Favorite Foreign Language Film of All Time

[wuapinmon]

Okay, in part one of this five part series, let's name our favorite Foreign Language Film (Other Than English) of all time, and why....you're not allowed to post a commentary on someone else's selection until you have, in a separate post, stated your favorite and the reasons why. 150 words, minimum. For it to be considered a foreign language film, ask yourself this question, if you assigned it to a freshman college English class and told them to watch it, would they bitch about a) it having subtitles or b) it not having subtitles and them not understanding what they heard.

[il Padrino Ute]

Johnny Stecchino (Johnny Toothpick) is my favorite because I thought it was really, really, really, really, really funny.

Crap. That's only eighteen words.

Now twenty-four words.

Twenty-eight words. Or are hyphenated words considered just one word like a compound word?

Oh yeah, Roberto Begnini was great in a dual role as a guy who drives the school bus for a school for mentally handicapped kids and a Mafia boss who looks like the guy who drives the school bus for a school for mentally handicapped kids.

It is hard to come up with one hundred and fifty words about this movie. There was a funny scene where everyone at the opera thought he was the Mafia boss and were mad at him about that but he thought they were mad at him for stealing a banana.

I don't think a football is a good present.

The End.

[creekster]

This is not a legitimate category, IMO. It's like askign us to compare comedies and dramas and romance films, etc.

Probably Jean de Florette/Manon des Sources

I also liked The Bicycle Thieves, in a pelle the conqueror sort of way (everything stinks and then it gets worse, have a nice drive home).

Most awkward but oddly enjoyable we saw last night: Le Pacte des Loups.

[OhioBlue]

Okay, in part one of this five part series, let's name our favorite Foreign Language Film (Other Than English) of all time, and why....you're not allowed to post a commentary on someone else's selection until you have, in a separate post, stated your favorite and the reasons why. 150 words, minimum. For it to be considered a foreign language film, ask yourself this question, if you assigned it to a freshman college English class and told them to watch it, would they bitch about a) it having subtitles or b) it not having subtitles and them not understanding what they heard.

Wo de fu qin mu qin (Yimou Zhang, plus almost any of his other films)
Jibeuro
Taegukgi
Salaam Bombay
Maria Llena de Gracia
Ping Pong (Japanese)

i broke the rules, but the rules were lame.

[Surfah]

Pan's Labyrinth
El Orfanato

[Mormon Red Death]

4 days in september

mujeres al borde un attaco de nerves (women on the verge of a nervous breakdown)

[YOhio]

Lives of Others
To Live
Lust/Caution
Apocalyptica

Lives of Others shows a world where the artists eyes are opened to the cruelty and harshness of socialism as practiced in East Germany.

To Live is a heartbreaking tale of a small family's fall from riches as the Reds take over China. Very heavy on the propaganda, but not even close to the government it vilifies.

Lust/Caution is a story of a young group of idealistic Chinese students trying to do all within the power to fight external political powers within their country. The beautiful girl is sent to seduce a high-ranking official so the students can assassinate him and hijinx ensue. Though it isn't politically neutral, it isn't as filled with propaganda as other Chinese historical films. It's also unique in the sense that it captures the time in China when there are three different factions operating: the KMT; CCP; and the Japanese front government. I watched the R-rated version and it was still pretty graphic.

Apocalyptica shows an awesome panther chase scene.

[SteelBlue]

The Vanishing. Only because it's a Dutch film.

[RobinFinderson]

Lives of Others
To Live
Lust/Caution
Apocalyptica

I can't believe The Lives of Others shares a list with Apocalyptica. One of the best paired with one of the worst. Like the perfect olive toothpicked to the top of a shit sandwich.

The Lives of Others, for anyone who hasn't seen it, is just about a perfect little film in every possible way.

[YOhio]

I can't believe The Lives of Others shares a list with Apocalyptica. One of the best paired with one of the worst. Like the perfect olive toothpicked to the top of a shit sandwich.

The Lives of Others, for anyone who hasn't seen it, is just about a perfect little film in every possible way.

But the panther chase scene was really, really badass.

[Sizzle]

The Vanishing. Only because it's a Dutch film.

That was a jacked up movie. I had to watch it for a class at BYU. It ended up being one of my favorite classes, and while the movie was disturbing, it was good.

[RC Vikings]

Strange Brew. I was lucky because of my two year in Canada I didn't have to read the subtitles.

[Gidget]

I can't believe The Lives of Others shares a list with Apocalyptica. One of the best paired with one of the worst. Like the perfect olive toothpicked to the top of a shit sandwich.

The Lives of Others, for anyone who hasn't seen it, is just about a perfect little film in every possible way.

I really liked The Lives of Others a lot as well. I also like Guillermo Del Toro's El Orfanato quite a bit. But I am a sucker for a good thinking slow thriller.

[landpoke]

Foreign films suck as they almost always eschew explosions, chase scenes and all around badassedness in favor of talking and all around lameness.

However, if pressed I'd go with Goldfinger.

[MarkGrace]

I'm leaning toward Amores Perros. Best of the Inarritu trilogy.