Posted on 12/19/2009 2:01:18 PM PST by randita
I really enjoyed the responses from last week's "What Are Your Favorite Movies Made Before 1950?" thread (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2406295/posts).
So here's another movie topic - favorite foreign language films of any era. (Hey, we need a pleasant distraction from the debacle going on in DC!)
If you know the date or even decade of the film and the language, please include it.
Thank you and enjoy!
Soldier of Orange.
(Rutger Hauer before Hollywood.)
Try to find ‘An American Friend’. It’s a German (from the seventies) retelling of the Ripley story with Bruno Ganz and Dennis Hopper as Ripley.
Rosario Tijeras
Bride and Prejudice
No nudity? Ok. Forget ‘An American Friend’...Hopper goes full frontal...even on the big screen it looked like the set was freezing...
Oldboy was awesome. I will probably never watch it again but it was an experience. I think the only fight scene that was better was the alley way scene in they live.
Finnish film
Winter War
Sort of a “All Quiet on the Western Front” film about the 1939 war with Russia. Young men going off to war.
German film
Stalingrad
Again young men off to war, & the loss of one’s illusions.
Also there was a 1954 German film of the same title, which had a more complex plot. It was interesting because it so soon after the war.
Tampopo-Japanese 1980s In the quest for the perfect noodle
Thanks for reminding me of that great film The Return of Martin Guerre.
For the Godzilla lovers:
Somebody supposedly made this little flick on Robots attacking Montevideo called Panic Attack, on $300.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dadPWhEhVk
Anything and everything directed by Ingmar Bergman.
Ran -— director Akira Kurasawa -—most stunning movie I’ve ever seen.
Not only one of my favorite foreign language films, one of my favorite films, period!
The priest is passing his copy around the parish and it’s the #1 dvd request among parishioners for a Christmas prsent.
Can`t believe no one has mentioned:
1. THE RUSSIAN ARK ( Russkiy kovcheg ) 2002
2000 cast members, 3 orchestras, 33 rooms, 300 years, ALL IN ONE TAKE !
or
2. Kontroll ( 2003 Hungary )
The massive labyrinthine netherworld that is the Budapest subway system provides the stunning setting for ‘Kontroll,’ where ghost trains and ghostly characters, are what run through the perpetual night of this fictitious underground (metro) system.
Der Bleue Engel, German,1930 starring Marlene Dietrich and Emil Jannings is also fabulous! Josef von Sternberg was the director is magnificent. Its a real period piece, German surrealism at its height.
xie-xie
hauntingly beautiful coming of age movie during the culttural revolution
not for the faint of heart.
Kagemusha, the Shadow Warior.
Better, I think, than Ran.
There was a Jap. film about the Ronin, in several parts, the name of which I can’t recall.
Others:
Babbette’s Feast
La Belle et La Bette (Cocteau)
&
Umrao Jaan (actress Rekha, dir, Muzaffar Ali, 1981
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=265MmBcFPQM&feature=related
French Comedy with Louis de Funes, Bourvil and Fernandel. French drama/action with Alain Delon, Belmondo and Maurice Chevalier. German drama/action with Curd Juergens, Klaus Kinsky and Klaus Maria Brandauer.
The following are not merely my favorite foreign language films, but some of my favorite films period.:
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeosie (French) - 1972 The Conformist (Italian) - 1970 The Battle of Algiers (French) - 1966 Il Vitelloni (Italian) - 1953 Inspired "Diner." Will be watching this Fellini classic tonight for the first time in a decade. La Dolce Vita (Italian) - 1960. Timeless indictment of the shallowness of the "urban chic." Could take place in NYC today. The Seven Samurai (Japanese) - 1954 Much as I love "Rashamon," "Ikiru" and "Ran," this was the Kurosawa tour de force.
The following are not merely my favorite foreign language films, but some of my favorite films period.:
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeosie (French) - 1972 The Conformist (Italian) - 1970 The Battle of Algiers (French) - 1966 Il Vitelloni (Italian) - 1953 Inspired "Diner." Will be watching this Fellini classic tonight for the first time in a decade. La Dolce Vita (Italian) - 1960. Timeless indictment of the shallowness of the "urban chic." Could take place in NYC today. The Seven Samurai (Japanese) - 1954 Much as I love "Rashamon," "Ikiru" and "Ran," this was the Kurosawa tour de force.
I saw Soldier of Orange when I was about 15. Great film, although I did crack up during the tango scene.
A Man and a Woman (French: Un homme et une femme)a 1966 French film.
Went out and bought the score and still play it for Kay over wine and cheese. (great mustang race!)
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