Best movies like Calamari Union
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Calamari Union is an allegorical movie that tells the story of sixteen men all of whom are called Frank (inspired by Frank Armoton) apart from a single confrere, Pekka. Collectively the Franks and Pekka are unhappy with the perceived oppression they face in their district of Helsinki, Kallio, and decide to move to another, Eira, imagining it to be an unspoiled place where people can live lives of dignity. The journey is an ironic one given that both districts are not so far apart. In this spirit, their journey across the city takes on epic proportions with each of the travellers gradually falling by the wayside due to such travails as marriage, work, and death. In its entirety the film is a wry discussion of humanity within a system that regards humans as subservient components.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: Finland
Duration: 81 min
Plot tags: black and white, visual, cult classic, atmospheric, humorous, surreal, dark comedy, sincere, bleak, gloomy
Best tv shows and movies like Calamari Union (1985):
Similar in 76%
Hamlet Goes Business (1987)
Plot Summary:
A bizarre black-and-white film noir reworking of Shakespeare's 'Hamlet'.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Finland
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, neo noir, black and white, surprise ending, avant garde
Similar in 87%
Shadows in Paradise (1986)
Plot Summary:
An episode in the life of Nikander, a garbage man, involving the death of a co-worker, an affair and much more.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Finland
Duration: 74 min
Plot tags: art house, dark comedy, contemplative, sentimental, humorous, realistic, semi serious
Similar in 82%
Lapland Odyssey (2010)
Plot Summary:
Lapland Odyssey is a comedy about Janne, a man from Lapland in northern Finland, a man who has made a career out of living on welfare. Inari, his girlfriend, is tired of Janne's incapability of getting a grip on life, Janne wasn't even able to buy a digital TV box that Inari had given money for. Inari gives an ultimatum: a digital box needs to arrive by dawn or she leaves. Janne sets out into the night with his two friends to find a box. On their way to the city of Rovaniemi, Janne and his friends face many challenges, obstacles and temptations. They learn that they need to be daring. There's no room to give into bitterness. The most important thing isn't success, but rather the journey in itself.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Finland, Sweden, Ireland
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: light, entertaining, intense, funny, unusual plot structure, humorous, stylized, visually appealing, offbeat, realistic
Similar in 90%
Zombie and the Ghost Train (1991)
Plot Summary:
Antti "Zombie" Autiomaa does two things well: play the bass guitar and drink. After several months' sleeping on the streets of Istanbul, he returns to Helsinki where he's called into the army but discharged on mental health grounds after adding turpentine to the officers' soup. Zombie lives bleary-eyed in an apartment off his parents' house where his lonely, unemployed father suffers from heart disease. His girl-friend Marjo has taken up with a hairdresser but comes back to Zombie. His friend Harri hires him as a roadie for his band "Harry and the Mulefukkers" then gives him a chance as a bass player. He has his girl and he has a gig, but can Zombie put the bottle down?.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: Finland
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: offbeat, realistic, humorous, gloomy, semi serious
Similar in 84%
The Man Without a Past (2002)
Plot Summary:
The second part of Aki Kaurismäki's "Finland" trilogy, the film follows a man who arrives in Helsinki and gets beaten up so severely he develops amnesia. Unable to remember his name or anything from his past life, he cannot get a job or an apartment, so he starts living on the outskirts of the city and slowly starts putting his life back on track.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Finland, Germany, France
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: bleak, satirical, black comedy, touching, humorous, semi serious, dark comedy, clever, contemplative, art house
Similar in 76%
The Other Side of Hope (2017)
Plot Summary:
A restaurateur befriends a Syrian refugee who has recently arrived in Finland.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Finland, Germany
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: humorous, serious, captivating, realistic, comedy drama, political, social, absurd, art house, intercultural
Similar in 81%
All My Friends Are Funeral Singers (2010)
Plot Summary:
Zel is a fortune teller. She lives and works in an old house at the edge of the woods. The house is crowded with ghosts (including a priest, a bride, a mute child, some washed up vaudevillians and a noisy, sight-impaired group of musicians among others) that have been there for as long as she can remember. When a mysterious light appears in the woods the ghosts realize that they are trapped and begin to rebel. Zel is forced to come to terms with the origins of these spirits and letting go of the only family she has ever known.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 269
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, humorous, semi serious, surreal, captivating, independent film, uplifting, offbeat, experimental, underground film
Similar in 75%
Downtown 81 (2000)
Plot Summary:
The film is a day in the life of a young artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat, who needs to raise money to reclaim the apartment from which he has been evicted. He wanders the downtown streets carrying a painting he hopes to sell, encountering friends, whose lives (and performances) we peek into.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 72 min
Plot tags: humorous, witty, semi serious, sincere, atmospheric, clever, contemplative, grim, offbeat, gloomy
Similar in 87%
Drifting Clouds (1996)
Plot Summary:
Tram driver Lauri looses his job. Shortly later, the restaurant where his wife Ilona works as a headwaitress is closed. Too proud, to receive money from the social welfare system, they hardly try to find new jobs. But they are completely unlucky and clumsy, one disaster is followed by the next. Finally, their courage, confidence, and their unbreakable love triumph over the fate.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Finland, Germany, France
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, touching, realistic, inspirational, uplifting, clever, humorous, semi serious, sexy, thought provoking
Similar in 89%
I Hired a Contract Killer (1990)
Plot Summary:
After fifteen years' service, Henri Boulanger is made redundant from his job. Shocked, he attempts suicide, but can't go through with it, so he hires a contract killer in a seedy bar to murder him at some unspecified time in the future. But almost immediately he meets and falls in love with Margaret, a flower-seller, which makes Henri realise that his life has some meaning after all. But when he goes back to the bar to cancel the contract, he finds it has been demolished - and there's no way he can get in touch with the killer.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Romance
Country: Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, UK
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: dark comedy, black comedy, neo noir, surreal, humorous, realistic, gloomy, semi serious, independent film, cult film
Similar in 76%
Leningrad Cowboys Go America (1989)
Plot Summary:
The Leningrad Cowboys, a group of Finnish musicians, and their manager, travel to America seeking fame and fortune. As they cross the country, trying to get to a wedding in Mexico, they are followed by the village idiot, who wishes to join the band.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Music
Country: Finland, Sweden
Duration: 79 min
Plot tags: road movie, humorous, funny, light, satirical, surreal, cult classic, art house, offbeat, realistic
Similar in 84%
The Match Factory Girl (1990)
Plot Summary:
Iris (Kati Outinen) has a soul-deadening job as a quality-control worker watching boxes of matches go by on an assembly line all day. At night, she eats silently with her dour mother (Elina Salo) and stepfather (Esko Nikkari). One weekend, wearing her new red dress at a local dance, she ends up going home with Aarne (Vesa Vierikko), whom she mistakenly believes is her new boyfriend. When she discovers that she's pregnant, years of pent-up rage explode in a shocking outburst.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 11000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Drama
Country: Finland, Sweden
Duration: 69 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, art house, disturbing, atmospheric, harsh, psychological, depressing, dark comedy, gloomy
Similar in 89%
In the Soup (1992)
Plot Summary:
An aspiring young filmmaker gets involved with an eccentric gangster for the financing of his first film.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Spain
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: black and white, dark comedy, thought provoking, intellectual, surreal, indie film, independent film, touching, humorous, realistic
Similar in 82%
The Bohemian Life (1992)
Plot Summary:
Three penniless artists become friends in modern-day Paris: Rodolfo, an Albanian painter with no visa, Marcel, a playwright and magazine editor with no publisher, and Schaunard, a post-modernist composer of execrable noise.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Finland, France, Sweden, Germany
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: black and white, dark comedy, spiritual, art house, cerebral, sincere, atmospheric, touching, humorous, captivating
Similar in 78%
Mister Lonely (2007)
Plot Summary:
In Paris, a young American who works as a Michael Jackson lookalike meets Marilyn Monroe, who invites him to her commune in Scotland, where she lives with Charlie Chaplin and her daughter, Shirley Temple.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK, France, Ireland, USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: surreal, humorous, semi serious, atmospheric, avant garde, offbeat, mind bending, psychedelic, experimental, psychological
Similar in 86%
The Human Resources Manager (2010)
Plot Summary:
A tragic comedy centered on the HR manager of Israel's largest industrial bakery, who sets out to save the reputation of his business and prevent the publication of a defamatory article.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Israel, Germany, France, Romania
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: tragicomedy, sincere, road movie, humorous, captivating, touching, serious, realistic, grotesque
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Nodame Cantabile: The Movie I (2009)
Plot Summary:
Following the success of the popular Japanese romantic comedy drama, NODAME CANTABILE: THE MOVIE hits the big screen! Hiroshi Tamaki and Juri Ueno reprise in their roles and continue their love for music and their pursuit for their ambitions. Chiaki (Hiroshi Tamaki) is an aspiring conductor who faces the challenge of leading an orchestra which is made up of substitutes. Nodame (Juri Ueno) gives her support to her beloved as she works hard towards achieving her dream to pass a promotion exam at their music conservatory. Will Chiaki be able to revive a broken down orchestra and launch his musical career? What will become of Nodame and Chiaki's relationship?.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: Japan
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: humorous, realistic, semi serious, feel good, dorama, manga, anime, slapstick
Similar in 87%
You, the Living (2007)
Plot Summary:
In the Swedish city of Lethe, people from different walks of life take part in a series of short, deadpan vignettes that rush past. Some are just seconds long, none longer than a couple of minutes. A young woman (Jessica Lundberg) remembers a fantasy honeymoon with a rock guitarist. A man awakes from a dream about bomber planes. A businessman boasts about success while being robbed by a pickpocket and so on. The absurdist collection is accompanied by Dixieland jazz and similar music.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: Sweden, Germany, France, Denmark, Norway, Japan
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: surreal, dark comedy, philosophical, melancholic, ironic, meditative, tragicomedy, black comedy, art house, visually appealing
Similar in 87%
Tomorrow's Another Day (2000)
Plot Summary:
Such an inconsequential event - the unfortunate purchase of a package of cling film - reveals the character and behavior of a small group of individuals caught up in the chaos of today's society. Though it creates arguments and inner questioning, this event - and its various consequences - also creates bonds.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 535
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: France
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: humorous, semi serious, realistic, clever, offbeat
Similar in 85%
Le Havre (2011)
Plot Summary:
Marcel Marx, a former bohemian and struggling author, has given up his literary ambitions and relocated to the port city Le Havre. He leads a simple life based around his wife Arletty, his favourite bar and his not too profitable profession as a shoeshiner. As Arletty suddenly becomes seriously ill, Marcel's path crosses with an underage illegal immigrant from Africa, who needs Marcel's help to hide from the police.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Finland, France, Germany
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: sentimental, romantic, atmospheric, surreal, uplifting, touching, dark comedy, thought provoking, inspirational, philosophical
Similar in 87%
Frank (2014)
Plot Summary:
A young wannabe musician who discovers he has bitten off more than he can chew when he joins an eccentric pop band led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 82000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: Ireland, UK
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: surreal, melancholic, absurd, tragicomedy, touching, black comedy, dark comedy, semi serious, psychological, feel good
Similar in 85%
One-Way Ticket to Mombasa (2002)
Plot Summary:
Pete loses his consciousness while playing in a pop band. The diagnosis is harsh and the doctor cannot say for sure whether Pete will celebrate his 18th birthday. One night, encouraged by the vodka on Jusa's 18th birthday, Pete confesses his love to Kata, his dream girl. Together with Jusa, they go to Lapland where Kata has her summer job. In Jusa's wild company, Pete experiences something which he never felt before as they decide to take a trip to Mombasa via Lapland.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Finland
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: road movie, sentimental, touching, humorous, semi serious, realistic, sincere, captivating, offbeat
Similar in 84%
Songs from the Second Floor (2000)
Plot Summary:
A film poem inspired by the Peruvian poet César Vallejo. A story about our need for love, our confusion, greatness and smallness and, most of all, our vulnerability. It is a story with many characters, among them a father and his mistress, his youngest son and his girlfriend. It is a film about big lies, abandonment and the eternal longing for companionship and confirmation.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, France, Germany
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: surreal, atmospheric, black comedy, philosophical, art house, disturbing, talky, depressing, melancholic, meditative
Similar in 81%
Either Way (2011)
Plot Summary:
Icelandic drama about two remote road-workers.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 631
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Iceland
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: humorous, atmospheric, contemplative, captivating, psychological, offbeat, realistic, talky, semi serious
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The Concert (2009)
Plot Summary:
A former world-famous conductor of the Bolshoï orchestra, known as "The Maëstro", Andreï Filipov had seen his career publicly broken by Leonid Brezhnev for hiring Jewish musicians and now works cleaning the concert hall where he once directed. One day, he intercepts an official invitation from the prestigious Théâtre du Châtelet. Through a series of mad antics, he reunites his old orchestra, now composed of old alcoholic musicians, and flies to perform in Paris and complete the Tchaikovsky concerto interrupted 30 years earlier. For the concerto, he engages a young violin soloist with whom he has an unexpected connection.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: France, Italy, Romania, Belgium
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: touching, melancholic, captivating, sentimental, feel good, breathtaking, sincere, surreal, humorous, realistic
Similar in 85%
Rubin and Ed (1991)
Plot Summary:
Reclusive Rubin Farr teams up with vocal but unsuccessful multi-level salesman Ed Tuttle on a quest to bury Rubin's dead cat in the "perfect spot." Their trip takes them across Utah's desert where they have run-ins with Ed'd ex-wife Rula and an elusive Andy Warhol critic.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags: road movie, dark comedy, cult classic, surreal, psychotronic, indie film, buddy comedy, offbeat, feel good, humorous
Similar in 88%
Bunny and the Bull (2009)
Plot Summary:
A young shut-in takes an imaginary road trip inside his apartment, based on mementos and memories of a European trek from years before.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: surreal, mind bending, touching, humorous, captivating, semi serious, inspirational, psychedelic, art house, visual
Similar in 82%
Intimate Stories (2002)
Plot Summary:
Three people and a baby set off on separate journeys, along the same road; their disparate dreams and stories intertwine amidst the breathtaking deserted Patagonic route.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: Argentina, Spain
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: road movie, sentimental, humorous, realistic, sincere, touching, semi serious, anthology
Similar in 84%
Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)
Plot Summary:
Coffee And Cigarettes is a collection of eleven films from cult director Jim Jarmusch. Each film hosts star studded cast of extremely unique individuals who all share the common activities of conversing while drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 67000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: USA, Japan, Italy
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: philosophical, intellectual, atmospheric, black and white, ironic, anthology, humorous, independent film, stylized, psychological
Similar in 85%
Papa Was Not a Rolling Stone (2014)
Plot Summary:
The 1980s. Stéphanie grows up in La Courneuve, on the outskirts of Paris, in a home where her mother is rarely there and her step-father is brutal. She quickly decides to escape her morose everyday life. Thanks to her grandmother's love, reading, her passion for dance, and for French pop-star Jean-Jacques Goldman, Stéphanie copes in this colorful neighborhood where friendship is primordial. One day, she knows that she'll leave this place to lead the life she's always dreamed of.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 159
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Music
Country: France
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, humorous, semi serious, realistic