# Would some of you "filmies" recommend some foreign films? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 17, 2000, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-of-you-filmies-recommend-some-foreign-films/19705 "2000-05-17T00:06:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![X-files](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/76d3ee/32.png) [@X-files](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X-files)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2000, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-of-you-filmies-recommend-some-foreign-films/19705/41 "2000-05-17T18:52:36Z")
\*\*Heiße Haut im Sommerwind \*\*(1983) …aka Hot Bodies (1983) (USA) ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2000, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-of-you-filmies-recommend-some-foreign-films/19705/42 "2000-05-17T18:58:07Z")
For food movies, add _Eat, Drink, Man, Woman_. You might include _The Wedding Banquet_, too. I personally found _Blue_, _White_, and _Red_ to be pretentious claptrap. Others to see include: _M_ _Z_ (And other Costa-Gavras like _The Confession_) SaxFace – I agree with you about John Irving. ---
**Author:** ![X-files](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/76d3ee/32.png) [@X-files](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X-files)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2000, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-of-you-filmies-recommend-some-foreign-films/19705/43 "2000-05-17T19:01:36Z")
My favorite foreign film of recent vintage: \*\*Funny, strange, and very non-hollywood _Shallow Grave (1994)_\*\* But watch out: **NOT the '87 American movie of the same name** Genre: Drama / Thriller (more) Tagline: What’s a little murder among friends? Plot Summary: To avoid spoiling the movie this plot summary is very brief. It starts … (more) User Comments: Riveting (more) MPAA: Rated R for scenes of strong (comical) grisly violence, and for some language and nudity. Runtime: UK:93 / Germany:91 Country: UK Language: English ---
**Author:** ![BrainWeasel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@BrainWeasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainWeasel)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2000, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-of-you-filmies-recommend-some-foreign-films/19705/44 "2000-05-17T19:06:39Z")
There was a semi-recent French film called, I think, Revenge of the Musketeers, and it’s a very well-done, funny, subtitled movie about when the Four Musketeers get old, and their families and lives after their heyday, and how you never quite lose the touch for swordplay. ---
**Author:** ![ReservoirDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@ReservoirDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReservoirDog)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2000, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-of-you-filmies-recommend-some-foreign-films/19705/45 "2000-05-17T19:38:32Z")
I noticed that Ike mentioned Jean Renoir earlier. One of my all time favorites was _Rules of the Game_, 1939. Here’s a rather lengthy description: [http://www.film.u-net.com/Movies/Reviews/Regle\_jeu.html](http://www.film.u-net.com/Movies/Reviews/Regle_jeu.html) ---
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2000, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-of-you-filmies-recommend-some-foreign-films/19705/46 "2000-05-17T21:32:27Z")
Well, if we’re opening up food films as a genre, I’d add “Like Water for Chocolate”, though I’ve never liked the Magical Realism school of literature (the book “100 years of Solitude” made me irritable for weeks. He got the Nobel Prize for that? _Huh?_) Water for Chocolate, however, was the one exception. Wonderful! (and recasting “100 years” in that perspective was the only way I could finish the book) ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2000, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-of-you-filmies-recommend-some-foreign-films/19705/47 "2000-05-17T21:55:50Z")
Many of my favourites have been mentioned above, so I’ll throw in a few others here (also amongst my favourites) I’ll try to mention movies easily available in the US market. Recent Japanese animation: Hayao Miyazaki’s “Princess Mononoke” (better than Akira IMO) François Truffaut: The 400 Blows (Les 400 Coups), The Last Metro (Le Dernier Metro), Jules et Jim Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et La Bete) Jean-Luc Godard’s “Alphaville”: science fiction; and “First Name, Carmen” (Prénom, Carmen): a story of love and seduction. Hector Babenco’s “Pixote” (street children in Brazil) Satyajit Ray’s “Pather Panchali” (the story of the everyday life of an Indian family; slow and poetic) A good french action/adventure comedy that I loved as a kid: Jean-Paul Belmondo’s “L’homme de Rio” (not all foreign films need to be serious!) Oh, by the way, KP, the title is “Le retour du Grand Blond”, the sequel to “Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire”. If you like those movies, you might want to try out “La Chèvre” or “Les Compères”, in the same style, two comedies directed by Francis Veber starring the duo of Pierre Richard and Gérard Depardieu. ---
**Author:** ![vandal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/858c86/32.png) [@vandal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vandal)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2000, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-of-you-filmies-recommend-some-foreign-films/19705/48 "2000-05-17T22:06:29Z")
Oh, let me also add **Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels** (United Kingdom, 1998). Hilarious film about four amateur criminals trying to make it. ---
**Author:** ![WebMasterUSA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/87869e/32.png) [@WebMasterUSA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WebMasterUSA)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2000, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-of-you-filmies-recommend-some-foreign-films/19705/49 "2000-05-17T22:20:09Z")
Catherine Deneuve’s version of **Mayerling** (The story is so popular, there are about 8 versions, but this is the one that rivals Doctor Zhivago, which it resembles.) With James Mason, Omar Sharif, and a lot of familiar greats from French and British films. It’s French, but in English, not dubbed. ---
**Author:** ![trilobite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90db22/32.png) [@trilobite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trilobite)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2000, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-of-you-filmies-recommend-some-foreign-films/19705/50 "2000-05-18T00:16:19Z")
Run, Lola Run 's been mentionned a few times, but I’ll mention it again, just coz it’s that good. Also from Germany is “Killer Condoms” --the title says it all. Any Leone movie, though mainly starring Americans, is a good bet. There’s also good animes out there, such as Blue River. “Apartment Zero” is a must, must, must-see. And, also mentionned a few times, “Le Retour du Grand Blond”, the sequel to “Le grand Blond à la Chaussure Noire” ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2000, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-of-you-filmies-recommend-some-foreign-films/19705/51 "2000-05-18T00:47:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Yojimbo & Vandal: **Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels** (United Kingdom, 1998). Just want to add my recommendation for this one too. Stunningly funny and so very british. Yojimbo - you mentioned _Brass_. There was an old British series of this name, but I was wondering if you might have meant **Brassed Off** - concerning a small town brass band and of a similar genre to _The Full Monty_. Along with the already noted \*Muriel’s Wedding \*, another Aussie movie that’s well worth renting is **Priscilla - Queen of the Desert** ; three drag queens, a big bus and a road trip. Worth renting for the costumes alone. 🙂 BrainWeasel – Excellent choice, I heartily concur. \*Revenge of the Musketeers \* is also known as \*\* D’Artagnan’s Daughter \*\* and stars the ravishing (IMHO) Sophie Marceau as Eloise d’Artagnan. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2000, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-of-you-filmies-recommend-some-foreign-films/19705/52 "2000-05-18T12:36:03Z")
Doh! How could I forget at least one NZ film: \*\* Once were Warriors.\*\* ---
**Author:** ![pLt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/eb9ed0/32.png) [@pLt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pLt)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2000, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-of-you-filmies-recommend-some-foreign-films/19705/53 "2000-05-18T13:24:38Z")
okay it’s quite simple … Claude Leloughs: “Les Miserables” It is the story of the guy reading the book during WW2 France, France’s second period of oppession. Brilliant Film… I’d also recommend “Bitter Moon” and even though it has Hugh Grant as a featured actor, he’s not in it that much and it is a great film too. I’d agree with others that have been posted : Betty Blue Three Colours series My Life as a Dog Raise the Red Lantern there was a Norweigan movie about 10 years ago called “Nicola” or some such, if you get a chance to see that it is great. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2000, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-of-you-filmies-recommend-some-foreign-films/19705/54 "2000-05-18T20:17:57Z")
Thank you one and all for some terrific recommendations. Based on your input, I believe my next rentals will be: La Femme Nikita 8-1/2 Babette’s Feast Raise the Red Lantern I saw “The Vanishing” (French version) just a couple of days ago, and couldn’t sleep all night! Reminded me of a Hitchcock film – taut, suspenseful, and all the horror is suggested, not graphically shown. Eve – I didn’t know that about Marlene Dieterich and Der Blau Engel. I wonder what she was trying to prove? It’s not like she was in danger of losing stature because of some little early movies. She was quite a character. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-some-of-you-filmies-recommend-some-foreign-films/19705.md?page=2)