Posted on 02/23/2020 1:41:33 AM PST by Rummyfan
Parasite recently became the first foreign film to win the Oscar for Best Picture.
The first foreign film ever nominated in that category, however, was Jean Renoir's Grand Illusion (1937).
I can't speak to whether or not Parasite deserved its prize, but Grand Illusion's reputation as one of the glories of cinema has only grown, even though it was essentially a "lost film" for generations.
Fascists across Europe set out to destroy every print; a stashed negative was discovered in Moscow and "returned to France in the 1960s, but sat unidentified in storage in Toulouse Cinémathèque for over 30 years." (A state of affairs that will surprise no one who has ever had the misfortune of "working" with individuals of Gallic ancestry...)
Certainly, the film it lost the Academy Award to — Capra's You Can't Take It With You — hasn't aged particularly well. (An all-too-common occurrence.)
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
As a kid growing up in the 1960s just learning to appreciate good movies, the first foreign language films I ever watched from start to finish were “M” with Peter Lorre and “Le Grande Illusion.” I had to wade through the subtitles, but they opened up new worlds of thought to me, like reading great classic literature. I began to enjoy many other artistic works in foreign languages, such as other movies, chorale music, and opera. What a joy!
I happened upon an Italian foreign film one night and watched it from beginning to end. I have to admit it was a very good film about people and their relationships to one another
As a film school drop out, this was a ‘ must see’. Today, I still remember it had a prescient line in it -“ THE HORRIBLE THING ABOUT LIFE IS EVERYONE HAS THEIR OWN REASONS”.
The movie from which Casablanca stole its Marseillaise scene.
My first foreign film was Charlie Chan.
Man Facing Southeast.
It turns out that, based on a book/research released in 2013, that Hollywood met with and appeased its then second-biggest market, Nazi Germany. Hollywood's cozy relationship with Nazi Germany was known prior to this book's release. This book, however, using new sources (and I'd say, apparently a better researcher in Ben Urwand), really pulls back the curtain. Indeed, many people attacked Mr Urwand and tried to discredit his book. The book said movie execs went so far as to meet with German officials in California and went so far as to drop Jewish actors.
I've never seen Grand Illusion; frankly I think of Styx when I hear the phrase. But I wonder if a better film could have been made were it not for Hollywood's appeasement circa 1937. And it also makes me wonder, if Hollywood's appeasement circa 2020 is having a similar distortive effect on America's views on China.
It’s worth noting the Chinese have been buying stakes in social media companies, likely in order to suppress criticism. The Saudis have been doing some of this as well.
Very interesting. A similar situation existed in the 1980s with Japan, though that was more on the industrial side than media. And then, it was Republicans who chatted up Japan Inc. as a free-market response to Big Labor and the cheap crap they were producing.
I believe it was MGM shorts producer Fred Quimby who told Tex Avery that he might want to tone down the portrayals of Hitler in MGM's early-war cartoons because we didn't know whether Hitler was going to win or lose. The first time I heard it, the story made me wonder how far up the ladder at MGM that feeling went.
“My first foreign film was Charlie Chan.”
Mine, too. It was where I learned everything I know about Chinese culture.
M is at the top of my list. It’s a perfect film from start to finish in terms of script, story, casting, editing, cinematography, and acting,
“Now, I realize this makes me a very strange person, but when I was growing up, while other kids were fantasizing about living in the Brady family house, I imagined it would be more congenial to reside in Stalag 13. (Maybe you had to live with my family to fully understand the appeal of this alternative...)”
LOL. Mark is good!!
Did you know the Chinese made Charlie Chan Movies and the character was very popular in Pre-War China. Several films were made but I have never seen them—even with sub-titles. They had an all Chinese Cast and Number one son was replaced by Number one daughter.
Did you know the Chinese made Charlie Chan Movies and the character was very popular in Pre-War China. Several films were made but I have never seen them—even with sub-titles. They had an all Chinese Cast and Number one son was replaced by Number one daughter.
Did you know the Chinese made Charlie Chan Movies and the character was very popular in Pre-War China. Several films were made but I have never seen them—even with sub-titles. They had an all Chinese Cast and Number one son was replaced by Number one daughter.
Now I want to see this movie.
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