The MoFo Top 100 Foreign Language Film Countdown

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Sorry if I'm rude but I'm right

If you don't find this beautiful, then, I don't know, maybe switch to playing video games, or something.

City of God is a very good film. I don't really know what else I can say. I watched it a long time ago and it just seemed like a well-made film of its kind. It pales in comparison to the other 3 of these masterpieces, though.



Rashomon is a beautiful film. Kazuo Miyagawa's cinematography is beautiful. Kyoko Kagawa is beautiful. Fumio Hayasaka's music is beautiful. Akira Kurosawa's direction is beautiful. Toshiro Mifune is beau... naaah, I prefer Tatsuya Nakadai *dodges bullets* This is a film about rain, darkness, and then a ray of light. "It's human to lie. Most of the times we can't even be honest with ourselves."



Solaris is one of Tarkovsky's masterworks. Many people here in Poland bemoan the fact Tarkovsky raped Lem's book, but I think this is exactly what you should do with an adaptation. Lem himself hated the film. But Lem knew nothing about cinema. A real artist does not pay attention to his audience. If artists did that, two-thirds of the greatest art would not exist. A film is an autonomous work of art. Close adaptation is a domain of a craftsman and not an artist. It is absurd to require a film to reproduce a book in any aspect. Why invent the wheel twice?! Tarkovsky doesn't give a **** about Lem's raw humanistic rationalism. Instead, he throws Christian mysticism into Lem's world, creating a film about sorrow, loneliness, the essence of human existence, about experiencing reality. And about how much our earthly experience and faith begins to change when we are put in the perspective of the cosmos, which beautifully inserts the film into the science fiction genre it shares with the book. "— Он умер от стыда. Стыд — вот чувство, которое спасёт человечество."



M is perfect. It's Fritz Lang's greatest achievement (although his silent Der müde Tod comes close) and Peter Lorre's greatest performance. Germans were the masters of early sound cinema. Pabst had been using sound as if it were always there, and Fritz Lang totally killed it with M. Lang uses sound as a harbinger. We first hear the danger and only then see it. It's not always straightforward. A shadow at the beginning of the film is enough. M was made in the Weimar Republic Germany, so the social system in the movie is shattered by a chaos of frustration and mutual suspicion in a paranoid, suffocating loop. Wow! The finale is mind-blowing.

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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.



Welcome to the human race...
City of God made it onto my first top 100 all the way back in 2005, but then again so did Superman II and Revenge of the Sith. I rewatched it earlier this year and honestly don't think it holds up as well as its reputation as an imdbtop250core all-time classic would suggest. Oh, well.

As for the rest, I think I've only seen them all once but thought they were all great (especially Solaris). None of them made my list, though.
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Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
City of God and M are two powerful thrillers with social commentary. I think the highlight of the two is Peter Lorre's eyes.

Rashômon is probably the most important Japanese film ever made in that it was the first big international hit from there, made Kurosawa a star, as well as giving the top five-billed actors meaty roles which led to bigger and better things. However as far as complex themes told in a dramatically-new and excitingly-visual style, it's tough to beat the seemingly-simple yet deceptive Rashômon.

Solaris is a long, sometimes hypnotic film and is more of a meditation on humankind's yearning to be connected to something than a sci-fi film. True, it involves aliens on a space station, but based on this movie (not the novel), I still don't even know what or where Solaris is, and I watched it three times. The film involves lonely astronaut Kris (Donatas Banionis) who goes to the space station to determine if the Solaris project is worth continuing. Almost all of the people who have been on the station have died or seemed to have suffered some major delusions. Shortly after Kris arrives, he finds his wife Hari (Natalya Bondarchuk). The problem is that she died on Earth much earlier.

Tarkovsky just doesn't strike me as a director who is very inviting. Even though his films present the human condition, the talkiness and extreme length tend to make me feel icy toward him. It's funny because many people feel that Kubrick is a cold director, and he occasionally may be, but he seems warmer to my sensibility. My fave Tarkovsky films are among his earliest (The Steamroller and the Violin, My Name is Ivan), but since they are less-experimental, they are undoubtedly less-personal.

Although I do find Solaris exhausting, I also find several unique scenes. The opening in the water-filled countryside is evocative, and then the scenes showing what happened to an earlier Solaris astronaut add some mystery. The scene involving fast driving on a freeway is very trippy, and many of the scenes on the station, especially between Kris and "Hari", even I would consider moving. Then there's the ending, which can be interpreted more than one way, and which I might even consider to make the film cyclical and all a flashback. So, yes, I recommend it, especially to many people here, but somehow the entire 168 minutes just doesn't need to be there. It probably just went over my head or maybe it is a case of overkill in the totality of my acceptance of pregnant pauses. I mean, I did invest about eight-and-one-half hours in viewing it during my "first watching".
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Aw, M almost crack the top 10

3. Close-Up (1990)
5. A Man Escaped (1956)
11. Ikiru (1952)
12. Woman in the Dunes (1964)
16. Pather Panchali (1955)
17. The Mirror (1975)
18. M (1931)
20. Wild Strawberries (1957)
22. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)
25. What We Talk About When We Talk About One Pointer (2013)

seems two more of me are lock on, probably.


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If you don't find this beautiful, then, I don't know, maybe switch to playing video games, or something.
Umph, okay.
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A lot of films since I last popped in.

Downfall is amazing. One of those films which, as soon as I saw it, I was showing it to anyone I thought might sit and watch it. Not seen it since those days, but I doubt very much its impact will have diminished.

Aguirre I've had for years but not watched. I think I'm either going to love it or hate it. It doesn't appear to be a film where 'meh' is an option.

City Of God is another one which really hit me when it came out. A tough watch but easily accessable, which is a wonderful, but tricky, combination to pull off. I felt similarly to after watching Downfall, though this one was a much easier sell.

Rashomon feels very much like a play but is one of the most cinematic plays you'll ever see. Of the Kurosawa films I've seen it wouldn't be in my top 3, but I think only one of those will appear above it.

M is probably the best example of a film which most people don't think exists until 30 years later. I've not seen it for well over 20 years but, like Downfall, I'm guessing its power is as potent as ever.

I've not seen Solaris.


Boredom is a permissible response. Of a heretic!
Hi! I'm the site's chief heretic.
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We're onto the the top 10, so here's the final breakdown until the end...


First, the glutton directors that just keep coming back for more and more
  • Akira Kurosawa (5)
  • Hayao Miyazaki (4)
  • Andrei Tarkovsky (3)
  • Federico Fellini (3)
  • Ingmar Bergman (3)
  • Fritz Lang (2)
  • Werner Herzog (2)
  • Carl Theodor Dreyer (2)
  • Yasujiro Ozu (2)
  • Jean-Pierre Melville (2)
  • Wong Kar-wai (2)
  • Masaki Kobayashi (2)
  • Krzysztof Kieslowski (2)
  • Thomas Vinterberg (2)
  • Henri-Georges Clouzot (2)
  • Takeshi Kitano (2)

(note: On my previous breakdown, I mistakenly counted 5 entries for Miyazaki, because I counted 101. Porco Rosso, but he actually has 4 so far)


Second, country breakdown

France = 23
Japan = 22
Germany = 10
Italy = 9
Russia = 6
Sweden = 4
South Korea = 2
Hong Kong = 2
Spain = 2
Denmark = 2
China = 1
Mexico = 1
Netherlands = 1
Poland = 1
Canada = 1
India = 1
Iran = 1
Brazil = 1


And finally, decade breakdown

1920s = 2
1930s = 2
1940s = 3
1950s = 15
1960s = 22
1970s = 5
1980s = 13
1990s = 11
2000s = 12
2010s = 5
2020s = 0
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And finally...


What are the chances?

1. Cinema Paradiso (#20)
2. Late Spring (#26)
3. Au Revoir les Enfants (#68)
4. Ran (#19)
5. 15%
6. 100%
7. 1%
8. 0%
9. 95%
10. Tokyo Story (#52)
11. Harakiri (#37)
12. M (#11)
13. 0%
14. 100%
15. 15%
16. In the Mood for Love (#34)
17. 10%
18. In the Lives of Others (#38)
19. 30%
20. 1%
21. 100%
22. Roma (#83)
23. 20%
24. 25%
25. The Lunchbox (One-Pointer)



Aguirre ... It doesn't appear to be a film where 'meh' is an option.
It was for me.



Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Werner Herzog, 1972)
Imdb

Date Watched: 02/17/18
Cinema or Home: Home
Reason For Watching:15th Hall of Fame, nominated by @Siddon
Rewatch: No.


With as much praise as Aguirre receives on this forum, I kind of expected to be wowed by it. That did not happen. I didn't hate it or even particularly dislike it - I thought the setting and costumes all looked wonderful and the performances were solid enough - but there was nothing in the story or in its characters that might enable me to overcome my apathy. As character after character died or disappeared I felt nothing and were it not for the film's brevity, boredom would probably have eventually set in.

Meh.




I liked it a bit more than you, it seems, but I do get some of what you're saying and I kinda mention it in my review here.

But frankly, if you ask me now, I would probably bump that rating a notch cause it's the kind of film that keeps creeping up in my mind from time to time.



M didn't do much for me. I remember that it looks great but it's the bulging eyeballs that stand out more than anything.

I thought highly of Solaris but need to see it again.

Think I've seen Rashomon 3 times. It's good but it may not make my top 10 Kurosawa.

3. Downfall (#16)
4. City of God (#14)
6. Pather Panchali (#47)
8. Children of Paradise (#58)
9. The Skin I Live In (#92)
10. Contempt (#71)
11. Harakiri (#37)
12. Woman in the Dunes (#22)
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)



...
M was #13 on my ballot. It's the kind of film which contains several types of greatness. There's the influential sound design which is (I think) the first, if not, one of the first films to utilize tactics like pointing the camera away from the source of the sound to such a chilling effect, the opening 10-15 minutes which rank among the greatest film openings of all time, Lorre's disturbing performance where he transitions from an expressionless and cold-blooded killer into a sympathetic character (to my knowledge, this is the earliest and the most influential version of that characterization), the way the film delves into the psych of Lorre's character, and how the film's corrupt police force leads to the gang lords organizing their own manhunt (which, ironically, proves to be much more effective than the police). Overall, it's a terrific film and I'm glad to see it so high.
Nice commentary. I too had M at the #13 spot. It was such a landmark film, being Lang's first talkie and Lorre's first starring role. What a doozy! The story is shocking today, so it's hard to imagine how horrific and appalling it must have been to audiences in 1931!

Lang of course was a great innovator, with many of his video and audio ideas being endlessly used by others, and in fact that are still in use today. Thankfully it really put Pete Lorre on the map, and we've had enjoyment of so many of his roles ever since.



Nice commentary. I too had M at the #13 spot. It was such a landmark film, being Lang's first talkie and Lorre's first starring role. What a doozy! The story is shocking today, so it's hard to imagine how horrific and appalling it must have been to audiences in 1931!

Lang of course was a great innovator, with many of his video and audio ideas being endlessly used by others, and in fact that are still in use today. Thankfully it really put Pete Lorre on the map, and we've had enjoyment of so many of his roles ever since.
Thanks! And yeah, I haven't seen much from Peter Lorre, but from what I've seen, he's really great. It's cool how this film essentially launched his career.



Thanks! And yeah, I haven't seen much from Peter Lorre, but from what I've seen, he's really great. It's cool how this film essentially launched his career.
I've only seen 6 of his films, but in everything I've seen him in, he's magnetic. The kind of actor that pulls your eyes towards him.



Wow, am I ever behind.

I haven't seen or heard of The Passion of Joan of Arc. Adding to the list.

I have heard but haven't seen Solaris, Aguirre, The Wrath of God or Downfall.

I have seen Rashomon and liked it. But it wasn't quite enough to make it on my list.

Amelie was my #7. Yes, I enjoyed the quirkiness of it all. But it's also a good story of the importance of taking time to help yourself while you're helping other people. Audrey Tautou reminds me some of a young Audrey Hepburn and had a good run before taking a hit on The Da Vinci Code.

City of God was my #2. Much like Amelie, there's a good story about a young man named Rocket who refused to get drawn into the violence and drama of the favelas of Rio by using his developing skills in photography to find a way out. This is contrasted with the efforts of Ze to become the top drug dealer of the favelas.

M was my #3. This Fritz Lang film uses the drama of the desperate search for a serial killer of children to take a strong look at the world of upstanding citizens and compare it to the residents of the Berlin underworld. Peter Lorre goes through the wringer of emotions as the film unreels. You'll never think of In the Hall of the Mountain King the same way after this.

1. Metropolis
2. City of God
3. M

7. Amelie
8. Diabolique
9. Cinema Paradiso
20. Let the Right One In

At most, I think I got 3 more entries that'll show up in the final 10. More likely, two will appear before the end.



I forgot the opening line.
The only film out of these four that I haven't (criminally haven't) seen is Solaris. I'm going to rectify that.

City of God I just happened to rewatch a couple of months ago. It's gritty and dark, but at the same time an optimistic look at a young man in the Brazilian favelas who breaks a cycle of crime and poverty by becoming a journalistic photographer. I like it a great deal, but it was crowded out of my top 25 by many films I have more preference for.

Rashomon I love - and would have included in my list if there weren't already two Kurosawa films on my list that I love even more. One I'm still very confident will appear and another I have serious doubts about now. But who knows. Stranger things have happened.

M is likewise excellent, and went places that other movies wouldn't go near for decades. But I simply couldn't find a spot for it. It's about time I forked out for the Criterion edition.