Living alone looks terrific to him.
"You will not make yourself an idol ..." But Tom Ripley ignores this statement. This is a unique opportunity for him to rise and shine. An equally popular book was originally written by Patricia Highsmith, star novelist of psychological thrillers. In 1999, Anthony Minghella directed and wrote the film adaptation of the novel. With The Talented Mr Ripley, he questions all the derivatives of oneself -- the one who doubts, the one who covets, the one who loves, the one who does not know how to love, the one who loves badly and hurts, the one who hesitates, the one who has talent. But the talent for what?
No Escape
American Jack Dwyer (incarnated by Owen Wilson) is what we call an "accomplished man". Successful in business, he married Annie (Lake Bell), and they have two daughters, Lucy and Beeze (Sterling Jerins and Claire Geare). This dream family needed a postcard-like decor and atmosphere. So they head to Southeast Asia for its dazzling landscapes. The Dwyers can already imagine themselves savouring the “luxury expat life”. But, their utopia quickly comes to an end. Their city sinks into a coup.
With No Escape (2015), John Erick Dowdle (script and director) plays on the “what if”. At a time when politico-social movements threaten the balance of states, the question deserves to be asked. Shot in Thailand, No Escape is the epitome of the tensions between two cultures that struggle to understand each other. However, there are bridges, like Hammond (Pierce Brosnan), a perfectly integrated expatriate. Still, the script is criticized for certain agreed-upon situations (Jack, the touching father who struggles to save his wife and daughters) and a slight Manichaeism. But the film has the merit of avoiding any ethnocentrism. The Dwyers are an ordinary family in chaos. The anguish is palpable, the pace sustained. The question comes back to drum in our hearts: and if this happened to us, how would we react? Now is the time to dip a hand in comforting popcorns: luckily, this is only fiction. But what if it was true?
L'Auberge Espagnole
After the chaos and the psychological thriller, it's time for a comedy-type culture shock. Xavier (Romain Duris), a student from Paris, moves to Barcelona for his last year. His girlfriend Martine (Audrey Tautou) is inconsolable. But Xavier promised that Erasmus would be just for a year. So Xavier finds himself in Barcelona in a flatshare 6 other roommates: an Englishwoman, an Italian, a Spanish, a Dane, a German, and a Belgian -- a real melting pot.
L'Auberge Espagnole is a classic expat movie full of nostalgia for student years. For young students who are about to travel overseas, it is a comic projection of the adventures they might experience abroad. The movie, by Cédric Klapish (the director also signs the screenplay) in 2002, is still relevant today. How easy is it for international students to adapt to the culture of a new country? How to compromise with certain aspects? What seems obvious to some is not necessarily obvious to others. Today, considering the global health crisis along with political and economic tensions, moving abroad for studies isn't what it used to be. Besides, studying abroad has become more expensive. Shared accommodation is appealing not only to young students but also to families and retirees, who see it as a new way of living together with other people.
Lost in translation
Bob would like a manual to learn how to simply live. Another great classic, Lost in Translation plunges you into the daily life of an expat, the meaning of which we do not always understand. People come and go -- getting trapped in a daily life that they fail to understand -- time flies, life stagnates or gets wasted. Bob Harris (Bill Murray) flees to Tokyo. He didn't choose the city. Money decided for him. He is an actor who has to shoot an ad in the Japanese capital. But Bob feels terribly alone in his international hotel room. He comes across Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), an American accompanying her husband, a photographer, who shows compassion for Bob's distress. Both loners decide to tour Tokyo overnight.
With Lost in Translation, Sofia Coppola explores all the rough edges of the human psyche. The director, who also signs the screenplay, produces an amazingly bright movie in the heart of the city that never sleeps - with a twist of humour. Bob and Charlotte are fragile and sensitive -- the embodiment of a human's characteristics.
Nobody's watching
This is the story of Nico (played by Guillermo Pfening), who is a babysitter, a bartender and, above all, an actor. Star of Argentinian telenovelas, Nico leaves everything to live the American dream in New York. From castings to setbacks, he tries to survive in a city of concrete. But things change with her ex-boyfriend's visit. Nico starts wondering why she ever moved to the United States.
Julia Solomonoff writes and directs the very touching Nobody's Watching (2018) with the help of Christina Lazaridi on the screenplay side. The movie is actually about immigration, knowing oneself, strict conditions for obtaining visas, discrimination, etc. Nobody's watching paints with simplicity and sensitivity the journey of an expat, alone in a huge and bustling city. Nico embodies all those anonymous people that nobody ever thinks of. This empathetic, sensitive and gentle film invites a moment of reflection.
A Passage to India
Freshly arrived in India with Mrs Moore, her future mother-in-law (Peggy Ashcroft), Adela (Judy David) discovers a land tampered with by segregationist England. The two ladies reunite with Ronny (Nigel Havers), Adela's future husband, who is also a judge. But Adela does not like the stilted world in which they are trying to lock her. She wants to explore the real India. She comes across Aziz (Victor Banerjee), a young local doctor, Richard Fielding (James Fox), an English teacher who has perfectly blended into the population, and Professor Godbole (Alec Guinness), an old Brahmin sage.
An initiatory quest, A Passage to India (1984) is David Lean's last movie. The director revisits the script here and adapts one of British novelist E.M. Foster's greatest successes: A Passage to India, published in 1924. The film's main character is India. The country is sublimated by David Lean, displaying a magnificent mixture of sumptuous landscapes. The great story is intertwined with the fate of a woman wanting to escape the conventional. But the drama is never far away. The film questions our degrees of openness as expats. How can two cultures really understand each other?
Indian Palace
India again, but from both a touching and comical angle. For Evelyn (Judi Dench), Graham (Tom Wilkinson), Muriel (Maggie Smith), Douglas (Bill Nighy), Jean (Penelope Wilson), Norman (Ronald Pickup), and Madge (Celia Imrie), retiring in the UK tastes like premature death. So they decide to drop everything to live the great adventure. An enigmatic brochure leads them to Marigold Hotel, a luxury palace for the rich elderly. They land in Jaipur and discover a new living environment. But this turns into a nightmare in no time. From a palace, the Marigold Hotel has not even retained its aura. Everything is almost in ruins, ready for excavation.
Before Indian Palace, there is These Foolish Things, Deborah Moggach's bestselling novel written in 2004. In 2012, director John Madden made a comedy; the humorously British script is written by Ol Parker. The resilient heroes, who are in their seventies, have no other choice than simply live. If the Marigold Hotel can get a facelift, they believe they too can rediscover themselves. So it ends on a positive note, at least.
But the list is not exhaustive. There are many other movies about expat life, such as A Room With a View about female emancipation, Casablanca, Eat, Pray, Love and romantic Under the Tuscan sun. Enjoy your movie night!
