Last night, daughter and I watched Amélie (a favorite of mine) together and she loved it. I haven’t seen La Vie en rose yet; I’d asked Mr. Brown to rent it just before its Oscar nomination, but it was unavailable. I love Piaf, though, so I’m looking forward to it; especially now that it’s received critical acclaim.
I’ve also enjoyed The Motorcycle Diaries and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. I missed Life is Beautiful, but I’m sure I’ll eventually see it. Pan’s Labyrinth is also on my list of Foreign Films I’d Like to See.
Subtitles don’t bother me, but Mr. Brown doesn’t care much for them. Daughter is old enough now to be able to follow the subtitles and movie at the same time, so I think I’ll introduce her to more, but I suspect she’ll be watching Amélie repeatedly for awhile.
Which foreign films (or subtitled) do you like? What should I add to the list? Any films that really stood out as having stunk that you would recommend avoiding?
Well, in no particular order and not at all exhaustive, you might want to look at Y Tu Mama Tambien (Mexican) and The Educators (German) - both are very different, but both are about friendship, class and a fair bit of sex.
The Lives of Others is a German film set in East Germany in the mid/late eighties, and should be esy to get your hand on - it was nominated for (and maybe won?) the Oscar for Best Foreign Film last year.
I haven’t seen a lot of French cinema, but Le Dîner de Cons made me laugh 'til I hurt when I first saw it. And, although not strictly ‘French’, Paris, je t’aime is wonderful - a dozen short films set in Paris, each different, most excellent.
Be sure to see A Very Long Engagement. (same star and director as Amelie)
Das Boot is one of the best war movies you’ll ever see. Watch it in it’s original German.
My Life as a Dog is a sweet but unsentimental look at childhood.
Strickly Ballroom is a Aussie film and it’s basically a good version of Dirty Dancing.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown is pretty fun and it has a very young Antonio Banderras.
I think you pretty much deduced the type of foreign film I enjoy: sentimental, feel-good, with rich visuals. Cinema Paradiso and Valentin are on the list.
I’ll probably see the others anyway, but the plots don’t really grab me.
Since you liked Crouching Tiger, I will suggest House of Flying Daggers. The story is not quite as compelling but it is a beautiful film with enough plot and action to keep you interested. **Hero ** is also a good watch.
If you really end up getting into wuxia or Asian film in general, give me a PM or something. I’ve devoted much of my free time the last 6 years to Asian film.
It’s been years since I saw Das Boot (subtitled), and I probably could not have appreciated it then as I would now. Good choice to revisit! I also enjoy war movies – just about any war movie, matter of fact. Gallipoli (though technically not a foreign film, I think) was especially memorable.
Thanks for all the suggestions! Might be time for a Netflix subscription (when I can afford it).
After Life and Nobody Knows are both wonderful Japanese films. Shying away from the horror films we’re remaking in such abundance for now, even though some are great. I’d porbably recommend the latter just a little bit more.
Second for My Life as a Dog The Devils BackboneThe Devil's Backbone (2001) - IMDb City of God - Life in the flavellas in Brazil , not at all cheerful, but very good
“Gazon Maudit” or “French Twist” is a fun, light hearted comedy with sex. (Man cheats on wife repeatedly, wife then falls in love with butch lesbian who moves in, hilarity ensues.)
Also, “Tanguy” which is about the perils of parent/child relationships. Also very funny.
Jibeuro (English: “The Way Home”) is about a city boy from Korea who gets stuck living with his mute grandmother in the country.
Then you have to get your hands on a copy of Idi i smotri (English: “Come and See”). As one IMDB reviewer put it, the title is practically a dare. This is a brutal and extremely powerful film.
I’m not so great at remembering the titles of the movies I watch, but I do see a hell of a lot of foreign films, so I’ll post more if/when they come to me.
I am probably in the minority here, but I prefer Stalingrad for a German language WWII movie. For a non-war German movie, there is of course Run Lola Run, as others have said.
I also would say from Eisenstein’s movies, Revolution, Battleship Potemkin and in particular Alexander Nevsky should not be missed.
Seven Samurai and Kagemusha are fantastic too.
I love the original (1950) version of La Ronde, but that might not be appropriate for your daughter, depending on your views.
If you can get the full series, rather than the film, I’d go for that. They cut it to ribbons to compress it into the time frame for cinema viewers and IMO spoiled it.
Just like “Shogun”
Right now the movie The Year My Parents Went on Vacation is in theaters and it was fantastic. I hightly recommend it. I also recommend you rent The Red Violin if you haven’t seen it already.