10.26.16 / Global

Exploring The World Through Films

As much as we encourage travel on this site, there are many moments when we can only be wishful about our desired adventures. During these times, there’s nothing else we can turn to other than films, which we can count on to transport us and give us a sense of fantasy. And while a rainy weekend at home is the time you’re most in need of a transporting effect, these films might just give you the motivation to buy a plane ticket and create your own story.

As much as we love travel, there are many moments when we can only dream about our desired adventures. During these times, there’s nothing else we can turn to other than films to transport us into a world of fantasy. And while a rainy weekend at home is the time you’re most in need of a transporting effect, these films might just give you the motivation to jump on a plane and create and write your own story.

Chungking Express

Wong Kar-Wai is a Hong Kong-based filmmaker who has the reputation of a great auteur, even if he doesn’t have the name recognition overseas. In Chungking Express, the pursuit of love is used to express loneliness, amplified by a densely packed Hong Kong. As anyone who lives in an urban metropolis knows, the city is always a part of the story.

Midnight In Paris

Woody Allen is most known for his deep and picaresque films about life and love in New York, but in the last decade he has been content taking those stories abroad. Midnight In Paris is all about romanticizing the past, but it also depicts the Paris that everyone dreams about visiting, with as much romance in the scenes of the city as the characters themselves.

The American

The American switches up the action-thriller genre, with a carefully paced story of an assassin. George Clooney’s character explores the small Italian town of Castel del Monte to remain out of sight and consider the actions of his past. While many films choose to showcase big cities like Rome, The American is a reminder of the beauty found in the little towns of a country.

Lost In Translation

It’s the most popular movie on this list, but it also perfectly depicted the feeling of being in a completely foreign environment. While the two characters start off tentative, they uncover the vibrancy that makes Tokyo one of the most favored destinations in the world. It’s clear by the end that they leave changed, and isn’t that what traveling is all about?

In Bruges

In Bruges is a black comedy, and like The American, it follows the premise of two Irish hitmen who need to lay low. Except the reason they are sent to Bruges of all places, is because their boss thinks of it like a city out of a fairy tale. Despite the darkness, there are plenty of comedic moments that have made this a cult favorite, and it’ll have you itching to visit Belgium.