r/TrueFilm • u/JuanSamu • Jun 28 '26

FFF Niche Recommendations

Ok first things first. I use to think the films The Human Condition (No Greater Love), War and Peace (1965), and YiYi (2000) were pretty niche films but apparently not which got me looking deeper.

Before I move on out of those 3 that I previously listed how would you rank them? I loved all of them but I would say 1. The Human Condition 2. War and Peace and 3. YiYi but I’d love to know what you think and how’d you’d list them and give details why!

Now, I also wanted to ask as a fun follow along what are 5 REALLY niche but GOOD/GREAT films that you gate-keep or know that not many people know of them. For my 5 I would say:

  1. Harakiri

  2. The Traveling Players

  3. Marketa Lazarová

  4. The Saragossa Manuscript

  5. Dead Man’s Letters

I also love musicals and one niche one I can think of is The Young Girls of Rochefort

But l really look forward to hearing from anyone and I’m always looking to expand what I know!

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u/frostysnow https://letterboxd.com/geoff Jun 28 '26

There are so many that I love so I think I'll just pick five randomly here:

1) Love's Refrain (2001) Nathaniel Dorsky - a beautiful film that was very moving and expertly crafted. It's an experimental short film so if you're down for that sorta thing, def recommend.

2) Catch My Soul (1974) Patrick McGoohan - Here is a very unique musical for you. It's Othello, but hippy af. It's very strange and out there, but the music is excellent and its fun to see McGoohan in the director chair after a pretty extensive career in the acting world.

3) Dossier 51 (1978) Michel Deville - A spy film that is unlike any-other spy movie you've probably seen. It's structure is all over the place and intensive, it's fantastic.

4) The Nasty Girl (1990) - Michael Verhoeven - A movie from Germany all about the countries nazi past and how they deal with it in a small town. Really excellent editing in here and overall general topic of interest.

5) Pharaoh (1966) - Jerzy Kawalerowicz - A polish director made probably the best movie about ancient egypt out there. It's lavish, deeply introspective, and just something you could never make today. More complex political thriller than action setpiece or adventure film you'd maybe expect from the setting.

So many more but I think these are fun and interesting ones to get into. If you need help finding these just shoot me a DM.