Non-english movies.

[Psionicist]

Almost everything we watch on TV is English. Think about it, out of all the movies you have seen, how many of them were -not- English? Probably not that many. There are many great non-english movies made but unfortunately most of them are unknown to the larger masses. Let's change that.

Here are a couple of recommendations. Please add foregin movies to this list.

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Cidade de Deus ("City of God") -- http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0317248/

Cidade de Deus (City of God) is a housing project built in the 1960's that--in the early 80's--became one of the most dangerous places in Rio de Janeiro. The tale tells the stories of many characters whose lives sometimes intersect. However, all is seen through the eyes of a singular narrator: Busca-Pé, a poor black youth too frail and scared to become an outlaw but also to smart to be content with underpaid, menial jobs. He grows up in a very violent environment. The odds are all against him. But Busca-Pé soon discovers that he can see reality differently than others. His redemption is that he's been given an artist's point of view as a keen-eyed photographer. As Busca-Pé is not the real protagonist of the film--only the narrator--he is not the one who makes the decisions that will determine the sequence of events. Nevertheless, not only his life is attached to what happens in the story, but it is also through Busca-Pé's perspective of life that one can understand the complicated layers and humanity of a world, apparently condemned to endless violence.

This is one of those stories that you are drawn into from the start. You are not watching a movie, you are there. The cinematography is really clever, all the short related stories describing different characters and aspects of the city are nicely tied together into a whole.

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Ying xiong ("Hero") -- http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0299977/

In ancient China, before the reign of the first emperor, warring factions throughout the Six Kingdoms plot to assassinate the most powerful ruler, Qin. When a minor official defeats Qin's three principal enemies, he is summoned to the palace to tell Qin the story of his surprising victory.

This is, probably, the most beautiful movie I have ever seen, it's a work of art. The colors, the filming, the scenography, the environment... It is as close to perfect as a movie can be, technically.

If you only look at the story, then sure, there are better movies than this.

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Irreversible -- http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0290673/

When a woman is raped by a stranger, her friend and ex-husband decide to take justice into their own hands.

Because of a ten minute rape scene, this move is probably one o f the most controversial movies ever made, save "Faces of Death" and the kind. It is not horrible, but it has two quite disturbing scenes (think "Requiem for a Dream"). I think this is a great movie because it makes you so incredibly uncomfortable (the camera techniques, the environment, the dialogue etc), you don't want to see this but you can't stop watching.

In other words: Really cool, and emotional.

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Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle - Kaspar Hauser ("Enigma of Kaspar Hauser, The") -- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071691/

Herzog's film is based upon the true and mysterious story of Kaspar Hauser, a young man who suddenly appeared in Nuremberg in 1828, barely able to speak or walk, and bearing a strange note; he later explained that he had been held captive in a dungeon of some sort for his entire life that he could remember, and had only just been released, for reasons unknown. His benefactor attempts to integrate him into society, with intriguing results.

Kraftwerk - The Robots.

Seriously, this is quite a good movie. If you like K-Pax, I think you will like this one.

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Please comment, add etc.

 

[mojo1701]

I've seen a few newer Polish movies. I'll see which ones I can find. I doubt many of them are on IMDb.

 

[Mirth]

I'll give more thought to this later but the first film I thought of off the top of my head was Dobermann with Vincent Cassel & Monica Bellucci. It's like Reservoir Dogs directed John Woo with cinematography & weird humor by Luc Besson and/or Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

 

[diaglo]

the spaghetti westerns with Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Clyf always come to mind for me.

also Il Postino won an Academy Award

there are plenty of non-English movies out there that are very good.

i watch ton(ne)s of them.

 

[Starman]

You can't go wrong with any of Akira Kurosawa's films, of course. I would also highly recommend John Woo's Hard-Boiled and The Killer. Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal featuring a very young Max von Sydow was excellent. Brotherhood of the Wolf is a fine choice and there was a thread recently talking about it. That's all I can think of off the top of my head. I know there are many I'm not remembering right now.

Starman

 

[Crothian]

City of Lost Children

Excellent foreign film

 

[diaglo]

also don't forget

Life is Beautiful - another non-English speaking movie that won an Academy Award.

 

[Wrath of the Swarm]

"Amelie", also known as "The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain".

Wonderfully imaginative story, memorable characters, glorious filming. Also French. Warning: somewhat mature themes at times.

"101 Reykjavik". Warning: massively massive mature themes. Weirdly sympathetic main character, amusing circumstances.

 

[Sherlock]

Aleksandr Nevsky, 1938

An intentionally epic retelling of the pivotal 13th Century conflict between Russia and the Teutonic knights, Aleksandr Nevsky is rich in propaganda. Set in the difficult year of 1242, Russia is beset by invaders on all sides. In the East the Mongol hordes are making great inroads into the motherland, being only temporarily held in check with bribes. From the West the religious order of the Teutonic knights is cutting a swathe through the countryside, barely breaking stride as city after city falls. Coming together in a type of pincer fashion, only Novgorod is left free after Pskov falls to the enemy.

Held in high regard by audiences world-wide for its climatic battle, which takes up half the running time, Aleksandr Nevsky is a film of extremes. Put together in the immediate pre-war era, Sergei Eisenstein found himself in a delicate waltz of compromise with Stalin. In return for directing a potent but straightforward story, one that would open the eyes of the population to the German menace, Eisenstein was allowed access to numerous rewards. Firstly, since his career was on the decline, this production gave Eisenstein a definite winner; with Stalin's weight behind it the movie could hardly fail. Secondly, free access was provided to Soviet Army troops during filming, proving invaluable to the creation of realistic hand-to-hand combat. Thirdly, Prokofiev was eager to work with Eisenstein, beginning a lengthy and fruitful collaboration between the two. Eisenstein's masterstroke was to choose a tale of the Medieval era; Aleksandr Nevsky is not obviously a cry of caution against Hitler, yet the signs are there for those who look.

Loved this movie. Great battle scenes!


The Tin Drum, 1979

1924. Oskar Matzerath, a precocious child, is born in the "Free City" of Danzig. The boy's third birthday leads to serious consequences: he stops growing in protest to the nature of the world around him. Henceforth, he looks at the adults from the optical perspective of a child and finds them to be nothing but a huge monstrosity reaching its political climax in national socialism and the second world war. Oskar is given a small metal drum on his birthday and drums out his protest against the world. His rhythmic drumming even throws Nazi marches into confusion. Before long, he discovers that he can shatter glass with his screaming and uses it as another weapon in his child's rebellion. He personally lives out the entire chaos in the world and only ends his boycott on growth when the Germans are defeated and banished from Danzig at the end of the war.

Strangely interesting movie.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

I've seen a few newer Polish movies. I'll see which ones I can find. I doubt many of them are on IMDb.

Give it a try. If the IMDB has "Ingeborg Holm" (Sweden, 1913), which it does, then I'd wager that contemporary Polish cinema is in there.

Anyway, here are some of my favorite non-English movies:

Central Station ("Central do Brasil"), 1998
Ozu's Tokyo Story ("Tokyo monogatari") 1953
Kurosawa's Seven Samurai ("Shichinin no samurai"), 1954
Diva, 1981
La Cage Aux Folles, 1978
Bergman's The Seventh Seal ("Det Sjunde inseglet"),1957
Kurosawa's Ran