Foreign films

Cafe Society
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[QUOTE=Brown Eyed Girl]

Oh, and thank you for the warning about Pan’s Labyrinth. I’ll be sure to watch it after daughter goes to bed. Not all the films on my list do I intend to watch with her, but hopefully I can find a few others to share with her something I enjoy doing.
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Are you comfortable in terms of your daughter encountering semi-graphic sex? Obviously Amelie had just a wee touch, but a few of those films might be a bit more overt. For example while I think Betty Blue is a great film ( though rather more disturbing ultimately than the same director’s Diva, which is a fun film ), I don’t think it is seriously spoiling anything to say that it does flat-out start with a fairly hot and heavy sex scene, albeit of the more or less softcore sort.

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[QUOTE=Tamerlane]
Are you comfortable in terms of your daughter encountering semi-graphic sex? Obviously Amelie had just a wee touch, but a few of those films might be a bit more overt. For example while I think Betty Blue is a great film ( though rather more disturbing ultimately than the same director’s Diva, which is a fun film ), I don’t think it is seriously spoiling anything to say that it does flat-out start with a fairly hot and heavy sex scene, albeit of the more or less softcore sort.
[/QUOTE]

Amelie was pretty tame, in my book. The “offending” scenes were quick as well. Based on the summaries I read, I’d probably rule out Betty Blue as a film to watch with my daughter, but I guess I’d have to see it first. I’m much more concerned about graphic violence, frankly, than sex, although there’s a bit of a line with both. For example, I don’t think 9½ Weeks would be appropriate fare for a nine-year-old, but it’s not just the sex, it’s the themes. It sounds like Betty Blue is more adult-themed on the whole. Graphic violence, OTOH, is just disturbing and there’s no point in subjecting her to that, so I just don’t. But we’ve learned our lesson with adult themes. She’s seen most of Saving Private Ryan (we own it) except the opening invasion scene and a few of the more graphic scenes within. It’s a very draining movie, even for an adult, and not one she’s interested in seeing again.

For the most part, unless I’m absolutely sure of what I’m getting into via the rating, I screen films without my daughter the first time around to get a good idea of whether she’d enjoy it and it’s appropriate. I’m a bit more flexible, sometimes, than the ratings and I think I’m a better judge of what my kid can handle than some organization that doesn’t know her. That said, it pays to know what you’re getting them into before you end up with a kid having nightmares or asking some frank questions you didn’t prepare for.

I suspect this tangent may raise some eyebrows, and I’m willing to discuss it further in another thread. But I didn’t want to give anyone the impression that I was going to screen all of the recommended movies with my daughter. Hopefully, there are a few in there, though, that I can come back to and enjoy with her. Particularly the French language films, as she’s attempting to learn French and can pick out a few words and phrases she recognizes. :slight_smile:

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[QUOTE=Brown Eyed Girl]

I’m not sure I’ve expressed myself well. Hopefully, you know what I’m getting at.

[/QUOTE]

Oh yes. I knew that from the OP. It’s just that in the interest of [del]being pedantic[/del] bringing some nuances to the thread, I thought I’d point out the obvious, but often overlooked.

As an aside, outside filmschools, I’m sure that today, the first day of spring, Bergman is shown in more theatres in the U.S. than in his - and my - native Sweden. The art house theatres in the U.S. are very good.

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Charlie Tan has indirectly reminded me of a wonderful ‘foreign’ film, Utvandrarna.
Haven’t seen it since it was on the cinema in Sweden, must have been around 1971/2 ish. Extremely moving and beautifully filmed.
Another one of around that vintage was Joe Hill. Loved that film.

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American Beauty is good.

What? It’s foreign to me, and how should I know where the OP is from! :smiley:

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I also recommend The Lives of Others (And yes, it won the Oscar for best foreign film in 2007.)

A few more recommendations:

Good Bye Lenin!
Mostly Martha (Remade in English as No Reservations last year.)
Double Happiness
The Paper Wedding

I can also recommend the following Almodovar films (I’ve seen more, but these are the ones that I know I liked; haven’t gotten to Volver yet.)
All About My Mother Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
High Heels

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Point Zero a Korean film that at first appears to be a Vietnam war film but is in fact a very,very chilling ghost story.
Watch it with the lights on and someone else in the room.

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[QUOTE=Lust4Life]
Point Zero a Korean film that at first appears to be a Vietnam war film but is in fact a very,very chilling ghost story.
Watch it with the lights on and someone else in the room.
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I *think * you are referring to the film better known as R-Point. (Is this the one?) I just wanted to clarify b/c if someone went looking for it under “Point Zero” I think they’d have a hard time finding it. I haven’t seen it but it’s in my rental queue.

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I’ll second (or third):
**
My Life as a Dog** - one of the best takes on childhood I’ve seen
City of God - kinetic, gritty, realistic, and moving; one of the best movies I’ve seen, period

And add:

Il Postino [The Postman] - great characters, setting, and relationships; it also has one of the best endings I’ve seen
Le Pacte Des Loups [The Brotherhood of the Wolf] - a French Hollywood-style action movie with mystery, sex, martial arts, and a Native American kicking ass in France. What more could you want? About as deep as a puddle, but highly entertaining film done with great style.

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I will third (or fourth):
[QUOTE=Windwalker]
**
My Life as a Dog**
City of God
[/QUOTE]

I will also add two of my favorite Australian films:

Breaker Morant - a great military/legal drama; and
Rabbit Proof Fence - a story of Aboriginal girls that try to get back to their families

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[QUOTE=randwill]
See “The Orphanage”. Great, spooky film. My favorite so far this year.

I started a thread about it earlier today, but I don’t think anybody around has seen it yet, so the thread sunk.
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Seconding “The Orphanage” (“El Orfanato.”) So far in 2008 this has been my favorite film. It’s creepy & tense but also intelligent and very well made. One of the few films where as soon as the lights came up I thought, “I must see this film a second time!”

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[QUOTE=Zebra]
Be sure to see A Very Long Engagement. (same star and director as Amelie)
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I love his stuff, but this film was aptly named lol.

But I do recommend his other stuff, especially Delicatessen and City of Lost Children.

It’s somewhat.. depressing… but still powerful: Fanny & Alexander.

The recent La Vie En Rose was excellent if you like biopics.

If you liked Point of No Return, you might like the film is was a remake of: La Femme Nikita.

The Pillow Book was fascinating (technically bilingual).

Apocalypto while not technically foreign, is spoken entirely in ancient Mayan so had that feel. I imagine the Passion of Christ has a similar effect. I think William Shatner also did some flick in Esperanto :wink:

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City of Lost Children is great, and as previously mentioned, you can’t go wrong with City of God.

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Ditto for Il Postino – you’ll want to own it.

I’ve been using Netflix exclusively for foreign films. A few I haven’t seen mentioned are Ponette, about a young girl coming to terms with the death of her mother, Ma Vie En Rose, about a young boy who should have been born a girl and how his family reacts to him, and Forbidden Games, another film about a young girl surviving wartime. The young actors in these films are marvelous, and you’ll need tissues for Forbidden Games.

Some others I’ve enjoyed a lot:

Divided We Fall – WWI Czhechoslovakia (sp?), a married couple and their friends survive the German occupation – there was a lot of humor in this movie, and you won’t be hit over the head with a moral.

La Ley De Herodes – set in Mexico in the 40’s, politicians promote an un-savvy man to be mayor of a small town. He starts out with the best intentions, but you know what they say about power. There’s some sex in this one.

Lucia Lucia – loved this story of a woman whose husband disappears and how her life changes.

The Other Side of the Street – a middle aged woman finds some meaning in her life. Probably more interesting for us older folks than it would be for younger people.

Some I don’t remember much about except that I liked them:

Children of Paradise – the first moon walk!, Kolya (have tissues handy), The Tree of Wooden Clogs, The Night of Shooting Stars, Not of this World, Antonia’s Line, Paper Clips, Tsotsi, La Strada and Nights of Cabiria, Water, and Zelary.

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[QUOTE=Myglaren]
<snip>.

Edited to add:
Betty Blue
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Depending on your daughter’s age and how much sex ed you want her to get at this time, be advised that *Betty Blue * starts with the hottest realistic hetero sex scene I had ever seen in a movie. It is also a serious downer at the end.

I recommend Cinema Paradiso.

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[QUOTE=Ignatz]
Depending on your daughter’s age and how much sex ed you want her to get at this time, be advised that *Betty Blue * starts with the hottest realistic hetero sex scene I had ever seen in a movie. It is also a serious downer at the end.
[/QUOTE]

Yup. Already ruled it out for her. Thanks. :slight_smile:

Il Postino! I’d forgotten about that one. Thanks again to everyone for such a comprehensive list. This is going to keep us busy for some time to come. I wish I had some money right now. I’m dying to get started.

As I predicted, she is watching Amelie…again. She’s a happy, little film buff.

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Some more to recommend -

Atanarjuat Neither foreign nor in a foreign language in my country, but a fantastic film. Since you say you vet your films in advance of screening them for your daughter, I’ll let you decide on the too scary/too much nudity question. Definitely worth seeing.

Shall we Dansu? There was an American remake that I never saw - the original Japanese film is delightful.

Le Grand blond avec une chaussure noire One of Pierre Richard’s funniest films. Again, there’s an American remake that’s nowhere near as funny. There’s also Shekvarebuli kulinaris ataserti retsepti , A Chef in Love, which is not his strongest film but one scene from the opera ‘Eugene Onegin’ is an absolute classic.

Moscow does not believe in Tears won the Oscar for best Foreign Language film in 1981 - despite that, it isn’t very well known. A pity.

Irony of Fate is the Russian equivalent of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, and is the ubiquitous movie shown in Russia on Christmas Eve.

Man Facing Southeast has a great ambiguity - is he insane or could he be telling the truth?

Tampopo More sex than I would be comfortable showing my own daughter, but a great film.

I don’t know the genre well, but have you considered Bollywood? Another great film, based on the Hindu epic, is the Peter Brook Mahabharata It is a difficult story because of its sheer size - this is a reduction to 6 hours, down from 9 hours on stage, and it still whips through the epic.

I’m losing track - has anybody mentioned The Gods must be Crazy yet? It’s a silly little farce, but I loved it.

I have two Bergman films to suggest, and then I’ll shut up… Fanny and Alexander is Bergman with all his strengths and all his flaws right there. Maybe too sexy, maybe too scary.

I never recommend any other opera on film - I just don’t think the intimacy of the camera nor the disconnect between the pre-recorded sound and the motion on the set serve the piece in any way. (When Domingo leaves a small room and enters a gigantic room during the aria in ‘La Traviata’, it drives me nuts that the reverb and acoustic characteristic of his voice doesn’t change at all, as but one example.)

That being said, the only one I do recommend is Bergman’s Magic Flute if only for the delicious portrayal of Papageno by Håken Hagegård. The overture seems hokey to most modern eyes, but if you can tough it past the first 10 minutes, it is well worth the watching.

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I recommend these two films with children playing major characters:

Au Revoir Les Enfants (French/German drama)
Ciao Professore! (Italian comedy)