The Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame III: Foreign Language Edition

I watched Woman in the Dunes for this too. I really enjoyed it, hope you do too.

Yeah, saw that you had seen it. Didn't read the review cause I wanted to walk in a bit fresh, but the premise sounds intriguing.

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Just wait until you see the giant ant attack

That is unless their hearts are broken in the process. Because then, the opposite applies. That is more or less what happens in this 1939 French film. Directed by Marcel Carné, Le jour se lève follows François (Jean Gabin), a factory worker that falls in love with *wait for it* Françoise (Jacqueline Laurent), a florist, only to find out she's more interested in a sleazy and narcissistic entertainer (Jules Berry).

The thing is that the film follows a non-linear narrative, starting with François murdering a man in his apartment, and then goes back to show how he ended up in that position. That is when we see how François and Françoise meet by chance, bond over their similarities, their names, and their orphan upbringing, only to see her gush over Valentin later on. The film frequently returns to "present time", as we see François barricade himself in his apartment as the police outside figure out how to apprehend him.

This film was a magnificent surprise, and the kind of film that makes you wonder why the heck isn't it mentioned more often. I had literally never heard of this film before this, and yet I was completely captivated by pretty much every aspect of it. From its structure, its striking cinematography and direction, the great performances, and the edgy script. Every single thing was top of the line.

Gabin and Laurent are great, but they also have an undeniable chemistry that's loaded with a melancholy that's perfect for the story. Arletty, who plays Clara, François' "temporary" lover is also very good. The script and the overall execution, which has tinges of noir, felt so ahead of its time. Finally, the way Carné moved the camera around and the shot composition were both excellent.

This is easily my favorite first-time watch of the year so far (tied with Ran!) so kudos to whoever recommended it. As opposed to the characters, whose decisions end up making them miserable and, well, not alive, like a star-crossed lover just discovering something, this made *me* feel alive! Excellent film.

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Very glad to hear you enjoyed it as much as you did, @Thief. I have this on my Watchlist and can't wait to check it out

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Le Jour Se Leve is indeed an excellent movie.

You're killing it Thief!

Not me. You've all given me great recommendations.

10 DAYS LEFT!!

Ok, I came to confirm when was the deadline. Since it's 10 days away, I'm gonna leave Woman in the Dunes for later, cause I'm cutting it very close for my own monthly challenge... but I'll get there.

What a great movie. I think Japanese movies hit their peak in the 60s.


I also highly recommend seeing all the Jean Gabin movies you can. "The Cat" and "The Horse" and two excellent movies later in his career. I love the one you just saw, and I'm sure many have seen the wonderful "La Grande Illusion"


For some other interesting Japanese movies, I'd recommend everyone to check out "The Face of Another", "Onibaba", "The Insect Woman", "Pitfall", "The Red Angel", "The Yellow Handkerchief", "Pale Flower"

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I couldn't stand "Breathless".. I think "Rashomon" is Kurosawa's best, although "Seven Samurai", "Ikiru", and "Red Beard" are very close.


"Rififi" was pretty good, but I'm not interested in most heist/caper movies, but "Paper Moon" is a fun movie.

I've had Onibaba on my queue for quite some time. I should get on that.

I watched this about a month ago and did not like it. At all. As with most movies that are considered good I try to give them a second go at some point, usually a year or two later. Was really hoping to get to it again before this HoF ended because I was having a hard time believing it was that bad. I had to have missed something. Well, I got around to it again and am happy to say I did like it much more the second time around.

Chunking Express was tagged as a crime, drama, comedy. I think that was part of my problem the first time around. Expectations. Sure, one of the characters is a criminal and two are cops but this isn't a crime film at all. It's mostly a film about missed opportunities and loneliness. The first story, which is pretty short, is about a detective, his recent break up, flirtations with a drug smuggler and expired pineapple. The second story and majority of the movie is about a beat cop, his affinity for airline stewardesses, his recent break up, chef salads and the new waitress at his favorite diner. This was the part of the movie that threw me on first watch. I found the waitress to be incredibly annoying to the point I couldn't concentrate on what was really going on. Maybe it was just my mood but while I still found her a little much it wasn't nearly as rough. Being able to handle her antics made the ending much better for me.

It was directed by Kar-Wai Wong who directed Fallen Angels which I had seen earlier in this HoF. The two movies share similar themes but Fallen Angels is more of an eye catching movie and I have to admit, I like shiny things, but I am glad that I had the chance to watch this again. Already bumped it up two stars from my previous rating. Chunking will get another watch sometime, possibly getting even better (I hated Dr. Strangelove on first viewing).

And with that I'm done with this HoF. Nice job on the rec's. I watched a couple movies that are probably making their way onto my top 25 for the next countdown and a couple more that just missed.

A City of Sadness

This is a film about a family in Taiwan and what happens to them when it is handed over from Japanese to Chinese control. There are four brothers, the eldest owns a bar, the youngest is a deaf photographer. They variously become involved with gangs and political protests over the turbulent years that follow.

This is the first film I have seen from this director. It was a good film, well made and interesting.

I do not know much about Taiwan at all and looking up information afterwards added more context to the film for me. I was afraid that there were some nuances to it that passed me by not being familiar with the history and politics of the time and place. While the main character are well drawn, there are supporting characters who pop in and out, largely extended family, and I did sometimes struggle to keep up with who they were. Likewise the passing of time was unclear at some points. I feel that I would probably get more out of it on a second viewing for these reasons.

This was one of Tony Leung's first films and he is good in it. I read that they made his character mute because he couldn't speak the language.

I liked this one.

That is my last film for this hall of fame, so I will have my list in soon. Looking forward to the next one!

Congratulations Hey Fredrick and Thursday Next, you are the 7th and 8th members to finish!

Santa Sangre

Surrealism films are hit or miss for me. Add to the my trepidation of Jodorowsky films, which didn’t exactly sound like a film that I would “get”. Yet Santa Sangre was a film I looked forward to, due to its horror themes.

I am sad to say, I was disappointed. For some reason this film never clicked for me. Maybe it was because of his style, and how often it changed its tone.
It certainly had style however. The murder of the prostitute, with red light filtered in stylishly, reminded me of giallo films.

I thought Alma was underused for long stretches of the film, which was a shame because she was good as the deaf mute. *

In the end, It’s bizarre, it’s weird, and it’s probably exactly what Jodorowsky was going for. But for me I was just confused and, sorry to say, slightly bored.

I'm hardly an expert on martial arts films but a good chunk of them are known for their excessive violence, blood, and the swift use of the sword. There is a lot of the latter in this film, but not a lot of the former. Instead, director Zhang Yimou chooses a more zen-approach to his film highlighting not only the way the different warriors embrace their surroundings, especially during a fight, but also the peace they achieve in whether they use it or not.

Set in Ancient China, Hero follows Nameless (Jet Li), a mysterious swordsman that meets with the King of Qin (Chen Daoming) claiming to have killed three powerful fighters that were trying to kill him. However, as he tells his story to the king, we realize there might be more to him than what he claims.

The story has a bit of a Rashomon vibe, as we see the events that led Nameless to where he is now, as he fought the three warriors Long Sky (Donnie Yen), Broken Sword (Tony Leung), and Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung). As the narrative goes back and forth between past and present, as well as different versions of the same story, we find out more about Nameless, the king, and the fighters.

As well acted as it was, I felt the story got too twisty at times, with the motivations of the different characters never clear as we see them through the different point of views of the multiple characters. It might make it interesting to figure out, but a bit harder to latch onto. Plus, the ending felt to me a bit anticlimatic.

But regardless of the story, what takes front and center in this film is its great direction, gorgeous cinematography, and striking use of color to drive the narrative. Director Zhang and cinematographer Christopher Doyle both do a great job in the way they incorporate the characters surroundings, nature, and structures into their shots, while highlighting the colors in the wardrobe, walls, and other items. The end result is magnificent and peaceful to look at.

Grade:

Out of the 3 Jodorowski movies I've seen, I liked Santa Sangre the best. Unfortunately that's not saying much. Wacky shlt.

Hero doesn't look like a movie I'd like, but it's probably inevitable that I'll see it in one of these HoFs

Chunking Express has always been just within my radar but for whatever reason, has never truly caught my eye. After that review, it just might.

Have not heard of A City of Sadness but it looks interesting.

I've seen Santa Sangre back in the beginning of the millennium and was a little lost watching it from what I remember.

It's been over a decade, probably more since I saw Hero. Wasn't blown away by it, but I did enjoy it and remember how gorgeous it looked.


I finished off the Asian HoF so I'll be knocking out the final two films by the deadline this weekend