Page 1 of Foreign film recomendations wanted

The last 3 films I have seen have all been foreign language films and I really enjoyed all of them. They were Battle Royale, Amores Perros and Amelie. Amores Perros was superb, one of the best films I have seen. What other foreign films have people seen that they can recommend???

Steve
(Trying to broaden what type of films I see)

This item was edited on Monday, 22nd April 2002, 20:43

Delicatessen: http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/reviews/details.asp?Index=2200

In The Mood For Love: http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/reviews/details.asp?Index=1695

Chungking Express: http://www.streetsonline.co.uk/common/product.jhtml?pid=11411613

to name but three superb movies, IMO!

:-)

Behind the Sun and Y Tu Mama Tambien are currently on at the cinemas, both excellent south american films (okay so Mexico is central america). Went to see Warm Water under a Red Bridge this weekend which is a slightly mad japanese film but still rather entertaining.
DVD wise check out Japanese/Chinese/Korean films at the mo as these can be picked up quite cheaply if you`re not obsessive about extras.
Pedro Almodovar films are rather entertaining but only a few are available on DVD.
French films are more complicated as only some of the R1 importers will supply them though some can be bought from france with english subs though not many and i`d like to buy more (I currently own about 25 oriental films but not many French which is a pity).

I agree with Amores Perros and In The Mood For Love.

In my opinion, In The Mood For Love should have one the "Best Foreign Film" Oscar, a class bit of film making!

I`m glad Amelie didn`t win it, a good film but far too twee (IMO).

Some more modern ones to look out for....

Monsoon Wedding (Indian)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0265343

The Dinner Game (French)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0119038

Harry, Here to Help (French)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0216800

Look out for these starring Takeshi Kitano who was in Battle Royale:

Sonatine (Japanese)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0108188

Violent Cop (Japanese)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0098360

A few more...

Audition (Korean)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0235198

Shaolin Soccer (Hong Kong)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0286112

Some older ones but nevertheless great films...

The Hairdresser`s Husband (French)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0100112

Antonia`s Line (Danish)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0112379

Funny Games (Austrian)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0119167

Man Bites Dog (Belgian)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0103905

lastly...

Le Reine Margot (French)
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0110963

All these are great films (IMO) and would look good in anyones` dvd collection!!

Here are some of my own favourites:

SHAOLIN SOCCER
MAN BITES DOG
THE KILLER
HARDBOILED
FULL CONTACT
IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE
CRONOS
FESTEN
SHAOLIN SOCCER

I have put Shaolin Soccer twice because I genuinely think it`s the most innovative movie I`ve seen since The Matrix.

Also try Taxi and Taxi 2, both excellent films.

Good acting, funny, and car scenes that put hollywood to shame.

Santo

THE VANISHING

Theres a Criterion edition available

`Delicatessen`, by the same guy that did `Amelie` is TRULY unmissable.

If you want to go down a classic route then `Seven Samurai` is a good bet.

If you want action then pre-Hollywood Woo (like `The Killer` and `Hard-Boiled`) or the recently released `Nowhere to Hide`

If you want thrillers then `Insomnia` and `The Vanishing` (both cheap Criterion discs) are unmissable as well.

But above all (except the perfect `Deli...`) `Akira` should DEFINATELY be investigated ( http://www.movietyme.com still has some of the LE tin left I think)

That should get you going for now...

Only one word for you:



RING

Forget the other films mentioned. Hear my list:

Life is beautiful (italian) touching oscar winning great
Les Visiteurs (french) hilarious
Taxi (french) brilliant
Taxi 2 (french) see above
Open Your Eyes (spanish) vanilla sky
Iron Monkey (chinese) great martial arts
Lagaan (hindi) esp recomended if u like cricket but great even if u dont
Hard Boiled (chinese) John Woo at his best
run lola run (german) viagra for the eyes
Black Mask (chinese) brilliant fight scenes
El Mariarchi (spanish) Prequel to desperado or something