Hi, first time poster. Just to put my 2 cents in:
- Prisoner of the Mountains ( Russian )
- Burnt by the Sun ( Russian )
- Le Hans – Hate ( French ) – Come on, guys. How could you talk about French cinema and leave out “Le Hans”
The Vanishing (original French/Dutch version, not the 1993 American remake). Unbelievably intense, didn’t get to sleep for hours that night.
Monsieur Hire. I cried my eyes out, and I don’t cry that easily at movies (at Titanic I just laughed).
Oh, and welcome to the SDMB, quarx!
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3. Le Hans – Hate ( French ) – Come on, guys. How could you talk about French cinema and leave out "Le Hans"
quarx Did you mean “La Haine” directed by Mathieu Kassovitz? It’s a cool movie!
Someone beat me to Antonia’s Line. It was made in 1995, written and directed by Marleen Gorris. Great film!
Satyajit Ray’s Devi (Bengali, 1960)
Andrei Tarkovski’s Solaris (Russian, 1972)
Devaraj Mohan’s Rosappu Ravikkaikari (Tamil, 1979)
Ketan Mehta’s Mirc Masala (“Spices”) (Hindi, 1985)
Anh Hung Tran’s Mui du du xanh (“The Scent of Green Papaya”) (Vietnamese, 1993) One of the finest films ever made!!!
Alejandro Amenábar’s Abre los ojos (Spanish, 1997)
C.T. Dreyer:
Passion of Joan of Arc. Amazing, and despite what prior posters have said, its in my local Hollywood video store. However, Dreyer’s best is Ordet. The ending is truly stunning. Vampyr also pretty good.
Luis Bunuel:
Always liked That Obscure Object of Desire. Exterminating Angel and Discreet Charm of the Burgoise in the same vein, but surrealism is a bit more obtusely amusing.
Jean Renoir:
Rules of the Game beats out Grand Illusion by a nose.
Beat Takeshi:
Hanabi. His other stuff is in a similar vein, but more jarringly and inexplicably violent.
F.W. Murnau:
Nosferatu. Neither the Herzog version or “Shadow of the Vampire” really do it justice. Max Schreck (“Max Shriek,” auf Deutsch) really does inhabit the role, and the makeup (I hope it was makeup) really is amazing.
I see your point on In the Realm of the Senses, which some may consider to border on soft-core porn, though I would disagree. It is very erotic, but no more so than say Last Tango in Paris, and the the artistry with which it is made lifts it above most movies of its kind.
But Funny Games? I see no problem with it. True, it is a very disturbing movie, but there is actually very little on-screen violence. Hard Boiled, also on my list, has literally 1000 times as much violence, all of it on screen. This is actually the kind of movie I would want my local public library to stock.
Original quote from QuanSu
quarx Did you mean “La Haine” directed by Mathieu Kassovitz? It’s a cool movie
(Haven’t got all the controls down yet)
Oops … Er, I mean, no, I meant “Le Hans”, the story of the little German boy stranded in Paris.
Yes, I meant “La Haine.” Sorry, it’s been years since I’ve rented it, and my French is awful. Thanks, Quan, good catch.
My foreign-language film experience is limited, and all the ones I might have mentioned already have been named. But there’s no reason not to voice some agreement.
- Das Boot
- La Vita e Bella
- The Return of Martin Guerre
- To Live
- le Violon Rouge
Well, there’s a difference between “hardened” movie fans and the general public. You or I could discuss the movies in question dispassionately, but if somebody doesn’t know what they’re getting into, they could react very badly (“you mean the taxpayers paid for this?”) That’s not a risk I’d take if I was in the OP’s place.
I’m just trying to point out that both those movies are right on the edge of the art/exploitation divide. As I said in my previous post, there are tons of gruesome foreign-made exploitation films like Cannibal Ferox or The Untold Story which (I’m sure you’d agree) would be really bizarre for a public library to carry. There’s not that much difference between those and the two we’re talking about. Sure, we could argue that they’re not that bad and they have artistic merit, but they still could be seriously offensive to the general public.
PS - Another suggestion for the OP: Chabrol’s Les Biches
By all means get I Am Cuba. I can’t remember the director. but it is a Soviet-Cuban coproduction from the sixties. It is one of the most amazeing pieces of cinematography that I have ever seen. I doubt video could do it justice, but please, do try to get it.
I’ve just returned from my local public library. No movie that I listed would be inappropriate in comparison to those already in stock there.
Cannibal Ferox and The Untold Story are red herrings. Those would compare fairly to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Dawn of the Dead. It’s hardly fair to compare a movie (Funny Games) that has only one graphic display of violence to cannibalistic splatterfests in which the graphic violence is the point. Funny Games is more disturbing than either of the movies you list (to me, anyway) because of the skill with which it is made. Viewers are shocked and saddened by what goes on because we have come to identify with the victims, and because the killers are believable. Identifying with the on-screen characters is a characteristic of quality filmmaking. A much better comparison would be to Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, which is available at my local library.
The library also had Last Tango in Paris, and Emmanuelle which are comperable to In the Realm of the Senses in sexual content.
I have to second Babette’s Feast from Just Betzer / Isak Dinesen / Gabriel Axel. Excellent movie.
ps. I actually LIKED Giorgio Moroder’s modern (1980’s) soundtrack for Metropolis. A great movie with a stunning soundtrack (especially the “Blood from a Stone” song during the shift change). Though I think the movie would still be great without it.
Well, whether the movies are good/bad/disturbing according to you or me is irrelevant; the question is what Joe Average would think of them. And they are pretty harsh stuff, without any familiar-looking stars or locations (unlike Henry)… and Realm of Senses goes WAY beyond Emmanuelle or Last Tango. Unless the OP’s in a college town or something, I might be wary of complaints.
From the cover of Funny Games:
“Blood Curdling”,
“horrific aftershocks”,
“A cinematic tour-de-force of terror.”
From the cover of In the Realm of the Senses:
“Spectacularly erotic”
“A Superior film about intense physical love.”
“Unique in the cinematic expression of physical love.”
Rated NC-17
Whether the stars and locations are familiar is irrelevant. I would fully expect any reasonable person to be horrified by what they see in Funny Games. It’s a horror movie, an extraordinarily effective one, at that. It does exaclty what it advertises it will do.
Although, as I said before, I think In the Realm of the Senses is borderline, it is straightforward about being about obsessive sex. People who don’t want to see erotic movies aren’t going to borrow it. People who do like erotic movies and borrow this one are likely to be impressed by it’s intensity and artistry. It delivers exactly what it promises.
There may be complaints. That is something to take into account. These movies are also very skillfully made, highly intense works of art. In both cases, I believe that the artistry far outweighs the potential offensivenes. Among the most frequently objected to books in public libraries are Huckleberry Finn, Catcher in the Rye and Go Ask Alice. They are each offensive to a lot of people, but no well-stocked library would be without them. Fear of complaints would be a poor reason for not having these books on the shelves. And, I would submit, no foreign film section would be well-stocked without “Funny Games” and “In the Realm of the Senses”.
LCStrawhouse: After rereading my last couple of posts, I realize I may have come off a little arrogant. I apologize for the tone of my posts. Certainly, In the Realm of the Senses may be too intense for “Joe Average”, and may elicit some complaints from such viewers. I also think that a public library needs to serve the needs and tastes of the connoisseur as well as the average consumer. But Skijumper did deserve a warning about the intensity of Realm.
I still see no problem at all with Funny Games. It’s a well made horror movie, and the only objections likely to be made are from those who would object to horror movies in general.
[hijack]
I had been nervously awaiting results of my fiancee’s physical, which will in part determine when she can come to the US and we can be married. After talking to her a few minutes ago (she passed!), I looked back a bit more calmly, and realized I was being an ass.
[/hijack]
I think I should chime in and say something. First of all, thanks very much, Number Six and LCStrawhouse, for your views.
In the Realm of the Senses was one of the titles that was mentioned when we first decided to put together the new section. It was almost banned at a recent local film fest screening, but after some consideration and persuasion from the community, it was made the festival’s closing film. It was in our news for quite a bit, so you can imagine where I am, EVERYONE’S heard about this movie and knows what it’s about.
As to whether the library board will agree to stock it - as well as other titles I’ve submitted for approval - I won’t know till the end of the year.
Again, I do appreciate your input, guys.
That’s no problem, I didn’t sense any arrogance at all (and congrats on your fiancee’s result!) I guess I might also be too cynical about how people will react, especially when it’s the government purchasing the stuff. I think it would be great if libraries could stock edgier movies, but I’ve only ever seen the “good stuff” at video rental stores, myself.
As for Funny Games… well, it has a very lingering point of view that you only find in European shock-horror films, and I think it could be offensive to some audiences. But I’m just saying this as a warning; if he feels it’s OK to stock it, that’s great!
PS - Thanks Skijumper!
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I think I meant she - sorry, Skijumper…