Recommend some Foreign Faves

Couldnt find a foreign recommendations thread, so I thought Id start one up.

Im going to start by listing a few of my faves that I watch quite a bit. I own and love tons of foreign films- these are just a few familiar genre pictures that I think are quite accesible to western audiences.


To try and keep it in order, attempt to name only 3 films from each country to start with

Alrighty, here we go.

FRENCH
Juenet and Caro's CITY OF LOST CHILDREN- An adult fairy tale that is a intelligent and visually stunning.

Jean Piere Melvilles LE SAMOURAI- The inspiration for Luc Besson's LEON: THE PROFFESSIONAL and John Woo's THE KILLER.......need I say more

Luc Besson's LA FEMME NIKKITA- the single greatest female assasin film ever.



JAPANESE
Takeshi Katano's HANA-BI- arguably the greatest gangster tale ever- full of morality questions and redemption.

Takeshi Miike's - ICHI: THE KILLER- one of the most full on studys of teh criminal mind.

Kenji Misumi's- LONE WOLF & CUB/ BABY CART/SWORD OF VENGENANCE series- Rivalling Kurosawa in the perfect Samurai film stakes, this series is must see for action fans everywhere.



GERMAN
Tom Twykers THE PRINCESS & THE WARRIOR- truly inspiring film that crosses genre with ease to deliver an Action/Romance/Comedy/Thriller to rival RUN LOLA RUN

Wim Wenders WINGS OF DESIRE- just plain beautiful.

DAS EXPERIMENT- a study of human behavior this is a psychologicla thriller based on real life prison experiments.


SPANISH
Alexander De Lagasi's DAY OF THE BEAST- balck comedy about the end of teh world from the guy who bought us PERDITA DURANGO

Alenjandro Amenabar's THESIS- corker pyschologicla thriller

Gulmerro Del Toro's CRONOS- a vampire film that oozes originality and ideas......from the director of BLADE II also check out DEVILS BACKBOBNE which is a haunting supernatural thriller.



HONG KONG and CHINESE
T F Mous' MAN BEHIND THE SUN- Achieves everything the PC SCHINDLERS LIST tried and failed at...paints an incredibly real picture of war crimes and those who carry them out. One of the most powerful war films ever made.

John Woo's A BETTER TOMORROW rivals THE GODFATHER as an epic saga of organized crime and its price.

Tsui Hark's THE BLADE- rivals ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA as the directors greatest work- amazing period detail is bought to life with breathtaking sword fights and beautiful cinematography.

DUTCH-NEATHERLANDS
Micheal Haneke's FUNNY GAMES- simply one of the best thrillers ever made...painfully paced and full of ideas and questions about violence and its repucussions

George Sluizer's THE VANISHING - Not to be cofused with the boring US remake (By the same director) this thriller will stay with you long after the final credits.




I will return to continue with a few more at a later date. In the meantime, Fans of Foreign cinema list your faves From The Seventh Seal &Nosferatau (Classics Drama) to Crouching Tiger & Taxi(Contemporary action) and everything in between........or if feel to discuss the ones already mentioned..............enjoy.

__________________
******"The Majority Is Always Wrong" Steve Mcqueen in Enemy Of The People******

Japan

Akira Kurosawa - Yojimbo (1961)
- Shichinin no samurai (1954)
Masayuki Suo - Sumo Do, Sumo Don't (1992)


Germany

Tom Tykwer - Run Lola Run (1999)
Fritz Lang - Metropolis (1927)


South America

Fabián Bielinsky - Nine Queens (2000)


New Zealand

Lee Tamahori + Alan Duff - Once Were Warriors (1994)
- What Becomes of the Broken Hearted? (1999)
Niki Caro - Whale Rider


USA, LOTE

Robert Rodriguez - El Mariachi (1992)

Just Some

__________________
It's a god-awful small affair, To the girl with, the mousy hair, But her mummy is yelling "No", and her daddy has told her to go, But her friend is nowhere to be seen, Now she walks through her sunken dream, To the seat with the clearest view, And she's hooked to the silver screen, But the film is a saddening bore, For she's lived it ten times or more...

I've got to throw in Imamura's Black Rain (Kuroi Ame), as it's the only deviation from the previous lists that my sleep deprived mind can grasp at.


And with that, I bid you all a good night.

__________________
"We are all worms, but I do believe I am a glow-worm."
--Winston Churchill

Japan:

Ran by Kurusawa

A great epic version of King Lear, tho it's mainly the acting i like and the transition to the samurai world (i sort of drifted in the war enactments tho - Yojimbo is classier for action and aggression-tension - but you've mentioned it)

Akira, (anime - dunno the director etc) just coz it speaks so strikingly of certain fears in japanese society (including a preocupation with mutation, as the ending shows) - and it doesn't have the twisted sexual depravity of some later manga.

Argh and dammit i have to stop there, coz i just can't remember the titles of the more arty ones that have slipped through my consciousness. Here's one or two alright ones for anyone who doesn't know them...

France:

Delicatessan (distopian comedy carnage -with a song played on a saw)

Belgium:

Man Bites Dog (student doc makers follow the slowly building carnage in a psychopath's life, getting more embroiled as they go. Beware - v.v.v. sick by the end. Voyeurism gets interactive.)

HongKong:

Gotta love the old jackie chan ones: The Drunken Master, erm, and damn, forgotten the others.

__________________
Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here

Here is my highly recommended foreign movies list:

Central Station
Amores Perros
Sex & Lucia
Amelie
Y Tu Mama Tambien
East is East
Selam Bombay
Monsoon Wedding
The Princess and The Warrior
Talk to Her
All About My Mother
Heaven
Il Postino
Cinema Paradiso
La Vita e Bella
Malena....

More to come.

Deckard, I like your choices. Eagerly waiting for more...

I just got into watching the subtitled movies this year, so there's alot I haven't seen. But so far I've liked....

Bread and Tulips (2000)
Mostly Martha (2002)
Life Is Beautiful (1998)
Eat Drink Man Woman( (1994)
Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
Amélie (2001)
Shall We Dance? (1997)
In the Mood for Love (2001)
The Way Home (2002)
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988)
Monsoon Wedding (2001)
Happenstance (2000)


Has anyone seen Johnny Stecchino (1991)?
I keep eyeing this one to watch when my hubby goes out of town.

eskendir....I’d be interested in why you liked Y Tu Mama Tambien. Personally I didn’t think it lived up to the glowing review Ebert and Roeper gave it. I was really disappointed. I’m not trying to be mean, I’m just curious.

btw....Welcome to the forum eskendir.


Another one I was expecting alot out of was Like Water for Chocolate(1993). It was very well done...and I can't say I disliked it. I guess I just couldn’t understand why the two main women pine'd away for the main guy. He wasn’t worth it, and the actor...well he was forgettable. From the review I read, I expected more.

Forgive me if you already know this, just letting the uninformed know.

Irreversible (controversial movie starring Monica Bellucci involving rape and violent scenes, you probably heard about this though.)- France

A Better Tomorrow 2 (amazing final scene, most bodies ive scene in a movie) - Hong Kong

Malena (Another Monica Bellucci movie, she is the fantasy of this boy growing up in Siciliy throughout his development years. Nice movie, "heartwarming" in a way) - Italy

Run Lola Run - Germany

Battle Royale (42 kids put on an island forced to kill each other.)- Japan

Versus (japanese samurai zombie flick, sounds nice eh?) - Japan

Hard Boiled (another great chow yun fat, john woo shoot em up movie)
- Hong Kong

The Brotherhood of the Wolf (a combination of several genres ranging from Martial Arts, Action Adventure, Horror, Drama and Romance. A "beast" killing French citizens in the 1700s and two men are called in to hunt it down) - France

City on Fire (Chow Yun Fat late 80's movie, was main inspiration for Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, undercover cop posing as a robber)

Grave of the Fireflies (very "touching" Anime, story about a boy and his little sister who lose their parents and have to survive in Japan during WW2)

I have countless Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Shaw Brothers and other Martial arts films that i don't feel like adding due to laziness and there was another thread for them anyway.

__________________
Boards don't hit back

Great to see a solid response to foreign cinema forming. Thanks for the nod "Eskendir". Solid lists all-round.............


Could I ask that some times you put a sentence or two about the films you recommend so others that haven't seen them can get a handle on what to excpect by way of story, cinemtography, direction or acting etc...


Gotta go now but will return with a few more


PS- Finlly got to see the Luc Besson penned Action/Comedy TAXI which is a fun popcorn film with some gret action scenes and hilarious dialogue. - good mindless fun.

Totally!! Couldn't agree more - love that film!

Another good french flick: Brief Crossing by Catherine Briellet [Romance] - it was made for tv - I caught it at a film fest & loved it! Its about a young boy & an older woman whom meet on board on an overnight ferry night.

__________________
First I'm proud to say that I don't smoke, I don't drink, and I don't swear. Oh shi.t, I do smoke and drink!

i HIGHLY recommend these

DESTINY - Le Destin (france/egypt)
MALENA (italy)
Cinema Paradiso (italy)

__________________
T h e G o d f a t h e r

MULHOLLAND DR.
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
Stanley Kubrick
Alexander the great moveis
Marlon Brando

I just saw...

Johnny Stecchino (1991)~ Directed by Roberto Benigni (also co-writer) I'm falling for Roberto Benigni. What a character. I would definately recommend this mistaken identity, charming comedy. Nicoletta Braschi (the leading lady) is so beautiful as well as wondeful. Roberto! Roberto! Roberto!

couple recent faves of mine....

japan:
the pornographers [1966 - vintage imamura]. good call on imamura's black rain, herod, it's a true masterpiece. my pick from him though, would have to go to the 1979 murder-study, vengeance is mine. really great, heart-wrenching stuff, check it out if you can find it.

sword of doom [again 1966]. very dark, pessimistic samurai action, starring none other than mifune toshiro. he's a total bastard in this one though, so dont go in expecting anything like yojimbo or sanjuro. this movie is surprisingly violent as well.

princess mononoke: [1997]. damn, i just rewatched this one and it's a really exceptional film. really miyazaki's pinacle, at least in the realm of movies. anyone else as annoyed by the last three minutes as i was though?

Aguirre the Wrath of God is my favorite foreign film but of course you also have the classics like 8-1/2, Jules and Jim, Solarys, La Dolce Vita, L'avventura


www.moviejustice.com

__________________
"A candy colored clown!"
Member since Fall 2002
Top 100 Films, clicky below

http://www.movieforums.com/community...ad.php?t=26201

Thanks Deckard and eskendir for recommending The Princess and the Warrior (2000). If I hadn't seen it on both of your list I might not have remembered it. I watched it this past week. I LOVED it and would also highly recommend it. I also loved Franka Potente (Sissi) and Benno Fürmann (Bodo) together. He also has an intense pair of eyes that's hard to forget.

Great to see you dug Twyker's LOLA follow up.......If your interested Director Tom Twyker made another film before RUN LOLA RUN & THE PRINCESS AND THE WARRIOR.

It's an under seen little gem called WINTERSLEEPERS and I for one quite enjoyed it. No where near as assualtive as his later works this one unfolds with a bit more subtelty and really establishes an ambiance on screen. As I said it'snot great, but still well worth a look for fans ofthe this talented filmmaker.

Aniko, I urge you to check out Amores Perros. It's a movie about three characters whose stories collide in a life-changing event. This is one of my favorite foreign movies of all time. I never expected such a remarkable film to come out of Mexico. Let me know what u think and if like this one I might have some more recommendations for you.

Everybody should see AMORES PERROS its a great movie, couldn't agree more "Eskindir"..


Inventive narrative structure ala Magnolia tells an enthralling tale of life, love nad redemption. Powerful and moving this film lets the audience walk away witha lot to think about. Not for the weak of heart it is a story set in a violent city where confrontation is a part of life.

Cant wait for the directors next film 21 GRAMS which has a corker cast and an enticing premise.

Just saw Hideo Nakata's latest DARK WATER 8/10- From the director of RINGU this is yet another quality Japanese chiller that delivers. Nota cerebral as RINGU this one tells a straight forward story. But dont think its not full of inspired camera choices, haunting music and a genuine air of creepiness that doesn't let up.

Must see for fans of japanese horror.

certainly not a connoisseur of foreign films, but the french film, The girl on the bridge certainly gets my vote.

hm, ide have to admit, i feel like a bit of a underling among you all, who seem to know your films so well.

*shrug* !

j