R. M. N.

Last week, I saw a wonderful movie R.M.N. at the 60th New York Film Festival.

It was a fascinating portrayal of a village set in Romania. It covers a wide variety of topics — such as cultural xenophobia and economic disparity.

As someone who doesn’t see many international films, I had a wonderful experience. The best part of the film was all the languages spoken: Romanian, Hungarian, German, English, French, and Sinhala.

A neat design decision: the English subtitles changed colors as the characters talked (e.g. purple for French, orange for Hungarian, white for Romanian). It created this remarkable effect of seeing different cultures intersect in real time without knowing any words.

I left thinking despite how broad the world is, the issues remain the same. The human condition is universal, no matter where you go.

What international films have you recently seen that you loved?