The MoFo Top 100 Foreign Language Film Countdown

Wallet Inspector

06-27-21

Originally Posted by Thursday Next

Vive la France!

I'm not a big fan of Michael Haneke, mainly because it always feels like he really hates cinema. Or really hates people. Or both.

Le Trou on the other hand is a good film, very tense.

I am no Haneke expert, but I did find Cache extremely off putting, as it felt like he wanted to both indulge in genre tropes but not follow through on them as they would be beneath the movie.*Oddly enough, I kind of loved Funny Games, as it at least owned up to the fact that it wasn't playing fair.*There's no pretense of it being anything other than a provocation.*

KeyserCorleone

Msg

Registered User

06-27-21

Totoro is very cute and charming, but it felt just a little too random for a five-star.

Last edited by KeyserCorleone; 06-27-21 at 08:18 PM.

Harry Lime

BANNED FROM VIENNA

06-27-21

That's a cool double feature.

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ding-dong daddy from dumas

06-27-21

i loved le trou when i watched it for a hall of fame years ago, enough to make my #21.

fitzcaraldo and totoro are both good but neither made my list. haven't seen the others would but certainly like to.

my list:
20. Suspiria (1977)
21. The Hole (1960)

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SpelingError

AKA Popcorn Reviews

06-27-21

Haven't seen Fireworks.

I like My Neighbor Totoro quite a bit and I think it does a great job at nailing childlike wonder and exploration. It didn't make as big an impact on me as some other anime films I've seen though.

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edarsenal

Women will be your undoing, P�p�

06-27-21

My Neighbor Totoro will eventually, like a number of Miyazaki films will finally have the opportunity to be experienced, and most likely, enjoyed by me.

As for Hana-bi, I am ALWAYS happy to see a Kitano film make any list.

Originally Posted by edarsenal

Hana-bi aka Fireworks

Watching this film I was able to discover the more retrospective side of Kitano. Researching, I discovered even more beneath the stilled waters of this gentleman.
Such as, much like the crippled detective who learns to paint, so did Kitano after a very serious motorcycle accident. In fact, all of the artwork in this film was done by Kitano himself.
Another intriguing aspect that pleasantly surprised me was, for Japan, he is far more known as a comedian as opposed to the stoic and violent character he plays in many of his yakuza-connected movies.

And so, learning this I felt a deeper appreciation of the movie I was watching as well as the filmmaker Takeshi Kitano.

While the film pacing is a somewhat erratic behavior that takes a bit to get used to, it does pose some great shots, cuts, and lingering compositions. As well as see a more touching and at times, amusing side.
With this film, there is more poetic credence to the more violent crescendo I'm more used to with other films I've seen by Kitano.
And I gotta say, I very much enjoyed it and will be searching out the others that are of a similar nature.

Movies Seen: 10 of 24 (41.66%)
4. Rome, Open City (1945) #93
6. Army of Shadows (1969) #90
13. Samurai Rebellion (1967) #79
19. Paprika (2006) #100
25. In This Corner of the World (2016) One Pointer

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crumbsroom

Registered User

06-27-21

Totoro is the greatest animated film ever made, besides It's Such a Beautiful Day and maybe Fantasia. So, yeah, it should be on as many lists as possible, even if I forgot about it for mine. And no, I'm not going to waste time talking about its understanding of childlike wonder. It so cornered the market on this, it has become almost impossible to say anything else more perfect. No film has ever fully taken the plunge into a child's brain with such certainty as this. Greatness.

It's been established I don't know how to talk about Kitano films I like, only the ones I hate. And I loved Fireworks. So much so I immediately forgot everything that happened in it. As all perfect things should make you do. Hooray for Beat Takeshi. A rare one from my list (I think)

Thief

Master of None

06-27-21

And with that pair, we get the first two repeating directors (Kitano and Miyazaki). Also, Japan moves ahead of France and Italy by two in the country breakdown.

Also, I've seen neither so...

My Summary:

Seen: 5/24
My list: 1/25

My List

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rauldc14

2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ

06-27-21

There's no way Japan doesn't win the country battle like I said.

I had Totoro at 20, my second to show up. The Vanishing was my other at 15. And 101 Porco was my number 12.

Wyldesyde19

The trick is not minding

06-27-21

Yeah, I imagine Japan will dominate, with Italy and France next in that order.

Kurosawa will probably get about 4-5 films, with Bunuel, Miyazaki and Tarkovsky challenging him.

Still waiting to see if De Sica, Visconti and Truffaut are represented well in this, but of course, we still have a ways to go.

rauldc14

2022 Mofo Fantasy Football Champ

06-27-21

Bergman will challenge Kurosawa and Miyazaki

Wyldesyde19

The trick is not minding

06-27-21

Originally Posted by rauldc14

Bergman will challenge Kurosawa and Miyazaki

Good call. Forgot about Bergman.

Iroquois

Welcome to the human race...

06-28-21

No votes. I could do with a rewatch of Fireworks, maybe the best Kitano even if Sonatine edges it out as a subjective favourite (and even that could always change). Just the man at the top of his form. My Neighbour Totoro, like most Miyazaki, is extremely good.

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gbgoodies

You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.

06-28-21

I watched Le Trou for a HoF a few years ago, and I remembered liking it, so I rewatched it for this countdown. I liked it enough that I considered it for my list, but ultimately it didn't make the final cut.

I watched Fitzcarraldo for a movie tournament shortly after I joined MoFo, and at that time, I didn't like it. I wasn't planning to rewatch it for this countdown, but it aired on TCM recently, so I decided to give it another chance. It was worth watching because I liked it this time, but it still didn't make my list.

Samurai Rebellion was one of the last few movies that I watched for this countdown. I didn't have high expectations for it because I'm generally not a fan of samurai movies, but it was recommended by @cricket, so I wanted to give it a chance. I liked it more than I expected to, but it still didn't make my list.

I watched My Neighbor Totoro for this countdown, but I almost turned it off as soon as I saw pictures of bugs and spiders in the opening credits

, but I decided to give it a chance. It turned out to be a pretty cute movie, but it also didn't make my list.

I haven't heard of Cache or Fireworks.

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John-Connor

Registered User

06-28-21

Fireworks is the first one from my list to show up on the countdown and my favorite 'Beat Takeshi' film. Sonatine and Zatoichi were also in contention but I already had a Samurai oriented film on my list. Which brings me to the second one from my ballot

Samurai Rebellion. Masaki Kobayashi's Samurai melodrama starring both legends Toshiro Mifune and Tatsuya Nakadai is a (slightly underseen) certified Masterpiece.
Just the way I like it, had it on my ballot at #7.

Movies Seen: 8 of 24
My list:
25. Mongol (One Pointer)
21. Fireworks (#78)
7. Samurai Rebellion (#79)

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