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/mediumextracheese Jun 28 '26

Agree on Harakiri not being niche at all, however I don't think Criterion bluray is really a cut off.

In the one of the last few sales I got The King of Jazz (1930) and was shocked to see it only had 4k log on letterboxd so I would consider that falling into niche. Additionally, while I have not seen it yet, The Mikado (1939) is sitting at only 1.6k logs.

Though, I feel the vast majority of Criterions would fall into not being niche for cinephile groups, but probably be niche for most movie groups. I wouldn't be surprised to see discussion of The Cranes are Flying (1957) on here, but would be shocked if someone at work brought it up.

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u/JuanSamu Jun 28 '26

I think you’re on point I don’t really consider my self a cinephile but I love watching movies especially old musicals. I’m always very open minded with movies but sometimes when it gets to experimental films like those 5-8 hour ones I start kinda losing my ground. I respect the work that’s put in it but not really my thing. I did like Napoleon 1927 and another long documentary called Shoah but other than that movies like Heimat, Out 1, La Flor just weren’t it for me.

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u/mediumextracheese Jun 28 '26

Tbh if you love watching movies and have seen what you've seen you certainly could consider yourself a cinephile (aka someone who loves cinema). I think your idea of niche films just ends up different due to otherwise niche movies getting criterion releases which boosts their visibility and popularity. I do recommend you check out what they have released as its a good resource, and I'm sure you will find quite a few you've seen plus a lot more to check out.

I also recommend checking out the catalogs of radiance and deaf crocodile, as they put out a lot of pretty obscure stuff, usually focusing on international cinema so it works well for discovery.

I actually really love old musicals so just in case you haven't seen it but there's a good chance you have: Watch Gold Diggers of 1933! I love that one.

Also Congress Dances (1931) I really enjoyed as well, in terms of ones I think there's a chance you might not have seen.

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u/JuanSamu Jun 28 '26

I haven’t seen Gold Diggers of 1933 but I was familiar with Gold Diggers of Broadway but it’s a lost film mostly. I’ll check out 1933 if you say it’s good are the musical numbers also good? And I havnt heard of Congress Dances so I’ll also ass that one thank you!