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Culturegasm: What are some of the better, if not best, foreign film(s) of the year?

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    • CommentAuthormiccas75
    • CommentTimeJan 28th 2008
     (708.1)
    I am from a smaller market and do not get to see most until DVD release.
  2.  (708.2)
    I think Tropa de Elite (I dunno the English title for this film, but it's possible the literal translation "Elite Squad"), the best 2007 Brazilian movie, a good choice.

    Poster
    • CommentAuthorMaC
    • CommentTimeJan 29th 2008
     (708.3)
    If you're into horror, I really enjoyed The Orphanage. It's been a long long time since I saw a good horror movie, let alone a great one. It's similar to Pan's Labyrinth in the way that everything is just filmed really beautifully and the strange things, like the creatures in Pan's, not only look ghastly, but appropriate and not out of place.
    • CommentAuthorharchangel
    • CommentTimeJan 29th 2008
     (708.4)
    Pan's Labyrinth was just.....wow.

    Paris Je'taime was also quite unique and a blast to watch.
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      CommentAuthorhyim
    • CommentTimeJan 29th 2008
     (708.5)
    finally got around to see the palme d'or and it is stunning. 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days
    • CommentAuthorsacredchao
    • CommentTimeJan 30th 2008
     (708.6)
    The Orphanage was great. I can't remember if I've seen any other foreign stuff from 07 though.
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      CommentAuthorhectorlima
    • CommentTimeJan 30th 2008
     (708.7)
    i second the ELITE SQUAD reccomendation. Ellis' comics fans will particularly enjoy the very last scene.

    PANS LABIRYNTH was amazing. last week i saw Paul Verhoeven's very entertaining BLACK BOOK, about a Jewish spy woman inside a Nazi office.
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      CommentAuthorJohn Keats
    • CommentTimeJan 30th 2008
     (708.8)
    I'm having a time out until I can learn some manners.
    Les Chansons d'Amour by Christophe Honoré, and La graine et le Mulet by Abdel Kechiche.
    • CommentAuthorsacredchao
    • CommentTimeJan 30th 2008
     (708.9)
    Pan's Labyrinth and Black Book were both from 06. Both are worth watching, though.
    • CommentAuthorAlistair
    • CommentTimeJan 30th 2008
     (708.10)
    colindeplancey: When my parents went on vacation is better.
    • CommentAuthorpi8you
    • CommentTimeJan 30th 2008
     (708.11)
    Not that I've watched many '07 foreign films, but Paprika was readily my favorite of last year.
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      CommentAuthorJack_Crow
    • CommentTimeJan 31st 2008
     (708.12)
    Again...I have to say that the orpahange is NOT-THAT-GREAT being [REC] a bolder decission or much better than both of them: The time crimes. I don't wanna be boring with that movie, but as long as i'm not very fond of my national cinema (spanish) and last year I only have seen like 4 spanish films, the time crimes is the best one.
    • CommentAuthorDracko
    • CommentTimeJan 31st 2008 edited
     (708.13)
    I'm having a time out until I can learn some manners.
    Del Toro's <em>The Devil's Backbone</em> is a far better film than the indulgent Hollywood silliness that was <em>Pan's Labyrinth</em>.

    It's a 2005 film, but Fabián Bielinsky's <em>El Aura</em> is a staggering and dizzifyingly beautiful neo-noir film. Similarly, the Georgian film <em>13 Tzameti</em> from the same year is a dark little marvel. Oh, and the Hong Kong noir film <em>Dog Bite Dog</em> is essential viewing as far as I'm concerned. Simply amazing and raw. It could have served with ending earlier than it did, but I believe there's a story behind that decision. It's that close to being a complete masterpiece, however.

    Oh, seeing as it seems release years doesn't seem to matter much, you may also want to treat yourself to <em>Downfall</em>. A truly great film, that one. And <em>Irréversible</em> and <em>Man Bite Dog</em>. And let us not forget <em>The Lives of Others</em>.
  14.  (708.14)
    I'm really surprise to see Tropa de Elite here. It's a good movie, indeed. Hope all of you get a chance to see it. I think I'll second Paprika. Another one from 2006, but I just saw it last year, so...
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      CommentAuthorhyim
    • CommentTimeJan 31st 2008
     (708.15)
    Man Bite Dog

    had too google the original title. Boy, 1992, I was still a virgin when I saw this movie.
    • CommentAuthorsacredchao
    • CommentTimeFeb 1st 2008 edited
     (708.16)
    And Irréversible and Man Bite Dog.

    I really don't understand why anyone would consider either of those movies as anything more then mediocre time-wasters. Man Bites Dog is far superior to Irreversible, but still, It's the only Criterion I've ever sold without the intention of buying a newer edition.

    The time crimes

    Can you translate that any differently? I'm having some trouble finding it. What's the Spanish title?
    • CommentAuthorDracko
    • CommentTimeFeb 1st 2008
     (708.17)
    I'm having a time out until I can learn some manners.
    I don't know how you can call <em>Irréversible</em> a time-waster unless you were really, really not paying attention. It's an essential, practically defining take on the theme of vengeance.
    • CommentAuthorsacredchao
    • CommentTimeFeb 1st 2008 edited
     (708.18)
    I was definitely paying attention. I've actually spent a lot of time thinking about that movie and what a huge time waster it is. Gaspar Noe telling me he is edgy for approximately two hours is just not that interesting. The entire movie was some condescending jackass showing off his ability to have Monica Belucci anally raped on screen for twenty minutes. Being shocking for the sake of being shocking is not interesting. It is childish and boring. Being shocking to make a point about something or even just to entertain (IE Takashi Miike) is interesting and provocative.
    Yelling "I'm controversial!" makes you Carlos Mencia, not Pedro Almodovar.

    Also, vengeance isn't exactly a theme thats been left out to dry. Plenty of people have made interesting movies about it, so I don't think that's much of an argument. In terms of it's impact on the revenge thing, Irreversible is basically irrelevant.
    • CommentAuthorDracko
    • CommentTimeFeb 1st 2008 edited
     (708.19)
    I'm having a time out until I can learn some manners.
    I'm sorry, but I'm just not seeing the purely exploitative element you're speaking of. It was violence with a purpose, and shock with a point. What I meant by the vengeance theme was the reversal - and thereby fatalistic commentary - of time in addition to how quickly a life can be turned sour with all kinds of bad decisions made following, up and to including an act of violence performed against the wrong person <em>by</em> the character you didn't expect it to come from, assures a situation and demands a crystallisation of where exactly you stand on the matter of revenge, as pointless as it may seem. It does for that subject matter what <em>A Clockwork Orange</em> - both film and book - does for the matter of freedom.

    I was very impressed with it back when I first saw it, and was impressed again seeing it after so many years. It's one of those films I think everyone needs to watch, but have a hard time directly recommending.

    Also, man, no one deserves to be compared to Mencia.
  20.  (708.20)
    To me it just seemed like some teenager saying to his friend "Man, I'm gonna put some fucked up shit in my movie. Some dude will get his head smashed in by a fire extinguisher, and then we'll go back in time and watch his girlfriend get ass fucked." The characters were flat and boring, so I had no reason to care about them, so I didn't. That made it boring.

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