Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2022 July 5

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July 5

Looking for another Movie

Greetings. Perhaps someone could help me with this one. Within five years ago I watched a movie set in Romania with local and foreign actors about child trafficking, and the hero was an American ex special forces martial arts expert who lived in an apartment block, his neighbour being a woman and her daughter, who was no older than ten. The woman was mixed up with gangsters, and her little girl was kidnapped by them and dressed up like a prostitute for their purposes, so the American intervened to stop them. There were two Romanian cops investigating, the senior one, a man, turned out to be a crook, and was about to kill someone, so his partner, a very attractive dark haired woman, had to kill him. An Asian man was involved in buying some of the girls used by the gangsters, and he met them at some flash mansion somewhere. The movie is from two to ten years old, and I have seen some of the actors elsewhere, but I cannot recall - I even tried looking up every Romanian actress born from say the seventies onwards, but to no avail. If anyone has any ideas, they would be appreciated. Thank You. Chris the Russian Christopher Lilly 09:19, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

Six Bullets --Viennese Waltz 11:38, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

No, sorry, this is not it. It looked promising, and certainly has a similar plot, but when I looked through it on YouTube, it was clearly not the same one, and Jean Claude van Damme was not in the one I saw, and with all due respect to the actors in it, there were no really big names. The little girl had dark hair. From this movie I even tried looking up other films the Romanian actors had done, and when I tried Romania as a keyword on IMDB, I end up primarily with Dracula type movies, but this had nothing to do with it. I believe the movie is more recent, but I cannot be sure. Of course, the police woman in the movie might not even be a Romanian actress, but just playing a Romanian, just like some of the actors in 6 Bullets. Thank You, though, and I will keep looking myself. Chris the Russian Christopher Lilly 23:52, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

American ex special forces martial arts experts are usually played by Steven Seagal or Chuck Norris, I suggest looking through the oeuvres of those two artistes. DuncanHill (talk) 15:46, 6 July 2022 (UTC)

Thank You. Neither of them are in it. The martial artist was American, but not as well known - I cannot remember whether I had seen him in anything else. He was aged from about 25 to late thirties, so now he could be as old as his early forties, or as young as thirty. The woman was about the same age as he was, and the little girl was about say twelve or under. Chris the Russian Christopher Lilly 22:54, 6 July 2022 (UTC)

Another 'B' movie

Around 1990 the support movie at our local cinema was called Friends, of which I can find no trace. The opening scene was a vast post-WWII German repository or archive, where an older man is searching for news of his pre-war friend. It then cuts to the story of two young college-age men: a Jew and a Junker-class Arian, close friends who reluctantly go their separate ways when the latter is called up. Doug butler (talk) 15:08, 5 July 2022 (UTC)

I'm not seeing it here, though it's a very long list to review. Was the film itself German or German language? If so, you may find it on one of the lists here or in the categories here. We also have a category for films set in Nazi Germany you can review here. Not very helpful, but they're places to start at least. Matt Deres (talk) 13:00, 6 July 2022 (UTC)

Alas, no, on all accounts. After what I thought was diligent searching I came to conclude the one-word title may have been Australia- or Commonwealth-only. Was it subtitled? I don't remember, just of being immersed in the situation and the atmosphere of the film, which doesn't happen often. Doug butler (talk) 15:23, 6 July 2022 (UTC)

I'd think that even alternate titles would show up in places like the IMDb, but there's a reason it's not considered a reliable source. The TV show is making the search difficult as well, but there are loads of other movies also called friends that are still findable. It's an extreme long shot, but I suppose you could try contacting the movie theatre. They would not have records going back 30 years, but if it's an independent cinema the people there are often very knowledgeable about movies and could possibly make suggestions. Matt Deres (talk) 20:31, 6 July 2022 (UTC)

Surprisingly, the (indie) Windsor Theatre, Brighton SA is still running, still two-film sessions (changed twice weekly) and probably still half the tariff of the first-release cinemas. But without a firm date it would be a big ask. Doug butler (talk) 23:13, 6 July 2022 (UTC)

Not so big if the question is simply "Do you happen to remember this movie?" I think the manager of a theater like that would be pleased to be asked. --174.89.144.80 (talk) 04:41, 7 July 2022 (UTC)

Exactly. "Hey, this is a weird question but thirty years ago I saw a movie here that I'm trying to remember..." But I would not provide the name unless they're drawing a complete blank otherwise. You seem very sure of it, but it may be that the film was actually called something else. Starting them off with Friends might prevent them from recalling it. Matt Deres (talk) 12:12, 9 July 2022 (UTC)