Recommend me some foreign films

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Chappie doesn't like the real world
How would your average American Joe get to know other languages, aside from traveling (which not many can afford) and/or taking a course...?
I can't imagine the average American Joe (and I am not, thank you ) not hearing a multitude of foreign languages. Just by going to work I can think of three different languages that I might hear in a day, and one language (Spanish) in many different dialects.

I won't argue some people choose to remain ignorant of the culture that they are exposed to, but in America, for the most part, you are exposed.

And to keep this on topic, I recommend Amores Perros.



\m/ Fade To Black \m/
District 13



In 2010, a Parisian slum (Banlieue) called District 13, is overrun by gangsters, drugs and violence. The authorities have walled off the district and abandoned it, forcing the decent inhabitants to survive without education, proper utilities, or police protection. One resident, Leïto, wages a one-man war against the gang lord Taha to keep his building safe. He has captured a large quantity of cocaine, which incites Taha to send his thugs to recover the merchandise. Leïto destroys the cocaine and uses parkour to evade Taha's thugs. Taha kidnaps Leïto's sister Lola to use against him, but Leïto manages to invade Taha's base, rescue his sister, and kidnap Taha in turn. Leïto takes Taha to the police office at the edge of the district perimeter, but the police are in the process of abandoning their position. They release Taha and allow him to take Lola with him to avoid a confrontation with his gang. In addition, they arrest Leïto, but he kills the police chief in the process for handing over Lola.
Six months later, outside of District 13, an undercover police officer named Damien infiltrates a gangster's underground casino and attempts to arrest the gangster. His extraction procedure fails, however, forcing him to fight his way through an army of thugs to escape the casino. Upon the mission's completion, Damien immediately receives another assignment. He is told that Taha has stolen a nuclear weapon that is set to detonate in 24 hours. His mission is to convince Leïto, imprisoned these last six months for murdering the police chief, to lead him to Taha's base so that he can disarm the bomb.
Damien attempts to pass himself off as a fellow prisoner and helps Leïto escape to B13, but Leïto sees through Damien's act and abandons him. After fighting off some of the local thugs, Damien locates Leïto and admits the truth. They team up to disarm the bomb and rescue Lola. The pair surrenders to Taha in order to gain access to his base. There, they discover that Taha has rigged the warhead to a launcher and is prepared to blackmail the government with it. Taha demands a high ransom, which is refused by Damien's government contact. The pair escape, and while Taha's thugs pursue them, he discovers that the government has emptied all of his offshore accounts. Bankrupt, Taha is killed by his own thugs.
Leïto and Damien fight their way to the tower holding Lola and the bomb. Once there, Damien calls his contact to receive the deactivation code. Leïto recognizes the code as a reference to the bomb's location and the day's date. He deduces that the government has set them up and the code will actually detonate the bomb. He fights Damien to prevent him from entering the code. The timer runs out and the bomb does not detonate, proving Leïto's theory. The pair return to the government building with the bomb and force the administrator to admit that he had planned to blow up B13 as a means to get rid of it. The confession has been taped and is immediately broadcast by pirate television transmission.
The pair's actions cause a major scandal that sparks public support for B13. Leïto and Damien depart as friends, and Lola kisses Damien to encourage him to visit B13 in the future.
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Pan's Labyrinth (El laberinto del fauno) / María full of Grace (María llena eres de gracia) / De eso no se habla / Fresa y Chocolate / Au Revoir Les Enfants / The Lives of Others



I haven't watched that many, but of the ones I've seen, Pan's Labyrinth definitely ranks in my top 10. But since you've already seen that one, here are what my top faves would be (so far) without it:


10. Belleville Rendez-vous
Also known as The Triplets Of Belleville, as released in the U.S..
As an illustrator & cartoonist, I was surprised at how close this flick was to the style of drawing that got me interested in the field to begin with. Gritty yet beautifully rendered, cartoonishly exaggerated yet realistically animated. I could look at artwork like this all day.
Plus, even though it is a foreign film, it has no dialogue in it, at all. And therefore, no need for sub-titles. So if some bizarre accident occurs (heaven forbid, of course) whereby that part of your brain that's responsible for reading becomes inexplicably cancelled out, you'll still be able to watch & enjoy this flick.





9. [rec]
Take what Cloverfield took from The Blair Witch Project, add a dash of 28 Days Later, and then sprinkle on some sub-titles (depending on which version you see),
& there you go. A quality zombie flick of which I rarely get to see without a giant glob of gooey camp splattered all over it.




8. The Blind Swordsman: Zatoichi
I had heard of Zatoichi, but never bothered looking up anything about this long-lasting character of the East. I stumbled on this DVD, & found myself enjoying it so much, that the end result was multiple viewings with no diminishment in enjoyment. The movie, just like the series of an earlier time, follows the latest adventure of a mystery traveler commonly referred to as the "blind masseuse", who in actuality is a gentle samurai warrior who's lone wolf journeys could've well been the inspiration of the Italian counter-part, "Man With No Name" of spaghetti western fame. Silent, noble & despite his blindness, the ability to see with more clarity, not just the world around him, but also the will & intentions contained within the hearts of all whom he encounters.
A great classic character of the Japanese tradition.





7. City Of God
For me, watching this Brazillian-based film feels almost exactly like watching a documentary. In one frighteningly all-too real scene involves a young (incredibly young) kid gang member who is cornered by a much older gang leader from another troupe & then is asked to choose between getting shot in the hand or in the foot. IMO, it is a scene that holds more power, depth & context than most movies contain in their entirety. An incredibly eye-opening & moving picture that reveals the true grit of violence, hopelessness & poverty of the South American slums that lie behind tourist paradises such as Rio de Janeiro and the like.





6. Curse Of The Golden Flower
Some of the most breath-taking & just absolutely beautiful background sets designs ever in a film. So rich are the colors & exquisite details in this movie, that it requires multiple viewings just to be able to soak it all in. Once one can get passed that aspect of the film, it will become obvious that the sets are not a distraction, but an enhancement to the story. An enrichment that adds to the dialogue with an intensity that allows the ideas of what appears to be human pettiness behavior in a royal setting (a la Shakespearian stuff) to be revealed as much grander in scope & concept.
And for a movie that can make someone as simple minded as myself come to a conclusion like that, that's definitely a statement to the power of it's artistry.





5. Sympathy For Lady Vengeance
Part of a Vengeance Trilogy of which the more well-renowned Oldboy belongs to. IMO, of the trio, I find that Sympathy For Lady V to more strongly emphasize director Park Chan-wook's "poetic" use of visuals (a phrase you'll probably be able to understand better once you watch it) with a story that flows much smoother into it's gritty climax that, for my money, is richly laden with an equal balance of above-the-law justice & a plausible & sensible empathy for it's unique plot-device.
So while I also recommend Oldboy as a great flick that is armed with a more in-your-face type of plot twist, I still find that my sympathies tend to lean stronger towards Lady Vengeance.





4. Let The Right One In
This is my favorite movie of 2008 & I've already written my feelings for it here. However to add to it, let me say that an American version is just about ready to start shooting (if it hasn't started already), so I'd recommend checking to see if this is playing in your area, b'cuz in order to keep the buzz for the new version more open, I can't imagine that the original will be playin' on these shores for too much longer. Now, it's in very limited release as it is, so the chances are pretty slim, but if you can find it, it's well worth the trip.





3. El Mariachi
Because of the severe financial restraints of this picture, the story is forced to be told thru the creativity of all-out action in it's purest, most unadulterated form. I think that there should be a law requiring that all big budget action films be shot & directed with as much energy & fun as in this one, before even one cent of the million dollars of special effects is spent.
Cool, violent & high-octane action-adventure in all it's bared-boned glory.





2. Ran
Before movies like Crouching Tiger/ Hidden Dragon & Hero came along & added the artistically flair fantasy elements to these types of epic movies, there was Ran. Some of the most beautiful & grand visuals ever in an Akira Kurosawa film. The fact that his name was associated with this project guaranteed this film's sweeping quality. And, the added high budget seemed to compromise his vision not in the slightest. Instead, it seemed to open up the potentiality that Mr. Kurosawa had holding in his already abundant visionary dreams.
Definitely my favorite of his works.





1. House Of Flying Daggers


Growing up, it always frustrated me whenever the majority of big budget action flicks or martial arts movies of the time often seemed to sacrifice on story to make room for the expansive bangs & the expensive effects. It was generally said, that in these types of movies, you couldn't really have both, particularly, at a consistent high level. And I was one those kids who always asked "Why not?"
And then came the House Of Flying Daggers. And with it's beautiful story of love & intrigue, combined with lavish costumes, solid performances & unique individually themed action sequences, this film of the burgeoning genre known as wuxia, seemed to asked that very same question.

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Right now, all I'm wearing is a mustard-stained wife-beater T-shirt, no pants & a massive sombrero.



Hero
Cinema Paradiso
Amelie
Magnifico - Asian film (Philippines)
My Sassy Girl - Korean
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Stroszek
Wings of Desire
Oldboy
Fallen Angels
The Conformist
Woman in the Dunes
Hana-Bi
Pierrot le fou


I'll think of others later.



I ain't gettin' in no fryer!
I see Battle Royale and Hard Boiled were already nominated so I won't need to mention them.

If someone recommends the sequel to Battle Royale, avoid it, the first one was definitely creepy enough. I was first introduced to it in...you guessed it...Japan. Great flick though.
__________________
"I was walking down the street with my friend and he said, "I hear music", as if there is any other way you can take it in. You're not special, that's how I receive it too. I tried to taste it but it did not work." - Mitch Hedberg



Here are some of my absolute all-time foreign favorites:

Seven Samurai
Ran
Let the Right One In
The Lives of Others
Amores Perros
City of God
Das Boot

Pretty much any of these should be 'required viewing' in my opinion. Not just for people interested in foreign films - for anyone that cares about movies.

Here are also some animated foreign favorites of mine:

Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal
The Wings of Honneamise
Waltz With Bashir
Persepolis



The other night I tuned in the Sundance channel on cable about 30 minutes into a Korean film called Spider Forest, made in 2004. When I came in, Korean cops were investigating a murder scene, a house in a remote part of a forest, where a man and woman had been stabbed repeatedly—him dozens of times, she just three. They have a suspect in a hospital who has just come out of a week-long coma; the suspect turns out to be a friend of one of the detectives working the case. Suspicions deepen when it’s learned that the dead are the suspect’s television network boss and a coworker who was also the suspect’s girlfriend.

The suspect claims he awoke in the Spider Forest near the crime scene, not knowing how he got there. He finds the house, enters, and finds the murder victims, the woman still alive. But before he can do anything a man in dark clothing darts past him and out the door. Assuming it’s the killer, the suspect chases him. But the last thing he recalls is being hit by a car in a traffic tunnel. As he lies helpless, the dark man approaches him and looks down at him while the injured man tries unsuccessfully to catch the guy by the ankle.

As the story progresses, it involves the suspect’s wife who died in a plane crash, a dream sequence about the wife (or is it her ghost?), a young woman running a photo studio whose father died in the same crash, her story of a local schoolboy who may or may not have witnessed the murder of a schoolgirl and her mother by the girl’s father at the same house, a scene of what may be the little girl’s ghost, a mysterious cave, missing photos, anonymous phone calls prior to the murders that warn the suspect his girlfriend, who he wants to marry, is cheating on him, and a mysterious old man who shows up at the hospital with a key and later is seen riding a ski lift still wearing his hospital gown (or is it a shroud?). Through all of this, the suspect moves in and out of the hospital trying to find out what happened as his condition worsens until he’s in danger of dying from his injuries. Through it all, there’s a sense of the people being watched by unseen eyes, especially in the forest. And, oh yes, little spiders keep showing up in various scenes.

The film doesn’t answer all of the viewer’s questions, and there are no martial arts, thank gawd. But it’s an interesting mystery told in a dramatic manner.



Obviously, this is a vast field and there have been some great suggestions already, some of which I'll cross over with here. I'll get director-specific with some recs:

Pedro Almodovar
Volver
All About My Mother
Talk to Her

Ingmar Bergman
Persona
Winter Light
Cries & Whispers

Michael Haneke
The Seventh Continent
Benny's Video
Cache

Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Amelie
City of Lost Children
Delicatessen

Takeshi Miike
Audition
The Bird People in China
Big Bang Love, Juvenile A

Andrei Tarkovsky
Solyaris
Stalker
Mirror

Claire Denis
Trouble Every Day
The Intruder
Beau Travail

Bela Tarr
Werckmeister Harmonies
Satantango

Jean-Pierre Melville
Le Cercle Rouge
Le Samourai

Krzystzof Kieslowski
The "Colors" Trilogy - Blue, Red, and White (Blue is my personal fave)
The Double Life of Veronique

Fritz Lang
M
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse
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the angel stayed until something died, one more murder suicide



I watched this French film that other day called Frontière(s). Great horror flick, which puts stuff like Hostel and Saw to shame. Shows you can mix gore and tension affectively. It's also really brutal, not the goriest film, but the brutallity of it feels so real and in your face.

The Orphanage and [REC] are also winners. Many people recommend Pan's Labyrinth, but I didn't think much of it myself.

I love Night Watch and Day Watch, they are something quite crazy and quite different.

Don't watch much foreign cinema though and the films I do watch would not be the best out there.



The word "powerful" is thrown around quite a bit in cinema. But perhaps one of the MOST POWERFUL films I have ever seen is:

Irreversible

It will make you cringe, want to throw up, cry, perhaps turn it off. It is NOT for the squeamish and dont be surprised if after watching will bother you for a day or two. But after the experience it contains a wealth of emotion, morality, and consequence. A full circle tale of human brutality, revenge, and vulgarity. It was not deemed "the most walked out of film of 2002" for no reason. It is quite a ride. But if you do decide to buckle up, you will have quite an experience with it.



Making a difference
Tsoti (South Africa) and Black (India)
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Here are a few more that I like & that are pretty easy to find:

15. Amélie
A French film of such a picturesque quality, both in it's scenery as in it's colorful storyline, that one might find one's self walking away from this movie with a smile that contains that certain je ne sais quoi.




14. Run Lola Run
After watching this movie, a viewer's movie-enjoying senses can easily feel depleted, but in a good way. Because just when the story seems like it's about to slow down, it picks up it's velocity again, for one more lap around the track. A plotline whose simplicity can appear to be much more than it actually is due to the layered formula in which it is energetically executed. It is a result that can make one appreciatively smile with a sense of satisfaction that such a tense & thrilling film could've been made from such a simple idea.




13. Oldboy
A hard-bitten, no-holds barred tale of revenge that bites hard & holds no bars. And while I know that sentence is doublely redundant, it seems to fit the situation as far the level of emotional ravishing that this story leads it's characters up to. Brutal it may be, it's a film that depicts it story in an operatic level & with a refreshing energy to give the film a distinct life that widely separates it from the standard vengeance theme of traditional Hollywood-fare. IMO, a great flick that is armed with a in-your-face type of plot twist & proves that the medium of the graphic novel & comicbook (of which this movie is based off) is a world full of potentially good cinema, if one is willing to shuffle passed the mainstream same old same old.




12. Solaris
This film is an excellent example of what can happen when all of the effort of special effects is replaced with maximum effort into the script.
Definitely a thinking man's science fiction film whose intellect sacrifice none of the science nor none of the fiction.
The plot utilizes the fantasy element of the genre to delve intricately into themes of the pysche such as regret, love, pity, self-inflection & even the most monumental of these concepts, the justification of life and death. It does so with enough room to allow the viewer with no other answer other than the store of reflection which he or she carries with them into the film, before & after.
Despite an incrimately moving pace that many of today movie-watchers may at first be uncomfortable with, once you settle into it's richly layered rythym, Solaris is a great film whose provocation of thought is as richly satisfying as is the grandest world-demolishing visuals of any other more explosive sci-fi films.




11. Seven Samurai
Considered Akira Kurosawa's most accomplished work, Seven Samurai is a black & white classic whose story has inspired many a film afterwards, most notably (& one of my favorites) the Magnificent Seven.
It's a story of the Old East, which coincidently enough, runs themes which will eventually become staples in movies dealing with the Old West.
Here, the heros are truly heroes, but each is shown as a distinctive individual, with human traits & flaws that allow for the empty space to be felt whenever a warrior falls, in battles that, as the movies states, are never truly won.




Making a difference
Here are a few more that I like & that are pretty easy to find:

15. Amelie
A French film of such a picturesque quality, both in it's scenery as in it's colorful storyline, that one might find one's self walking away from this movie with a smile that contains that certain je ne sais quoi.



14. Run Lola Run
After watching this movie, a viewer's movie-enjoying senses can easily feel depleted, but in a good way. Because just when the story seems like it's about to slow down, it picks up it's velocity again, for one more lap around the track. A plotline whose simplicity can appear to be much more than it actually is due to the layered formula in which it is energetically executed. It is a result that can make one appreciatively smile with a sense of satisfaction that such a tense & thrilling film could've been made from such a simple idea.


SEEN THEM BOTH BUT LOVED RUN LOLA RUN THOUGH I DIDN'T END THE MOVIE

13. Oldboy
A hard-bitten, no-holds barred tale of revenge that bites hard & holds no bars. And while I know that sentence is doublely redundant, it seems to fit the situation as far the level of emotional ravishing that this story leads it's characters up to. Brutal it may be, it's a film that depicts it story in an operatic level & with a refreshing energy to give the film a distinct life that widely separates it from the standard vengeance theme of traditional Hollywood-fare. IMO, a great flick that is armed with a in-your-face type of plot twist & proves that the medium of the graphic novel & comicbook (of which this movie is based off) is a world full of potentially good cinema, if one is willing to shuffle passed the mainstream same old same old.



12. Solaris
This film is an excellent example of what can happen when all of the effort of special effects is replaced with maximum effort into the script.
Definitely a thinking man's science fiction film whose intellect sacrifice none of the science nor none of the fiction.
The plot utilizes the fantasy element of the genre to delve intricately into themes of the pysche such as regret, love, pity, self-inflection & even the most monumental of these concepts, the justification of life and death. It does so with enough room to allow the viewer with no other answer other than the store of reflection which he or she carries with them into the film, before & after.
Despite an incrimately moving pace that many of today movie-watchers may at first be uncomfortable with, once you settle into it's richly layered rythym, Solaris is a great film whose provocation of thought is as richly satisfying as is the grandest world-demolishing visuals of any other more explosive sci-fi films.



11. Seven Samurai
Considered Akira Kurosawa's most accomplished work, Seven Samurai is a black & white classic whose story has inspired many a film afterwards, most notably (& one of my favorites) the Magnificent Seven.
It's a story of the Old East, which coincidently enough, runs themes which will eventually become staples in movies dealing with the Old West.
Here, the heros are truly heroes, but each is shown as a distinctive individual, with human traits & flaws that allow for the empty space to be felt whenever a warrior falls, in battles that, as the movies states, are never truly won.

Would definitely go and watch this Seven Sumari, so many recommendations for it.



Hello Salem, my name's Winifred. What's yours
Moolaade (2004) - Ousmane Sembene



holy manolos. This film totally upset my preconceptions of African cinema. The characters are well written, complex and very interesting to watch. All the action takes place in a small village and concerns one womans attempt at protecting several young girls from being castrated. Its sad and heartbreaking but theres humour and genuine warmth too.

JSA: Joint Security Area (2000) - Chan-Wook Park



Slick and cool visually with funny, realistic characters on the verge of the unimaginable divide between North and South Korea.

Black Sheep (2006) - Johnathan King



Sick and twisted, totally gross. Excellent.
__________________



Making a difference
Here are a few more that I like & that are pretty easy to find:

15. Amelie
A French film of such a picturesque quality, both in it's scenery as in it's colorful storyline, that one might find one's self walking away from this movie with a smile that contains that certain je ne sais quoi.



14. Run Lola Run
After watching this movie, a viewer's movie-enjoying senses can easily feel depleted, but in a good way. Because just when the story seems like it's about to slow down, it picks up it's velocity again, for one more lap around the track. A plotline whose simplicity can appear to be much more than it actually is due to the layered formula in which it is energetically executed. It is a result that can make one appreciatively smile with a sense of satisfaction that such a tense & thrilling film could've been made from such a simple idea.


SEEN THEM BOTH BUT LOVED RUN LOLA RUN THOUGH I DIDN'T END SEEING THE MOVIE.

13. Oldboy
A hard-bitten, no-holds barred tale of revenge that bites hard & holds no bars. And while I know that sentence is doublely redundant, it seems to fit the situation as far the level of emotional ravishing that this story leads it's characters up to. Brutal it may be, it's a film that depicts it story in an operatic level & with a refreshing energy to give the film a distinct life that widely separates it from the standard vengeance theme of traditional Hollywood-fare. IMO, a great flick that is armed with a in-your-face type of plot twist & proves that the medium of the graphic novel & comicbook (of which this movie is based off) is a world full of potentially good cinema, if one is willing to shuffle passed the mainstream same old same old.



12. Solaris
This film is an excellent example of what can happen when all of the effort of special effects is replaced with maximum effort into the script.
Definitely a thinking man's science fiction film whose intellect sacrifice none of the science nor none of the fiction.
The plot utilizes the fantasy element of the genre to delve intricately into themes of the pysche such as regret, love, pity, self-inflection & even the most monumental of these concepts, the justification of life and death. It does so with enough room to allow the viewer with no other answer other than the store of reflection which he or she carries with them into the film, before & after.
Despite an incrimately moving pace that many of today movie-watchers may at first be uncomfortable with, once you settle into it's richly layered rythym, Solaris is a great film whose provocation of thought is as richly satisfying as is the grandest world-demolishing visuals of any other more explosive sci-fi films.



11. Seven Samurai
Considered Akira Kurosawa's most accomplished work, Seven Samurai is a black & white classic whose story has inspired many a film afterwards, most notably (& one of my favorites) the Magnificent Seven.
It's a story of the Old East, which coincidently enough, runs themes which will eventually become staples in movies dealing with the Old West.
Here, the heros are truly heroes, but each is shown as a distinctive individual, with human traits & flaws that allow for the empty space to be felt whenever a warrior falls, in battles that, as the movies states, are never truly won.

Would definitely go and watch this Seven Sumari, so many recommendations for it.



15. Amelie



11. Seven Samurai

Myself and I think some others mentioned Amelie, but when you posted that second photo of her looking up at the screen, it reminded me of when I went to see it in the theater recently; I was sitting in my usual up-front seat at my favorite theater, and I couldn't help but turn around just like she did at that moment, looking at the others sitting behind me.

And, ah, Seven Samurai. You know, I like that film, and I have yet to see a film from Kurosawa that I didn't like. But I've recently been thinking that I've never really been bowled over by anything of his, and something tells me I won't be. Not necessarily a criticism of him, per se; I just haven't been as moved by some of his works as I was led to believe I would be.