The MoFo Top 100 Foreign Language Film Countdown

Phew, the faildictions program dodged a bullet with The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg - a movie I wouldn't mind watching at some point but haven't gotten round to as yet. I have however watched The 400 Blows and think highly enough of it for it to have been in contention for a spot on my ballot even if ultimately it didn't quite make it.

Seen: 47/66 (Own: 30/66)


Faildictions ((バージョン 1.01):
34. Gisaengchung [Parasite] (2019)
33. Kanal (1957)

6. Pather Panchali (#47)
8. Children of Paradise (#58)
9. The Skin I Live In (#92)
10. Contempt (#71)
11. Harakiri (#37)
14. Sundays and Cybele (#73)
16. Samurai Rebellion (#79)
20. The 400 Blows (#35)
23. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (#36)
24. Three Colors: Red (#54)
25. High and Low (#41)

Two movies I need to see again. They both were watched for early HOF when I was just beginning to branch out in my film watching. I thought 400 Blows was fine, but didn’t care for Umbrellas at all. I watched Young Girls Of Rochefort early in the year and really went for it. So I certainly want to rewatch Umbrellas.

Is 400 the essential Truffaut, or will we see Jules And Jim?

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is really good, but its emotional register feels a bit blunt. I prefer Demy's The Young Girls of Rochefort as the emotions it gets out of me are more oblique and grow more profound the more I rewatch it while my appreciation of TUoC has remained about the same throughout my three viewings of it.

The 400 Blows is great, but didn't make my list.

__________________
IMDb
Letterboxd

My #21, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, is a simple romantic melodrama pumped up by director Jacques Demy and composer Michel Legrand to delirious heights with a pastel palette and some of the most beautiful, memorable melodies ever heard in a film. The fact that all the dialogue is sung to these melodies makes everything all the more immediate and intense. Demy adored Hollywood musicals and he set out to make his own version, although the plot was very French and connected young love, a pregnant girl and the Algerian war. Ah, but the proof is in the details and the technique. The sights and sounds go hand-in-hand very well, but this is a movie I can just close my eyes to and listen to the gorgeous music and voices and feel really happy. But Catherine Deneuve is certainly reason enough to open my eyes.

The 400 Blows was Truffaut's first feature and showed the mind of a teenager who didn't feel he had a place in the world except for maybe at the movies or with his friends. But never, oh never, with his family or at school. Truffaui uses all kinds of cinematic innovation, and this combined with Leaud's performance, develops a strong empathy for the young liar and thief. Brings back memories of my days as a teacher.

My List

1. War and Peace
2. Z
6. Night and Fog
13. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
17. The Celebration [Festen]
21. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

I don't like Musicals, but I tried watching "Cherbourg" (again) a few weeks ago, but the ENTIRE dialogue being sung - can't do..


400 Blows - 9/10

__________________
https://www.youtube.com/c/LoyalOpposition

The 400 Blows was my first Truffaut. Saw it last year and, although I liked it, it didn't have the impact I was expecting. I've been thinking about rewatching it one of these days, but in the meantime, it didn't make my list.

I haven't seen The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.



My Summary:

Seen: 24/66
My list: 5/25

__________________

Interesting to see France and the 1960s still dominating.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg was #1 on my list It was a lock for my number 1 as soon as we decided on this countdown.


That photo breaks my heart, so many scenes did...and if you've watched this and don't know what I mean, then there's nothing else I can say about this wonderful film that will reach you.

Jacques Demy effortlessly combines the classic French 'Cinéma de Qualité' with French New wave realism to create one unique film, with all the dialogue being sung. But that's mainly of interest to film scholars.

What counts to me is that this is one of the most heartfelt, emotionally honest films dealing with young love that I've ever seen. And let me tell ya folks, CR was once young and while I wasn't shipped off to war in Algiers, a lot of this story rang so true for me. Been there and experienced it...When you're young and in love for the first time, it's like us against the world and nothing in the universe can stop that love, say for one thing...time...And I've always had one saying that rings true, 'time kills all deals'.

Catherine Deneuve-Geneviève is very special here. Either you get her emotional fragility and exuberance over her love, or you don't. And yet the story is crafted so wonderfully sincere that it's easy to see how her one true love, Guy (Nino Castelnuovo), can in the end shift gears and still find happiness. And yes he ended up where he needed to be, and I guess Geneviève lands where time took her. Oh and the gas station scene, powerful stuff! So metered and so real and I know exactly how that is.

Both excellent, voted for neither.

__________________
Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

The 400 Blows was my #2. It's raw and powerful, and the ending shot where he's run to what must feel like the end of the earth and the frame freezes on his face is great cinema. I liked The Umbrellas of Cherbourg far more than I would have expected, but it didn't make my list.

My List:
2. The 400 Blows (#35)
4. Playtime (#45)
7. Three Colours: Red (#54)
9. High and Low (#41)
10. Let the Right One In (#40)
12. The Wages of Fear (#67)
14. Diabolique (#69)
23. A Man Escaped (#60)
24. Le Trou (#81)

__________________
I may go back to hating you. It was more fun.

Surprised that a few of the last six ranked this high but they certainly deserve a spot on this. A couple others I thought maybe higher. But none made my 25. The quality for this list continues.

__________________
"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

Is there an update by country leaderboard?

In all my excitement over The Umbrellas of Cherbourgh, I forgot that....
....my #23 was The 400 Blows (1959), solid movie!

My introduction to Truffaut and the film The 400 Blows came when a more learned friend than I took me to see Hitchcock/Truffaut at the cinema. I've got the film now, and have seen it, but it didn't have the effect on me I was expecting - so I considered that I just need to know a bit more and then watch it with new eyes at some future date.

That makes 17 films in this countdown I've seen. I'm hoping I'll end up having seen a third of these films, so need another 16 from the last 34 - that's gonna be tight!

Well, I'm doing it every 20 entries, but here's an off-the-record update, just for you

France = 20
Japan = 16
Italy = 7
Germany = 4
Russia = 3
Sweden = 3
Spain = 2
Denmark = 2
China = 1
Mexico = 1
Netherlands = 1
Poland = 1
Hong Kong = 1
Canada = 1
India = 1
Iran = 1
South Korea = 1


France has been leading since pretty much the beginning, but I'm expecting the tide to turn in favor of Japan once all those Kurosawa's start rolling in, plus a couple more Ozu, Miyazaki, Mizoguchi, etc.

I'm also surprised to see South Korea and Hong Kong with only one so far, but I also expect them to bump up the ranking now in the last stretch.

Parasite's totally gonna make top 10, 20 at the lowest. Not on my list, but still.


Oh, dude, Train to Busan??? I saw it after I submitted my list. Incredible.

I have been super busy and haven't kept up with this thread - so many great films! Here's what my list now looks like relative to the list:

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13. Playtime (1967) (#45)
14. Fanny and Alexander (1982) (#39)
15. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) (#36)
16. The Exterminating Angel (1962) (#95)
17.
18. Paprika (2006) (#100)
19.
20.
21. Pather Panchali (1955)
22.
23.
24. Harakiri (1962) (#37)
25.

I'm glad to say that tons of near-misses/late scratches on my list made the top #100 (Yojimbo, The 400 Blows, Samurai Rebellion, Children of Paradise, The Battle of Algiers, Tokyo Story, Grave of the Fireflies, and Sansho the Bailiff) and I am a big fan of many of the other films as well. There are also 20(!) films I have not seen yet so far, which also makes me happy as more great films I haven't seen is always a good thing! I'll try to keep up more as we get closer to the top. With 18 of my top 25 not (yet?) named, I'm very interested in where this goes!