What's the last foreign-language movie you watched? Was it any good?

[BurtWorm]

Mine: Le salaire de la peur (Wages of Fear, 1953) by Henri-Georges Cluzot, starring Yves Montand. It's the movie William Friedkin's Sorcerer is based on, about a bunch of misfits at loose ends in a godforsaken pit in South America who agree to drive tons of nitroglycerine hundreds of miles for $2000 each--a lot of dough in those days.

It's an excellent movie!

[LeftinOH]

1. Then, of course youv'e seen Clouzot's 'Diabolique' -- its awesome.

The last foreign language film I saw was Pan's Labyrinth- and yes, it was pretty good.

[BurtWorm]

2. Yes, I saw both Diabolique and Pan's Labyrinth, and they're both pretty damn good.

:thumbsup:

I've even seen Clouzot's le Courbeau, which I barely remember. I think it just became available on Netflix, though.

[bif]

3. "Water Lilies"

A coming-of-age movie about three young French girls. I enjoyed it.

[BurtWorm]

4. Sounds enjoyable.

:patriot:

[bif]

6. It was a "Watch Instantly" movie on Nettflix

[BurtWorm]

7. Those are getting to be my favorite kind.

They're putting some actually very good movies on that list.

[bif]

15. Here are a couple I thought were very good (Instant View)

Not foreign language though:
The King of California
The Man From Earth
Oyster Farmer

[BurtWorm]

17. Thanks, and in return:

(These are foreign)


Spirit of the Beehive

Elevator to the Gallows

Knife in the Water

L'Avventura

[bikebloke]

5. Sexmission

A Czech sci-fi comedy. Skip it.

The one before that - 12. A Russian version of 12 Angry Men. Very good.

[spinbaby]

8. Kiki's Delivery Service

And, yes, it was good.

[BurtWorm]

9. Yes it was,

So was Spirited Away. ;-)

[MilesColtrane]

10. "The Saragossa Manuscript"

non-linear stories within stories...cryptic and weird, but engrossing

I gave it four out of five stars

[surrealAmerican]

11. Big Man Japan

It was sort of amusing, but paced too slowly.

[Forkboy]

19. That was an odd one.

It reminded me Life Aqautic mixed with a kaiju movie. Real, real dry humor. I have a feeling it might grow on me if I watch it a second time. I loved how he sold ad space on his body. :)

[SecularMotion]

12. I watched "The Method" last night

and yes, I would recommend it.

From IMDB:

On a troubled day in Madrid, with strike and protest against the World Bank and the IMF on the streets, seven candidates are put together in a meeting room in front of notebooks by a secretary as part of a selection process for one important position in a Spanish corporation. They fulfill another application form informing that they would be submitted to the Grönholm Test. While speculating about the possible existence of hidden cameras and microphones, the test begins and they read a message on the screen telling that one of them is not a candidate but an employee from the HR analyzing their attitudes. Along the day, the group is submitted to tests that eliminate each candidate until the final dispute between the two last ones.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427582/

[ornotna]

13. Taste of Cherry

A few days ago on TCM. I would recommend it.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/taste_of_cherry/

[Initech]

14. Does "Inglourious Basterds" count?

[BurtWorm]

16. Je pense que non.

[Forkboy]

18. Thirst by Park Chan-wook, who also did Oldboy.

I hate vampires but I knew this one would be good based on his previous works, and sure enough, it was one the best movies I've seen in awhile. No cute vamps, no cliches....just a great, extremely well done flick. Chan-wook is easily one of the best directors going in the world today.

Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pge939Mt1yI&feature=related



As for Wages of Fear, I love both version but lean a bit towards Sorcerer, if just for the bridge scene alone. Oh, and Roy Scheider. :)

Technically, the last foreign movie I watched was Mothra vs Godzilla though. :D

[mitchum]

20. The Baeder-Meinhoff Complex last weekend...

I thoroughly enjoyed it, but I'm a sucker for sexy revolutionaries

[progressoid]

21. Just re-watched "Wings of Desire"

Mostly foreign language.

[kwassa]

22. Il y a longtemps que je t'aime (2008)

starring Kristen Scott Thomas, who lives and works in France.

French film, she gave a terrific performance.

[PassingFair]

23. "Let The Right One In"

I had heard that it was an amazing thriller....

It was NOT. It is billed as a "Swedish Romantic Horror Film".

There were some memorably scenes however,
and the child actors were beautiful and
talented.

The funniest thing about the movie is that it
is set in Sweden, and I just assumed they wore
woolen sweaters, etc....

When I watched the "making of" section on the
"extras", I learned that the movie had been
"painstakingly set in 1980's Sweden".

I also saw "The Lives of Others" recently.

I would rate THAT movie in my top 20....a masterpiece.

[CrownPrinceBandar]

24. "Dersu Uzala"..................

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071411/

Great movie.

[bookworm65t]

25. Re-Cycle (2006)

from Hong Kong. Great story with outstanding special effects.

[wickerwoman]

26. Probably Kin-Dza-Dza!

1980s Russian sci-fi insanity. It's completely brilliant. You can watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_jZ8HVkm4s&feature=related

Next up is Mahabharat, the 40 hour TV miniseries version of the Mahabharata.

WTF did we do before youtube?

[BurtWorm]

35. All 40 hours are on YouTube?

Do you have to watch them in 10 minute segments?

[wickerwoman]

44. Somehow they got them in 45-minute segments.

But I lied... there's 94 of them. So a little more than 70 hours long.

Here's episode 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySSw8CdjIYk

Apparently it's chock-full of major Bollywood stars.

Can't wait to get started :D

[Courtesy Flush]

27. "Run, Lola. Run" Tolerable, but not great.

[joeybee12]

28. Bergman's "Smiles of a Summer Night"- so good I went out and

bought it...highly recommend it. Very sweet and very un-Bergman like.

[BurtWorm]

33. That;'s one of my all-time favorite films!

:thumbsup:

[jxnmsdemguy65]

29. Excellent film...

[Mike_03]

30. It was a Criterion Release for me too: Lars Von Trier's

ELEMENT OF CRIME.

I love many films, but I cannot say I loved this film.

[Juche]

31. Oldboy. It was ok, but not great

[Mike_03]

32. I would love yor opinion on William Friedkin's SORCERER. I may have been wrong. I

also watched THE VANISHING and a few other films that were not English language films.

[BurtWorm]

34. I haven't seen Sorcerer

yet. Looking forward to it.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

47. The original Dutch The Vanishing is much better than the Hollywood remake

I was so disappointed when someone told me how they ruined the ending of the remake.

[DutchLiberal]

69. Yes, the original is 10 times better, especially the ending...

The book by Tim Krabbé was great, too.

[Fridays Child]

36. A few weeks ago, I re-watched Like Water for Chocolate.

My girlfriends and I are going to cook all of the recipes in the book. I'll let you know if the Quail in Rose Petal Sauce is as "stimulating" as the book and movie make it out to be. :P

[Amerigo Vespucci]

37. The Seventh Seal...a classic, more of an "experience" than just a "movie."

[stray cat]

38. The Red Violin - one of the best movies ever!

[tigereye]

39. hmm, I think it was Slum Dog Millionaire (several languages)

Paris je t'aime before that.

[peacefreak]

40. Central Station

from Brazil. Story of mismatched travelers looking for a young boy's father. Very good. And Story of the Weeping Camel. This one was incredible. Unlike anything I've ever seen.

[rurallib]

41. "Pan's Labyrinth" Excellent - a must see.

[darkstar3]

86. I hated that movie.

I don't want to spoil it for anyone else, but the way it ended just tore the whole mythos apart for me. Between that, and the fact that the brilliant yet odd imagery was interspersed with such graphic violence...the movie was just a let-down for me.

[CBHagman]

42. "Late August, Early September."

Fin aout, debut septembre.

In French. With Francois Cluzet.

I rented it from Netflix, and generally I've liked most of the movies, including French language ones, that I've picked from the Netflix queue.

This one, though, I didn't like, because the characters were so very unsympathetic.

[Bombero1956]

43. The Kite Runner

A very good film about a very difficult subject.

[muffin1]

45. The Orphanage

"Presented" by Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labrynth) and directed by J.A. Bayona. Very unsettling, but not the usual horror movie way.

[AsahinaKimi]

46. Always san-chôme no yûhi - Always: Sunset on Third Street (1&2)

One of the Best movies I have seen recently. It made me laugh and cry so hard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngjPeW9gEGs

[Forkboy]

49. And a hell of a cameo in part 2 by the big G!

;)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

48. Monsieur Hire (Hire pronounced "Eer")

It's about a strange, introverted loner who starts spying on the young woman whose window is opposite his. She becomes aware of it and seems to egg him on.

Lots of plot twists.

I enjoyed it, as I enjoy many foreign films, because it was a story I hadn't seen before.

[dixiegrrrrl]

50. The Decalogue.....

From the blurb:
Using one of the Ten Commandments as a thematic springboard for each film in this collection, writer-director Krzysztof Kieslowski explores the lives of ordinary people flailing through inner torments, hard decisions and shattering revelations. Constructed of 10 one-hour films that originally aired on Polish television, this award-winning cinematic masterpiece is a riveting, profound work of supreme daring and imagination.

Each episode stands alone, but there are inter-connecting links with people from previous episodes, so
it helps to watch them sequentially.
The first episode is a grabber, the others can be uneven.
One of the most memorable films I have seen.

[fishwax]

51. Week End, by Jean-Luc Godard

Yes, it was good, with moments of brilliance, even. But it's certainly not for everyone.

I haven't seen The Wages of Fear, but I'll have to look for it since road movies are a particular interest of mine. (Week End is a road movie as well.)

[BurtWorm]

52. I know what you mean about Weekend. I dug it myself, though.

:thumbsup:

Have you seen Contempt? That's another great Godard movie.

[fishwax]

54. I haven't seen Contempt yet

But I'll have to check it out.

[Shell Beau]

53. Probably Letters from Iwo Jima, if that counts as a foreign language film.

And I thought it was a fantastic movie.

[insanity]

55. ZwartBoek

A Dutch film about the Nazi occupation of Holland.

[dixiegrrrrl]

72. is that the one with Carice van Houten ?

[insanity]

74. Yes!

She does great in the role, too.

[TreasonousBastard]

56. "Viridiana" Another of Bunuel's...

"no point at all" movies.

(Which is entirely the point.)

[Blue-Jay]

57. I dunno.... Maybe Ringu.

It's been a while.

Do operas with subtitles count?

[XemaSab]

58. Motorcycle Diaries

and it was a great film. :D

[MiddleFingerMom]

59. "The Wages of Fear" was great...

.
... and the Coen Bros. second film, "Blood Simple" was filled with such
sweat and tension and paranoia that it reminded me of Clouzot's film
(didn't Peter Sellers do an biopic of him as Inspector Clouzot in some
obscure film or other?)
.
"Babette's Feast".
.
"My Life as a Dog".
.
"Once Upon a Time in the West"
.
"Life is Beautiful"
.
"Ran".
.
"Mediterraneo"************ a comedy... and my favorite anti-war film (the
cinematography is BEAUTIFUL -- you can SEE why people go to Greece)
.

[badgerpup]

60. May I (highly) recommend...

Kwaidan and Tampopo?

The first one is a collection of traditional Japanese ghost stories...:scared:

The second one is about food, people and the quest for the ULTIMATE bowl of ramen noodles. :9

Japanese ramen noodles are nothing like the stuff we have here...

[Hayabusa]

61. Seven Samurai

Do you even need to ask if it was any good?

Of course it was.

[deucemagnet]

64. I loved it.

As a matter of fact, I've been meaning to order this t-shirt when I have some disposable income left over at the end of the month.

[AsahinaKimi]

73. Its so good... I own it!

on dvd of course!

[RubyDuby in GA]

62. I watched Volver the other day.

I just don't get the fascination with Penelope Cruz. :shrug:

[DutchLiberal]

70. And are you a guy or a gal?

[RubyDuby in GA]

79. Obviously a girl. I can see two big reasons that the guys would like her.

[DutchLiberal]

83. Aaaw, that's so stereotypical...

She looks good, okay? She has a beautiful face and a great figure. Really, the two "big reasons" you're referring to are only a bonus. ;)

[RubyDuby in GA]

84. Yes, she is pretty.

And she's a terrible actress, which is my main complaint with her.

I do genuinely think she is a very pretty woman.

[DutchLiberal]

85. You did NOT just say that!

A terrible actress? :wow:

You have saddened me. :cry:

[deucemagnet]

63. "The Experiment",

a 2001 German movie inspired by the Stanford prison experiment and based on the novel "Black Box". It was unsettling, but very good. It's available to watch instantly on Netflix.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Das_Experiment

[tishaLA]

65. Le Samourai

It's one of my favorite films ever. I just ignore the fact that Delon is a political pig.

[Upton]

66. I saw Apocalypto

does that count?:shrug:

[david13]

67. Israeli. I can't remember titles at the moment, but every

year or so an Israeli film comes along, and makes it here to Los Angeles, cause it's good, and it knocks my socks off.
The last one, it was real deadpan, but I liked it about a police band.
dc

[surrealAmerican]

75. It was called "The Band's Visit" ...

... and I agree, it's a very good film.

[david13]

80. Bikur Ha-Tizmoret. Yes, thank you. Yes, I liked it,

but I'm sure there were many who would not, because it had no special effects, no explosions, no car chases, no monsters, no gun battles, etc.
But it had a story. A sad but common story, about human lives. Very nice for me.
There was another one, much better about the citrons, ah, I found it. Ushpizin.
That was also such a good one.
What's next, what else can you recommend?
Thanks
dc

[DutchLiberal]

68. I'm not there

English is a foreign language to me. ;)

[Forkboy]

71. Judging from the Republican's protest signs it is for them, too.

:)

[begin_within]

76. El Norte

I've seen it several times, so yes it's good. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085482/

[burrfoot]

77. Avatar, and I loved it!!

:hide:


Kidding aside, although it's been noted here several times I'm gonna mention Pan's Labyrinth again; it's that damn good. Phenomenal movie.

:toast:

[vixengrl]

78. Il Bidone--some say it's not one of Fellini's best--

but I actually liked it more than La Strada. I think it was because I found it more relatable. Broderick Crawford played an aging con man down on his luck and losing his edge at the game. Augusto isn't likeable--he's a crook! But he's very human. A great performance by Crawford.

[Lavender Brown]

81. I think it was Priceless, starring Audrey Tautou

It was a standard romantic comedy, but pretty enjoyable.

[AwakeAtLast]

82. I think it was "Life Is Beautiful"

I believe it had subtitles, but my memory is betraying me.