Recommend some Non-American Films and Expand Ted Striker's Horizons

[Ted Striker]

I've had a Netflix account for about 3 weeks now and so far it PWNZ.

The best thing I like about it is that it has a kick azz selection, and especially a huge selection of foreign (non American) films. I've been looking at the critics picks for foreign films but wanted to ask what everybody here likes.

What are some obvious, big name movies that are good to watch but weren't produced by American production companies?

So far from the ones I've watched, some good ones I liked were:


City of God (Brazil)
The City Of Lost Children (France)
Nine Queens (Argentina)

I put the English name cause I'm too lazy to look up the real name so I just put the country next to it.

[Bosh]

Korean:
Taegukgi (kind of a Saving Private Ryan in the Korean War, good stuff)
Old Boy (really really disturbing, good stuff. I can't believe it came in second to F9/11 at Cannes its vastly superior)
Sassy Girl (haven't got a chance to see it yet, but its supposed to be great)
Chingu (most popular Korean movie, its about 4 friends 2 of whom end up becoming gangsters. I thought it was badly in need of some good editing but a lot of people like it)

Mexico
El Mariachi (low budget goodness)

Finnland (I think, could've been Norway)
The Pathfinder (low budget Lapplander goodness)

Japan
Battle Royale (middle school student butcher each other, the glorius source of my current avatar)

[Dinner]

I've always liked "Run, Lola, Run". It's a German film that came out four or five years ago where the protagonist unknowingly replays the same two hours over and over but it shows how minor changes at the beginning result in huge changes in the end.

[Ted Striker]

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Thanks. I haven't heard of ANY of those, exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for.

[Bosh]

Originally posted by Oerdin
I've always liked "Run, Lola, Run". It's a German film that came out four or five years ago where the protagonist unknowingly replays the same two hours over and over but it shows how minor changes at the beginning result in huge changes in the end.

Can't believe I forgot that one. Good stuff

Also take a look at Eisenstein's (sp?) old Stalin-era movies. Ivan Nevsky is damn good in a Stalinist kind of way. Way ahead of its time in cinematography.

[joncha]

Old Boy was great

[Bosh]

Another Korean one is Silmido (about a special forces unit of the Korean army that was trained to assassinate Kim Il Sung in and then mutinied (true story). The Korean movie industry has made some amazing strides in the past decade and it can really compete well with Hollywood stuff.

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

British ones-

The Wicker Man
Get Carter (not the Stallone remake....)
Don't look now
Walkabout


French-

Au revoir les enfants
Les Diaboliques
A bout de souffle
La belle et le bete
Orphee
Betty Blue

Spanish

Sex and Lucia
Matador
Jamon jamon

Japanese

Ai no Corrida
Ran
The seven samurai


Chinese

Raise the red lantern

Swedish

My life as a dog
Lilya 4-ever

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Forgot another classic.

Brazil-

Pixote

[Monk]

Some Scandinavian input:

From Denmark I'd recommend The Celebration, if you can get hold of it. One of the most well-known Danish films, it was the first one made according to Dogme 95 rules that, among other things, required all cameras to be hand-held and banned the use of special sound editing and artificial lighting. The intent was getting movies back to basics, so to say, and it works remarkably well.

The storyline is simple, yet effective: At the birthday celebration of the patriarch of a rich, conservative family, his good son stands up and delivers a speech revealing he was actually a victim of incest throughout his childhood. The movie after that deals with the reactions to the surprise and how 'respectable' people try to continue the lie and let the show go on at all costs. It does sound like a sad thing to sit through, I know, but actually it has its lighter moments, and the movie as a whole is probably not as depressing as all this may suggest.

Oh, and although I should point out I'm not a cutesy teen-movie fanatic, I can't help but think about that adorable Swedish flick ****ing Åmål - conveniently the international title is the watered-down 'Show me love'. Basically it's about two confused girls who develop feelings for each other - and while it was probably not really meant for mature, manly men such as us, it's a really charming (and occasionally heart-breakingly gruesome) portrayal of teenage life in a good-for-nothing rural town.

The reason I'm recommending these ones is that they're examples of movies with controversial content that nevertheless managed to become successes (in Scandinavia at least), in turn suggesting that going solely for harmless themes is not an absolute necessity for a movie to become popular.

[monkspider]

Japan
Battle Royale
The Seven Samurai
Ran
Godzilla: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack
Full Metal Yakuza
Grave of the Fireflies (Anime, but damn if it's not depressing movie I have ever watched)

Korea
My Wife is A Gangster- A crazy comedy
2009: Lost Memories- Cool flick. Set in an alternate universe where Japan won WW II and Korea remained under Japanese rule. Story follows a grassroots indepence group.
My Sassy Girl- Very funny over-the-top Korean romantic comedy.
Taegukgi- Cool flick about two families divided during the Korean war.
Silmido- A true tale of convicts trained to infiltrate the communist North and assassinate its leader

China
Fat Choi Spirit
A Chinese Ghost Story
Once Upon a Time in China
Bride with White Hair
Expect the Unexpected- A personal favorite, pretty quirky.
Chungking Express
A Touch of Zen

Italy
8 1/2

France
Amelie

As an aside, Korea is where the film scene is at these days. It is currently experiencing what commentators are calling a film"renaissance", lots of Asian film festivals are being moved there because of it's rising status as the capitol of Asian film. Hong Kong, on the other hand, has been in a bit of a drought from what I hear.

It should also be noted that Hong Kong movies are very cheap. They can generally be had for about $8.00 or cheaper, including DVDs of Korean or Japanese flicks. Here are a couple sites I would recemend.

http://www.dddhouse.com/dddhouse/en/index.jsp

This site has a "weekly cheap sale" where everything is like 4 US dollars. You can go crazy and experiment on a lot of stuff

http://us.yesasia.com/en/index.aspx

Yes-Asia is probably the best overall site for ordering Asian movies.

http://www.koreandvds.com/

Another good overall site.

[Locutus]

Some recent ones:

Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (aka Amélie; The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain) -- France, 2001
Amélie, an innocent and naive girl in Paris, with her own sense of justice, decides to help those around her and along the way, discovers love. Slightly weird, but in a good way.

Siu Lam Juk Kau (aka Shaolin Soccer) -- Honk Kong, 2001
A young Shaolin follower reunites with his discouraged brothers to form a soccer team using their martial art skills to their advantage. Bizarre, but hilarious (no, you don't have to be a soccer fan to enjoy this).

Wo Hu Cang Long (aka Chrouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) -- China, 2000
Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are lead to an impetuous, physically-skilled, teenage nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life. Brilliant fight scenes, even better story.



Dutch movies used to be utter ****e. However, things have changed radically in the last few years and some great movies have been released, especially this year. The following movies are currently still in theaters in the Netherlands so you might not able to get a hold of them yet, but you should definitely look out for them in the future:

De Dominee (aka The Preacher) -- Netherlands, 2004
In the world of the drugs business - where it's is all about money - friendship and loyalty is most important. Based on the true story of the Dutch godfather of crime, Klaas Bruinsma. (In fact, the first version of this movie was so realistic (read: incriminating) that the Dutch maffia had a little 'chat' with the director and convinced him to make some changes to the script ) This is one of the best maffia movies I've ever seen, it's right up there with classics such as the Godfather series and Goodfellas. (If you'd told me 3 years ago I'd ever say that about a Dutch movie I'd probably have punched you in the face for insulting my intelligence...)

Simon -- Netherlands, 2004
Story of an improbable friendship between the straight drugdealer Simon and the gay dentist Camiel. After having lost contact due to an argument, they meet again after 14 years. Then it turns out Simon is terminally ill. Absolutely brilliant comedy/drama that deals with the Dutch attitude towards drugs, gay marriage, euthanasia, etc. Must-see for both movie lovers and those who want to know more about Dutch morality (beyond the cliches). This year's Dutch candidate for Oscar nomination (though with such progressive themes it's doubtful it'll be received very well).

[monkspider]

Originally posted by Boshko
Korean:
Taegukgi (kind of a Saving Private Ryan in the Korean War, good stuff)
Old Boy (really really disturbing, good stuff. I can't believe it came in second to F9/11 at Cannes its vastly superior)
Sassy Girl (haven't got a chance to see it yet, but its supposed to be great)
Chingu (most popular Korean movie, its about 4 friends 2 of whom end up becoming gangsters. I thought it was badly in need of some good editing but a lot of people like it)

Japan
Battle Royale (middle school student butcher each other, the glorius source of my current avatar)

Hey, great choices.

[dannubis]

Crouching tiger, hidden dragon (much better than the matrix)

for an italian ww2 drama (and quite frankly one of the best holocaust movies i've ever seen)

la vita e bella

[Hueij]

Italian:

Una Giornata Particulare
Cinema Paradiso