What are your favorite foreign fims?

toughYrun

toughYrun

Cathlete
I'm sitting at the computer today because I have to finish writing a paper on Plato's argument for the divisibility of the soul. Ahhhh. I'm such a procrastinator and so after every few sentences I manage to churn out, off I go to check my favorite websites, Cathe being one of them.

The Slumdog Millionaire thread was a good one, I think. I saw the movie and loved it. Like many here, I am a foreign film lover. The only time the subtitles bug me is when my DH starts messing around with the home theater volume and the dialogue gets covered up by the volume bar. Here're some good one's I've seen recently:

Divided We Fall - a Czechoslovakian film set during WWII
Tsotsi - A film set in the South African slums
The Lives of Others - an amazing film set in East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall
Amores Perros - set in Mexico, it relates three tales that end up being intertwined

Got any recommendations that I should add to my "must see" list?

(I've seen Babette's Feast and Like Water for Chocolate)
 
I can't recommend the 1990 version of Cyrano de Bergerac w/ Gerard Depardieu highly enough. The English subtitles are actually translated by Anthony Burgess, who wrote A Clockwork Orange. The film and the language are just beautiful.

Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring are the same story told in two parts. Get Jean first.

And Jesus of Montreal is one of my absolute favorites. It is truly a film of resurrection and rebirth. It gave me chills (in a good way!).

And thanks for your recommendations....off to add them to my Netflix queue!
 
"Jean de Florette and Manon of the Spring are the same story told in two parts. Get Jean first."

So, do you mean that Jean de Florette is part 1 and Manon of the Spring is part 2?
 
How about Amelie? (Forgive me if the spelling is wrong) Into the West (set in Ireland, so no subtitles) Bride and Prejudice (lots of fun, in English) Chocolate (is this foreign?) Bend it Like Beckham (English) Strictly Ballroom (Australian, no subtitles) My Mother's Castle, Enchanted April (in English)
 
I second Divided We Fall and Tsotsi.

I also recommend:

Zelary - WWII film
Nobody Knows
Nowhere in Africa
Twin Sisters
3 Iron - The main character does not speak at all in this film
Hula Girls
Innocent Voices
With A Friend Like Harry
Volver
The 400 Blows
 
I second the vote for "Enchanted April," "Amelie," and "Jean de Florette." A couple more good French films:

The Secret - about a family during the Nazi occupation of Paris. VERY GOOD!

A Tout de Suite - about a young girl and a situation she gets in that leads her into some self-discovery - I don't want to give away too much so I can't say much about this one.

ENJOY!! My fiance and I go to the French Film Festival every year. . . . LOVE IT!!
 
Oh! Have any of you seen The Piano Teacher? That was one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen. When I went to rent a movie to watch with DH, I selected The Piano Teacher because I noticed that on the front of the DVD case it indicated that the movie had been nominated for/won some award(s). About 1/2 way into the movie DH is looking at me saying "Where did you get this movie and why did you rent it?" In my final analysis I would say that it was good, but it left me feeling weirded out for a day or two after we watched it. Definately not a family film!
 
I love foreign films. They pay so much more attention to story line than American film makers. Here are a few of my personal favorites in no particular order:

Italian
1. Il Postino
2. Life is Beautiful
3. Cinema Paradiso
4. Malena

French
1. The Chorus
2. Amelie
3. Joyeaux Noel

German
1. The Lives of Others
2. Europa Europa
3. Das Boot
4. Good-bye Lenin
5. Rosenstrasse
6. Triumph of the Will
7. M
8. The Blue Angel
9. Metropolis
(My DH majored in modern European history and literature with an emphasis on German, therefore the extensive list of German films)

Chinese
1. The Road Home
2. Shower
3. Raise the Red Lantern

There are tons more but darn it!, I just can't think of the names right now. :confused:
 
Like Miss Lee, I'm a big fan of Cinema Paradiso (Italy), Raise the Red Lantern (China) and M (Germany). I also really love Diva (France) and The Princess and the Warrior (Germany, also).
 
Thanks for all of the ideas. I would also recommend "Babette's Feast", the movie quality is poor, but the story is very beautiful.
 
I LOVE Babette's Feast, but I'd have to go with Cinema Paradiso. It's amazing - but bring kleenex - I was sobbing at the end. Beautiful. I also really liked Amelie. I'm sure there are others that I can't think of right now. I like Almodovar movies.
 
Foreign Films I liked

If you liked Amores Perros, try these:

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Todo Sobre Mi Mama

Some Foriegn films I've seen recently that were very good. I'd recommend these even if you dont like foreign films

Persepolis
The Kite Runner
The Syrian Bride
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon

If you like Anime
Akira
Ghost in the Shell

You can look them up and get clips from IMDB.com

enjoy

Kevin
 
Miss Lee said:
I love foreign films. They pay so much more attention to story line than American film makers. Here are a few of my personal favorites in no particular order:

Italian
1. Il Postino
2. Life is Beautiful
3. Cinema Paradiso
4. Malena

French
1. The Chorus
2. Amelie
3. Joyeaux Noel

German
1. The Lives of Others
2. Europa Europa
3. Das Boot
4. Good-bye Lenin
5. Rosenstrasse
6. Triumph of the Will
7. M
8. The Blue Angel
9. Metropolis
(My DH majored in modern European history and literature with an emphasis on German, therefore the extensive list of German films)

Chinese
1. The Road Home
2. Shower
3. Raise the Red Lantern

There are tons more but darn it!, I just can't think of the names right now. :confused:
Click to expand...

The fact that Miss Lee mentions Das Boot makes her my personal hero. LOL! Das Boot is awesome!
 
toughYrun said:
Oh! Have any of you seen The Piano Teacher?
Click to expand...

Yes! My husband was like, 'Honey, WTH???' So when I rented "Funny Games" (the original), which was written and directed by the guy who wrote and directed "The Piano Teacher," my husband was not happy, but we both liked "Funny Games."

As for other foreign films I've enjoyed, here are a few I can think of right now.

Once
Todo sobre mi madre (All About My Mother)
Volver
Cache
Jungfrukällan (The Virgin Spring)
Spoorloos (The Vanishing)
The Dinner Game (French - can't remember the French title)
El Orfanato (The Orphanage)
The Return (can't remember the Russian title)
Nuit et brouillard - this is a French documentary about the Holocaust. It's only 30 min. long but very powerful.

My husband loves Akira Kurosawa (sp?), and while I don't always 'get' his stuff, I really liked "Rashômon."

If you've seen a good, creepy American horror movie, chances are it's a remake of a foreign film. Check it out - the original is often much creepier.

Oh, there are many, many more, but that's all I can think of right now.
 
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Awesome, AWESOME thread! :D:D

Robin - I loved Amelie.

I remember watching Das Boot several times with my Dad when we got our first VCR. ;)

Some of my faves have already been mentioned, but I'll throw in some more and try not to duplicate:

All About My Mother (Spanish)
Eat, Drink, Man, Woman (Chinese) - There is a Mexican-American version called Tortilla Soup, but I like Ang Lee's original better.
Lovers of the Arctic Circle (Spanish)
A la folie...pas du tout/He Loves Me...He Loves Me Not (French)
Whale Rider
Belle du Jour (French)
The Cook the Thief his Wife and her Lover (British) - Probably not for everyone, but interesting nonetheless.

IFC runs older Japanese films on Saturday mornings. Lately I've found myself getting sucked into those - Throne of Blood, Sansho the Bailiff, Ran.

This thread makes me want a NetFlix account. :D
 
I loved East/West and Prisoner of the Mountains. I just adore Sergei Bodrov Jr and was devastated to learn he was killed in an ice slide.

I also loved an Iranian film, "The Color of Paradise" but I do not know that I could watch it again. Some of the best movies I will only watch once because they have had such an emotional impact on me...if that makes sense.
 
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