Favourite foreign films

[SquealADeal]

Dunno how many other foreign language films fanatics there are here… But if you are one, post your top picks and favourites…

The Cuckoo (Saami / Finnish / Russian) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0308476/)

The Devil's Backbone (Spanish) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0256009/)

Nine Queens (Spanish) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247586/)

The King of Masks (Mandarin) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115669/)

Québec-Montréal (French) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0316463/)

Nowhere in Africa (German) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0161860/)

City Of God (Portuguese) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0317248/)

Run Lola Run (German) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130827/)

[jakeoh]

Toto le héros (French) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103105/) is one of the best films ever.

[bionicbadger]

Das Boot (German) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081834/)

Seven Samurai (Japan) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047478/)

[Kurtz7834]

Abbas Kiarostami (sp?) - A Taste of Cherry - Great Persian film
The Wages of Fear - 1950s French thriller with a cool ending
Ingmar Bergman - Scenes from a Marriage, Persona, etc. - The famous swedish director
Felini - La Strada - Heartbreaking movie with Anthony Quinn

etc. So many great foreign films, too many to list. A shame a lot are hard to find in video stores, the library is your best bet. Criterion releases a lot of these, albeit at a costly price.

[dell]

City of God (Brazil)
Carandiru (Brazil, prison version of City of God)
Amelie (France)
Dirty Pretty Things (France)
Barbarian Invasions (Quebec)
Triplets of Belleville (Quebec)
Cinema Paradiso (Italy)
Das Boot (German)
Monsoon Wedding (India)
Hero (China)
House of Flying Daggers (China)
Ichi the Killer (Japan)
Audition (Japan)
Battle Royale (Japan)
Any Miyazaki anime
Any yakuza mafia films by Takeshi Kitano (ie: Brother, Sonatine, Fireworks, Violent Cop, etc)
Romper Stomper (Australian version of American History X with Russel Crowe as the Nazi leader)

So many more to list........

[ferkel]

Definitely Run Lola Run... I'm still awaiting for an Americanized version to appear like they did to 'Shall we Dance' :razz:

[SquealADeal]

Can't believe I forgot Triplets of Belleville... That’s one of my top films also... Seen it 3 times...

Miyazaki's stuff always blows me away... I understand he is working on a new one and can't wait to see it... I've seen Princess Mononoke about 3 times and Spirited away about 4.

Dirty Pretty Things was great same with Monsoon Wedding but I wasn't the biggest fan of Amelie.

I have Audition, Seven Samurai and Barbarian Invasions but have not seen them yet... Audition looks pretty freaky... Watched one of the burning scenes...

Das Boot has been on my ziplist for a while.

Do you guys typically see foreign films in the theater? There are not too many around that show them... I usually end up going to the Cumberland Theater or the one on Yonge/Carlton... For the more rare movies I buy them off e-bay.

[Degenerate]

Ong Back : Muay Thai Warrior

[sankou]

todo sobre mi madre - pedro almodovar
y tu mama tambien - alfonso cuaron
amores perros - alejandro gonzolez inarritu
in the mood for love - wong kar-wai
chungking express - wong kar-wai
fallen angels - wong kar-wai
happy together - wong kar-wai
yi yi - edward yang
raise the red lantern - zhang yimou
hero - zhang yimou
crouching tiger, hidden dragon - ang lee
battle royale - Kinji Fukasaku
kwaidan - masaki kobayashi
breaking the waves - lars von trier
dancer in the dark - lars von trier
my neighbor totoro - hayao miyazaki
princess monoke - hayao miyazaki
spirited away - hayao miyazaki
grave of the fireflies - isao takahata
le fabuleux destin d'amelie poulain - jean-pierre jeunet

....etc

[alkapone]

The Flight of the Innocent
In the Realm of the Senses.......its very graphic....not for kids .....or to be watched with your parents. :confused:
Is not a fave but unique.

[superdave]

Eat Drink Man Woman (Mandarin) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111797/)
Empire Strikes Back (American) :D

[Un4GivN]

Dersu Uzala (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071411/)

[vidgal]

Red Violin
Amelie

[Montague]

emmanuelle. :cheesygri

[MadCow]

My friend showed me this one, and I was blown away:

Infernal Affairs (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338564/)

[wanted]

American Desi (indian)
Bollywood Hollywood (indo-can)
Monsoon Wedding (indian)

[SquealADeal]

I almost forgot

Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0285441/)

Great story of an Inuit legend... This is actually in the Inuktitut language, the director is Inuit and it was filmed in Igloolik, Nunavut, Canada....

This is a very interesting movie and because of all the circumstances I mentioned above it is probably a very accurate telling of this legend...

Even the directors life seems interesting ... "Grew up in a sodhouse, one of six children of parents who hunted with dog sled and took care of the house in a 400-year-old survival culture devoid of money."

There has only ever been 13 movies made in the Inuktitut language and many only have a few words of it...

[666]

when most of the people says princess monoke - hayao miyazaki, i recommend those miyazaki's fans watch "laputa", i believe the english name is "castle in the sky". it is one of my favourites over all the others miyazaki's. of course, i also like the rest of miyazaki's productions.

[macro6]

CITY OF GOD

One of the best gangsta movies IMO.

[Leshita]

Did I hear someone say "Laputa"? :cheesygri :cheesygri :cheesygri :cheesygri

Anyway I enjoyed My Sassy Girl and the Infernal Affair movies a lot. Currently I am trying to watch Corean movies whenever I can if I am not lazy/have enough time, much better than most current Hong Kong flicks. :mad:

[tinlunlau]

i heard Laputa means something else in spanish. lol!

i've seen American Desi before. it was funny. wasn't Kal Penn from "Harold & Kumar" in this movie? isn't he the indian who talks like a gangster rapper?

i adore the infernal affairs trilogy. i own all 3 films. even though part 3 is inferior to the other 2 films. my copy of the first film was autographed by Kelly Chen. :D

[Leshita]

Yeah, something informal, hence they changed got rid of the name for its North American release (though it is still mentioned in the film).

Oh well, Laputa Laputa Laputa. :razz:

I own all 3 Infernal Affairs as well, though not autographed like yours of course. ;)

[freebiejunkie]

One of my fave films is "My Sassy Girl" (Korean: comedy)
Another one is Zatoichi (Japan: blind man, samurai action)
Again, "Nang Nak" (Thailand: suspense/horror)
...there's more but a small list for now...

:D

[afong56]

lots of good films already listed here. . .

kurtz--have you seen any other henri georges cluzot films, like the original 'diabolique'? also good.

some other titles off the top of my head:

almodovar's "talk to her"
juzo itami's "tampopo" (actually, all of his films)
gabriel axel's "babette's feast"
mike van diem's "karakter"
yves robert's series, "my father's glory", "my mother's castle"
ang lee's 'eat drink man woman' and 'the wedding banquet'
kieslowski's trois couleurs trilogy
patrice leconte's 'monsieur hire'
claude zidi's "my new partner" (les ripoux)
lee tamahori's "once were warriors"

. . .so many, many, many more. . .

[MaxPower2000]

El Mariachi (Mexico)
Tora! Tora! Tora! (Japan/USA)
Y Tu Mama Tembien (Mexico)
Amores Peros (Mexico)
The Red Violin (Canada/Italy/UK)
La Vita è bella (Life is Beautiful) (Italy)
Run Lola Run (Germany)
Les Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (France)

And one high on my list but I haven't seen yet:
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (Japan/UK/NZ)

Good thread BTW.

[Hanniganite]

A lot of people have probably seen Infernal Affairs but those that haven't, Miramax is releasing it in October. Here's the trailer: http://www.hollywood.com/movies/mm/nav/1/id/2415205/s/700/f/11

Not a big fan of the trailer but ah well :cool:

[konfusion666]

my favorites, NOT in order of anything:

run lola run
das boot
the killer (john woo, yes I know...)
the battle of algiers
the end of st. petersburg
rashomon
battle royale
the american friend

whole bunch of others i've forgotten by now...

[SquealADeal]

I should revive this to add Kung Fu Hustle (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373074/) .

I know people seem to either love it or hate it, I don't think there are many people on the fence... But I can't get enough of this film.. I think its so unique, creative and entertaining... If you haven't seen it, give it a chance. I take out the DVD every 3-4 months or so and watch it again. I hear Stephen Chow is working on part 2.

Has anyone else seen any good foreign films recently? The Downfall (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363163/) was pretty good... Very slow, but worth a watch, makes you feel like you really knew what Hitler would have been like in his final days... I enjoyed it more the second time.

[mingming]

Infernal Affairs 1 (HK)
Shaolin Soccer (HK)
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (TW)
Laputa: Castle in the Sky (Japan)
God of Gamblers (HK)

Yes, I really like HK movies...

Have to admit Laputa is perhaps my favourite file of all time. Probably because it was the first movie I've watched!! I cant even count how many times I've seen it since I was 3 years old when it first came out. The animation, the story, the MUSIC (OH ESPECIALLY THE MUSIC) still gives me shivers everytime I watch it.

Anyone remmeber all those Andy Lau + Alan Tam action movies?? THose ridiculous and impossible gun battles.. those were great!!!

[SquealADeal]

Yea, Castle in the Sky was great... All of Miyazaki's work is amazing... The guy almost does every aspect of his films, music writing, animation direction, etc. I can't get enough of Spirited Away... Princess Mononoke is quite good also. Have you seen these?

[alkapone]

Belle de Jour....Catherine deNeuve......R

[toujours]

Le Pere Noel est un ordure (FR)

[enlighten_me]

Good stuff on the list.

Hotel Rwanda, Amelie, Life is Beautiful, The Pianist, City of God, Bend it Like Beckham, Run Lola Run, any Hayao Miyazaki anime ... the HK films listed by lots of people already.

I was also really drawn in by the documentary Children Underground

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264476/

It's lesser known, and follows the lives of some street children in Romania.

[Camilo]

City of God, hands down.

can't believe it didn't win the Oscar for best foreign movie

[yayawhoo2003]

city of god, cause the girl who played the the love interest of the ganster guy and the phot guy was hot!! I love spanish chicks!!!

[Tshute]

Beijing Bicycle (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0276501/): Great movie! And surprisingly ends in a bloody battle.. hope that wasn't too much of a spoiler :P

[cil254]

Le Pere Noel est un ordure (FR)

Un classique de la troupe du Splendide !

[Anessa]

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