The Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame III: Foreign Language Edition

Senso: This was very good. I tend to like romances set during war time. I think there is a natural tension and conflict there that really makes them work well for me. This wasn't a perfect film, it did drag in parts. The ending was fantastic though, even if I think you can mostly see it coming. Good performances from a bunch of actors I don't know at all.

Good movie visually. Vey lush. The transfer feels like it is probably DVD quality. It could really pop visually with another transfer upgrade. Very colorful film, with some cool settings. Especially like the look of the grain barn.

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Letterboxd

“Except for markf, you’re all a disgrace to cinema.”

I guess I didn't love Senso because I can't remember it at all. Then again, I've loved women I'd totally forgotten about so you never know

I have never had a great memory, and it feels like it has just gotten worse.

Samurai Rebellion aka Jôi-uchi: Hairyô tsuma shimatsu (1967)

Isaburo Sasahara: Each must live his own life.

A slow-burner of a film with such a wonderous reward for the time invested in viewing this film by Masaki Kobayashi.
Starring Toshirô Mifune, who, for me, can do no wrong. The calm waters that scarcely conceals the turbulence beneath have continuously amazed and captivated me every single time I've seen him. He plays Isaburo Sasahara, an aged samurai who has spent his life as a henpecked husband preserving the standing of the family he had been chosen to be married into.
So, when he sees that the eldest of his two sons would be put into a very similar position when their lord insists that he marries his mistress, Ichi (Yôko Tsukasa) who, even though she had just born him a son, has fallen out of his favor; Isaburo is more than just a little hesitant.

Against everyone's expectations, especially Ichi and her assigned husband, Yogoro (Gô Katô), the two fall very much in love and are gifted with a baby girl within the first two years of marriage.

But, when the lord's first son dies, he demands that Ichi return to be the now new heir's mother.
Ichi does not want to return. Nor does Yogoro wish to part with her. To the agitation of their self-preserving family clan. The only one on their side is Isaburo as the chess match of diplomatic formalities, codes of honor, and, above all, what is truly right, escalate to the inevitable bloodshed.


A beautifully told story. The measured telling drew me in with such sublime subtlety I had no idea just how captivated I was until the third act as the two lovers, especially Ichi, remained resolute in the face of such insurmountable odds. Her poetic nobility causing a loud cheer to bubble out of me.

To the one who chose this, f@ckin Dōmo arigatō!!

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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

I nominated Samourai Rebellion for a general HoF and I think it came in 2nd. Great flick it is.

It was the 11th, I started joining them in the 12th and having seen it I can totally see it scoring incredibly high in a General HoF.

I watched Come and See (1985) today. I had heard a lot about the film and had been wanting to watch it for a while. I had bought the Criterion blu ray but hadn't got around to watching it, so I'm glad someone nominated it for me. Masterfully directed by Elem Klimov, this powerful drama is about a boy named Flyora who joins the Soviet resistance and witnesses and experiences the horrors and brutality of war and the evil that humanity is capable of. Aleksey Kravchenko is excellent as Flyora and gives a hauntingly intense performance. The cinematography is really well done and very effective. Come and See is a captivating and engaging film, disturbing and unforgettable, an essential film. It's not an easy watch, but I'm glad I experienced it. My rating is a high .

The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, 1972

A group of upper class friends attempts to have dinner together, something that is constantly frustrated or interrupted. A series of related sequences--some of them real and some of them dreams--ensue, with the specter of class centering the characters and their conflicts. Across the different stories--which also pull in characters who are soldiers, priests, or servants--there are recurring themes like poisoning or the return of ghosts.

This is the kind of film that I both love and that frustrates me. I really lean on emotional connection and empathy when I watch movies, and so satires or films that are pushing other structural experimentation can really grab me from a technical point of view, but I often grapple with connecting to the narrative.

The strength of this film is in the easy way it portrays the manner in which the upper class people think of their access to high quality things as a right. Sitting down to a meal, served to them of course, is just something they should be able to expect. Their relationship with the people who work for them is a mix of condescension, dependence, and suspicion. I like the way that the film portrays the intersection between the upper class, the military, and the working people.

I also liked some of the stranger touches, like the man who keeps a rifle on hand to fend off the terrorists who are hunting him. I also liked the use of ghosts, and especially those from the story of a soldier who is haunted by the death of his mother and, later, a fellow soldier. These scenes are slower and more haunting, and they do carry some emotional weight.

The downside, of course, is that it is hard to really care about any of the characters. They are selfish people, and while there are some very interesting interactions between them and some nicely cutting observations, the lack of narrative continuity makes it challenging to be invested in them.

I enjoyed this film, though I don't see myself wanting to necessarily revisit it.

I believe Discreet Charm was my first Bunuel, and it's another movie I liked more than expected.

Come and See has a great shot at making my countdown ballot.

Hey Takoma, you went out of order!

If things aren't available on the streaming services I have, I am putting them on my DVD queue and trying to get them from my library, then just going to the next one on the list.

I had to skip Contempt and I will also have to skip Farewell My Concubine for now. Grand Illusion is another I'll need to get the DVD. All the rest I will watch in order, and I'll get the DVD ones in when they arrive.

The Vanishing: Very cool thriller. Definitely like the curveball it throws after the inciting incident. I was all buckled in for a procedural, and that's not what we get at all. Very engaging storytelling that leads to an awesome ending that I couldn't look away from and wanted to turn off at the same time.

Good flick^^^

I'm one of only 3 who hasn't started. Dang you guys are on fire

I assume it was the original, right?

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From '88. I think there is a old horror that got remade you are referring to?

Thank God. No, that film was remade in 1993 for American audiences, but by Sluizer himself. The remake stars Kiefer Sutherland, Jeff Bridges, and Sandra Bullock. The weird thing is that...

You gotta be kidding. That's awful.

I still don't understand why they made that...