So... what foreign films would you recommend?

[CDNinNYC]

I admit I haven''t seen many, but the ones I have seen (ie. The Black Book, The Lives of Others, Amelie, Life is Beautiful) I''ve really enjoyed.

Tonight I watched C.R.A.Z.Y., a great French Canadian film with an awesome soundtrack. It got me thinking I''d like to watch more foreign films.

So... which ones would you recommend? I''m really interested in reading your movie picks.

 

[oobiecoo]

Two of my favorite movies of all time are "Nowhere in Africa"(its in German) and "Monsoon Wedding" which is a Bollywood I think. It''s mostly in English.

 

[CDNinNYC]

Date: 10/5/2008 1:29:01 AM
Author: oobiecoo
Two of my favorite movies of all time are ''Nowhere in Africa''(its in German) and ''Monsoon Wedding'' which is a Bollywood I think. It''s mostly in English.

Ooooh, how could I forget ''Monsoon Wedding''? I liked that one two.

Thanks oobiecoo. (Off to google ''Nowhere in Africa'')

 

[oobiecoo]

Isn''t "Monsoon Wedding" awesome!? It always makes me want to dance! I should have been born Indian... I love their clothing!


"Nowhere in Africa" is really great and dramatic. This family has to move to Africa to escape Natzi Germany and go through alot of hard times.

Have you seen "Whale Rider"? I don''t think its a foreign film but it is about Aboriginal people from New Zealand. Its very good!

 

[CDNinNYC]

Just watched the trailer for 'Nowhere in Africa'. I didn't realize it was the Oscar winner in 2007. I'll be adding it to my list of movies to watch.

Monsoon Wedding was especially enjoyable because I find the foreign films I've watched, while great, tend to be 'heavy'. It was a lot of fun to watch.

 

[CrownJewel]

This is only semi-foreign but a great film anyway, Everything Is Illuminated.

Pan''s Labyrinth is fantastic

My gosh there are so many. The Spanish Apartment (L''Auberge Espagnole) and its sequel Russian Dolls are really funny.

La Vie En Rose, Motorcycle Diaries.

I''ve heard Volver is also great but I haven''t seen it yet.

 

[galeteia]

I prefer foreign films, but seem to be having trouble remembering them. Here's a short list of ones I can think of off the top of my head:

I absolutely loved Hero. It was the most beautiful use of design as a narrative I've ever seen, and while it has the typical Chinese love story (which is to say, nearly everyone is heartbroken in the end for one reason or another, or dead) it was a wonderful film and very non-Western in it's structure.

Strictly Ballroom is another fave. It's an Australian ballroom dance comedy.

Angel-a also hurt my brain, but in a good way.

I've only seen snippets of Bon Cop, Bad Cop but it looked great, although it seems like something that might be a giant Canadian inside joke, so your mileage may vary.

Atanarjuat, an Inuit-centric film was really widely recommended, but I didn't get a chance to see it.

Bollywood/Hollywood was light-hearted and totally cute.

Les Triplettes de Belleville Totally awesome, no dialogue, but plenty to say.

Exotica Headsploding, and very heavy.

One night when I lived in Montreal I saw a French-language film about a young teenage girl who falls in love with a man who is mentally a child, as the two of them are stranded on an island after their plane crashes in the ocean. I've never been able to discover the title, so if anyone knows what I am talking about, please let me know!

I really liked 2046, but it's again a Chinese love story, so is Perhaps Love.

I adore Chinese movies, but they're usually so depressing.

Lars and the Real Girl isn't technically a Canadian film, but I tend to think of it that way as it was shot in Canada, has and has a very Canadian feel to it. It's a lovely little film.

If I think of anything else, I'll be sure to come back to this thread.


Edit: Mini-threadjack to ask if anyone has seen a Chinese love story that has a happy ending? I'd love to see it!

 

[lovegem]

Life is beautiful is a great movie. Yet, sad.

Two movies pop up:

spanish horror movie: The devil's backbone, IMDb's 7.6/10, my personal impression of that movie is that it is better than the 7.6 is given by the avg viewer.
chinese love movie: In the mood for love, IMDb's rating 8.1/10. A very beautiful movie. Many of my non-chinese friends have watched it, and love the movie.

"2046" and "In the mood for love" are both directed by the same guy. I have never watched 2046 though. There are other great movies from this director, Wong Kar-Wai. He has also directed a very good gay movie. If I remember the name of the movie I will post it.

Edit: the name if the gay movie is "happy together", 1997.

 

[SarahLovesJS]

I

Queen Margot (1994), Lola rennt (199 is pretty interesting, Spirited Away (2001) is an animated classic of course - in Japanese w/ subtitles..when they take away the actor''s voices it really just kills the movie for me, Ringu (199 have to see the original of course, Ju-On (2000), The Red Shoes (2005) - woohoo this is a Korean one I believe it''s pretty good decently creepy, Shichinin no samurai/Seven Samurai (1954) - haven''t seen this one in a loooong time . . . these are my faves coming to mind right now I will try to remember and post some more tomorrow.

 

[lovegem]

Date: 10/5/2008 3:54:36 AM
Author: SarahLovesJS
I

Queen Margot (1994), Lola rennt (199 is pretty interesting, Spirited Away (2001) is an animated classic of course - in Japanese w/ subtitles..when they take away the actor''s voices it really just kills the movie for me, Ringu (199 have to see the original of course, Ju-On (2000), The Red Shoes (2005) - woohoo this is a Korean one I believe it''s pretty good decently creepy, Shichinin no samurai/Seven Samurai (1954) - haven''t seen this one in a loooong time . . . these are my faves coming to mind right now I will try to remember and post some more tomorrow.

If you like Spirited Away, you may like "Kiki''s delivery service" (199. Both are from the same guy (he also has many other great animated films).

 

[galeteia]

Date: 10/5/2008 3:50:19 AM
Author: lovegem
chinese love movie: In the mood for love, IMDb''s rating 8.1/10. A very beautiful movie. Many of my non-chinese friends have watched it, and love the movie.


''2046'' and ''In the mood for love'' are both directed by the same guy. I have never watched 2046 though. There are other great movies from this director, Wong Kar-Wai. He has also directed a very good gay movie. If I remember the name of the movie I will post it.


Edit: the name if the gay movie is ''happy together'', 1997.

Yes, 2046 is basically a sequel to In the Mood for Love- Wong Kar-Wai''s movies are amazing. Are there any Chinese love stories that have a happy ending? The stories are always so beautiful but so tragic and depressing. Does anyone get the girl (or guy) at the end without anyone dying first or being left alone? *crosses fingers*

I used rent a room from a friend''s mother (she was from Shanghai) so there was always a supply of subtitled Chinese movies around that usually had no English titles so I can''t tell you what they were. But they were always sad. I just want a "happily ever after" just once with a Chinese movie ... but I don''t think they exist.

Ooo! I forgot Beautiful Boxer, the story of the Thai boxer who became a fighter in order to pay for his sex change.

I also though The Pillow Book was unique, but again depressing.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

One of my favorite movies is "Run Lola Run" (German).

 

[Dogmom]

I second Tacori''s suggestion of "Run, Lola, Run." GREAT movie.

 

[Tuckins1]

There are many that I love..
Pan''s Labyrinth was amazing.
All of the Jet Li films (House of Flying Daggers, Hero, Fearless...)
Diva (French film)

That''s all I can think of for now, i''m sure more will come to me!

 

[arjunajane]

Oh, I'm not sure if its to your taste, but I love "Le Haine"- translates to Hate in French.
It has Vincent Cassell, who I think is the biggest spunk !
But it is quite violent, just incase you're not into that sorta thing..

I also second some of the other suggestions - I love Japanimation, Spirited Away is one on my all time faves, that guy is amazing.
Also Pan's Labrynth was awesome.

 

[LuckyTexan]

I''m not 100% that it''s foreign exactly, but I watched Heaven with Kate Blanchet and that kid who played Pheobes little brother on Friends... it was very good! Almost the entire movie was subtitled Italian.

I LOVED Life is Beautiful!!! Bonjourno Principessa!!! I saw it in English dub one day... and changed the channel... it just didn''t come accross the same way!

 

[LuckyTexan]

Date: 10/5/2008 2:45:32 AM
Author: CrownJewel
This is only semi-foreign but a great film anyway, Everything Is Illuminated.

Pan''s Labyrinth is fantastic

My gosh there are so many. The Spanish Apartment (L''Auberge Espagnole) and its sequel Russian Dolls are really funny.

La Vie En Rose, Motorcycle Diaries.

I''ve heard Volver is also great but I haven''t seen it yet.

LOVED this movie!!! Watching Elijah Wood grow up right before our eyes... he has really grown into a fantastic actor!

 

[E B]

Do you like scary movies? If so, I highly recommend El Orfanato/The Orphanage. It was very good.

It isn't gory (that I can remember), just haunting.

 

[Peepa]

Hands down. A Korean film called "OldBoy."

 

[Clio]

A few of my favorites:

Cyclo (Vietnamese)- it''s strange but also compelling; I will admit that I may like it so much in part because I get all swoony over Tony Leung Chiu-Wai.

Babette''s Feast (Danish) - it''s a beautiful, beautiful movie

Go, Trabi, Go (German) - goofy and silly, but it has some interesting insights on the immediate post-Wende period.

Europa Europa (German) - story of a young Jewish man during WWII

Kung Fu Hustle (Hong Kong) - hilarious, plus the beautiful Stephen Chow

 

[vespergirl]

Pan''s Labyrinth, which is from Spain, and Raise the Red Lantern, from China.

 

[MonkeyPie]

Pan''s Labyrinth. It freaked me out, but it was SO good.

I also loved all the Jet Li films, like House of Flying Daggers. If you want a good giggle, get Kung Fu Hustle, which is my husbands favorite.

 

[SarahLovesJS]

Date: 10/5/2008 4:04:22 AM
Author: lovegem

Date: 10/5/2008 3:54:36 AM

Author: SarahLovesJS

I

Queen Margot (1994), Lola rennt (199 is pretty interesting, Spirited Away (2001) is an animated classic of course - in Japanese w/ subtitles..when they take away the actor''s voices it really just kills the movie for me, Ringu (199 have to see the original of course, Ju-On (2000), The Red Shoes (2005) - woohoo this is a Korean one I believe it''s pretty good decently creepy, Shichinin no samurai/Seven Samurai (1954) - haven''t seen this one in a loooong time . . . these are my faves coming to mind right now I will try to remember and post some more tomorrow.

If you like Spirited Away, you may like ''Kiki''s delivery service'' (199. Both are from the same guy (he also has many other great animated films).

Ahh that''s one I forgot! Thank you lovegem! Love that movie, it''s so cute.

 

[galeteia]

Date: 10/5/2008 2:21:57 PM
Author: SarahLovesJS

Date: 10/5/2008 4:04:22 AM

Author: lovegem

Date: 10/5/2008 3:54:36 AM


Author: SarahLovesJS


I

Queen Margot (1994), Lola rennt (199 is pretty interesting, Spirited Away (2001) is an animated classic of course - in Japanese w/ subtitles..when they take away the actor''s voices it really just kills the movie for me, Ringu (199 have to see the original of course, Ju-On (2000), The Red Shoes (2005) - woohoo this is a Korean one I believe it''s pretty good decently creepy, Shichinin no samurai/Seven Samurai (1954) - haven''t seen this one in a loooong time . . . these are my faves coming to mind right now I will try to remember and post some more tomorrow.

If you like Spirited Away, you may like ''Kiki''s delivery service'' (199. Both are from the same guy (he also has many other great animated films).

Ahh that''s one I forgot! Thank you lovegem! Love that movie, it''s so cute.

Howl''s Moving Castle, in addition to being wonderful, is my only exception to my militant "subtitles only!" rule. Christian Bale voices the lead. *swoon* Need I say more?

 

[MonkeyPie]

Date: 10/5/2008 3:51:24 PM
Author: Galateia

Date: 10/5/2008 2:21:57 PM
Author: SarahLovesJS

Date: 10/5/2008 4:04:22 AM
Author: lovegem

Date: 10/5/2008 3:54:36 AM
Author: SarahLovesJS
I

Queen Margot (1994), Lola rennt (199 is pretty interesting, Spirited Away (2001) is an animated classic of course - in Japanese w/ subtitles..when they take away the actor''s voices it really just kills the movie for me, Ringu (199 have to see the original of course, Ju-On (2000), The Red Shoes (2005) - woohoo this is a Korean one I believe it''s pretty good decently creepy, Shichinin no samurai/Seven Samurai (1954) - haven''t seen this one in a loooong time . . . these are my faves coming to mind right now I will try to remember and post some more tomorrow.

If you like Spirited Away, you may like ''Kiki''s delivery service'' (199. Both are from the same guy (he also has many other great animated films).

Ahh that''s one I forgot! Thank you lovegem! Love that movie, it''s so cute.

Howl''s Moving Castle, in addition to being wonderful, is my only exception to my militant ''subtitles only!'' rule. Christian Bale voices the lead. *swoon* Need I say more?

Oh I LOVE this movie! My husband owns it and I had never seen it before, and it was so wonderful. Such an adorable little movie. Princess Mononoke was another great one I loved. Claire Danes did a good job.

 

[movie zombie]

oh, where to begin?! we saw 50 films in 9.5 days at the toronto international film festival and i can tell you there is a lot of great foreign film out there. you''ve rec''d a lot of good suggestions in this thread. i''d suggest joining netflix if you haven''t done so already and listing those films as well as the ones you saw and liked. netflix will do the rest for you and generate a list based on your entries.

movie zombie

 

[T L]

I just watched a silent 1920 foreign film from Germany called "Anna Boleyn" about Henry VIII''s ill fated second queen. I really enjoyed it. I love silent foreign films. Really well done and great costumes for the film. The acting was a bit overdramatic, but that''s silent films for you.

I also love "Nosferatu" (the first vampire film),"The Cabinet of Dr. Calgiari" and one of my all time favorites is "Metropolis" - all 1920''s silent foreign films and all German as well.

 

[lovegem]

Date: 10/5/2008 12:58:12 PM
Author: Clio
A few of my favorites:


Cyclo (Vietnamese)- it''s strange but also compelling; I will admit that I may like it so much in part because I get all swoony over Tony Leung Chiu-Wai.

Kung Fu Hustle (Hong Kong) - hilarious, plus the beautiful Stephen Chow

Tony Leung is a Hong Kong star. This guy is crazily good at acting.

Stephen Chow is my all time favorite actor. I like him even before he got famous. Since you mentioned two of Hong Kong''s best actors, I thought it would be fun to talk a little bit of their backgrounds. Before Tony Leung and Stephen Chow became actors, they were good friends. Stephen Chow was the one who always wanted to act. SO he persuaded Tony to apply for TVB''s (Hong Kong''s TV channel) acting class with him. Because of Tony''s good look and whatnot, he was accepted into the acting class. Stephen chow (who has a less serious look), on the other hand, didn''t get into the acting class, and he had to try many things and finally got into some night acting class (which was for people who had no hope of getting a real career in acting). I am not sure if this is one of the reasons why Stephen Chow tends to use actors that are of NOT-SO-BEAUTIFUL looking in his movies later on. After working with Stephen Chow, many of the NOT-SO-BEAUTIFUL actors can start getting real acting jobs.

 

[scarleta]

The one I highly recommend is:
"THE BAND''S VISIT"
Its based on true story and its simply GREAT!!!

 

[movie zombie]

i loved THE BAND''S VISIT.

if you liked THE DEPARTED, see the original hong kong trilogy: INFERNAL AFFAIRS.

instead of the now in the theatre Bangkok Dangerous, see the original also directed by the Pang brothers from Thailand: BANGKOK DANGEROUS. based on a true story and really good.

i happen to be a Beat Takeshi....but some of his work is harder to grasp even when you''re a fan.

1/5 of what we saw at toronto was asian film. a good one to look for from japan is VACATION. don''t know if it will get a release but is really well done.



movie zombie