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Foreign Language Films - Love or Hate em ?

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  • Lincsaddick
    Lincsaddick Posts: 32,348
    Movies and TV series. I much prefer the Swedish Wallander series to the BBC/Branagh series. I thought the Danish thriller 'The Killing' was too long, overcomplicated and overrated (it's now been 'converted by Holywood to a USA centred series) .......  BUT, the Prix d'or goes to 'Spiral' from France .. magnifique, formidable ooh la la, superbe.
  • DRAddick
    DRAddick Posts: 3,588

     

    Love them. I started because i'm into my horror films and found the Korean and Japanese are so much more original and interesting that the Hollywood produced dumded down crap.

    Moved on from there to other genres and countries and just find them far more original.

     

     

  • tangoflash
    tangoflash Posts: 10,784
    Der Untergang is superb. Wonderfully directed, great dialogue and the cast (especially Bruno Ganz who plays Hitler) are so convincing.
  • fatkit
    fatkit Posts: 294
    I love my foreign films, probably 30% of all films I watch, latest was "I saw the devil" which is a Korean film, stars the guy from "Oldboy" for those of you who like your subtitles.

    I saw the devil is brutal, haunting and quite brilliant.

    Dont watch it on a Sunday night.
  • fatkit
    fatkit Posts: 294
    "The Lives of Others" German Oscar winning film, fantastic.
  • Rizzo
    Rizzo Posts: 6,435
    A friend of mine made me watch Betty Blue. Didn't like it but the star was a top bird who spent most of the film in varying degrees of nudity so it had some upsides.
  • fatkit
    fatkit Posts: 294
    Last one, "After the wedding" starring Mads Mikkelson, made me cry at the end.

    What a movie.
  • Ran by Kurosawa really frightening woman in lead role.
  • DaveMehmet
    DaveMehmet Posts: 21,601
    I've seen quite a few of them over the years, mainly German and Swedish but didn't bother with the subtitles. "Ooh Yah" doesn't need much translating!
  • hawksmoor
    hawksmoor Posts: 2,608
    Only had a quick whiz through this thread, I've seen a lot of the films mentioned. Now, I saw someone mention Battle Royale, which starred Takeshi Kitano, but what about his films as director? Hana-Bi and Kikujiro have got to be way up there. Violent Cop, Sonatine and Boiling Point are also very good.
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  • ShootersHillGuru
    ShootersHillGuru Posts: 50,619
    In my original post I forgot to mention "The White ribbon" another great work from Germany. If there is one film that you must get to see it's the second on my list " The Secret In Their Eyes" 2009 I think and has a great story and beautifully shot. As for my favourite " A Friend Of The Deceased" it's never shown as far as I know on tv and is not available on DVD but just VHS format. Made in 1998 and is a quirky dark film with a good humour to it. Would love to see it again. Thanks for all the film names. I might make a list to see.
  • randy andy
    randy andy Posts: 5,454
    Can't believe nobody has mentioned Nikita, a stunning film subsequently tarnished by a so-so american remake and then a succession of terrible TV series
  • CHG
    CHG Posts: 4,529
    Goodbye Lenin is very good
  • Algarveaddick
    Algarveaddick Posts: 21,155
    Pixote a Brazillian film from 1981.
  • EastTerrace
    EastTerrace Posts: 3,961
    Love 'Em....... mainly European Cinema but after recommendations on here may I should try further east.

    My favourites are......

    Kieslowski's 'Double Life of Veronique' (Irene Jacob)
    L'Appartement (Vincent Cassell & Monica Bellucci)
    Jean De Florette & Manon Des Sources
    Volver
    La Haine
    The Secret in their eyes

    I'd never seen one until I was 18 and stuck in one night and watched One Deadly Summer (Isabelle Adjani)
    and my love for them started then.




  • Uboat
    Uboat Posts: 12,195
    No mention of 'Sophie Scholl' so far? From the people who brought you 'Downfall' and also set in Germany during the war.  I showed it to some 6th Formers at school then had to go and have a bit of a cry in the toilets.  A slowish start, but so powerful in the second half.
  • les_says
    les_says Posts: 934
    The Baader Meinhof Complex is my favourite in recent years.

    (I work for a subtitling company although I manage the UK side of things for deaf and hard of hearing viewers, rather than foreign language translation).
  • hawksmoor
    hawksmoor Posts: 2,608
    Pixote a Brazillian film from 1981.
    I seem to remember the brilliant kid from that film was killed shortly after while robbing someone.
  • ads
    ads Posts: 3,224
    edited July 2011
    Reykjavik 101
    Lisbon Story
    Monday Morning
    Trainspotting
    The Night Shift Icelandic comedy that was on bbc4 recently was quite good



  • Algarveaddick
    Algarveaddick Posts: 21,155
    Pixote a Brazillian film from 1981.
    I seem to remember the brilliant kid from that film was killed shortly after while robbing someone.
    Looked on IMDB, he was killed at his home when he was 19, it was gang related... 
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  • BlackForestReds
    BlackForestReds Posts: 17,952

    Speaking of forein language films - the TV series Tutti-Frutti had to have undertitles when it was broadcast in the US.

     

  • seth plum
    seth plum Posts: 53,448

    Raise the Red Lantern

    Ju Dou

    To Live

    Excellent Chinese films from Zhang Yimou

  • BlackForestReds
    BlackForestReds Posts: 17,952

    Das Untergang

    The Three Colours trilogy

    Lola Rennt

    The Ip Man

    Raise the Red Lantern

    Seven Samurai

    Breathless

     

  • hawksmoor
    hawksmoor Posts: 2,608

    Speaking of forein language films - the TV series Tutti-Frutti had to have undertitles when it was broadcast in the US.

     

    As did Trainspotting. Those Scottish accents would just sound like Moon Man language to the average American.
  • Chunes
    Chunes Posts: 17,349
    I find foreign language films a bit hit or miss. Here's a few that I like:

    Apocalypto (Maya)
    Erm....
  • Granpa
    Granpa Posts: 2,995
    My worst experience was in Paris where they were showing The Battle Of Britain, it was advertised with sub-titles so we thought brilliant it will be like normal for us. WRONG, it was spoken in german with french sub-titles, what a disaster.
  • hawksmoor
    hawksmoor Posts: 2,608
    Solaris
  • Bagpuss
    Bagpuss Posts: 333

    Battle for Algiers

    Gomorrah was on telly at Christmas, about the Naples mafia, dead good

    Does anyone remember a Polish film called Sex Mission?

  • hawksmoor
    hawksmoor Posts: 2,608
    I had to give Gomorrah a couple of goes, but glad I did. I stupidly assumed all the disparate threads of the story would tie up neatly, like in Crash and Babel. Once I got past the fact that they proabably wouldn't, I enjoyed it.

    And another one: Bertolucci's The Conformist. I also recommend his Novecento (1900). The version to see is the Italian one (perhaps obviously), although I don't know if it fits comfortably in this thread, as it stars De Niro, Depardieu, Burt Lancaster and Donald Sutherland. But be warned there's bit of animal cruelty in it (to frogs and cats), and you see Depardieu's and De Niro's willies! But a real epic (it's about six hours in length).
  • DaveMehmet
    DaveMehmet Posts: 21,601
    edited July 2011
    I was invited out to see Gomorrah by friends but I thought sod em.