Foreign flicks...
 

I did a search and didn't find a particular thread dedicated to foreign movies, so...what foreign films would you recommend (old and new)?

I just saw "A very long engagement" (good movie, by the same director as Amelie(also a great film), and while I was staying in France this summer I saw a movie that will soon be released here called "Les Choristes" (english title The Chorus) which is one of the most endearing films I've seen in ages.

Other good films-(and yes a lot of them are French films, I am a French student/teacher)

L'auberge espagnol
Cyrano de Bergerac
Life is beautiful
Camille Claudel
Ridicule
Les Comperes(an American remake was Father's Day, but the French version was much funnier)
Hero(really enjoyed this)
Crouching Tiger


I'm also down to watch other foreign language(non French) films, so let me know if there are any in particular that I should rent.

Ooh, I love foreign films! Here's my list of good French/francophone films. :)

~Jesus de Montreal (From Quebec, rather controversial regarding religion, but very very good).

~La Reine Margot (French, a historical drama)

~Bleu (French, part of a three film series of vignettes "Rouge, Blanc et Bleu)

~Au Revoir les Enfants (French, a war-time tear-jerker)

~Asterix et Obelix contre Cesar (It's really hilarious if you can find it - with Gerard Depardieu as Obelix)

what about run lola run? i watched it the other night at like 3 am and had tripped out dreams lol

i loved hero, too... can't think of any more though

Ugh, ugh, ugh at some of those movies.

-Rudey

Then recommend some instead of making a ridiculous ugh.

I love anything by the Chinese director Zhang Yimou. Raise the Red Lantern, To Live and Not One Less are especially good.

Well for example I don't understand how anyone can like Hero. The first reason for this is simply the story. I hated it. This was evident in the theatre and also talking with people afterwards. The reason was that I felt the same scene was replayed, over and over again because the story kept changing like that. The cinematography on the other hand was actually amazing and very beautiful. But I saw this a while ago as well since it was released in China earlier and I had a DVD from a chinese friend. She said in China it didn't get a great reception. But anyway that's just opinion.

Now here is my favorite foreign movie because it is so simple and beautiful. Cinema Paradiso. They actually released a new directors cut. But there are quite a few other movies I've seen so it's hard to recommend just one. Osama which was the first movie out of post-Taliban Afghanistan is great. Monsieur Ibrahim was also simple and fun. The Triplets of Belville had no talking really but was incredibly well created. An old, but classic, is Ran. And I just remembered, a good movie I saw was Yi Yi.

There are lots of movies that come out of Iran that have incredible reviews but they are so incredibly sad that I can't watch them anymore. Some don't even really flow well to me. The Circle was one of those movies. I believe it was banned in Iran and Canadians loved it when they saw it.

-Rudey

Well, for me it was about the cinematography in Hero...I thought the film was visually stunning, and while the story wasn't the best ever told, I did enjoy it as well, but maybe that's because I only paid 3.99 for the rental. I never said the thread has to include good story movies.

Another couple of movies I liked: The city of lost children, and Delicatessen. Oddly enough I'm noticing a trend with my like of Jean-Pierre Jeunet films, with the extreme exception of Alien Ressurection...that was just bad.

Amelie
Bhoot (a Bollywood ghost story movie - highly recommend it!)
Swimming Pool

I've seen a few but it's been a while that I don't remember the titles.

Run Lola Run (mentioned already in the thread) was great.

Mototcycle Diaries is really good.

Arisan! (Indonesian flix)
Osama is very good.

Sex and Lucia and Talk to Her were both wonderful!

I just find it funny that certain "foreign" films are created to be marketed to an American population now. Some just plain up suck.

AOII, as for films like Hero and the good cinematography and bad stories...well Pearl Harbor had great cinematography and lens work but was sooooooo awful I contemplated suicide with a plastic knife.

Anyway, check out www.wellspring.com anyone who likes foreign films.

-Rudey

I agree with your comment on marketing of FFs. I just hate the fact that there are so many good ones from other countries that never make it over here at all because they just aren't "happy ending" enough for the general population or for other reasons.

Pearl Harbor is up there on my worst movies ever list...I am so thrilled I didn't waste my money at the cinema for that one. I am just not a fan of Ben Affleck. His only good roles have been in Kevin Smith films.

Europa, Europa
The Nasty Girl
agree with Au Revoir les Enfants!

Another vote for [i]Au Revoir Les Enfants[i] here. Also Cinema Paradiso and Il Postino, both Italian and Le Placard, French.

AOII, you may like Butterfly and Seaside. Both are French and Butterfly is simple and sweet.

-Rudey

Once again, I recommend City of God out of Brasil...

Rudey, did you just not buy into all the hype about it, or was there something else you didn't like? I thought the film was NEAR-perfect, but hey, that's why I'm not a movie critic.

City of God felt like a regurgitation. Have you seen Life's a Bitch or And your mother also? I'd type their names in Spanish but I'm feeling particularly American today. Anyway, the style is cool the first few times you see it with the shifting back and forth from character and times with a narrator. I think they did the same thing in Lock, Stock, and 2 smoking barrels (which by the way was the reason why I felt Snatch was sooooooooooooooooooo redundant).

-Rudey

Havana Nights.



just kiddin.

I second the City of God love.

Has anyone seen Malena? I really love that movie. Its an Italian film starring Monica Bellucci.

No Man's Land is probably one of the best war movies I've ever seen. It is a Bosnian film and was nominated for an Oscar a few years ago.

Mira Nair (the director of Vanity Fair)'s Monsoon Wedding is wonderful. One of my favorite romantic movies. She also did Salaam Bombay which is neither happy nor romantic but still worth a look.

Thanks for the Bollywood tip! I've been wanting to see a Bollywood movie for a while.

Lock, Stock and Two smoking Barrels...THAT's a movie I need to see...

Something about Guy Ritchie rubs me the wrong way...maybe it's how he convinced his wife she' s English.

Malena was good but somewhat upsetting. I love Giuseppe Tornatore but I don't think this really is one of his "memorable" pieces.

-Rudey

It's the exact same thing as Snatch.

Also why is it that films from certain parts of Europe and Latin America have so many references to masturbation? It's funny but also weird because WHO THE HELL lays out on a diving board with his friend and masturbates like in Yi Tu Mama Tambien? In Malena the kid beats off in beds, bushes, everywhere.

-Rudey

Cool thanks for the suggestions. I watched Osama last weekend as it was on HBO in demand. I really liked it.

Saw a French film on TV5 called "Metisse" the other day. The lead love interest from Amelie was in it and was also the director. Not bad...kind of funny in parts.

Hey cool there is already a thread on this topic!

I have taken Italian film classes for the last two semesters, and hardly anyone has mentioned any Italian films, some are great.

As Rudey mentioned Malena is a good movie, lots of nudity... Monica Bellucci nudity :D
Life is Beautiful is also good
Some more obscure ones that we've watched that are awesome:

Riso Amaro (Bitter Rice)
La Stanza del Figlio (the son's room) good but sad, its a downer :(
Non Ho Paura (Im not afraid) Pretty intense suspense film that reminds me a lot of M Night Shyamalan flicks
Meditteraneo. A story about some soldiers that are marooned, pretty good and funny.
Il Mostro (the monster) a HILARIOUS film about a guy that is seemingly a criminal but is not
Pane e Tulipani (Bread and Tulips) a charming film about a woman who gets lost on vacation and finds herself
Mimí metallurgico ferito nell'onore (the Seduction of Mimi) A hilarious film about a Sicilian male who tries to his two families from each other and escape the mafia
Il gattopardo (the leopard) a very good movie about a royal family during the revolution in italy in the 19th century. very beautiful film.
Ladri di Biciclette (The Bicycle Thief) a guy gets his bike stolen in rome, and with it his freedom

Italian films are amazing. A lot of people find them refreshing after years of Hollywood films because they arent made the same way

"Queen Margot"

any Emir Kusturica film, one I'd particularly recommend is "Underground"

"Quilombo"

"Andrei Rublev" by Tarkovsky, extremely long tho, considered to be amongst the best Russian films of all time

[
No Man's Land is probably one of the best war movies I've ever seen. It is a Bosnian film and was nominated for an Oscar a few years ago.



actually it won the Oscar that year for best foreign film

Shall We Dance (the Japanese version) is one of my favorite movies.

'Cause (insert witty slang term for masturbation) is considered a sin in many Latin American countries.

If you like the style of film of "No Man's Land" you'll probably also like Srdjan Dragojevic's "Pretty Village Pretty Flame." (Lepa Sela Lepo Gore). Warning: not for the faint of heart.

I saw Kung Fu Hustle the other day, that was a good film. I hated that it was subtitled though.


-Mark

rent "Shaolin Soccer". It is from the same director and star, Stephen Chow.

I saw La Mala Educación.

First of all, Pedro's movies are so repetitive that it's retarded.

Second of all, there seems to be a thing with any foreign film getting rave reviews even if they're crappy. This was crappy. The director was the only reason any cinema showed this film.

Thirdly, talk about some graphic gay sex scenes.

-Rudey
--2 thumbs way down

Re: Foreign flicks...
 

You know, it's funny because I normally love Zhang Yimou movies, but I fell asleep during this one. As soon as people start almost-flying when they leap into the air, I start to think it's a pretty lame movie.

Just watched and really like:

Dark Water in Japanese (they are remaking it)
Spirited Away - I had never seen it and though it was LONG I thought it was so so so so good!!!

I've enjoyed

Zan Boko (Senegal)
Taafe Fanga (Mali)
Black Orpheus (Brazil)
City of God (Brazil)
The Motorcycle Diaries (Argentina?)
Maria Full of Grace (Columbia)