Foreign Language Hall of Fame

For some movies, it is the only way to watch them because it is how they are made. I believe you can watch a version of The Leopard with Burt Lancaster doing his own voice and pretty much everyone else dubbed into English. Or you can watch the Italian version in which most of the principals are dubbed into Italian because they are American or French.

Aguirre Wrath of God has an interesting dubbing history too - apparently the actors originally spoke in English, then it was dubbed into German due to various production issues.

It's weird that sometimes you are watching actors giving sometimes very good performances, but it is someone else's voice you are hearing.

I think a lot of the time it's done very well but it's something that bothers me - like if the sound and video are out of sync when I'm watching something I will notice (whereas the rest of my family won't necessarily) and I just find it difficult to watch after that.

Yeah, English was the only language the entire crew were able to speak, so they filmed in English instead of German. However the available English version of Aguirre is not the original dialogue, since what they recorded on location was unusable.

Supposedly there was very little money left to properly finance the post-production, so it makes sense that they'd choose to dub it in German instead of in English. If you don't have time to get the lip synchronization right, you'd might as well go with whichever language will give you superior performances.

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I suppose if you think about it, singing in movies is often dubbed and often someone else's voice is used but doesn't seem to be quite as noticeable as when the entire spoken performance is dubbed.

Nina Hoss is a heck of an actress. I enjoyed this quite a bit more than 'Barbara' which I've also seen and was Directed by Christian Petzold. Some scenes were reminiscent of 'The marriage of Maria Braun' and Hoss looked uncannily like Frances McDormand when she gets beat up in 'Mississippi Burning'.

As for the plot, I thought it was very fantastical but let it play out and it didn't bother me too much. There were some metaphors - facial disfigurement and isolation = the loss of Jewish identity. Unless I'm reading into it too much.

It is beautifully shot with lovely lighting and shadows almost adding a noir element. And the ending floored me. Very good film if flawed in places.

I'll start out by saying I'm not a fan of musicals. At all. In that respect, I really hoped that the singing in the first scene would stop. But it didn't. It just carried on throughout. My biggest criticism of this is that it is just so distracting, to have music thrust in your face. There's barely a quiet moment as a result. No real ambience or tension. Plus, the dialogue suffers when it is put to song. So unfortunately I didn't enjoy this film as a result. But that's probably on me, I'm sure fans of musicals would love this film.

Having said all that, the colours in this film are absolutely outrageous. Vibrant pinks, yellows, blues, orange. It was a feast for the eyes. They were pretty amazing to see burst onto the screen, and the set design was lovely too, which also included matching dresses and wallpaper. I did also like the ending, it was completely heartbreaking.

Probably the best musical I've ever seen on the account I've not seen many, but not likely to be near the top of my list.

I think we'll need a couple more mediocre reviews for that to prevent it from completely running away with this thing. It may still anyway.

We now have over 30 total reviews!

So far Phoenix is the most watched film with 7 write-ups. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and Age of Shadows are tied for second with 4 each.

If the current rate of posts continues, Thursday and I are going to be finished well ahead of everyone else, haha.

Question about Phoenix, why does Nelly say she's not Jewish?

Lene: In Tel Aviv there's a Jewish choir run by Vera Stroux. It might suit you.

Nelly: What would I do in a Jewish choir? - I'm not a Jew.

Lene: You are, like it or not. They tried to kill you because you're a Jew.

I didn't get why she said that, was she suppose to be half Jewish? Or was it just a poor translation into English of what she originally said in German?

I get that she's in shock and wants to believe if she can find Johnny, that she can step back into her old life, but she must have considered herself Jewish in her old life.

I thought she meant, that she wasn't a practising Jew.

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"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."

- Michael "Gloomy Old Fart" Haneke

I don't remember how exactly the line was phrased in German, but I was under the impression that Nelly had just enough Jewish ancestry to be legally recognized and detained as a Jew by the Nazis, though she herself did not follow Judaism.

Connor Macgregor Reviews...Thelma

INTRO: For the Foreign Hall Of Fame game on this fourm site, It's required that I view all nominated films as part of the process. Having already reviewed four, I now begin to review the one's I haven't seen. Starting with Thelma

SUMMARY: A confused religious girl tries to deny her feelings for a female friend who's in love with her. This causes her suppressed subconsciously-controlled psychokinetic powers to reemerge with devastating results.

THE GOOD: There's a lot to like about Thelma. The fact that its use of genre and narrative is very fresh and exciting to watch. The central character Thelma, played by Eili Harboe is a great find, wonderfully conflicted between her family and her natural curiosity for life outside her parent's grasp. I love the relationship between fellow student Anja, played by Kaya Wilkins, who are just lovely to watch together. I like the supernatural theme to it, and how the powers are just very abrupt and uncontrollable. There's a great mysterious feel to it as more layers are revealed throughout the story.

THE ENDING: Without spoiling anything, I found the ending a bit too preachy for my tastes. Slightly I rolled my eyes at its message and found it all to neatly wrapped up. It wasn't too my taste, especially since the tone of the film was so bleak and mysterious throughout the duration of the story.

OVERALL: Thelma is a great watch, with some great ideas and performances all around. I love the story, the acting, and some of the cinematography is good too. A real recommendation if you want something new and interesting.

RATING: 91% - A

Thelma 2017

Thelma is a story of one girl's sexual awakening and the inconvenient psychokinetic side effects it has on her, her classmates and her puritanical parents. A film which is one part supernatural thriller, another - family drama, and yes, a third part coming-of-age repressed lesbian romance. Though, at least it starts with maybe the right idea - this is for me a unholy and inherently messy mix of genres. Thelma still has a few merits: the well-rounded performances, austerely beautiful cinematography and hauntingly atmospheric score. There's plenty of resolution to the conflicts of Thelma, but we're left to wonder if any of it - the punishment and the mercy - is justified. I was waiting a deeper movie. Interesting but not much more.

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A normal man? For me, a normal man is one who turns his head to see a beautiful woman's bottom. The point is not just to turn your head. There are five or six reasons. And he is glad to find people who are like him, his equals. That's why he likes crowded beaches, football, the bar downtown...

Only one minute between Thelma reviews...will there be a third posted before I finish typing this?

I guess I'm kinda psychic.

In terms of the film juggling themes and genres, I think it manages to do well. Not one takes most of the focus, its evened out pretty well.

You have the same problem with me regarding the ending @Nemanja. I think the dad was extreme. The baby she couldn't understand because she was a child, and I felt giving the mum back her "ability" again was the preachy part of me. It just spelled out "Men Are Bad, Woman Unite" mantra that almost killed the film for me

Those ideas both make sense. I thought it must be something like that.

I didn't like "Thelma's" ending either. Matter of fact, I didn't like the entire second half of the film.

Is no one really that interested in watching Samsara? I chose it only because I'd been viewing a lot of movies lately about Buddhist monks, but if nobody is into that sort of thing, I could pick something different for my nom, if I'm allowed?

I'll be posting my thoughts soon for Millennium Actress, La Haine, Benny's Video, Umbrellas of Cherbourg, Entre Nos, etc.

Personally, when there's new HoF members I save their nominations for last in case they don't finish. No offense.

not every movie gets watched right away. And, a lot of times, to join into conversations going on, you'll see any particular movie get watched by multiple people around the same time.
Don't look at this as disinterest. Especially since I have a feeling there will be a number of conversations regarding yours when folks make their way to it.
This is a very sizable HoF and there is a few movies that haven't been watched yet, so, please, if this is a movie you wished to share, then stay with it.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Yes, CR, you were right, I DID enjoy this.
It got me to thinking of Les Demoiselles de Rochefort, which, if I remember, I voted #1 in the Live Musical HoF. And not simply due to the lovely Catherine Deneuve being in both, but there were some lovely similarities that kept me drifting back to it: The color schemes, the sad love stories and, of course, being a small town in France during the same time frame.
Therefore this had quite an excellent chance of being something that would put a smile on my face.

While I can see how having the entire dialogue being sung could cause some offsetting for some, it didn't at all for me. Putting a grin on my face from the get go as the customer asks if his car is ready and the singing begins.
Though, I must say, I kept anticipating at some point for people to break out in dance. Like in the very beginning when Guy goes into the Change Room at the garage and all the guys are talking. Or, more correctly, singing.
But that was more of being conditioned in the usual sense of musicals where dancing and singing go hand in hand.
Speaking of the garage I thought it was pretty funny that one mechanic said how little he cared for opera and preferred movies. An amusing little inside joke, that.

Another movie that came to mind was Yentl. In regards to changing up the usual recipe of a musical. While everyone sang in this one, in Yentl, it was her thoughts, those moments of soliloquy that were sung.
Made me appreciate and enjoy this aspect all the more, I guess.

It was a pleasant little story of First Loves and how life seems to move people in different directions. For better or for worse, which we don't truly see - or perhaps it is as we perceive individually. Are they truly happy, or do they make themselves happy in their new lives with others?
We would hope they are truly happy and it is only in that moment of seeing each other that they feel sadness/regret.

A sweet, little sad love story in the language of love, filled with bright beautiful colors.
Très beau, CR!