I’ve got Old Boy in my queue. Also watched Memories of Murder as it was recommended. Absolutely rubbish tough.
Unfortunately it wasn’t even nominated. I certainly thought it would be. It’s a good movie, as well as a crowd-pleaser that should have been a hit. It’s a great example, one of many, of the massive disconnect between the US and the rest of the world. There was a time when this movie might have been a crossover hit, but nowadays, forget it. It was treated specifically as a “foreign-language” film, and foreign-language films are treated as “art house” films, and it withered away in the art house ghetto, where other great and crowd-pleasing movies go to die.
Though, as an art house film, it did pretty well for itself. In the US it made $10,198,820, which is considered big bucks.
In the rest of the world it made $416,389,690.
See if you can find Max Manus, I’d bet you’ll like it. It’s not a documentary, but it’s “The true story about one of the most brilliant saboteurs during World War II.” Here’s a slightly longer synopsis with no major spoilers, unless you like going into a movie with bare bones knowledge.
After fighting the communists in Finland, Max Manus returns to Norway, currently occupied by the Nazis. He joins with the Norwegian resistance movement in their fight against the Germans…
Have you seen Bullhead from Belgium? It was an Oscar nominee last year but lost to A Separation. I liked A Separation, but Bullhead hit me harder. It stars Matthias Schoenaerts in an extremely brave performance that will stay with you forever. Like many movies, I’d suggest going into it knowing as little as possible. After reading Rollo’s post, I realized that Schoenaerts stars with Marion Cotillard in Rust and Bone (which I haven’t seen) by A Prophet’s director Jacques Audiard.
So many great movies have already been mentioned. I’ll have to go through my Twitter list to cull out titles. I’ve seen so many in the past couple+ years, especially at the month-long European Union Film Festival that happens every March at the Gene Siskel Film Center. I saw dozens that unfortunately never got a US release so you probably wouldn’t be able to find them.
Il Postino and Time Crimes.
Peace be upon them?
Really?
These folks were nothing but a bunch of delusional murderous terrorists. They werent afraid to kidnap and murder to further their crazy political agenda.
Yep. Best damn action flick I’ve seen in years. They’ve just begun working on the sequel.
Another good movie in that same vein is Flame and Citron, which I actually think is better.
As It Is In Heaven, a very tender Swedish film about a choir in the boondocks, starring the same guy who was in the Dragon Tattoo series (which I heartily second as a great movie, or 3 great movies).
Some great Italian films: Cinema Paradiso, Night of the Shooting Stars, and Life is Beautiful.
My favorite Japanese film is Ran. I’ve also been enjoying some of Takeshi Kitano’s Yakuza films.
There is a great Brazilian cop movie called Elite Squad: the Enemy Within. It is a sequel to Elite Squad, which I haven’t seen but I heard was even better.
Definitely watch Slumdog Millionaire if you haven’t yet.
A couple of very funny French spoof spy films under the title OSS 117, Another good Italian Western spoof is My Name is Nobody.
The only good Hugh Grant film – About a Boy.
District B13 and its sequel are both very good.
Some others that have popped into my head:
In Bruges – fantastic black comedy.
Beaneath Hill 60 – very good WWI film. Gallipoli – great WWI film.
Breaker Morant – great Boer War movie.
How could I have forgotten The Road Warrior and Mad Max?
The Architecture of Doom – very interesting film about Nazi architecture and “high culture”.
Rules of the Game - late 1930’s French film, a glimpse of bourgeois life, directed by Jean Renoir
Delicatessen - Post-apocalyptic surrealist black comedy
Seven Beauties - about an Italian everyman who deserts the army during World War II and is captured by the Germans and sent to a prison camp, where he does anything to survive.
Pan’s Labrynth Dark Mexican fantasy set in post civil war Spain
Amores Perros - Mexican thriller
First ones that come to mind, have got many others, but these were all very enjoyable.
Tears of the Black Tiger
Thai cowboy movie shot in surreal psychedelic colour. Mad as a box of hammers.
Akira still does it for me and I love Spirited Away. I especially love the instrumental intermissions Animé films have. I know it’s only done to show off the animation but it really lends a great atmosphere and gives me a chance to enjoy the soundtrack without all that pesky dialogue getting in the way.
Winter in Wartime is a beautiful Dutch film set during WW2. Really great.
I also enjoyed The Well Diggers Daughter - a french film.
Sarah’s Key - another french film set between the beginning of WW2 and the present day.
A lot of my favorites have been mentioned already but I’ll add:
The City of Lost Children: a wonderfully bizarre, surreal, almost steampunk type fantasy.
Show Me Love: I actually just finished watching this for the first time tonight. It’s about two teenage girls who live in a boring little town in Sweden. They meet each other and fall in love. What a refreshing little film. The way the teenagers are portrayed is about as accurate as any I’ve ever seen in cinema.
Watched Departures recently, Wow! I can see why it won the Foreign Oscar.
Kurosawa’s Ran is a favorite of mine.
All these posts, and no mention of Amelie? Forget all of these “if your sensibilities can handle it” recommendations-- Amelie is the happiest movie I’ve ever seen. You will leave it feeling good, no matter what’s going on with you.
And I’ll also second The Other Jeffrey Lebowski’s mention of Pan’s Labyrinth, though I will warn that it’s pretty brutal in spots (the main villain is a highly-placed Fascist in the Spanish Civil War, and behaves accordingly). But it’s a wonderfully surreal and yet realistic fantasy.
Two of my favorites are Amélie (also known as Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain) and Waltz with Bashir.
The Emperor and the Assassin - epic “historical” drama about the first emperor of China (and a plot to murder him).
Malena - starring Monica Bellucci (that’s good enough for me!).
High Tension - a very bloody French horror flick.
Trollhunter - Norwegian “found footage” film about, well, hunting trolls. Not as much “shaky-cam” as other such films.
The original Funny Games.
Basically anything by Zhang Yimou:
These are all very beautiful Chinese (melo)dramas.
I’ll also vote for Delicatessen. I can think of a bunch of 90s kung fu flicks, too (Drunken Master II, Last Hero in China, New Legend of Shaolin, Fong Sai Yuk), but those might not be for everyone.
Oh! And how can I forget Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle?
Good Bye, Lenin! was pretty funny, too.