Top foreign films

the_monkey

splashthecash wrote: »

Really getting into these foreign films now...my favourites I've seen so far are:

• [Rec] - Horror
• [Rec] 2 - Horror
• Battle Royale - Action
• Red Cliff - Historical Action
• Mesrine - Biography\Action
• Hero - Jet Li Historical Action
• Ong Bak - Martial Arts
• Martyrs - Horror
• City of God - Drama
• Let the right one in - Horror

Any other suggestions???

The Secret in their Eyes - excellent, Spanish language, based in Argentina

garbanzo

Great idea for a thread. I'm chipping in here with a bias towards some French movies.

Watched Le Grand Vadrouille over the holidays. It is a tad dated (well it was made in the 60s) but it is a funny WW2 comedy about a group of RAF airmen shot down over Paris and trying to escape to the Free Zone with the help of some inept locals. It was one of the most popular French movies in France for many years. Interestingly it features the great Terry-Thomas,who speaks fairly good French, as the leader of the airmen. The hotel bedroom scene is very funny in a slapstick sort of way.....and it is not what you might be thinking for a French movie :-)

Les Demoiselles de Rochfort, which was mentioned earlier is very good...if a tad twee...but I like it all the same. Some great songs e.g. Les Soeurs Jumelles for one. Movie also features Gene Kelly which was another surprise for me. He was an ardent Francophile apparently.

Saw Betty Blue in the IFI las year. Very very good movie.Fab soundtrack.

Amelie of course...can I say anything about it that hasn't already been said. Utterly charming. Love that lady...

Bienvenu Chez Les Chtis is supposed to be very good too but I've not seen yet. Fish out of water type comedy about a southerner banished to work in the bleak north (Pas de Calais) and the ensuing cultural/linguistic misunderstandings which arise in this totally different part of the same country.

Sin a bhfuil.

Looper007

You can't go wrong with Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt (Jagten) and especially Festen, the best Dogma 95 film by a country mile. Also his underrated Submarino which was his real return to form even before Jagten.

Nicolas Winding Refn is a director that splits opinion with most film fan's, he has a loyal fanbase and a lot of detractors. You can't go wrong with the Pusher Trilogy, all great films. Plus Bleeder which a really underrated film in his canon.

Jacques Audiard is another great French director Sur mes Levres (Read My Lips) is a great little film with Vincent Cassel but is sadly overshadowed his next two films The Beat That My Heart Skipped (which is a rare remake that actually tops the film it's based on) and A Prophet (Cannes and Bafta award winning film) both classic Foreign films. His next film Rust and Bone, while not on the level of the last two films mentioned but has two great performances from Marion Cotillard and especially Matthias Schoenaerts, check out a Belgian film called Bullhead in which Matthias Schoenaerts gives a even better performance in.

e_e

"Top foreign films" is almost an absurdly large question which I don't think that most people even realize.

Do you want modern or classic? Crowd-pleasing or experimental? Genre films or dramas? Hell one could get lost even looking through a wide variety of Japanese (the Japanese New Wave/Anime/Exploitation/Jidaigeki/Chambara) films. The more genres/eras/nationalities of foreign film you see the more you realize how it's kind of a redundant term and you can get so much more specific from there.

Quick answer: Just watch anything regardless of nationality if it interest you.

enricoh

tie me up, tie me down by almodovar n pans labyrinth

waraf

tonc76 wrote: »

Old Boy - brilliant movie

http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0364569/

I wholeheartedly endorse this product and/or service. Probably the best movie I've ever seen

e_e

Don't overlook Sympathy for Mr Vengeance/Lady Vengeance either! The whole trilogy is great.

Dont be at yourself

Two Japanese films worth a mention, both very different but sharing some common themes

Tampopo: A film from the 80s about a truck driver who helps a widow open up a ramen stand. It's funny, often surreal, always well acted and is a food lover's dream.

Twilight Samurai: Forget Zatoichi, 13 Assassins etc. This is a fine example of a Japanese samurai film; using the feudal setting as the basis for a very real and relatable story about a downtrodden serf trying to find some sort of happiness for himself and his children.

zx complex

The Raid
Red Cliff
House of Flying Daggers
Infernal Affairs
IP Man
Rec:
Man Bites Dog
Hard Boiled
The Nest,
to be continued...

Jimmy Iovine

'Cinema Paradiso' is as good as it gets, in my opinion.

The final scene is perfect - the movie equivalent of the ending to 'Friday Night Lights'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VclRS7x0e38

Chris_Heilong

welcome to dongmakgol
Ringu
My Sassy Girl
Ju-on
cyborg girl (actually a surprisingly emotional film considering its wacky premise)
The Devils Backbone
A battle of wits
Fist of Legend
I saw the Devil
the forbidden floor
The Raid
Kikujiro
Sonatine
Hana-b

These are just a few that I could think of and its a good mix of action, horror with a splash of drama.

emo72

Jean de Florette and Manon de Sources. thought they would have been mentioned by now. Great story and fantastic cinematography.

I also got into the studio ghibli a few years ago when i was looking for some family viewing. one movie from them "Grave Of The Fireflies" was a serious hard one to watch. Not family viewing, very hard hitting and not one i could watch again easily. unless im looking to be super depressed. dont let the animation fool you.

storker

I'm surprised that only one of these has been mentioned so far...maybe they're a bit too obvious.

Seven Samurai (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047478/) The movie that inspired The Magnificent Seven. Apart from the excellent battle scenes, it's good because it doesn't ooh and ahh over the samurai and their fighting prowess, but seems to see being a samurai as a bit of a dead-end job (literally in some cases) and takes a hard look at their relationship with the rest of Japanese society.

Ran (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089881/?ref_=nm_knf_i3) Kurosawa does Shakespeare - kind of. Slow in parts put tragic and movng and a visual treat.

Diva (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082269/?ref_=nv_sr_6) Great characters, great pacing and it's in French. Perfect if you dream of stopping the waves...

Trop Belle Pour Toi (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098520/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) A kind of daft premise, but moving - and funny but subtly so. More than I would have thought the French to be capable of.

Colonel Chabert (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109454/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) A Napoleonic soldier thought long-dead returns from the wars to discover that everyone he knew is doing fine in his absence and nobody is terribly pleased to see him return safe and sound. All he wants is his life back...and his emperor.

Das Boot (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082096/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) Gritty, sweaty, smelly, claustrophobic portrayal of life aboard a U-Boat on war patrol in the Atlantic. Do yourself a favour and never ever watch the dubbed English version.

Come and See (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091251/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) A disturbing portrayal of a young Russian's traumatic experiences of German atrocities. Travel with him on his journey through hell as he ages prematurely before your eyes.

Downfall (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363163/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) As claustrophobic as Das Boot, but without all the water. Hitler's last days in the bunker. Excellent acting in the title role. It's still possible to watch that rant scene without being reminded of all the YouTube ripoffs.

The Passion of the Christ (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0335345/?ref_=nv_sr_1) I know, I know, but leaving Mad Mel aside, this is very well done, and the languages used, even if not totally accurate, really add to it. It may not be realistic, but it sure looks like it. You don't have to believe in order to enjoy it - I speak from experience.

biko

Cinema Paradisio
Das Boot
Let the right one in
Torremolinos 73
La haine

of course there's many many more but that's from the top of my head.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

Don't think these have been mentioned in this thread yet, both Japanese. I'd imagine a lot of this forum have already seen them.

Grave of the Fireflies http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0095327/?ref_=nv_sr_4 Probably one of the most poignant films I have ever seen.

My Neighbour Totoro http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096283/?ref_=nv_sr_1

Looper007

e_e wrote: »

Don't overlook Sympathy for Mr Vengeance/Lady Vengeance either! The whole trilogy is great.

I actually think Sympathy for Mr Vengeance is better then Old Boy, maybe I'm on my own in that. But it's a better acted and more chilling movie

e_e

I'm in the minority who actually considers Oldboy to be the worst of the three. The last third of Lady Vengeance in particular is the most haunting and troubling part of the whole trilogy because it subverts everything about the first 2 movies. From the videotapes scene through to the idea that a horrible act of violence can actually unite a community in a perverse way. It's a much more subtle film than Oldboy that gets under your skin in ways you don't even register.

ThirdMan

HalloweenJack wrote: »

More of a documentary really, it's a great look at Che Guevara's trip around South America.

How is The Motorcycle Diaries more of a documentary?

dingy2

cinema paradiso
Jean de Florette
Manon des Sources
L'Appartement
Betty Blue
L'Enfer (Hell)
I'l Postino

ILikeBananas

A film I really enjoyed from the past few years was "The Secret in Their Eyes" from Argentina. Fascinating plot, great acting and some great cinematography.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

ILikeBananas wrote: »

A film I really enjoyed from the past few years was "The Secret in Their Eyes" from Argentina. Fascinating plot, great acting and some great cinematography.

and one hell of a flaccid penis

indough

Looper007 wrote: »

I actually think Sympathy for Mr Vengeance is better then Old Boy, maybe I'm on my own in that. But it's a better acted and more chilling movie

I much prefer Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Old Boy is just too ridiculous a story. I would put JSA above both, but it is probably a bit too sentimental for a most people's tastes

DMcL1971

I saw 'The Hunt' (Jagten) last night. I can definitely recommend it. Mads Mikkelsen was fantastic, very low key and quiet. The actress (Annika Wedderkopp) who played the little girl was excellent, very natural. I can see why Mikkelsen won at Cannes for his acting in this last year.

Synopsis: The story is set in a small Danish village around Christmas, and follows a man who becomes the target of mass hysteria after being wrongly accused of sexually assaulting a child.

Jimdagym

I'm surprised Asghar Farhadi has not been mentioned yet, but check out A Seperation and About Elly. Both beautiful moving fims, and a great insight into everyday life in Iran. I have not seen The Past yet but I can not wait to.

ThirdMan

Jimdagym wrote: »

I'm surprised Asghar Farhadi has not been mentioned yet, but check out A Seperation and About Elly. Both beautiful moving fims, and a great insight into everyday life in Iran. I have not seen The Past yet but I can not wait to.

Another vote for A Separation. If you know Iran only through Sky News, and Kay Burley's condescending tone, then this film is for you.

Mike Guide 69

My Life As A Dog - Wonderful , coming of age Swedish film (made in the mid 80's , i think!!) based around the 1950s, telling the story of a young boy sent to live with his cousins after his mother becomes ill and immersing himself in a new lifestyle.

Jesus of Montreal - Brilliant Canadian film made in 1989, describing a group of actors recreating the Passion Play but where the acting of the play and what happens in it, seems to follow them around in real life. Amazing film, highly recommed it.

Run Lola Run - Tom Tykers mind bending , time travelling epic in which Lola( Franka Potente) must find ways of helping her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) pay off a debt to a local gangster. The number of runs and senarios that follow her around trying to gather the cash and interacting with individuals during each run is amazing. I've watched this film a number of times and there seems to be always something new/different stages/outcomes that pops up makes you question the filim and thats quite refreshing. Fantastic film

force eleven

An oldie but goodie,

The Wages Of Fear (1953)

ThirdMan

HalloweenJack wrote: »

Put politics aisde for a few hours and tell me you weren't somewhat sympathetic towards him at the end.

No, I wasn't. I'd put "politics aside" if it was a film about Brian Cowen or David Cameron.

ThirdMan

Jimdagym wrote: »

I have not seen The Past yet but I can not wait to.

I watched this tonight. Very impressive. I knew nothing about it at all, so I had no idea what type of film it was or where it was going. Excellent performances throughout. I don't like telling people when a movie ended brilliantly because it creates an expectation. But the closing scene floored me. Stunning.

Dave147

Can't even watch Cinema Paradiso without becoming a blubbering mess, the score probably the best I've ever heard, Ennio Morricone is a genius. I loved an Italian girl once, so there's that!

The Secret in their Eyes would be a very close second, the atmosphere in the football stadium, I felt like I was there. The acting, the plot, the cinematography, this film is just a masterpiece, the ending! I recommend this film to everyone.