Movie Forums Top Foreign Language Films Countdown - Preliminary Thread

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Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.

Here we go!

The basics:


Submit a ranked list of 25 foreign language films by the deadline of 10th June.

To submit your list, use the brand-new shiny ballot submission tool that Yoda has made by clicking here:




It will look like this:




You can type the name of the movie you want and then select it from the drop-down list. Or you can click on ‘movie you want not showing up’ at the top right and paste the url of the movie from imdb or tmdb.

Please check the date of the film carefully to make sure that you are choosing the right film – often there are several films with the same title.

Your list should be ranked in order of preference. Films will be awarded points as follows: 25 points for 1st place, 24 points for 2nd place, 23 for 3rd and so on, all the way down to one point for your 25th placed film

You will receive a copy of your list via PM after you submit.

All ballots are final, so please take care when compiling your list. You must have been a member here for at least a month to submit a list. You can submit a partial list of 10 or more, but I would encourage you to spend some time watching films first and only submit a partial list if the deadline is fast approaching and you really can’t come up with 25 films you really like.

Please do not post your list in this thread or anywhere else on movieforums until after the countdown or your list may be disqualified.


What is eligible for this countdown?

Any film of any length that is primarily in a language other than English. ‘Foreign’ means different things to different people, but as the primary language of this forum is English, this is our chance to celebrate films made in different languages. Language is the criteria – not the filming location, director’s nationality or any other consideration.

Films which are primarily in a language other than English but with some English dialogue are eligible.

Films which are primarily in English but with some dialogue in another language are not eligible.

Television series are not eligible, unless they have also been released in film format (e.g. Das Boot and Fanny and Alexander are eligible.)

Other eligibility questions can be raised by polite discussion in this thread. Curator’s decision is final

How do I choose what to vote for?


It’s up to you! The world is your oyster. If you want to make sure your list represents the best of cinematic masterpieces from every continent, that’s fine. If you want to turn in a list consisting entirely of South Korean monster movies, also fine.

The most important thing is to have fun exploring foreign language cinema – you’ve got exactly 3 months, so get watching…with subtitles!



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Useful Links and Recs

Foreign Language Recommendation Exchange Thread by Citizen Rules

GBGoodies asks for specific foreign language recs


Lists received 74

Nope 1172
martyrofevil
Holden Pike
Tramuzgan
John W Constantine
ahwell
Steve Freeling
sawduck
Matt72582
Loner
Diehl40
Nidral
Harry Lime
Allaby
Miss Vicky
Guaporense
SpelingError
Thursday Next
Torgo
Kaplan
Phoenix74
John Dumbear
seanc
Skepsis93
Hey Fredrick
HasshtagBrownies
GulfportDoc
PahaK
Mr Minio
Chypmunk
the samoan lawyer
xSookieStackhouse (resubmission pending)
Takoma11
mark f
re93animator
neiba
Thracian Dawg
crumbsroom
donniedarko
Thief
wositelec
Citizen Rules
Rockatansky
Taz
ElizabethOliver
MovieMad16
Jabs
Wyldesyde19
KeyserCorleone
Jinnistan
Fabulous
Okay
resopamenic
rauldc14
cricket
Siddon
rbrayer
John-Connor
edarsenal
jiraffejustin
ApexPredator
ScarletLion
Yoda
kgaard
Frightened Inmate No. 2
moongirl
intialen
gbgoodies
Iroquois
WBadger
Captain Spaulding
Aidanc
Nemanja
sarah f
gandalf26



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Eligibility questions

Closed

Foreign made silent/dialogue-free films - eligible
War and Peace (1966) - eligible
Polytechnique - eligible

Italian made dubbed films
Suggested ruling: Yes, if they are mostly available/best known in a foreign langauge e.g. Suspiria, The Leopard. No, if they are mostly available/best known in English e.g. The Good the Bad and the Ugly

Berlin Alexanderplatz (1980)
No, because it is listed on imdb and wikipedia as a tv mini series.



Huzzah, here we go!

The ballot form is obviously new, and while it's been fairly well-tested (famous last words, I know), if you run into any issues with it, please PM me (rather than Thursday), since it's my responsibility to fix such things. Please do read that little paragraph at the top of the ballot submission page, though, before you start adding films, too.



No silent films allowed then

Quick question re the Ballot Submission Form - is it top-down or bottom-up (#1 at the top or bottom of the list)?



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
No silent films allowed then
I did consider the eligibility of silent films, but decided that I would wait and see if anyone brought them up

My feeling would be that if the original language of the intertitles is not English, they should probably be eligible, but I'm happy to have a discussion on that point and go with the prevailing mood.



No silent films allowed then

Quick question re the Ballot Submission Form - is it top-down or bottom-up (#1 at the top or bottom of the list)?
#1 first, and it'll show the rankings as you add them. You can drag or drop to change the order, as well. And the list will not be saved until you hit the button at the bottom, so you can add them in whatever order and move them around as you please until you're ready to submit.



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.

Quick question re the Ballot Submission Form - is it top-down or bottom-up (#1 at the top or bottom of the list)?
Good question!

Top down, and as you add films it will have the number next to them. If you add three films it will clearly show them as 1, 2 and 3 (25 points, 24 points, 23 points) and you can reorder them before pressing submit if you want them in a different order.



Huzzah, here we go!

The ballot form is obviously new, and while it's been fairly well-tested (famous last words, I know), if you run into any issues with it, please PM me (rather than Thursday), since it's my responsibility to fix such things. Please do read that little paragraph at the top of the ballot submission page, though, before you start adding films, too.
But what if the issue happens on a Thursday? Should I wait until Friday to PM you?



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
Great. 3 months to find a film with the wildest title for my one-pointer.

__________________
Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.



So, about eligibility. How about films like Suspiria and Leone's westerns? Here's what Wikipedia says about Suspiria and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly:

All of the actors' dialogue was dubbed through additional dialogue recording—a common practice in Italian filmmaking at the time.[7] On set, each actor spoke their native language (for instance, Harper, Valli, and Bennett spoke English; Casini, Bosé, Valli, and Bucci spoke Italian; and several others spoke German). Argento expressed disappointment over the fact that Harper's voice, which he liked, was not heard in the Italian market because she was dubbed in Italian by another actress. The dubbing was overseen by Ted Rusoff, a prolific voiceover artist based in Rome who supervised English-language dubbing for numerous European genre films including Argento's follow-up to Suspiria, Inferno.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom that Suspiria is entirely post-synced, the English-language mix is actually not entirely dubbed and uses a fair amount of production dialogue recorded on set, mixed with post-synced ADR. Actors whose actual on-set recorded voices appear in some scenes of the English mix are Jessica Harper, Alida Valli, Joan Bennet, Miguel Bosé, and Flavio Bucci.
As an international cast was employed, actors performed in their native languages. Eastwood, Van Cleef and Wallach spoke English, and were dubbed into Italian for the debut release in Rome. For the American version, the lead acting voices were used, but supporting cast members were dubbed into English.[46] The result is noticeable in the bad synchronization of voices to lip movements on screen; none of the dialogue is completely in sync because Leone rarely shot his scenes with synchronized sound.[47] Various reasons have been cited for this: Leone often liked to play Morricone's music over a scene and possibly shout things at the actors to get them in the mood. Leone cared more for visuals than dialogue (his English was limited, at best). Given the technical limitations of the time, recording the sound cleanly would have been difficult in most of the extremely wide shots Leone frequently used. Also, a standard practice in Italian films at this time was to shoot silently and postdub. Whatever the actual reason, all dialogue in the film was recorded in postproduction.
I honestly don't know if they're foreign language films or not.
__________________



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
So, about eligibility. How about films like Suspiria and Leone's westerns? Here's what Wikipedia says about Suspiria and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly:

I honestly don't know if they're foreign language films or not.
This is an interesting point - I know this was a common practice with Italian films at one point. The Leopard is another well-known one.

Suspiria and The Leopard were definitely in a foreign language when I watched them, even if it wasn't the language(s) they were recorded in, therefore I would be inclined to count them. The Good the Bad and the Ugly was definitely in English when I watched it and I imagine that is the same for most users, so I would be inclined not to count it.

I realise that is not a hard and fast criteria, so I'm open to people's suggestions on this. It might come down to availability of different dubs but I don't know how to verify that. It might come down to common sense gut feeling, but if anyone has a suggestion, feel free to suggest.