International Cinema

Another activity that I heartily recommend is attendance at the International Cinema. A lot of work goes into ordering, editing and showing these movies. When I was a student, we had to pay to watch these movies, and the movies were well worth the price of admission. However, the College of Humanities deemed the International Cinema to be crucial to its students who are learning foreign languages. Therefore, the department agreed to subsidize the program so that all students could attend free of charge.

Many movies shown at International Cinema are so-called “art films.” In these films, the producer and director explore a topic or try to get across a message. This topic or message may not be immediately apparent. You may have to give the movie some contemplation on your part. However, because of their very nature, many of these movies are thought-provoking works of art. I have recommended these movies to students only to have some students complain that the film was not as thrilling as the last action-packed movie they paid money to watch in a theater. Now, I do not wish to bad mouth action movies, I enjoy them also, but sometimes a movie can have value beyond its ability to entertain.

These movies can be an excellent cheap date. You may have to warn your date that the movie might be a little different than a typical American movie. But you may get someone to go with you if you are frank in requesting your date’s help to puzzle out the meaning of a movie. If you have a good date, questions you ask about the movie might lead to a good discussion about the way people act in certain situations or about the meaning of a plot or a scene.

Many Japanese movies that are featured in the International Cinema can lend insight into Japanese culture and Japanese ways of thought. Moreover, these movies can be a great opportunity to observe how native speakers use the language to interact with other native speakers. I know that the language aspect of Japanese movies can be a humbling experience. Once you get off the topic of the Gospel, your listening abilities may be severely tested. It can be tempting to say “Man, they were speaking some strange Japanese there.” Our egos seem to prefer to blame the actors for the delivery of lines rather than our comprehension abilities. But if you ever want to get to the point where you can watch and enjoy Japanese movies without subtitles, I would suggest that you begin by watching plenty of Japanese movies with subtitles. After you leave B.Y.U., you might lose the chance to see many subtitled Japanese movies that the International Cinema somehow finds. If you do not attend the International Cinema, you are missing out on an activity that you will not have again later in life. To find what films are scheduled, along with screening times, visit

http://ic.byu.edu