Das kino foreign language movies thread
Discussion
Lots of interesting stuff I've never heard of that I need to check out 
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned 'La Dolce Vita' yet - I watched it again over Christmas, infuriating and beguiling as ever...
Another Marcello Mastroianni favourite is 'La Notte' ('The Night') from 1961...
L'Eclisse' was an early leading role for Alain Delon alongside Monica Vitti, another of those films which seems to have rules and an atmosphere all its own...
How about Jean-Luc Godard's 'Breathless' with Jean-Paul Belmondo...?
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned 'La Dolce Vita' yet - I watched it again over Christmas, infuriating and beguiling as ever...
Another Marcello Mastroianni favourite is 'La Notte' ('The Night') from 1961...
L'Eclisse' was an early leading role for Alain Delon alongside Monica Vitti, another of those films which seems to have rules and an atmosphere all its own...
How about Jean-Luc Godard's 'Breathless' with Jean-Paul Belmondo...?
RizzoTheRat said:
Mention of Mads Mikkelson just reminded me - Riders of Justice is well worth a watch. A Danish soldiers wife is killed in a train crash, and he comes home to look after his daughter, but then gets contacted by someone else that was on the train who believes it was no accident. Way better than the action/revenge movie I was expecting it to be.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11655202/
Yes, very good film that, really enjoyed it.https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11655202/
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Thursday 8th February 15:57
As I did the Danish film about young German soldiers being used for mine clearing and the Dutch film about the battle for the southern part of the country.
Scenes in that were reminiscent of scenes in Saving Private Ryan.
Seen a few good Russian WW2 movies and a very good Ukrainian one that starts with the taking of the Crimea and the use of snipers.
Written before the current situation but there's a part added on at the end.
Stupidly I can't remember the name of the film.
Orphee/Orpheus - Cocteau's magical modernish take on it.
Yojimbo, remade as a Fistful of Dollars and the light hearted follow up, Sanjuro. With the great Toshiro Mifune.
The Twilight Samurai - not an action film, very good.
Sonatine and Kikujiro - two of several great films with the great Takeshi 'Beat' Kitano.
Subway - an early Lucy Besson film set in the Paris Metro.
The City of Lost Children - strange.
We've had La Haine, Nikita and A Prophet, all excellent.
I don't think we've had The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. Excellent.
Yojimbo, remade as a Fistful of Dollars and the light hearted follow up, Sanjuro. With the great Toshiro Mifune.
The Twilight Samurai - not an action film, very good.
Sonatine and Kikujiro - two of several great films with the great Takeshi 'Beat' Kitano.
Subway - an early Lucy Besson film set in the Paris Metro.
The City of Lost Children - strange.
We've had La Haine, Nikita and A Prophet, all excellent.
I don't think we've had The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. Excellent.
vixen1700 said:
Saw the Belgian black and white flick, Man Bites Dog at the cinema more than 30 years ago, but it seems to have been wiped from history.
Controversial at the time (came out the same time as Reservoir Dogs) and was about a fillm crew following a serial killer around as he killed people. I thought it was pretty funny, as it was actually a dark comedy.
Me too and one of my favourite films for a long time. However, the rape scene is one part I struggle to watch.Controversial at the time (came out the same time as Reservoir Dogs) and was about a fillm crew following a serial killer around as he killed people. I thought it was pretty funny, as it was actually a dark comedy.
I saw it at the Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle where I saw more subtitled films than I had hot dinners. Is it really 30+ years ago?
TwigtheWonderkid said:
Cinema Paridiso (Italian, best ending of any film, ever)
Jean De Florette & sequel, Manon De Source (French, utterly brilliant. The town hall meeting with the water company geologist scene in Manon is the funniest thing ever).
All top moviesJean De Florette & sequel, Manon De Source (French, utterly brilliant. The town hall meeting with the water company geologist scene in Manon is the funniest thing ever).
Two weeks ago, I hired the local independent for a Sunday afternoon showing of Cinema Paradiso.
Something I just wanted to do - invite 30 friends to a movie then off to the pub after. £299 with 30 free tickets.
I had to plan it in advance and it got a mention in the monthly catalogue resulting in a sell-out of Screen 4 - I think about 90 seats in total filled by the general public.
In issuing invitations, I just mentioned it was one of my favourite feel good mystery foreign film as I didnt want to put anybody off not familiar with foreign subtitles. A free ticket might have persuaded any doubters as a few thought I might choose something 'a bit racy'.
What an experience - everybody loved it and at the end all the ladies had handkerchiefs out - I think to clear some dust in their eyes. In the foyer, a stranger sought me out to thank me for my choice as she had not seen it before.
I got a screen dedication too ...' For Friends, Love and the Magic of Cinema '.
Thanks for some of the other recommendations - Alain Delon is always top value.
mar adentro / The Sea Inside
Spanish film with Javier Bardem. Based on a true story of a fisherman who breaks his neck, becomes paralysed and fights for an assisted suicide. I know that doesn’t sound like a very cheerful film but it was brilliant. I think he was even better than in No Country for Old Men.
I don’t want to say more in case of spoilers but it was both thought provoking and moving.
Spanish film with Javier Bardem. Based on a true story of a fisherman who breaks his neck, becomes paralysed and fights for an assisted suicide. I know that doesn’t sound like a very cheerful film but it was brilliant. I think he was even better than in No Country for Old Men.
I don’t want to say more in case of spoilers but it was both thought provoking and moving.
croyde said:
Yes, very good film that, really enjoyed it.
As I did the Danish film about young German soldiers being used for mine clearing and the Dutch film about the battle for the southern part of the country.
Scenes in that were reminiscent of scenes in Saving Private Ryan.
Seen a few good Russian WW2 movies and a very good Ukrainian one that starts with the taking of the Crimea and the use of snipers.
Written before the current situation but there's a part added on at the end.
Stupidly I can't remember the name of the film.
Sniper: White Raven? I've seen a couple of trailers for that and looked like it might be ok. As I did the Danish film about young German soldiers being used for mine clearing and the Dutch film about the battle for the southern part of the country.
Scenes in that were reminiscent of scenes in Saving Private Ryan.
Seen a few good Russian WW2 movies and a very good Ukrainian one that starts with the taking of the Crimea and the use of snipers.
Written before the current situation but there's a part added on at the end.
Stupidly I can't remember the name of the film.
Land of Mine is also on my to watch list.
As for Russian, 9th Company's not bad, set in Afghanistan in '80s, and previously mentioned T-34 which is great.
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Friday 9th February 08:03
Only seen Jean Pierre-Jeunet mentioned once with Cty of lost children. I love his quirky visual style, Wes Anderson mentions him as an infuence. Amelie was a big hit & is worthy of the praise but the one for me is Delicatessen. A butcher running a post apocalyptic boarding house hires live in handymen who unwittingly end up on the chopping block until he meets his match in Dominique Pinon.
Sample line - I may be a butcher but I don't mince my words. Lovely.
Sample line - I may be a butcher but I don't mince my words. Lovely.
Les Chevaliers du ciel - French Top Gun with stunning aerial cinematography.
Katyn - Polish massacre by the Soviets
To add some TV:
The Bureau - French DGSE spy drama
Borgen - Danish political drama
Crash Landing on You - kdrama taking in South Korea and North Korea
Fauda - Israeli undercover special forces drama
Boru (Wolf) - Turkish special forces drama
Okkupert - Norwegians invaded by Russia drama
Sluha narodu (Servant of the People) - Ukrainian political satire
Umbre - Romanian crime drama
Deutschland 83 - German spy drama
Katyn - Polish massacre by the Soviets
To add some TV:
The Bureau - French DGSE spy drama
Borgen - Danish political drama
Crash Landing on You - kdrama taking in South Korea and North Korea
Fauda - Israeli undercover special forces drama
Boru (Wolf) - Turkish special forces drama
Okkupert - Norwegians invaded by Russia drama
Sluha narodu (Servant of the People) - Ukrainian political satire
Umbre - Romanian crime drama
Deutschland 83 - German spy drama
President Merkin said:
- Headhunters, successful Norwegian recruitment guy lives a double life as an art thief, comes across a client with a valuable painting, sets out to steal it & chaos ensues.
Great pacing and funny film. CountyAFC said:
The Lives of Others.
Parasite.
Dogtooth.
The Secrets in the Eyes (not the sh!t Hollywood one, obviously).
1&4, both truly excellent. Parasite I thought lost its way towards the end. Dogtooth is brilliantly weird. Parasite.
Dogtooth.
The Secrets in the Eyes (not the sh!t Hollywood one, obviously).
Some others from me:
Micmacs.
Another JP Jeunet film. Man gets bullet lodged in his head, meets a band of outcasts and they all take revenge on the arms dealers. Like a live action Wallace & Gromit, daft but decent.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=TjKW0tG7I8s
Harry, he’s here to help.
Dark comedy. Akin to something like the talented Mr Ripley. Harry will solve all your problems, only he’s a bit of a psychopath.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry,_He%27s_Here...
Funny Games
The original. Brutal, disturbing, no happy endings here.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bH2HS6uWIhQ
Black Book
Directed by Paul Verhoeven (basic instinct, starship troopers etc) and has Hollywood quality production, cast & writing. Jewish girl trying to flee the Netherlands sees her family betrayed and killed, joins the resistance to try and work out who betrayed them. Lots of twists but overall very neat and it’s a crime this film didn’t get more recognition.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DIklvGsU7bM
C.r.a.z.y
Coming of age film set in 70s Canada. Cracking soundtrack
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=w1gSfxLtKSY
The beat that my heart skipped
Strange set up, but decent film. Man must choose between a life of crime working for his gangster father, or follow his passion as a pianist.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=odDwZgpMJoQ
Great thread. I got fed up with the Hollywood movie factory produce a few years ago so I've been looking around the world for decent films.
The most recent I saw was Mosul on Netflix. Based on a true story set in the battle to liberate Mosul from ISIS. I thought it was absolutely brilliant:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9252468/
If you like dark comedy and over the top violence, The Trip is great fun:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13109952
The most recent I saw was Mosul on Netflix. Based on a true story set in the battle to liberate Mosul from ISIS. I thought it was absolutely brilliant:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9252468/
If you like dark comedy and over the top violence, The Trip is great fun:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13109952
Excellent thread. Some familiar favourites and plenty that are new to me.
One film that has always stayed with me is L.627 be Bertrand Tavernier.
IMDB describes it as a “gritty police drama [that] shows us the underbelly of the Parisian drugs trade.”
In fact, since I no longer have the VHS I’m off to eBay to track down a DVD….
One film that has always stayed with me is L.627 be Bertrand Tavernier.
IMDB describes it as a “gritty police drama [that] shows us the underbelly of the Parisian drugs trade.”
In fact, since I no longer have the VHS I’m off to eBay to track down a DVD….
P5BNij said:
Lots of interesting stuff I've never heard of that I need to check out
How about Jean-Luc Godard's 'Breathless' with Jean-Paul Belmondo...?
Being Godard’s first feature film and kick-starting the ‘French New Wave’, this was a very important film, and one that at the time I thought was great ( French New Wave sowed the seed that I wanted to get into the film industry). However - I saw it again recently and thought it was rubbish How about Jean-Luc Godard's 'Breathless' with Jean-Paul Belmondo...?
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