Thirith on 22/12/2008 at 10:27
I know I'm not the only pretentious film nerd around here, so let's hear what sort of foreign films you really like.
I could cheat this one, since my mother tongue is German (learnt from my English mother), but I'll stick to other languages:
* Jules et Jim: I love the film's rhythm, tone and acting. Its idiom is wholly different from what I'm used to watching, but it's still such a breath of fresh air...
* After-Life (by Kore-Eda): I especially like the film's dry, deadpan humour. With the theme of life after death it could have been ponderous, but it's got a great lightness.
Scots Taffer on 22/12/2008 at 10:47
City of God
The Devil's Backbone
Pan's Labyrinth
A Very Long Engagement
Amelie
The Valet
I also saw Love Me If You Dare recently, which was decent.
I have it on good authority that Priceless and The Lives of Others are good.
Shakey-Lo on 22/12/2008 at 10:55
Heaps! I'm not really language-biased when it comes to film. A few favourites would be:
Dolls - a beautiful Japanese love tragedy
Last Year at Marienbad - the archetypal pretentious French art film, but a simply amazing use of the medium
Ran - Akira Kurosawa's loose adaptation of King Lear set in feudal Japan
Solaris - philosophical film often called Russia's answer to 2001: A Space Odyssey
Talk to Her - a Spanish story about two men united by the women they love being in comas
Two that I've caught on TV and highly enjoyed were Facing the Truth (Danish film about the director's neurosurgeon father) and Take My Eyes (Spanish love story in an abusive relationship), but having only seen them once I'm not sure I could call them a favourite.
Fingernail on 22/12/2008 at 10:56
Some Italian masterpieces:
Cinema Paradiso
Il Gattopardo
Life is Beautiful (I actually think this is a bit hit-and-miss but it's one of those touchstones of modern culture in many ways, certainly necessary viewing)
For the Germans:
yes, the Lives of Others,
also Downfall is great.
And a neat little comedy Goodbye Lenin!
I've enjoyed most of the Studio Ghibli films, and would especially recommend Mononoke and Spirited Away. I think the best recent Chinese epics are Crouching Tiger and Hero. I also saw a weird little sci-fi that I can't remember the name of and can't find by searching - I thought the title was a year or something? Edit: bingo, 2046.
henke on 22/12/2008 at 11:54
Just listing my favourite movies(which are all in English) would be too obvious so here are some good ones that are neither in Swedish nor English:
Persepolis - one of last year's best movies.
(
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0311519/) The man without a past -
it's about a guy who gets beaten up and mugged, loosing his memory in the process. After that he basically lives as a hobo and tries to get his life back together. A very sad and funny film.A Better Tomorrow -
John Woo and Chow Yun-Fat's first film together. Much better story and performances, although not as good action-scenes, as their later movies.Ghost in the Shell
Amores Perros
Shiri
Central do Brazil
Queue on 22/12/2008 at 12:21
These are the ones I can think of off the top of my head:
- Joyeux Noel
- Delicatessen
- Sophie Scholl
- Kurosawa's: Dreams
- Life is Beautiful
- Black Book
- Downfall
- M
- Acquire: the Wrath of God
- Seventh Seal
- Come and See
- Russian Ark
- Kung Fu Hustle
- Nosferatu (Herzog version)
- as well as, Nosferatu (original 1921 version)
...and of course, all of Fritz Lang's silent films (though I wonder if they can be be counted as there was no dialoge in the first place)
Fragony on 22/12/2008 at 12:25
Some I can really recommend
In the mood for love (chinese)
Requiem (german)
Kaos (italy)
Festen (denmark) <- if you never heard of it make sure you do
Lola Rent (german)
Songs from the second floor <-whoever said finish aren't funny must have been joking
Simon (dutch)
quinch on 22/12/2008 at 12:39
Cheating a bit in not naming his actual films but most stuff by Eric Rohmer is great.
Also Les Enfants du Paradis - epic love triangles, and filmed under the snout of the occupying nazis.
Das Boot for a bit of underwater tension.
Thirith on 22/12/2008 at 12:55
Queue: Russian Ark is one of the few films that I found so boring it made me downright angry. Perhaps that's because I don't know enough about Russian history, but I didn't manage to see beyond the gimmick of the single take.
Since quite a few people mentioned French films: there's a whole bunch of films by Patrice Leconte that I like a lot - Monsieur Hire, La Fille Sur Le Pont, L'Homme Du Train (possibly my favourite one), La Veuve de St. Pierre. I also enjoyed Michael Haneke's Caché.
Toxicfluff on 22/12/2008 at 13:15
Dunno about the best, 'cause I'm pitifully useless at off-the-cuff sort 'n' supply. I tend to forget everything I read and see. SO I'll just give you what little I can remember, remember as being good and that hasn't been mentioned.
The Piano Teacher - Michael Haneke
Pan's Labyrinth - Guillermo Del Toro (you've probably seen it)
Read My Lips - Jacques Audiard
Y Tu Mama Tambien
L'Appartement
Ten - Abbas Kiarostami
