Scots Taffer on 22/12/2008 at 23:14
Just to second a few that have been mentioned:
Amorres Perros
Abres Los Ojos
Oldboy
Downfall
Also, Infernal Affairs and Ringu are classics. I need to see the rest of Chan Wook's vengeance series.
I'm intrigued by M. I love Peter Lorre.
I think Brotherhood of the Wolf was a complete mess though it did have the best scene transition in the history of cinema, and Goodbye Lenin! was good but forgettable.
demagogue on 22/12/2008 at 23:27
Another non-pretentious reason to watch these: language study. Nothing has improved my Japanese better than anime and the Criterion Collection (well, maybe my sleeping dictionary).
I used to go to a foreign movie night at a friend's (his upstairs was like a mini theatre) ... every week was a new country or theme, and we'd watch 3-4 movies in one night. We must been through 100s by now. There was so many that the names of a lot of them didn't stick (but the stories did).
Off-hand,
Japanese - anything Kurosawa, anything Miyazaki, the Zatoichi movies, The Ring and some other J-horror movies, Wild Zero (stupid zombie flick)
Lots of Korean gangster and Hong Kong kung fu flicks... Chinese - Curse of Golden Flower...
French - Le Samouraï, Kieslowski's Three Colors Trilogy (Red, White, Blue), Le Trou, Amelie, Renaissance, a lot of others whose names are slipping...
German - Goodbye Lenin, Lives of Other People, Lola Rent, Stalingrad, a lot of others whose names are slipping
Italy - Cinema Paradiso, the Spaghetti Westerns, 8½...
Israeli - Turn Left At The End Of The World, Disenhof 99, Syrian Bride, Sallah Shabbati
Scots Taffer on 22/12/2008 at 23:30
Do I need a reason to watch foreign movies? I watch them to be entertained... the same as with Hollywood movies.
vurt on 23/12/2008 at 00:26
Couldn't you have said "other than american movies", i won't bother to list all american movies that i like.. ;)
Some movies i can think of now..
Tropa De Elite
Cidade de Deus / City of God (i hang out with some brasilian people + my ex was from brazil which makes those films even more interesting i guess, gonna visit brasil in april, hopefully)
Solaris
Stalker (not as good as Solaris, but still pretty good, awesome photo)
Der Untergang
Das Boot
I like some anime, especially Hayao Miyazaki's movies (spirited away, Neighbor Totoro)
LesserFollies on 23/12/2008 at 00:34
Anything by Herzog or Bergman. I also like some of Gerard Depardieu's early french films: Danton, The Return of Martin Guerre, Jean de Florette. I love Wenders's Wings of Desire and Jarmusch's Night on Earth (soundtrack by Tom Waits!). Do old japanese monster movies count?
Angel Dust on 23/12/2008 at 04:38
Quote Posted by Thirith
Let me guess, Angel Dust, you're also a big fan of the Criterion Collection... :D
Not exactly. I'm aware of the collections but I'm just lucky to have a really good DVD store in my town. They order the films by director, which is what I always search for anyway, and have everything from obscure stuff to mainstream stuff. As long as it's good they've got it! Also the owner is a very cool, unpretentious and knowledgable fellow, who is always available to make suggestions.
Kyloe on 23/12/2008 at 08:30
Since this has developd into a list of must-see non-english films, I'll just add two I haven't seen mentioned:
Man eat Dog (Belgian or French, I don't remember): A camera team follows around a serial killer, who talks about his job as if he was a plumber.
Hana-Bi by Japanese actor/director Takeshi
Harvester on 23/12/2008 at 13:32
Quote Posted by Kyloe
Man eat Dog (Belgian or French, I don't remember): A camera team follows around a serial killer, who talks about his job as if he was a plumber.
It's called Man Bites Dog. Haven't seen it but it's supposed to be pretty shocking and funny at the same time.
Soldier of Orange and Black Book are pretty decent Dutch war movies, directed by Paul Verhoeven. Many people also like his sexually provocative movie Turkish Delight, but I personally don't.
I liked the Spanish horror movies [REC] and El Orfanato (the Orphanage). And of course Pan's Labyrinth.
Fucking Amal (AKA Show Me Love) is a funny, quirky lightweight Swedish movie. It won't rock your world but it's very charming.
John Woo's The Killer. Very melodramatic but great action scenes. A Better Tomorrow is good as well.
Run Lola Run is awesome. Downfall and The Lives of Others are great German movies as well. And Das Boot of course.
Kung Fu Hustle. My favorite martial arts movie ever.
Scots Taffer on 23/12/2008 at 13:53
I saw most of a movie recently called Clash of Egos that was Danish or something, it was hilariously funny but I can't find it anywhere here in Aus. It was shown on our Eurochannel here and I've been looking for it ever since.
I also need to get around to seeing The Orphanage.
