Help me with Foreign (Non-English) Movie Recommendations

I watched A Silent Voice (2016). This is a very good movie about a bully getting what he deserves, and later trying to redeem himself.

I felt so bad for Shoko when she was being bullied, so I was glad to see the tables were turned and the class turned against the bully.

It was kind of weird seeing everyone with "X"s over their faces. At first, I was trying to figure out what that meant, until I realized that Shoya was too ashamed to look at people.

While I liked seeing the relationship building between Shoya and Shoko, it's hard to believe that she would just "forgive and forget" everything he did to her years earlier. But if you believe that people can change, it's nice to see how their friensdhip grew, and that he was able to redeem himself in the end.

Thanks for the recommendation.

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@Citizen Rules and @jiraffejustin,
I watched The Cranes Are Flying (1957). This was a good movie, but it wasn't really the kind of romance movie that I like. It's more of a drama than a romance.



Thanks for the recommendation.

@Chypmunk,
Cyborg She (aka My Girlfriend Is A Cyborg (2008)). That was weird, but good. There was something very likable about Jiro. His smile just lights up the screen.

I loved how they used the time travel aspect of the movie to bring Jiro together with the girl at the beginning, and then everything played out again at the end, but with the girl explaining why everything happened the way it did.

The only part that I didn't like was what she did to his lizard, but other than that, this was a great movie.

Thanks for the recommendation.

@Diehl40,
I rewatched La Strada (1954). This is the second time that I watched this movie, and I liked it more this time. There's something very likable about Gelsomina that made me enjoy watching her. She has a cute quirkiness about her, (but for some reason, she reminds me a little bit of Harpo Marx).

On the other hand, I didn't like Zampanò much. He's too angry most of the time, and even though he seemed to take care of Gelsomina, it didn't feel like he liked her. He just needed her for his act. However, even though Gelsomina mentioned to Il Matto that Zampanò hits her, I never got the feeling that this was true. I don't think he was nice to her, but I didn't think that he physically hurt her. The only time he seemed to show any real emotion for her was when he left her, and later when he found our what happened to her.

I liked Il Matto, and I really wanted to see Gelsomina go with him. It just felt like they belonged together.

Thanks for the recommendation.

@cricket and @ScarletLion,
Umberto D. (1952) This is one of those movies that I respect it more than I like it because it's a very depressing movie to watch.

I loved his little dog, Flike, and the way they needed each other. (I could have done without the scene at the pound where we see how they kill the dogs, and watch them bring in the next group of dogs to be killed.) I knew that he was going to find his dog before he would be killed, but it was heartbreaking to see how heartless the people who work there were.

I liked the relationship that Umberto had with the young maid. He was almost like a father-figure to her, and I thought she was one of the bright spots of the movie. She seemed to be happy regardless of all the problems that were going on around her. I'd like to think that she took his advice at the end, and found a better life for herself elsewhere.



Thanks for the recommendation.
This was a good movie, but it's just too depressing for me at times.

I don't know if anyone recommended this movie to me, (and I don't know how to search this thread for a movie with a single letter title), but it aired on TCM recently, so I watched it.

Z (1969) - I'm not really a fan of political movies, so I didn't care much about what each side was fighting for, but this was an interesting movie.

After the scene of the attack, it was almost like watching a documentary of how they uncovered the conspiracy. It was interesting that the journalist seemed to want to find the conspirators more than the police and the victims.



In the end, this turned out to be another movie that I respect more than I like, but I"m glad I watched it.

@HashtagBrownies,
I watched Run Lola Run (1998). It took me a few minutes to figure out what was happening because I didn't know that this was a time loop movie, but once I realized it, I loved this movie. It was clever and exciting.

It was kind of strange rooting for Lola to get the money and save Manni because it was obvious that he was in trouble because he was committing a crime, but both characters were so likable that I really wanted to see them succeed.

I didn't like the animated parts because they took me out of the movie for the brief time that they were on screen, but they didn't bother me enough to hurt the movie.

This seems like the type of movie that gets better every time you see it because there are probably a lot of little things that you miss that you can pick up on with repeated viewings.

Thanks for the recommendation.

Glad you watched it. It had the opposite effect on me. I was euphoric that such a beautiful film had been made.

In general, I don't usually like movies about poverty and/or people struggling to survive. I just find them too depressing.

@Hey Fredrick and @Dog Star Man,
Rashomon (1950). I think I like the concept of this movie more than the movie itself. I like the idea of seeing the same story from multiple points of view, and trying to decide which version is the truth, but there were parts of the story that didn't work for me.

I didn't like the idea that the woman would ask Tajomaru to kill her husband because she was raped. If she feels shame because of it, why should her husband die? He didn't rape her, and he was powerless to stop Tajomaru.

I didn't like the way Toshiro Mifune overacted as Tajomaru. He seemed to feel so much joy for doing what he did to these people that he was annoying to watch. He just seemed much too happy about it. He reminded me a little bit of The Joker from Batman.

But this movie isn't really about whose story is the most accurate. It's about human nature, and how each person lies to make themselves look good.



Thanks for the recommendation.

@Hey Fredrick,
I watched Les Diaboliques (aka Diabolique) (1955). I had seen this movie before, but it was many years ago, and I didn't remember much about it beyond the swimming pool being a plot point. But I agree that this movie is more of a thriller than a horror movie. It has a creepy vibe to it, with some great twists and turns.

I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give away any spoilers, but this movie felt almost like a Hitchcock movie. The suspense builds more and more as the movie goes on, and it just keeps getting better. The last 15-20 minutes is the scariest and best part of the movie.

Thanks for the recommendation.

As you've now clearly run out of recommendations to watch @gbgoodies (I know you haven't really but it has been three days since your last post ) may I respectfully suggest The Twilight Samurai as another you might enjoy if you can (a) find it available to you and (b) manage to squeeze it in before the approaching deadline. There is a little swordplay but not that much, it's primarily a drama/romance.

I already have more movies on my watchlist then I can watch before the deadline, but I've had a rough weekend, so I could use a good romance movie.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll try to check it out.

@HashtagBrownies,
I watched the anime movie Whisper of the Heart (1995). I've only seen a few anime films so far, but this was one of my favorite anime movies.

I loved how Shizuku wrote new lyrics to John Denver's song "Take Me Home, Country Roads", and she first met Seiji when he commented about them. I loved that she hated him because she thought he was rude, but she also thought that he could be her soulmate.

I wish they would have done more with the statue of The Baron. That seemed like a plot point that they started, but didn't complete. I really wanted to see them find the Baron's wife, Louise.

And I love how it ended with Shizuku and Seiji watching the sunrise together.

Thanks for recommending anime films. I'm going to try to watch a few more of them before the deadline.

La Vérité (aka The Truth) (1960) I don't think this movie was recommended to me by anyone, but it was nominated in a recent HoF, and it sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a try.

I usually love a good courtroom drama, but this movie kept flipping back and forth between the courtroom and the flashbacks. It's still a good movie, but it just wasn't what I was expecting.

I didn't realize at the beginning that Gilbert had been shot. I thought that he died from the gas fumes, so it took a while for me to figure out why Dominique was being charged with his murder. Once I realized that he was shot, it made sense that she was the killer, so it seemed like she was on trial more for her promiscuity than for murder.

Dominique and Gilbert never should have been together. They were toxic for each other, and tragedy was bound to happen, especially when you add in that Gilbert was also dating Dominique's sister Annie.

GBG, last night I seen a movie from the 25th HoF that blew me away. My wife liked it too. It's a challenging film in that it doesn't spoon feed the audience. Instead it shows you the story and let's the viewer form their own opinions. The film will be making my countdown ballot.
Sundays and Cybèle (1962)

I hadn't heard of Sundays and Cybèle before it was nominated in the HoF, but it seems to be getting good reviews, so I'll try to watch it before the deadline for the countdown.

Thanks for the recommendation.

One thing I found strange about Z is that I read it was based on a true story of a coup that took place in Greece in the 60s, but I read that the economy in Greece was the highest it has ever been as a result of that coup. So if the coup was such a positive thing for Greek economy, I found it interesting that it was portrayed as a negative thing in the movie.

But of course maybe a coup is bad no matter how you slice it because of the murder involved.

I think that anytime a murder is involved, it would be a bad thing. But in the case of Z, I think it was more about the conspiracy than the murder.

I don't think Au Revoir les Enfants (1987) was recommended to me by anyone, but I watched it because it was on TCM recently, and it sounded interesting. This is a powerful film that felt very real, thanks to the great acting by the two young lead actors.

Having not read much about the movie before watching it, I didn't know what Julian was going to find out about Bonnet, so I was figuring it out with him. Most of the movie felt like it was just a coming of age movie about the boys in the Catholic school, but it took a sharp turn when I realized that it was much more than that, and I could feel the tension grow whenever Bonnet's secret was in danger of being discovered.

This isn't the type of movie that would ever make my favorites list, but it's an excellent movie, and I'm glad I watched it.