any good non-english films?

Q Classic · June 21, 2003, 23:38

i'm curious as to whether any of you keep abreast of foreign films (or if you watch native flims, if you live outside the us).

seeing as my friends tend to have a large quantity of good american-made (well, english-language) movies which i can borrow, i've taken to starting to spend my money on foreign dvds.

an aside: it's hard to watch this on a regular dvd player, granted, so i've had to circumvent the (damned fvcking stupid) region lock system on my ps2 with the extra-legal dvdregionx, and on my computer with the extra-legal dvdregionfree.

the movies that i've bought, however, are all korean; i'm doing it because a) i can understand them, b) because they seem to have recently started making many extremely high-quality/good movies, and c) to bone up on my comprehension skills.

so i want to know if anybody has any suggestions on other foreign movies that might be interesting to see/watch.

i'm particularly curious about japanese, chinese, indian, and german movies. french is also welcome, and might be easier to get stateside (thus far, i've had to purchase my korean movies through yesasia.com or by phono.co.kr).

=====

anyway, my recommendations of what i've seen in korean cinema:

koyangirul butakhae (take care of my cat)
official site
koreanfilm.org
i like the soundtrack, and some of the technical effects (typed words, the opening and ending credits) are spectacularly well done.
the story itself is a mixed bag. although it has its charm, it kinda ignores two of the main characters (the twins), while at the same time kinda not focusing too well on the other three.
it also ends somewhat abruptly, but in the context of the film, which itself has a very subdued narrative (common in korean films) it makes sense.
apparently produced with the aid of warner brothers.
i'd recommend this. 4/5.

yupgijugin keunyuh (my sassy girl)
official site
koreanfilm.org
wonderfully done movie. the first part is hilarious, especially with the imagined scenes, but one wonders in a way why the guy stays with the girl.
the second half of the movie gets dangerously close to the traditional flaw of many korean movies, that of overwhelming melodrama. i think, however, it manages to work. slower paced and not as funny as the first half, it also requires one to take quite a few leaps of faith--one which i think most will accept, given the humor and nature of the first half. it also leads up to a most satisfying ending.
it's also ostensibly based on real-life experiences, so there's a moment of a sort of meta-filmmaking in that second half.
dreamworks has bought the rights to a remake in the states, but since some of the humor is distinctly korean, i don't know how it'll pan out--that, and i don't know of any actress who could pull it off.
i'd definitely recommend this one. 5/5.

kyulooneun mitchinjitshida (marriage is a crazy thing/crazy marriage)
koreanfilm.org
this one is more understated than most korean movies. as such, some of the humor is subtle, and so one might miss it. i remember the subtitles not being the best, but. i'm also not too sure what to classify this movie as. it's not quite a romantic comedy or a romance drama, but it's not exactly a satire, either, so far as i can tell.
it's told from a guy's perspective, so naturally it sorta makes the woman look a bit crazy, but also endearing.
there's a bit of graphic sex (you don't actually see much, but it's very suggestive), and it's concentrated in the beginning.
i'd recommend this one too, but not as strongly as the other two. 3/5.

chingu (friend)
koreanfilm.org
a movie about four friends. focuses on two of them, who end up as gangsters, and the disaster than follows. one friend ends up being sidelined, the other, the ostensible narrator, pops in and out as a minor character.
i found this one hard to understand without the subtitles--the pusan dialect is not the one i'm used to, so it's a lot more melodic than your standard seoul or elegant chungbuk dialect. the pronunciation's the same, though--it's just the rise and fall of the words that threw me.
it's more depressing, and there are scenes in it which are harder to understand if you're unfamiliar with korea's recent past; however, those scenes are far and few in between, and the rest of the movie works well, although it also distances itself from the characters, like a lot of korean movies.
i'd recommend this one. 4/5.

hwasango (volcano high)
official site
koreanfilm.org
turbocharged and special-effects laden. story? what story? it's meant to look like a comic book, as is its plot and everything else. which makes it funny.
it's not a great movie, and i was disappointed with less fighting than i expected. it's still fun to watch.
somewhat recommended. 3/5.

shiri (shiri)
koreanfilm.org
i didn't like this one too much. it's your typical hollywood action film, only displaced into korea with korean things replacing everything that would be stock american characters.
there's nothing spectacular about it, even though it is a decent action flick on its own.
eh... give it a shot. 2/5.

kongdongkyungbikuyuk jsa (joint security area)
official site
koreanfilm.org
interesting drama that reaches fairly well to the core of a divided korea. set along the dmz, it revolves around an incident that eventually claims the lives of four koreans--two nkoreans and two skoreans; what's worse is that they'd become friends by the time of the incident.
it's remarkably well done, and narrates the events leading up to the incident, as well as the incident itself, in a series of flashbacks.
however, the female lead is supposedly a swiss of korean extraction--but her english is not very good, which deflates that believeability. that, compounded with the less-than-stellar acting of the non-koreans, weighs down the non-flashback scenes.
also, one wonders if this story would be nearly as interesting if it were displaced from the dmz and korea itself.
still, it's worth watching. 4/5.

dongkam (ditto)
koreanfilm.org
i didn't like this one either. think frequency, only with a romance that crosses time rather than a father-son romance. yes, it has something to do with the girl being in the turbulent 70s, and the guy in the sedate and luxurious 90s, but still.
not worth your time, imho. 1/5.

Darsnan · June 22, 2003, 01:10

The German movie "Stalingrad". Not on the same par with "Saving Private Ryan", but still a very graphic portrayal of the war on the Eastern Front. What happens to the Russian female POW was very symbolic to what the Nazi's did to Russia during the war, IMO. FYI.

D

Victor Galis · June 22, 2003, 01:16

I'd recommend seeing L'Auberge Espagnole. It's in some smaller theaters in the US right now. It's a mostly French movie about this French student who goes to study in Barcelona for a year and the people he ends up sharing an appartment with (apparently Barcelona has a housing shortage). It's kind of funny.

monolith94 · June 22, 2003, 01:19

2002 was a great year for film - and the French work "Eight Women" was, in my mind, one of the highlights.

Also, Jeunet is working on a new world war one film - one to look out for, for sure!

Q Classic · June 22, 2003, 05:47

has anyone heard of this "amelie 2" ?

BeBro · June 22, 2003, 07:46

The German movie "Lola rennt" (http://movie-reviews.colossus.net/mo.../run_lola.html) and the French "Brotherhood of the wolves" (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/TheB...eWolf-1111814/) for example.....

monolith94 · June 22, 2003, 07:57

"has anyone heard of this "amelie 2" ?"

No such thing. If there is, I'll eat my hat.

Chris Wilkinson · June 22, 2003, 08:18

"Killer" is a good Kazakh film. It's a sad story and the acting does seem a little static, but it does highlight a lot of problems in Kazakhstan.

Edit: Good description at http://www.rusfilm.pitt.edu/2002/ga3...ram-notes.html

Proteus_MST · June 22, 2003, 08:18

"Knocking on Heavens Door" a german movie (despite the english title) from 1996 with Til Schweiger and Moritz Bleibtreu

A Comedy about two Cancer-Patients who have only a short time to live and decide to steal a car (because one of them wants to see the ocean before he dies). Of course the Car belongs to some Gangsters and has some money hidden in the trunk and soon they are being chased by both, the police and the gangsters.

"Anatomie" (Germany, 2000) with Franka Potente
Horror/Thriller

Paula, a young female Medicine Student goes to the University of Heidelberg to attend to an Anatomy-Course given by a well known Professor.
Soon she stumbles upon the Activities of a secret society of Physicians, the Antihippocrates, who kidnap people with genetic defects and/or special anatomic characteristics and turn them (while they are still living) into anatomic preparates by injecting a Drug into the bloodstream which coagulates the blood and at the same time conserves the tissue. Soon Paula herself is targetted by the Antihipppocrates...

Q Classic · June 22, 2003, 08:35

about "amelie 2"... not sure if it's kosher, or even this one i'm thinking about. i remember seeing a dvd in korea in a red case, labelled "amelie 2", and it didn't look bootleg--and it was being sold in an upscale store.

lola rennt is a classic. i also liked der kreiger und die prinzessin, also by the same franka potente-director duo.

i didn't enjoy brotherhood of the wolf, though. i thought the movie went downhill after the indian guy...

as for german movies: are moritz bleibtrau and franka potente big? both were in lola rennt, and i've seen the latter in two movies and now she's recommended in a third; the former i've seen in one and recommended in two.

Q Classic · June 22, 2003, 08:51

ah, here we go:

amelie 2 ?

the title says "amelie 2"/ "the beating of the butterfly's wing" / "le battement d'ailes du"

there is no jeunet, but it does have audrey tautou.

i unfortunately can't read the summary right now, since this computer isn't equipped with a browser capable of reading korean characters, so. try babelfish, but i've found that what it spits out usually isn't close to what the meaning really is.

Wraith · June 22, 2003, 09:09

I can recommend some Japanese films.
Most of them will be animated, though. ^_^

Akira Kurosawa's film The Seven Samurai.

Jin-Roh is a must see. One of the best films I've seen.

Most of the stuff put out by Studio Ghibli. There are a couple exceptions, but they do good work.

More later, perhaps.

Wraith
Will build secret weapon for food

Q Classic · June 22, 2003, 09:47

kurosawa's good. i love ran, throne of blood, and seven samurai. i have yet to see the remake, magnificent seven.

jinroh is ok, not as good as akira, imho; ghibli put out a lot of miyazaki's work, so.

alva · June 22, 2003, 09:57

The best Belgian film I can think of is:
Daems.

A true story of a priest who takes on the ruling class but get's restricted by his own superiors and thus struggle with his religion.
Time period late 1800 (I think

)
Good movie

Ecthy · June 22, 2003, 10:49

I despise Anatomie, Lola Rennt is cool and I haven't seen Stalingrad. What do they do to her?

Another good German movie: Das Boot

Zero · June 22, 2003, 11:40

As for korean film, I heard lot of good things about "chingu" and "To home". Other ones you mentioned I havent heard of.

Stalingrad was great. It was as good as it can get without Private Ryans big budget

Kurosawa's films are one of my favorites. Personally i love seven samurai the most among all of them.

There's also the seventh seal, for thsoe who like to contemplate about life/death.

as for french, theres brotherhood of the wolf thing, thats another foreign movie you could easily find in big chain stores.

i ahvent watched das boot, how is it? (it looks good)

Spiffor · June 22, 2003, 12:10

There will be a movie by Jeunet with Audrey Tautou, indeed produced by Fox. French title should be "Un long Dimanche de fiançailles". The same team of costumists, scenarists etc. seems to be working on it, and Jeunet says the title could have been "Amélie goes to war".

Most probably, "A Very Long Engagement" (English title) will milk as much as possible from the Amélie appeal. Since Jeunet is used to quality movies, we can expect this movie not to be a quick and dirty rip-off

Spiffor · June 22, 2003, 12:30

BTW, if you are interested in a cynical movie, you can try With a Friend Like Harry (original title : "Harry, un ami qui vous veut du bien").

Also, a good action flick is the real version of La Femme Nikita" (original title is simply "Nikita"). Luc Besson also directed Leon but he stopped being a French director at this time (it doesn't make the movie any less good)

Alinestra Covellia recently asked about Manuel Poirier's Western. I haven't seen the movie, but I've heard many good opinions on it. As a side note, the same person is starring in this movie and in Harry

And how could I forget The Dinner's Game, an extremely funny movie (I don't know if it can export that well though). Original title : "Le dîner de cons"

Edit : And I forgot Going PLaces, but I'd advise to be cautious on this one. It is filled with sex and amorality, but has a serious dose of fun as well, and I overall enjoyed the movie very much. But definitely not the thing to watch first if you want to discover French cinema. Original title : "Les Valseuses"

Ecthy · June 22, 2003, 12:31

Das Boot is a true classic. The only movie where Prochnow ever performed well.

And Herbie Grönemeyer is innn theeeere.... too!!

Mercator · June 22, 2003, 12:36

Quote:

Originally posted by alva
The best Belgian film I can think of is:
Daems.

Damn, I hate that movie... We've had to watch that in school several times. You get sick of it after a while.

The Dutch cinema has been growing lately, although until now it has been mostly old TV series/children's books turned into film, or "teen movies" about teens getting pissed in Spain.
I've heard good things about "Van God Los" ("godforsaken", the English title appears to be "Stir Crazy") though, I might go see it.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen any Kurosawa yet, but I love Takeshi Kitano (non-yakuza, I haven't seen any of those yet). I've recently seen "Dolls" and it's beautiful. And his "Kikujiro no natsu" ("The Summer of Kikujiro") is a masterpiece.

I can't think of any good Dutch or Belgian movies right now... Well, I can, but I either haven't seen them myself yet, or I forgot the title of the film.

Uncle Sparky · June 22, 2003, 13:04

The Brazilian film City of God about young street gangs is very good. The story is set in the '70s and told through the eyes of a slum kid who wants to be a news photographer. Its quite violent.

alva · June 22, 2003, 13:36

Quote:

Damn, I hate that movie... We've had to watch that in school several times. You get sick of it after a while.

Yeah, I never understood why they do that. Don't worry, you'll like it in a few years, I had the same thing with the Jaques Tati films.
-
How about :
La guerre du feu. (French movie but no language is spoken.)

The diplomat · June 22, 2003, 15:20

Has anyone seen the French movie "Germinal"? It is a movie about miners that revolt against their oppressive boss in the late 1800's. It is rather dark, but thought-provoking. Especially good for all you communists/socialists.

Pekka · June 22, 2003, 15:23

Uncle Sparky, yes, I agree. City of God is very good. One of those movies I thought afterwards 'wow, this was a really good movie in a long long time'.

Good Finnish movie: Winter War

raghar · June 22, 2003, 16:46

Jungle was nice and then come Guu.
I know others, but you'd not understand them. ( like e eu movies, or pakistan, or was it daghestan, sci-fi movies and other WEIRD stuff)
As general rule nice movies and France's fairy tales aren't commonly avilable to general public.

Pekka, when was made that movie? I recall something old and nice... Could it be...

Mercator · June 22, 2003, 16:55

Quote:

Originally posted by alva
Don't worry, you'll like it in a few years

It's been a few years...

I haven't seen it in a long time either though, maybe I will see it again next time it's on TV.

Quote:

I had the same thing with the Jaques Tati films.

Should I be glad I've never heard of him?

Wernazuma III · June 22, 2003, 16:55

There's plenty of great non-american films. Some good french films then get copied more or less well done by Hollywood. One example is "Un cage aux foux"...

But there's also great Italian films. The best ones are the Don Camillo movies (NOT the one with Terence Hill!!!!). For anyone who doesn't like it, there's no hope left.

Wernazuma III · June 22, 2003, 16:58

Quote:

Originally posted by Mercator

Should I be glad I've never heard of him?

The War of Fire is some film you might want to know. It's the story of a horde of archaic cavemen whose tribe lost their holy fire and because they don't yet know how to make it themselves, they go looking for it. A bit old, but still good.

alva · June 22, 2003, 17:16

Werner, I already suggested that one

(La guerre du feu

)

And I don't think it was made bij Jaques Tati

µ
-
Well Mercator, it depends, I think his movies are hilarious, but you have to go with it.
(think Pink pater(ish), but not really/ I'm not a fan of the Panter series)
The films are old btw (colour, but old), mayb Spiffor could tell you more.

The diplomat · June 22, 2003, 17:18

Quote:

Originally posted by Wernazuma III
But there's also great Italian films. The best ones are the Don Camillo movies (NOT the one with Terence Hill!!!!). For anyone who doesn't like it, there's no hope left.

Are you talking about the Don Camillo movies where Fernandel plays a Catholic priest in a small Italian town controlled by the Communist Party?

I have all them on video. They're a hoot. I love the love/hate interaction between the Catholic priest and the Communist mayor.
I think it is in the first movie, where the Communist win the city election and are having a victory rally. Then, the crowd starts running toward the church. Don Camillo assumes that the crowd is about to storm the church, so he gets his gun and prepares to defend himself, but the crowd runs right past the church toward the house of the new mayor. It turns out that the new mayor's wife has just delivered her first baby. Later, the major brings his new baby to the church to be baptized. Don Camillo refuses at first, so the commie mayor and Don Camillo have a fist fight. They fight until they are both exhausted and then Don Camillo agrees to baptize the kid.

It is also really neat how they have the voice of Jesus that speaks to Don Camillo whenever he is thinking of doing something naughty.