Foreign Films

[themostepotente]

A few weeks ago, charlotteschaos and I were discussing our love of foreign films. Here are mine in no particular order.

1.) Raise the Red Lantern (Chinese) Directed by Zhang Yimou

My love for Gong Li knows no limits.

2.) Fairwell My Concubine (Chinese) Directed by Kaige Chen

3.) Seven Samurai (Japanese) Directed by Akira Kurosawa

4.) La Femme Nikita (French) Directed by Luc Besson

5.) A Better Tomorrow (Chinese) Directed by John Woo

Before JW got all shitty and Hollywood :P

6.) Pan's Labyrinth (Spanish) Directed by Guillermo del Toro

7.) Ichi the Killer (Japanese) Directed by Takashi Miike

All kinds of fucked up.

8.) Au Revoir, Les Enfants (French) Directed by Louis Malles

9.) Le Pacte des Loups (French) Directed by Christophe Gans

10.) Delicatessan (French) Directed by Marc Caro

Ponds, this movie is right up your twisted alley. *G*

Okay, so I know I'm missing A LOT. Ang Lee's stuff is definitely good. And there's House of Flying Daggers and CTHD and yeah... *sighs*

So what foreign movies does everyone else love? Feel free to suggest movies and bash my tastes. What the hell, y'know? *G*

--P

Comments

[sigune.livejournal.com]

My new love is Wong Kar Wai. I have just seen In the Mood for Love and, ah, loved it, and now I'm dying to see 2046 which seems to be a kind of sequel.

Of the Korean director Kim Ki Duk I loved Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and ... Spring and Bin Jip. They have a very special atmosphere and Kim likes to combine extreme violence with moments of perfect zen - very powerful stuff.

I haven't seen a lot of Zhang Yimou films, especially not his older work ("Raise the Red Lantern", "Yu Dou") that everyone keeps telling me is much better than his more recent films; but the one that I like best so far is Not One Less, about a fourteen-year-old girl who substitutes for a village schoolteacher in late 1990s China - the date is one to keep in mind while watching, because it takes some believing. Much more glamorous (and beeeauuutiful) is Shanghai Triad, with Gong Li ;).

A French film I'd recommend to everyone is Comte d'automne by Eric Rohmer. The (love) story is very simple and the characters are ordinary human beings, but the result is a film that is warm without being overly sweet. It's what my sister calls a "French Conversation Movie" ;).

From Nikita Michalkov: Soleil Trompeur and Urga. The latter has a really lame ending, but I love the rest so much that it's still one of my favourites despite that flaw. Soleil Trompeur suffers no such flaw, but is rather harsh(er) in its look at humankind.

As for bashing your tastes ;)... Um - Le Pacte des Loups?! O_o
I guess I will never understand what you and one of my best friends see in that movie. It's on my "worst I have ever seen" list XD. I'm obviously missing something! *g*

[cnary-crem-dght.livejournal.com]

oh my gosh yes! I tripple rec In the mood for love and 2045. Sooooooo amazing and visually stunning. (I can't believe I forgot those, so glad you posted about them!)

oo I've heard of Kim Ki Duk, but have yet to see his movies. They sound v. interesting! Korean cinema <3 <3

[maya231.livejournal.com]

I have to second Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter and ... Spring. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I've come close to renting 2046 quite a few times. I believe I've come across quite a few entries in this thread that give it a thumbs up, too.

As for bashing your tastes ;)... Um - Le Pacte des Loups?! O_o
I guess I will never understand what you and one of my best friends see in that movie. It's on my "worst I have ever seen" list XD. I'm obviously missing something! *g*

No worries! I'm constantly wondering how some of my friends can like (and own :P) Pretty Woman and Dirty Dancing.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

I'm constantly wondering how some of my friends can like (and own :P) Pretty Woman and Dirty Dancing.

...

Okay. In that case, let's definitely have Pacte des Loups XD. (I did like the villain *g*.)