Foreign Language Films - Love or Hate em ?
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37°2 le matin
Solaris (not the George Cloony version)
The Red Balloon
All worth a look IMHO
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Love them, could go on about my favourites but the ones that come immediately to mind are:
Cinema Paradiso
Tokoyo Story
Raising the Red Lantern
The one about the wedding with viggo mortensen (cannot remember the name!)
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L'Appartement (Vincent Cassell & Monica Bellucci)
Been waiting for about 15 years to track down the DVD of this and finally got it for my birthday this year - happy days. Think of a French Hitchcock thriller but with boobs too!
Forget about his English language films like Oceans 12, 13 whatever, get into his French stuff like this or 'Sur mes lèvres' (read my lips for the non Frenchies).
Cassell can do no wrong in my book!
I'm far less keen on the Far East output and think Battle Royalle is seriously over rated for example
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Les Valseuse (sp? It's basically French for 'bollocks')
Bombon: El Perro
Amores Perros
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Godzilla is a laugh.0
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anything from the Rodox studios
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dont see the point in them tbh, so i dont think id ever watch them
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Some great films on the thread, to which I would add Babette's Feast.Others I enjoyed include Amacord, Amores Perres, Together ( Swedish ) and Shall We Dance ( Japanese ). These foreign language dvds can be a bit pricey but I thought the following box sets which were good value:- Neo-Realist Collection ( Italian - The Bicycle Thieves, Rome, Open City etc )- Pedro Almodovar Collection ( Bad Education, Talk to Her, All About My Mother, Live Flesh and Tie Me Up Tie Me Down )- Fellini ( 4 of his classics ).Under no circumstances should you buy the Eric Rohmer Collection - my wife has barely forgiven me for subjecting her to Eric.I see a fair few foreign language films at my Film Club and at £50 for a season of 15 films, it's certainly better value than the local cinema. Some of the good ones over the last few years have included ( in no particular order ): Flame and Citroen ( Danish ), 5 x2 ( French ), The Beat That My Heart Skipped ( French ), Paradise Now (French/German ), The Edge of Heaven ( Turkish/German ), The Band's Visit ( Israeli ), I've Loved You So Long ( French ), Mostly Martha (Italian/German), Jar City ( Icelandic ), You, The Living ( Swedish ), Central Station ( Brazil ) and Festen ( Danish ).0
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I guess the point is to entertain people who speak the language in which they are made with an eye to the 'arthouse' market outside that?
I find (imo) many have more feeling, are more atmospheric and have more drama than most english language films especially most of the hollywood trash.
It's strange to shout obscenities at the ref on Saturday and watch a poncy arthouse film that evening.0 -
no mentions for night watch?0
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Surley most forign language films are simply made with the domestic market in mind? Those that have real quality will appeal to a wider audience, and get a release abroad, which is a bonus. I can't see a first time director sitting down and doing his job thinking about how it will go down in an arthouse cinema in Camden at midnight on a Friday, or on Channel 4 in the early hours of Sunday morning? Maybe directors who have already broken out might approach it a bit differently.
NLA, a good film is a good film, what difference does the language make?
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i would find it hard to read it and watch it at the sametime mate it would detract from the viewing satisfaction for me0
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i would find it hard to read it and watch it at the sametime mate it would detract from the viewing satisfaction for me
Give it a go fella, it's a lot easy than you probably think and after a while you don't really notice it. Start with something easy to follow and fun like the original Taxi (not the dreadful American remake) or again, L' Appartement (which you'll get into right away). Under no circumstances start with any Ingmar Bergman though!0 -
CITY OF GOD is a superb Film.
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Frozen Land - Finnish - bleak but good0
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Just had a quick scan of the comments. Cinema paradiso, jean de florette, manon de sources are all brilliant films. Downfall is also quality. Infernal affairs would be another worthy mention.0
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Also wanted to mention the secret in their eyes.0
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Just had a quick scan of the comments. Cinema paradiso, jean de florette, manon de sources are all brilliant films. Downfall is also quality. Infernal affairs would be another worthy mention.
Infernal Affairs better / worse than The Departed?0 -
Das Boot - quality TV series, later shortened into a film0
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Gregory's Girl
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The Kite Runner - fantastic film0
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汉字/漢字 is one I would reccomend!
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汉字/漢字 is one I would reccomend!
prefer the remake بجدية عربية0 -
Both are very good. For me it's Infernal Affairs but it might only be because I saw it before The Departed. Infernal Affairs has two sequels which help to complete the story however the second film is a bit bloated. Infernal Affairs 3 is a decent film.Just had a quick scan of the comments. Cinema paradiso, jean de florette, manon de sources are all brilliant films. Downfall is also quality. Infernal affairs would be another worthy mention.
Infernal Affairs better / worse than The Departed?
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Das Boot - quality TV series, later shortened into a film
Very good. This is available on blu-ray and is pretty cheap. I'm wondering if it will make much difference to the visuals though.
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Enjoyed 2 zombie flicks, [REC] ( spain ) and The Horde ( France ). [REC] is based on a reporter and her cameraman going on a call to a flat with the local fire brigade. The whole film is shot from the cameramans point of view which makes it even more claustrophobic. Scared the bejaysus out of me.
The Horde is about undercover police who go on a revenge mission to a run down estate to catch gangsters that killed one of their colleagues whilst the city is coming under attack by a horde of zombies. Done on the cheap but the effects are superb and the zombies well scary. Penty of blood, guts and bullets!!
Thought the Girl with the dragon tattoo was great but then the following 2 films in the trilogy were rushed and nowhere near as good as the first.
My other favourites are as follows ( all mentioned in previous posts I think )
City of God
City of Men ( TV series )
Gomorrah - Brilliant naples gangster film based on the real life stories from an ex naplolitan gangster who is now under police protection for the rest of his life.
La Haine
Man Bites Dog
Let the right one in
Motorcycle Diaries
Downfall
The Orphanage
The diving bell and the butterfly
Amores Perros - brilliant film based on the lives of 3 people who are involved in a car crash.
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I've also gotten into foreign-language films over the last few years, probably because the quality of English-language (UK as well as USA) films has nose-dived in my opinion. Also there is a backlog of classics to catch up on. Completely agree that sub-titles are not the barrier you might expect them to be; better than dubbed English.Lots of good films already listed but if you're looking for something old-school, Bergman's Fanny & Alexander and Luis Bunuel's Belle De Jour.More recently, Festen or almost any of Michael Haneke's films. 'Funny Games' is simultaneously brilliant and almost unwatchable. I couldn't watch it twice - just too disturbing.0
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Life is Beautiful,Kolya,Zwartboek,Burnt by the Sun,The Cranes are Flying,The Firemen's Ball,Divided we Fall0
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Pan's Labyrinth & The Orphanage ... both superb0
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Some good films...
To broaden the debate a bit, how do you like your foreign language film: dubbed or sub-titles?
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