The MoFo Top 100 Foreign Language Film Countdown

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Surprised Suspiria is so low after making the all time list.
Suspiria fell victim to the dubious dubbing rules for me. I didn't bother to figure out which Italian films were eligible and which weren't. I only have one Italian film on my ballot (I think), and it's probably obscure enough to not make it.
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You can't make a rainbow without a little rain.
I haven't seen Suspiria, and I've been told that I probably wouldn't like it, so I have no desire to see it.

I've never heard of The Conformist.
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OPEN FLOOR.



You wouldn't like either of them...


I limited myself to a single Argento film...pity we didn't do an Italian Top 50...would have been a lot more interesting.



I forgot the opening line.
Suspiria would have made my list if I'd taken it to be a foreign language film, but I've only ever seen it dubbed. Jessica Harper spoke her lines in English, other actors in Italian, and it's all a mixed bag of langauges and dubbing. It's a movie that didn't impress me the first time around, but impressed me more and more and more on subsequent rewatches. It's now amongst my favourites. Saw it on the big screen recently, as a prelude to seeing the remake on the big screen.

I've read pretty divisive reactions to the remake. What are everyone's thoughts on it here on MoFo?
If you like horror, then the remake has a superb atmosphere of bleakness, regret and darkness. It's not as good as the original, but it strikes out trying to go a different direction and in some respects I laud Luca Guadagnino and the rest for that. Some scenes are disturbing (not the finale though, which goes right off the deep end.) Jessica Harper turns up! I was psyched about that. I dragged a lot of people with me to see it, and their reactions were mixed. Tilda Swinton playing multiple roles (male and female) just added to the creepy vibe it had at times. Worth seeing, but not a favourite like the original.

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Films I've seen : 3
Films that have been on my radar : 1
Films I've never even heard of : 10
Films I've heard of : 1



2 more great films that I am surprised are so low. The Conformist was #14 in my list. Spectacular film about the psyche of Italians

Suspiria was just edged out of my list but will always be my go to giallo.



Jean Pierre Melville is great and so is Army of Shadows but two other Melville films made my ballot instead.




My favorite film revealed so far, Il conformista was on my original ballot before I started my 50+ foreign movies marathon. It's currently # 45 on my fav foreign films list, love it and Stefania Sandrelli . Watching I Knew Her Well 1965 ‘Io la conoscevo bene’ soon.


Suspiria 1977 Dario Argento



(art house rating: 5/5)
Suspiria is one of the best-looking horror films #44 on my top 100 Horror movies all time (all languages) but didn’t vote for it.



Jean Pierre Melville is great and so is Army of Shadows but two other Melville films made my ballot instead.
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I put three Melville's on my list, most represented director on my ballot.



I put three Melville's on my list, most represented director on my ballot.
My guess; Le Samouraï, Le Cercle Rouge, not sure about the third, maybe; Bob le Flambeur or Le Doulos. He's the only director with more than one film on my ballot because I removed one Kurosawa right before submitting my ballot.



I think the Suspiria remake is pretty great, and I was hugely suspect of what the point was in redoing a movie like that in the first place. Its basically a completely different experience from the original, essentially only keeping the basic premise and very little else. I know some people hate the end of it (maybe its biggest commonality with the original) but I was pretty okay with it going off the rails, even if it somewhat fails the more somber tone of the rest of the film. Probably a top 10 horror film of the millennium for me.



Yes, a poor experience in comparison to the original

Compared to the original, yes, it pales. But putting away any thought of what Argento's does better (basically, creating a perfect language for horror that is almost purely cinematic), I think it's pretty damn good in recasting the concept as some kind of paranoid, pseudo-political, witch-thriller.



I'd say it's better than the original because it's a complete piece of work, Suspira is only the first part of a trilogy and the other two parts are just...uck.



Only seen three so far: Paprika, The Skin I Live In and Rome, Open City which is my fav of the three by far, but didn't make my list.

Watched Porco Rosso for the FLPRHoF where it was my second favorite movie of the bunch. Thought it was so good I couldn't leave it off my list and had it at at 18.

Of the one-pointers, I've seen Audition and Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky a couple of times and like them both. Might have seen Audition for the last time but I'll watch Riki again because it's such gooey fun. The Platform was okay.



Suspiria is a great ride. Beautiful and bat**** crazy.

The Conformist is also beautiful and stylish. Just not in a fun way at all. I remember reviewing it once here thinking I hadn't seen it before, only to be shown a review of it I'd written a year before. That's how much of an impression it made on me.

Sonatine is another 90's film I loved in the 90's and haven't seen since. Probably my favourite of the Kitano films I've seen.
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62 points, 6 lists
86. The Mirror


Director

Andrei Tarkovsky, 1975

Starring

Margarita Terekhova, Ignat Daniltsev, Larisa Tarkovskaya, Alla Demidova









63 points, 4 lists
85. Knife in the Water


Director

Roman Polanski, 1962

Starring

Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka, Zygmunt Malanowicz, Roman Polanski






Welcome to the human race...
No votes here. I saw Mirror for the first time last year and, while I wasn't instantly blown away like with other Tarkovsky films I've seen (probably because it's got such comparatively mundane subject matter), I think it's got room to grow on me. Haven't seen Knife in the Water in ages but I remember liking it.
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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0



Yeah, two more I haven't seen.

I've had Knife in the Water on my radar, but it just hasn't happened. As for The Mirror, I just saw my first Tarkovsky (Stalker) about a year or two ago, so I don't have it high on my list, but I'm sure I'll eventually get to it.


My Summary:

Seen: 2/16
My list: 0/25

My List  
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