“Movies are a form of escapism” said someone probably at some point. And when have we all wanted to escape our lives more than right now? Sometimes you’ll want to escape into something comforting and familiar. Sometimes you’ll need to escape into a world new to you. In this series, I shall guide you through the genres of film & tv escapism so we can all experience something, anything, else.
This could become far too wide of a “genre” if I just meant movies that take place in countries other than your own. That’s, like, most of the film industry. I’m recommending movies, and shows, that take place in a foreign country and specifically show off the beauty of that country, make you want to go there, the character’s aren’t just people who live there, they are also travellers, and you get to live vicariously through them as they explore new places.
I want to begin my international travels with a comfort movie- the first one that comes to mind is Under the Tuscan Sun. Beautiful Tuscany. And the story is just Diane Lane being lovely, surrounded by nice Italian people, nothing too terrible happens and everything works out great in the end. Ahhh, the soothing balm of a comfort movie.
Add some British humor to your travels by following Steve Coogan and Rob Bryden around England (The Trip), Italy (The Trip to Italy), Spain (The Trip to Spain), and Greece (The Trip to Greece). They’re all series that are also edited into movies, so take your pick for how much time you want to spend with them. The movies show off the countries’ food, wine, restaurants, cities and villages, landscapes and seascapes, and roads. There is a plot through each, but most of the fun comes from the men’s banter, including their recurring Michael Caine impressions.
For more British humor, and an actual travel show, watch Travel Man: 48 Hours in… hosted by Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd). Richard’s deadpan humor and curmudgeon personality make for a unique take on a travel show. He’s full of the facts, but he’s not feigning enthusiasm like most travel show hosts; he’s feigning disinterest. Which makes it all the more fun with his often comedian guests, creating a new odd couple for every new city full of new adventures. They hit some expected cities and expected tourist attractions, but they always throw in some little-known places and activities which make the show fun to watch and make you actually want to travel to that city.
What’s travel without romance, hmm? Plenty of rom-coms take their couple around Europe as they fall in love- remember Only You with baby Robert Downey Jr? Or fluff like Letters to Juliet? Lest we forget the original foreign city romance movie in Before Sunrise (and it’s sequels, Before Sunset and Before Midnight).
Of course there are plenty of documentaries to show you the wonders across the world, should you want to escape to rainforests, desserts, and arctic tundras. (Most of those are depressing now, though; they always end with Mr. Attenborough warning us that all the cute animals we just saw are going to die unless we do something about climate change.) Poetic non-fiction films like Baraka and Samsara will show you many wonders of the human and natural world. And one of my favorite films, The Fall, uses some of the same gorgeous landscapes and locations to tell its epic, wondrous story.
In our world of restricted travel, it’s a nice escape to visit other countries through film, and remember the Before Times, when people traveled and touched each other and spoke moistly.