The MoFo Top 100 Foreign Language Film Countdown

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


It has become a bit of a tradition to list the one-pointers. One Pointers are films that received exactly one point, which means a single person had them in the last spot on their ballot (25th), and they received no other votes from anyone else. There were quite a few 1 pointers, 38 in total and they were:




The End of the Day (1939)
Witchhammer (1970)
Audition (2000)
Love & Pop (1998)
Wild Zero (1999)



The Hunt (2012 i)
A Story of Yonosuke (2013)
He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not (2002)
Port of Shadows (1938)
White Material (2010)



The Mirror (1997)
Lancelot of the Lake (1974)
Young & Beautiful (2013)
Way of the Dragon (1972)
The Blue Light(1932)



Eight Deadly Shots (1972)
The Conjugal Bed (1963)
Adrift on the Nile (1971)
My Life as a Dog (1985)
Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession (1973)


O-Bi, O-Ba: The End of Civilization (1985)
Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (1991)
La Vie en Rose (2007)
Assa (1987)
JCVD (2008)




Mongol (2007)
The Cannibals (1988)
Tie Xi Qu: West of the Tracks (2004)
The Lunchbox (2013)
Journey to the Beginning of Time (1955)




F*** Cinema (2004)
Forklift Driver Klaus: The First Day on the Job (2001)
Red Angel (1966)
The Platform (2019)
In This Corner of the World (2016)




The Dream of a Ridiculous Man (1992)
Anna (2019)
Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)



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Only seen 2 of those. The Mirror which was quite good and must have been Sean's. Also saw My Life as a Dog but didn't care for that at all.



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
That's a long post. Please don't quote the whole thing

There was no picture for Adrift on the Nile.

The Hunt had a few more votes, but it became apparent that most of those people meant the other The Hunt from 2012. Same title, same year, much confusion. It might be that the person who had this at #25 also meant the other one, but I didn't hear back from them so I have to take the one they put on their ballot.



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
I've seen 3 of the 1 pointers: My Life as a Dog, La Vie En Rose and Wild Zero, which was my #25. Is it really the 25th best foreign film I've ever seen? Probably not. Is it a riot of zombies and rock and roll? Yes it is.



The trick is not minding
Witchhammer was my one pointer.
Everyone is aware of the the Salem Witch Trials, but Czechoslovakia also had the Moravia Witch Trials in the 1670’s where many innocent people were tried and executed only after having being tortured into confessing. What’s worse, they were made to implicate others as well.

Based on actual events, and actual people, it is also a allegory on the communist trials of the 1950’s in what was then known as the Czech Republic during the communist takeover.

I didn’t learn that until after I had watched it, but it helps puts things into perspective.

A fascinating look into what happens when an individual is given too much power and how he trampled any who stood against him. And a look a sad and tragic past that they were doomed to repeat.



Let the night air cool you off
The Dream of a Ridiculous Man is from me. I put it at that spot for the specific reason of getting it some representation. I nominated in the current Russian Hall and it is getting a good reception. I'm just happy to get some eyeballs on it, it's the best film from the great director Aleksandr Petrov who has only made good films.



I've seen 11 of the 1-pointers. (Yes, Smog Monster is one of them.)



He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not was mine. I never managed to get out of my movie watching slump so all of my list was based on memory alone. It's been some time since I last watched it, but I remember really liking the way the story was told from two very differing perspectives.

The only other one I know I've seen is In This Corner of the World. I only watched it once (under less than ideal circumstances while on a road trip) and was kind of underwhelmed. I've been meaning to give it a second chance though.

My Ballot:
25. He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not (One-Pointers)



Only seen 2 of those. The Mirror which was quite good and must have been Sean's. Also saw My Life as a Dog but didn't care for that at all.
It was. I probably would have had The Mirror a bit higher but I had a feeling I would be the lone vote. So I did the Mofo thing and put it at 25.



The Mirror is also the only one pointer I have seen. White Material I s the only ones be really on my radar so this should be interesting.



La fin du jour [The End Of The Day] is mine, it made my 1930s countdown and is directed by Julien Duvivier (who also helmed Pépé Le Moko two years earlier for those that know that one). Sadly it never made that countdown, I was quite possibly the only one to vote for it - so decided it had to get my one-pointer spot for this in order to give it that moment in the limelight I feel it deserves.

Aside from them both having being released in 1939 (and my rating both
+) there's absolutely no connection to Le jour se lève [Daylight] - but they'd still make a quality 'dawn to dusk' double-bill imo.

Of the other one-pointers I've only seen:
  • Audition (2000)
  • Port of Shadows (1938)
  • Way of the Dragon (1972)
  • Mongol (2007)
  • Red Angel (1966)

As ever the one-pointer list makes me feel unworthy of being a MoFo



Hmm, genuinely surprised that Audition only got one vote. I mean, I didn't vote for it, and I'm not a very huge fan of it, but it always gets mentioned when people ask for foreign recommendations.

The only other One-Pointers I've seen were...

JCVD (2008)
Mongol (2007)

I had both of these in my bubble, but there's just too much good stuff to nominate. I also haven't seen Mongol since its release so it's somewhat blurry in my mind.

The last One-Pointer I saw was MINE

The Lunchbox (2013)



A beautiful and touching Indian film about two unsuspecting people meeting and maybe falling in love. Even though it might seem like a romantic film on the surface, it's really a more introspective look into relationships and age. Wonderful performances by the two leads (Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur).
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Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
I've seen 21 of the one-pointers and have 3 lined up to watch this week. Good kick-off to the countdown.
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I've seen 21 of the one-pointers and have 3 lined up to watch this week. Good kick-off to the countdown.
You're also slacking on your Cannes list



Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right
F*** Cinema (2004) is my one-pointer. :3
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The Blue Light (1932) was my one pointer. I wanted some recognition for one of the great women directors, Leni Riefenstahl.

"At one time Leni Riefenstahl was considered the world's greatest woman director. That was before her association with members of the Nazi party lead to her being blacklisted. The Blue Light was her first film and it's easy to see why she was so well respected as a director/cinematographer. Her attention to artistic cinematography and details gives the film an ethereal quality." CR