The MoFo Top 100 Foreign Language Film Countdown

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Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
Surprised Suspiria is so low after making the all time list.
It only got to #99 on the all-time list though.

Also, your favourite film might be Suspiria so you voted for it on both lists. Three other people voted for Lord of the Rings for the all time list, but their favourite foreign film is My Neighbour Totoro and all three vote for it, it pushes Suspiria right down the list. An oversimplification, but you get the idea.

That said, I was surprised that one film from the all-time list not only didn't make this list, but didn't receive a single vote. Not telling you which film.



Il Conformista is colder than a Meliville.
Visually warmer, at least. Terrific use of color. Maybe not as vibrant as Suspiria....



Thursday Next's Avatar
I never could get the hang of Thursdays.
I had Suspiria at #8 on my list. Was I the high voter for it?
Yes, your 8th place vote was the highest it got. There was also a 9th, 15th, 16th and 20th.



I've read pretty divisive reactions to the remake. What are everyone's thoughts on it here on MoFo?
Pretty good with a couple of really impressive scenes, but completely **** the bed at the end.



That said, I was surprised that one film from the all-time list not only didn't make this list, but didn't receive a single vote. Not telling you which film.
Hope it's not Akira, which I had at #25 on my all-time list, but chose to cut from this list



Pretty good with a couple of really impressive scenes, but completely **** the bed at the end.
I guess that's enough for me to put it in the watchlist. Thanks.
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I really loved The Conformist the first time I watched it. It’s been so long I never thought about it for my list. I think I should have though. Need to get to that rewatch.

Watched Suspiria when it showed up on the all time list. Threw it in my bin of horror movies I don’t care about. Looks amazing and I think it’s legitimately scary so I get why horror hounds go for it. The writing and acting are truly abysmal, and no amount of cool fake blood was going to overcome that for me.



I've seen both films. It's been a while since I've seen The Conformist, so I don't have much to offer besides praising its gorgeous cinematography. I need to rewatch it.

Suspiria is great though. I initially had a couple issues with it (mainly struggling with the horrendous dubbing), but I've warmed up to it over time. The combination of the gorgeous visuals, the terrific score, the high level of gore, the aforementioned dubbing, and the artificiality of it (and I mean this as a good thing) is right up my alley and it makes it a blast to watch. Every time I revisit it, I find myself impressed by how the various horror scenes evoke a dollhouse world. I like the technical aspects more than the story, but that doesn't matter. After all, the technical aspects are definitely at the forefront of the film.
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Watched Suspiria when it showed up on the all time list. Threw it in my bin of horror movies I don’t care about. Looks amazing and I think it’s legitimately scary so I get why horror hounds go for it. The writing and acting are truly abysmal, and no amount of cool fake blood was going to overcome that for me.
To be fair, I don't think the problem is with the acting as much as it has to do with the horrendous dubbing. I initially had issues with this as well, but I eventually understood that this wasn't a "flaw" per se, but was something that's unavoidable to work around. It's sort of like how sound issues existed for the films of the early 1930s. There was nothing the directors could've done about that. These were just the limitations of the time. Rather, I think the artificiality of the acting adds to how the characters are trapped in a dollhouse-like world.



Welcome to the human race...
The Conformist is a very good film (another one where I was lucky enough to catch a recent restoration in theatres) but I ultimately did not vote for it.

Suspiria was my #9. I'm not sure how the horror genre is liable to fare on this list - I just did a quick double-check and this was the highest-ranked foreign film on the Top 100 Horror list, so who knows if anything else is liable to outrank it here. That being said, it's hard to imagine a better representative for the genre in all its glory - the overwhelming approach to visuals and sound combine with the overwrought nature of its performances and story in a way that does have the potential to undermine the film (and arguably does for a certain cross-section of viewers) but...doesn't. The cacophonous intensity of the opening double-murder is reflected even in the film's relatively quiet and peaceful moments and the film still manages to maintain said intensity until its cataclysmic conclusion. Or you can just laugh at just how much of a pantomime it can be (especially under the English dubbing). It just goes hard no matter what, and that earns it my respect.
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Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
I saw The Conformist at my college and a few times since. It has some style to burn but ultimately I find it too enigmatic, beautifully shot and a decent film, but I've never been able to get into it very much. And this coming from someone who fell in love with Days of Heaven the first time and has never found it cold or uninvolving. I don't know, I've seen most of Bertolucci's films (at least the non-documentaries), and although wildly-cinematic at times, they seem somewhat obtuse in the storytelling department, and this one seemed no different. Perhaps when I watch it again, I'll be able to put my thoughts into better perspective. I still give it a thumbs up, but I can't give you an enthusiastic reason why.

My brother Todd and I saw Suspiria when it first came out locally, and it was probably the loudest movie I'd ever heard, so the Goblin soundtrack was overpowering. It played in the U.S. originally cut though, so that muted our enjoyment because we would patiently wait through the set-up and then bang - no big pay-off. Still the blue/red lighting scheme was just as intense as the score and sound, and we just assumed the lack of logic was due to the added cuts, but it took us years to learn that the uncut version was just as irrational. Still we loved our first immersive theatrical experience with Argento. Todd bought the record and played it all the time, driving our dad crazy ["Put some pretty music on Todd instead of that noise *****." ]. We had seen a few of his older movies chopped up on commercial TV, but from then on we sought out uncut versions of everything he and his mentor Mario Bava did.

Still no votes from me.
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I guess that's enough for me to put it in the watchlist. Thanks.
Turns out Thief is a big fan of bed-****ting!



Phew, normality has been restored

Never seen The Conformist, pretty sure the only Bertolucci I've seen is his Last Tango In Paris. Happy to see Suspiria turn up, didn't make my personal ballot though.

Seen: 8/14 (Own: 6/14)


Faildictions ((バージョン 1.0):
86. Bakushû [Early Summer] (1997)
85. Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht [Nosferatu The Vampyre] (1979)



To be fair, I don't think the problem is with the acting as much as it has to do with the horrendous dubbing. I initially had issues with this as well, but I eventually understood that this wasn't a "flaw" per se, but was something that's unavoidable to work around. It's sort of like how sound issues existed for the films of the early 1930s. There was nothing the directors could've done about that. These were just the limitations of the time. Rather, I think the artificiality of the acting adds to how the characters are trapped in a dollhouse-like world.
Could be. Is the dubbed version the only one available? I didn’t think I watched it dubbed, but I might have forgotten.



matt72582's Avatar
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None of these movies are on my list.
-The Conformist - 7/10


(I always associate this movie with "Le Samourai", but not sure why)
-Le Cercle Rouge - 8/10
-Léon Morin, Priest - 7/10
-Bob Le Flambeur - 7/10
-Le Samourai - 7/10



Could be. Is the dubbed version the only one available? I didn’t think I watched it dubbed, but I might have forgotten.
I was under the impression you can only find it dubbed, but I checked the preliminary thread for this countdown and I read this in the eligibility questions:

"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"

Evidently, there is a non-dubbed version out there then. I've only been able to find the dubbed version though, so I don't know how to find it. Perhaps, someone can point me to it.



(I always associate this movie with "Le Samourai", but not sure why)
Maybe the fedora.



Between yesterday and today's reveals, I've only seen Sonatine. I watched it for the 6th MoFo Hall of Fame and gave it a good rating, but I really don't remember anything about it and didn't vote for it.



I was under the impression you can only find it dubbed, but I checked the preliminary thread for this countdown and I read this in the eligibility questions:

"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"

Evidently, there is a non-dubbed version out there then. I've only been able to find the dubbed version though, so I don't know how to find it. Perhaps, someone can point me to it.
Ugh, not at home and don’t remember my Tubi login. That’s where I watched it though, and it’s still there. Maybe you can tell me whether it’s dubbed or not.



The trick is not minding
I've read pretty divisive reactions to the remake. What are everyone's thoughts on it here on MoFo?

I’ve seen both, and I prefer the original. But the second wasn’t all that bad. Worth checking out.