Anyone find european movie overly erotic and really weird?

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Is it just me or are euro movies overly erotic and weird? It seems like many european movies are produced/directed by sexually frustrated men with some really strange and dull imaginations. Wathching some of them, leave me all

For example:
Pola X (French. Adult son watching his mom bathe, is that "normal" in europe?)
Fellini Satyricon (Italian)
Story of O (aka Histoire d'O. French.)
Obsession (Italian. Liked the sax performances though.)
Lady Chatterley (French)
...and a few others that I don't recall their title.
The plots are boring, uninteresting, or difficult to discern and/or watching the same girl naked throughout the film quickly cloys.

Some European films, albeit some are a bit weird; nevertheless, I have enjoyed:
Europa Europa (actually a very excellent film)
Run Lola Run (aka "Lola rennt". German.)
Funny Games (German)
A Clockwork Orange (British. Really cool film.)
Perfume: The story of a murderer (German, but in English language)
Suite 16 (Dutch, but in English. I liked it only because of Geraldine Pailhas!)
Emmanuelle (French. I dig the "smoking" scene.)
The Elevator (Romanian. Really depressing film; however, the actress is very pretty.)
Perros Callejeros (Spanish. Something about this Spanish B-movie allures me.)
Matador (Spanish. Weird, but I kinda liked it.)
...and a few other Spanish films, only because I have a thing for Spanish women.

In summary: French and Italians are weirdos, not so much for Germans.

at the time i saw it [1980s] i thought "Betty Blue" was exceptionally weird, in its own gallic way.

I love European and foreign movies in general! I think its a cultural thing, since countries like France are less sexually repressed than the US (assuming you're North American).

You could make a similar topic in the vein of "Is it just me or are American movies overly violent?"

yes, it is not my imagination that non-american movies are discernibly more sexy than american movies usually are [thanks to MPAA and CARA and the bible belt ] and that american movies are discernibly more violent [but in a cartoony way] than most non-american movies. but the foreign flicks that ARE violent tend to be far gorier [especially japanese samurai flicks] than american violent movies which usually have well-choreographed but relatively bloodless violence. it is puritanical uniquely american censorship which makes this so. i thought betty blue was weird because it was about a mentally ill girl/woman who was murdered by her man as a mercy-killing. not that i am against mercy-killing in particular, but for the typical american of a fundamentalist religious bent, that would be quite a challenge to watch and not be appalled.

As with Hollywood, there are lots of lousy,seedy,wierd movies/films coming out of Europe, but also many good ones. For a good recent French film, with a "feel good" factor maybe you should see the The Intouchables. Then give me your opinion on French films.
Other good classics from Italy, e.g. Life is Beautiful, Cinema Paradiso ; these are all films with drama, feeling, emotion and warmth. European films tend to be more powerful in terms of emotions.

Hollywood seems so synthetically put together with an industry-standard formula. Most are so predictable. There's some hero character, there are standard ingredients such as some fighting, action, emotions, break-ups, and then 90% of the time the hero comes out winning somehow. Whether that be an action move or a drama or a comedy.

Films from Europe tend to feel more realistic to me.
But then again, I live there.

Some, if not most, of the best films I've seen are foreign.
Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring are French and absolutely gorgeous.
Irreversible is also French but will give you nightmares.
Pan's Labyrinth is Spanish. Excellent atmospheric thriller/fairy tale.
Amadeus, my favourite film, is by a Czech director. (I think he's Czech).
Man Facing Northeast and El Norte are South American films.
City of Hope is Swiss and Afganistan.

I understand that the pacing in European films is usually a lot different than in American films. Our films aren't as dialog driven and mostly have quicker edits while Euro films aren't afraid to drag a scene out with either dialog or long takes. Add to the fact that many of them have subtitles, it's pretty much a workout on the brain to have to read the film and adjust to the different style at the same time. Not everyone can do it and some of the films viewed as classics by some can be viewed as garbage by others. Me for example, Fellini's 8 1/2 and Bergman's Wild Strawberries are both regulars in the IMDB Top 250, but I personally think they're both boring as hell.

As far as Euro films being more sexually open than American films, I think that can be attributed to general European society as a whole being more sexually open than America. In the States, there's still a lot of the Puritanical mindset still buried in our subconscious that surfaces more frequently than in Europe. Of course the MPAA is the ultimate gatekeeper of film standards regarding business and moral decisions, but I'm not going to go there because I could spend all day ranting about how messed up they are.

I left out that I do prefer watching foreign films as opposed to American films, which of the majority of films are just mediocre at best (outside of some few comedies). Euro films can be really good OR really bad. The bad ones leave me with a "WTF did I just watch?" sensation.

Its fine if a society is less sexually repressed, but it seems euro film's main objective is to titillate. They appear to be like porn flicks; really poor plot and lots of nudity. I am a straight, sexual, secular male, and as I said before, watching the same chick nude throughout the film doesn't tickle me to enjoy a movie with a poor or weird plot.



I agree, but I've seen euro movies equally violent; for instance, Funny Games and A Clockwork Orange.



I agree with your 1st sentence.
Irrevesible! It didn't give me nightmares, it was a nightmare watching it. I dunno how I managed not to become epileptic viewing the start of that movie!!
I am fond of Amadeus too! But I consider it an American movie, nearly all the actors were American, if I recall correctly.
I'll check out the other films you listed. Thanks.



I am aware Life Is Beautiful and Cinema Paradiso are critically acclaimed, but I've yet to view them. I'll check them out, thanks.


True!

I recall you mentioning Irreversible in another thread. I might watch it due to the fact that I love terrifying myself. I've heard that Pan's Labyrinth is really good, so I'm definitely going to check it out.

Of these movies, I've seen exactly none. Must be a cultural deficit - I generally enjoy British and American movies much more than movies from continental Europe. I enjoyed la vita è bella, though - long live subtitles.