Help me with Foreign (Non-English) Movie Recommendations

Its available on youtube with english subtitles

I liked Renée a lot too, and I also liked Mr. Ozu. Watching their relationship grow was my favorite part of the movie.

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I took a quick look at the synopsis for Euthanizer (2017), but it doesn't really sound like my type of movie. It's about a man who euthanizes animals, and I don't like movies where animals get hurt and/or die.

Thanks for the recommendation, but I think I'm going to pass on this movie.

I found Mucize (2015) on YouTube with English subtitles. Thanks.

@ScarletLion,
I watched Werckmeister Harmonies (2000) I had heard of this movie here on MoFo, but I didn't know anything about it, so it was a movie that piqued my curiosity, and it was on my watchlist almost immediately when the countdown was announced.

It was interesting for a while, but unfortunately I lost interest when the people rioted. I couldn't figure out why they were rioting, or why they attacked the people in the hospital. And as far as I can tell from the movie, they didn't know why they were rioting either.

I don't understand why people seemed to be angry that the "circus" with the whale came to their town, and I have no idea what the prince had to do with the story. Basically, this movie just had me confused for most of the last half of the movie.

And some of the shots were just too long and drawn out. It seemed like there were times that I was staring at someone for a while, but they weren't doing anything, and it felt like the shot should have switched to a different person, or even the next scene much sooner.

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm glad that I finally watched this movie because I had heard about it so many times here, but I guess it's just not my type of movie.

@Thief and @John-Connor,
I watched Kon-Tiki (2012) (The version that I watched was the English version, so I'm not sure if it's eligible for the countdown, but it sounded like an interesting movie, so I watched it anyway.)

Most of the movie was kind of slow, and even a little boring at times, but it had a lot of good scenes too, so it was an interesting watch. I liked Thor because he was so determined to make this trip that he wouldn't let anything stand in his way, (although I'm not sure why a guy who doesn't know how to swim would want to make that long journey).

The scene with the sharks was intense. (Maybe I've watched Jaws a few too many times, but I'm still scared of sharks. )

There was something strangely adorable about the crab, and the way he seemed to just hide out under the deck, and then he just ran off when they eventually reached land.

Thanks for the recommendation. This was an enjoyable movie.

In case you didn't see it in the 'rate the last film you saw' thread - I watched this recently and thought it was fantastic. The Giants (2011) - from Belgium.

Kaili Blues (2015) - This one is Chinese. About a guy who travels through China in search of someone.
It's interesting because you can see a few rural places in China. Just nice to see how people live in different parts of the world.

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Glad you watched it. The film (as I see it) is an allegory for communist Hungary and post communist Hungary, and how people were desperate for change and progression but didn't know exactly what they wanted to change to. The film is called Werckmeister Harmonies - so immediately the viewer reads into why it is called that- and the answer is because the old man in the film has a lifelong ambition to change the musical scales to make their harmonies more natural. That is the key to the film (as I see it) - this man is saying that music (i.e. - life / socio-political landscape in communist Hungary) isn't natural enough and needs to change. It's too rigid, authoritarian and militant.

The long takes are either something you appreciate or don't I guess. Personally I love them as they don't conform to modern film-making and editing, and make you ask why the director is doing it (Bela Tarr doesn't do anything without reason).

The people in the hospital are political dissidents so they are attacked by the rioters who are desperate for change. Ultimately, the lead character himself becomes institutionalised, and the old man gives up on his idea of changing music (perhaps an idea that is supposed to represent socialism of some kind). The ending represents a more stable Hungary that has been through the bad times politically (witnessed a circus come and go) and although it's not perfect, there is a sort of harmony amongst its people.

Beyond the Hills (2012) Romanian movie - won at Cannes for Best Screenplay in 2012. Directed by Cristian Mungiu same one who directed : 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007) for which he won a Palme d'Or also at Cannes.
It is a story of two young women who grew up in an orphanage after which one has chosen to work abroad in Germany and the other one more pious and quiet has decided to become a nun in a monastery. After a while the one who left comes back eventually in her home country and goes and finds her girlfriend and the rest feel free to discover it by watching the movie.
It is a film which reveals some dark parts of the priesthood and what could happen beyond the monastic curtains.
I would say the movie describes some areas from my country, but I wouldn't generalize it, since there are also modern and developed places. This story being a particular one centered on the life of these two women in need.

I love both Bi Gan films. This and Long Day's Journey into night. They are other worldly spiritual experiences with genius camera placement. Lovely long takes in the mould of Tarkovsky or Andrei Zvaginnstyev.

If they haven't been recommended already, I'd add these films:

Ida (Pawlikowski masterpiece)
Cold War (Pawlikowski near masterpiece)
Beanpole (directed by a 28 year old Russian)
House of Hummingbird (very recent Asian flick)
A Sun (Taiwanese film from 2020)
Failan (really recommend this film to everyone. It packs a punch)
Fireworks (Takeshi Kitano)
White Ribbon (possibly Haneke's best)
A Short Film about killing (Kieslowski film that more or less led to the abandonment of capital punishment in Poland)
Close Up (Kiarostami)
Mother (Bong Joon Ho's overlooked film)
Germany Year zero (devastating Italian neo realism)
Umberto D (also devastating Italian neo realism!!)
Audition (messed up masterpiece from Takashi Miike)

I've heard about Beanpole(Russia), House of the Hummingbird(S. Korea) and Audition....
I was planning to watch the first 2 but didn't had time.
I'll just add them on my watching list
I also recommend watching Chinese director Bo Hu, who directed 1 film and 2 short films.

Is he the guy that sadly took his own life after making an epic? Supposed to be a brilliant film.

I guess he died in 2017, don't know exactly the cause of death. I just loved his film :
An Elephant Sitting Still.

Great movies.

Enjoy watching them !

Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Three Monkeys is a very good turkish drama. Personally, my favorite of him is Winter Sleep, but since you're not a big fan of long movies...


Labyrinth and hypnotic. One of those puzzles that requires multiple views and attention to detail. A bit violent, but not too graphic. It can be difficult to keep up if you're not in the mood.


Hideo Gosha's Goyôkin is a samurai masterpiece in my opinion.


Konstantin Lopushanskiy's Dead Man's Letter (1986) and Visitor of a Museum (1989)
Two incredible looks at the human soul in a post-nuclear Russia, where people live underground, in the ruins of our civilization.
Many analogies on the problems of socialism.

@PHOENIX74,
I saw your post recommending The Giants (2011) in the "Rate The Last Movie You Saw" thread, and I like Stand By Me, and this movie sounded interesting so I decided to give it a try, but it's not really my type of movie.

The problem with this movie is that these kids caused their own problems, and every action they took just made their situation worse. I couldn't really feel bad for them because they're not really good people. They steal, they smoke weed, they broke into people's houses, etc.



Thanks for the recommendation, but this movie just wasn't for me.

Here is another great (? foreign )(Romanian) movie :
Chuck Norris vs. Communism (2015)
It is all about when the VHS tapes started to appear on the market, before 1989, before the fall of the Iron Curtain and the Soviet's influence in Europe.
It is about Romania (which was still under a dictatorial regime/ a communist one until 1989) where these kind of western films about the western civilization where kinda prohibited.
And those who watched foreign films were either sent to prison, ether penalized with a fee of some kind.
It is about the early age of VHS films, about how people were smuggling these films into the country during a dictatorial regime and about how everyone was watching "secretly" these movies.
This was also a thing which kinda contributed to the overthrow of the dictatorial regime.

I haven't heard of this movie, but it sounds like it could be a good road trip type of movie with some nice scenery.

Thanks for the recommendation.