Barrio (1998), written and directed by Fernando León de Aranoa. Three teenage friends deal with the prospects of spending the rest of their lives in a gloomy, working-class neighborhood of Madrid. At 15 years of age, they see their dreams fading and a precarious future unfolding, and they know they’re not smart or successful enough to do much about it. The film combines a coming-of-age story and a cautionary tale with healthy doses of sarcasm and irony, touching on both the poignant and the hilarious. The acting and dialogue are so natural that it sometimes looks like a documentary.
An Cailín Ciúin (The Quiet Girl) is unique just because it’s an Irish language film. I haven’t seen it yet, but it is nominated for an Oscar for Best International Film.
A nomination that was deserved. Pity it hasn’t got a chance of winning.
My take from last year:
For some reason, my mind connects The Quiet Girl to one I championed as one of the best of 2017, even though, on the surface, they are very different films (warning: Tigers Are Not Afraid has a lot of violence, The Quiet Girl doesn’t).
Yes, see post 35.
“A Hero” – very good movie about morality, conscience, and how a little white lie can become a spark or a cog in corruption after so many become involved.
My two favorites are Fellini’s 8 1/2 and Jean Cocteau’s La Belle et la Bete (Beauty and The Beast). No other movie has a script, or acting, like 8 1/2, and Cocteau’s film is a surreal, fairy tale masterpiece from beginning to end. Two totally different films that can be enjoyed and understood even w/o the sub titles for English speakers.
Honorable mention for Incubus, the only film that was ever made entirely in Esperanto. Shatner is very good. If anything he underacts, which may be the only time in his career. When you briefly see the demon in the end, wow. I loved the musical sound of the language.
Captain Kirk, beautiful witches and a horrifying demon in the end. What’s not to like?
I’m surprised no one, including me, has mentioned Quest For Fire.
Le Dernier Combat isn’t really in any language, because there’s no spoken dialogue in it (well, there are two words, but that hardly counts). It’s the first feature film by Luc Besson. Like many of huis later films, it’s science fiction, but in this case in black and white and on a tight budget. It’s a weird post-apocalyptic film. It’s almost impossible to describe without sounding boring, but the film is visually fascinating, from the put-together aircraft to the Survivors who wear suits to The Dwarf.
Worth a look.
A Dance in the Rain (1961)
War of the Buttons (1994) is about young kids in Ireland living in a microcosm of The Troubles. It’s alright, but it’s an adaptation to a French book about youth during the Occupation.
The French film La nouvelle guerre des boutons(2011) or ‘The New War of the Buttons’ is the honest adaptation. It is also quite good. It’s powerful and yet remains child appropriate without being trite which is rare.
BTW, I apologize for the inadvertent thread bump; there must have been a spammer that got cornfielded as the thread was at the top of the CS page when I posted. Carry on.
Has anyone found a good way to stream these foreign films? I keep looking up the films you guys are recommending but IF I can even find it watching it will require a new subscription. I already have Hulu, Paramount+, Netflix, Prime, Peacock and YouTube Red. I will not have another, but an willing to pay whatever to rent or buy.
But even something as well known as Tampopo or Barrio is not going to happen for me until I can find a source.
I type them out on Google and select ‘Duration’ and select a filter to include only ones that are over 20 minutes. If you get spam, I would add a -youtube in the search to avoid those results.
The Commissar (1967)
saw it on YouTube. Lots of propaganda, but it is what it is.