Foreign Language Hall of Fame

I haven't seen Tom Jones yet. I wasn't able to find it when we did the 60's countdown. The movie does remind me of Tom Jones the singer though. Hmmmm

Done...and I sent my voting list in

As everyone has already stated, Assassination and The Age of Shadows have some crazy similarities. They both cover the same topic, and they even have the same runtime, but more importantly, they almost have the same positives and negatives. For example, I once again had the confusion issue throughout the first act of Assassination, where just like in The Age of Shadows, I was mostly uninterested due to the convoluted presentation of the characters. As for the similar positives, I once more was satisfied with the pacing, and how quickly a 140 minutes long movie went by.

Of course there are other aspects where one film trumps the other, such as in the cinematography department, where The Age of Shadows is superior. On the other hand, Assassination is definitely the funnier and more fun flick out of the two, and that's mostly because it's more cartoonish and goofy, and I like how less seriously it took itself. Although, this goofiness can translate sometimes into failed attempts at being "cool", and what I mean by that is all of the supposedly hip one liners, or just simply the "cool" demeanour of certain characters, and I've never been fond of that trope.

There's one exceptionally done scene that I'm eager to talk about, and that is Lee Jung-jae's remarkable performance throughout the court scene near the end. It's easily my favourite part of the entire movie, and it even rivals the train sequence in the opposing film The Age of Shadows. This leaves me in a questionable spot, because I don't know how I would genuinely order one of these two pieces of the same pie from the other. I guess that's something I'm gonna leave to time to decide, in order to see which film stands out to me more, once the occasion comes.

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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 tried to talk about Assassination with little mention of The Age of Shadows, but obviously I miserably failed, so sorry about that It's still crazy to see them both nominated in the same HOF...what luck!

Also, I'll be seeing The Leopard tomorrow, and from its looks, I think I will most likely enjoy it a lot.

Actually, it's kind of impossible NOT to discuss one when discussing the other, so no worries.
Enjoyed the write up and yes, Lee Jung-jae was pretty amazing at the end. Loved her throughout this.

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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

Samsara (2001)

Films that address Tibet and its culture often have a teacher-like missionary tone.
A film with few dialogues. The love drama has in places by the natural game almost documentary authenticity. In addition to the overwhelming nature shots with their fantastic play of colors. "Samsara" a film about where and where man can find spiritual enlightenment and the related question of how the love between two people fits in the picture. A film that is 'compulsory cost' for visitors who visit more films from the Arthouse circuit.
"Samsara" lives from his outstanding pictures from the Himalayas. The colors of traditional robes do the rest. You can completely relax for almost two and a half hours, that makes you think about your own life.

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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...

Nicely put @Nemanja

I have a counterargument, but it really just depends on what one would consider the qualifications of a masterpiece to be. Anyway...

At some point in this thread, after seeing a beautiful snapshot of The Leopard, and being reminded of films such as Cries & Whispers or Barry Lyndon, I expressed my hope for it being as affecting as those two films, but boy was I in for a surprise. This acclaimed Palme d'Or winning Italian piece, could never hold a candle to the likes of those mentioned masterpieces. I personally couldn't care less about a movie, if all it has to offer is some masterful cinematography. I'm sorry, but the icing alone doesn't make for a tasteful cake, and that's what I think the director tried to get away with, successfully so, since this film is considered amongst the greats.

The story of The Leopard contains a lot of historical and political elements, which are poorly introduced and presented. If we take all of that away, we're only left with a plain plot, that is far too uninteresting to merit such a long runtime. As for the characters, they're superficial, shallow, and empty, which ironically mirrors the outside look of the film. There's no existence of depth to any of the characters, with the exception of Fabrizio, played by Burt Lancaster, but even then, he isn't all that gravitating either. To be honest, a lot of the complaints thrown at my nomination, Benny's Video, I found way more applicable and fitting for The Leopard, and that just shows the beauty and diversity of us film lovers.

At the end of the day, I was left infuriated by such a movie, due to its lack of pretty much everything. I found it very full of itself, just like the people it tried to portray. Even though I started to slowly warm up to it by the final hour, at that point, it had completely lost all potential for me, as it reached an unredeemable condition. Some people suggest that this would be better with a more condensed running time, and I don't even think that would save it in my eyes, since the substance of the film would still be too dry for my liking.

That's how I felt after I first went in blind and watched it a couple of years ago. Before watching it this time, I did a good bit of reading on it to see what I should look for and understand why others love it. As I said before, this time I almost completely disregarded the historical part of the plot, and I instead focused on the man. The world is changing around him, he has regrets, he's attracted to his nephew's fiancée, and in general is sort of fading away. By focusing so strongly on that, a simple glance that I wouldn't even notice before, would speak volumes this time. I think if a viewer can find even one aspect about a movie they love, and that aspect is consistent throughout, they will love the movie. I can't say if it is a complete movie, but that's what happened to me with this viewing.

Who knows what I'll think of it years from now, maybe I'll recognise it for the masterpiece it is, or maybe I'll hate it even more which would be quite the hard task to achieve. More importantly, the film did absolutely nothing for me so I can have an ounce of desire to revisit it. I'm glad you got some enjoyment out of it though.

Taking away the historical elements of the plot would be eliminating 1/3 of the film, then you have these annoying segments between Tancredi and Angelica, and that approximates to another 1/3, only to be left with whatever remains of the study about Burt Lancaster's character, which to me felt very one note, and too plain for me to be invested in (it also probably didn't help that the other 2/3 drained my soul).

I didn't expect to detest this as much as I currently do, but that's how it turned out

Thinking about it more, I realised that my main issue with The Leopard is its lack of focus. I would've liked had the film been more concerned about portraying the contrast, between the aristocrats and the rest of Sicily, during the political warfare. Or had it focused on the romantic relationships presented, while also adding more depth and development to them. Or had it simply scrapped everything else, and only worked at building Burt Lancaster's character. Clearly, the mixing of everything ruined it for me.

Actually, the excessive amount of the historical and political elements, also added to the ruin of my experience. Every time there was any focus on them, I rapidly grew irritated, and the overall mood kept plummeting. Moreover, there were numerous sequences of absolute nothingness, which also also also added to my annoyance hahahaha. Also...yeah nevermind, but pretty much the entire film annoyed me to no end.

Sorry for going off on a tangent.

Connor Macgregor Reviews...Phoenix

INTRO: I return to the Hall Of Fame thread with a lot of catching up to do, and this film was the next on my list to watch. And it wasn't the reaction I expected.

SUMMARY: In the aftermath of WWII, Nelly, a Jewish survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp, horribly disfigured from a bullet wound in her face, undergoes a series of facial reconstruction surgeries and decides to find her husband Johnny who works at the Phoenix club in Berlin. Undoubtedly, Nelly is stunning, yet, her new self is beyond recognition, so Johnny, the man who may have betrayed her to the Nazis, will never imagine that the woman in front of him who bears an uncomfortable and unsettling resemblance to his late wife, is indeed her. Without delay, and with the intention to collect the deceased's inheritance, Nelly will go along with Johnny's plot and she will impersonate the dead woman, giving the performance of a lifetime before friends and relatives in a complex game of deceit, duplicity, and ultimately, seduction.

MY THOUGHTS: I'm saddened to say that I didn't like this film that much. I just found it dull overall. The story was badly paced, and its subject matter not very interesting to me. Performances were fine for the most part, but nothing remarkable or stand out. I also felt the score didn't fit with the tone of the film. Too jolly at points, and not capturing the seriousness of the story.

OVERALL: Phoenix is a let down. A film that for me didn't do anything for me in terms of story and subject matter.

RATING: 45% - C+

I need links for The Bélier Family and Entre Nos with english or portuguese subtitles.

I had those but I didn't save them. I think I learned a lesson, and will save all links until the HoF is over, just in case someone needs them...Do you still need those links? I'll look for them if you do.

I still need them. I can't find anywhere.
Thank you for your time and help Citizen.

I think I still have the Entre Nos link that Camo sent me. Coming to you in a minute.

EDIT: Sorry, couldn't find it :/

I'll send The Belier Family link to you right now.

Epic film, sprawling with twists, turns and shooting. Lots of shooting. It's very beautiful to look at - typically Korean in that respect, and really captures what I imagine to be the tense times of 1930s Korea.

While the film is technically brilliant, it is quite convoluted and there are quite a few cast members, and that means it requires huge levels of concentration. I enjoyed the visuals and the performances were fine - but the movie was a little too "action" for me......lots of explosive fighting, chases and gunfights. While they were executed very well, it just became a little too much at times. It has obvious comparisons to 'Age of Shadows' and the 2 films have more or less exactly the same running time, yet 'Assassination' felt a little too overlong.

Overall I did enjoy it, but would desribe it as one of those films where you "have to be in the right mood" to watch.



This is an example of a movie I would never have come across if it wasn't for this forum and this HoF. Which is what it's all about right? It's a complete experience this movie. The performances and the tone convey the journey, life choices and dilemmas of the main character Tashi very well. And at times, it has an almost documentary feel to it - as the landscape is so breathtaking. We go through themes of enlightenment, awakening, seduction, guilt, loneliness and back round again. Maybe for true enlightenment one has to experience everything that life can throw at you.

The film also has really powerful sound editing - every rustle of wind and meander of river was captured perfectly and drove home the setting brilliantly. The monologue by Pema towards the end of the movie is quite something too.

It's an extremely beautiful / spiritual film and will be towards the top of my final rankings - I just wish there was a BluRay release so we could see it in HD glory.

Going to try to rent Samsara from my library this week so that my roommate can watch it as well, specifically for the visual aspect of it.