The MoFo Top 100 Foreign Language Film Countdown

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Saw Au Revoir recently, terrific movie but not a strong contender for my ballot.

Wages of Fear is just ok for me. I prefer the remake by a large margin.



Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
Au Revoir les Enfants is probably my second fave Malle (after Atlantic City) and is a subtly powerful film about friendship, WWII and anti-semitism. It's also got some great tension.

H.G. Clouzot's The Wages of Fear is a suspense classic set in South America which delivers several heart-pounding scenes which William Friedkin actually made more astounding in Sorcerer. Yves Montand leads the international cast in the second Clouzot film in our countdown, the other being Diabolique.

0/34 from my list.
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I would put The Wages of Fear ahead of Sorcerer by a bit, and Wages was on my list at #12. One of the greatest existentialist movies ever made.

My List:
12. The Wages of Fear (#67)
14. Diabolique (#69)
24. Le Trou (#81)
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From the movies posted yesterday and today, I've only seen Wages of Fear. It was nominated in the 5th HOF. I respected it, but it was never in consideration for my ballot.



Another French double-whammy!

And another one from my list. Au Revoir les Enfants was my #3. Saw it a long time ago, it was actually one of the first foreign films I got into, and it has remained a favorite since. Very powerful, tragic, and moving film.

I've been meaning to watch Wages of Fear (and Sorcerer!) for a looong time. Haven't gotten around to it.


My Summary:

Seen: 9/34
My list: 2/25

My List  
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Now that Sorcerer has been mentioned, do you guys prefer The Wages of Fear or Sorcerer?
Sorcerer by a country mile, as I think Friedkin's brute force direction serves the material better than Clouzot's precision. I also think the Charles Vanel character in Wages is bad enough to take me out of the movie each time he appears onscreen. The equivalent character in Sorcerer is handled much better.



Also, Clouzot joins Kitano and Miyazaki as the only directors with 2+ films on the list.



I like Sorcerer quite a bit, but I prefer The Wages of Fear. Even though the suspenseful sequences in Friedkin's film are shot better, I found the characters more memorable and easier to connect with in Clouzot's film.



Never seen Au Revoir Les Enfants, hope to one day though. The Wages Of Fear drags a little at times initially but is a wonderfully tense affair once the journey begins. Was never really in contention for a place on my ballot though.

Seen: 22/34 (Own: 15/34)


Faildictions ((バージョン 1.0):
66. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975)
65. Ang-ma-reul bo-at-da [I Saw The Devil] (2010)



I didn't include Au Revoir les Enfants mainly because it's been forever since I've seen it and I probably need a re-watch to come up with a better evaluation. I thought it was well done.

Haven't seen Wages of Fear (or Sorceror, for that matter).



1. The Wages of Fear (1953)
9. Battle Royale (2000)
10. Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987)
14. The Skin I Live In (2011)
15. The Exterminating Angel (1962)
25. White Material (2010)


That's my list so far...I think half will make the countdown



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No votes. I watched a whole bunch of Malle films last year and Au Revoir Les Enfants was definitely near the top, just an excellent film all around and possibly his best. The Wages of Fear is also great and has room to grow on me (as for Sorcerer, I think my sole viewing was compromised by having a version without English subtitles but I still thought it was good enough).
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delivers several heart-pounding scenes which William Friedkin actually made more astounding in Sorcerer
BLASPHEMY!!!

Au Revoir Les Enfants is my favorite Malle and yet another touching & powerful WWII film.

I just mentioned The Wages of Fear is Clouzot's best and voila! Am I a clairvoyant?! IMO it's so much better than Friedkin's film (which I love, too). It's not just an electrifying thriller but also a film about the human condition. I didn't see that in Friedkin's version. In the end, both made a film about something else, so you ought to watch both.

I also watched two previously unseen films that made the list:

Sundays and Cybele was a dark film. It's basically about two hollow bodies looking for a common soul. Other people cannot understand them because for other people a body and a soul are one entity. She is afraid of another disappointment so she clings so hard, fearing another abandonment, and he is completely unable to feel anything anymore, a zombie-like figure dilapidated by the cruelty of war. They support and understand each other on some inexplicable level, but they are unable to heal each other just like crotches won't heal you when you lose a leg. Apart from the down heartening moments, the film is very subtle in its portrayal of their love, with some gentle poetry thrown in for a good measure. She's his wife, and their home is a water circle created by throwing a rock into the water. Such a circle is very short-lived, but beautiful when it lasts.

Run Lola Run is an okayish film that gets slightly repetitive due to the very nature of the movie. Basically, a speedrun of a video game. Add to that a cheesy late 90s soundtrack and some tongue-in-cheek humor and you get yourselves a decent 80 minutes.
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Only two from my list so far, so will be interesting to see how many I have in total.
My list is so niche though, so not expecting many.