Foreign Films?

Well i'm not sure if you mean Foreign LGBT films, if you do, then I don't really watch them, because I don't really watch any LGBT films anyway.

But if you mean Foreign films in general, then I love them.

El Mariachi by Robert Rodriguez is basically the film that inspired me to want to be in the film industry. It was his first feature film that he made with $7000 (it's really a bit more after post-production but basically it was $7000). He was originally going to market it to the Spanish Direct-to-Video Market but it won many awards in film festivals and such that it thrust Rodriguez into stardom It was filmed in Mexico, and it's in Spanish. Although especially with this movie (I say this with almost every foreign film I watch), I could've sworn watching it in English, although I know there is no dub of it, and I usually hate watching English dubs. I much prefer the original language with subtitles.

Other Foreign Films (Non-English Speaking Films I'll keep to, since there are too many British and Australian films I love):

Life is Beautiful (Italian)
Pan's Labyrinth (Spanish)
Haute Tension (It's an okay movie really =/) (French)
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Random Crazy Japanese films
a lot of others I'm having a hard time thinking about.

 

There are so many good non-english language films. I probably like Japanese and French movies the most.

Japanese include Afterlife, Tampopo, Departures (just won the Oscar), Zatoichi.

There's so many good french language films. Specifically for LGBT there are films like C.R.A.Z.Y., Presque Rien/Come Undone, Ma Vie En Rose, Wild Reeds, Just a Question of Love.

C.R.A.Z.Y. is from Quebec and is my favorite gay-related movie.

 

Zatoichi! Yes! Especially old Japanese films, like with samurai and stuff. So very amazing. Rashoman, etc. also, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Sonny Chiba, Bruce Lee, well any kung fu films that aren't originally English speaking are usually awesome too!

 

I love foreign film's then again I love anything to do with cinema I have seen quite a few Japanese films like Seven Samurai which I really enjoyed but when it come's to my kind of foreign film I prefer Spanish/Latino film's

The last foreign film I watched was Volver which is Spanish I won't go into alot of detail but it's about two sister's who's parent's die in a fire and as the film go's on we learn the event's of that night. It's a really good film

 

I cant find C.R.A.Z.Y with subtitles or i would watch it Ive only heard good things!

Apparently "Burnt Money" is AMAZING. Its on logo's website for free with subtitles so ill watch it soon. Its some movie about two gay bank robbers i think? Supposed to be hot.

 

I really enjoy foreign films (some, but not all, with LGBT themes because, well, for a while that's how I found my movies ).

Mandragora (Czech Republic) is a movie about a teenage male prostitute in Prague and his "friends" and struggles. (Pretty) graphic, depressing, but I found it fascinating. (It's not a documentary but the fiction is based on reality.)

Glue (Argentina, despite its name) is a teen angst/summer movie based in rural Argentina. It's sexy, beautiful and interesting.

Ciao Bella (Sweden, against despite its name!) is a more mainstream coming of age movie. The protagonist is a shy boy from an Arab family that immigrated to Sweden. Alert: some very sexy Swedish girls and very hot Italian boys in this movie.

Mannen Som Elsket Yngve (Norway) is, again, a kind of coming of age movie, but it's a colder movie (metal band, bad economic times, etc.).

In the area of gay classics, I will of course mention C.R.A.Z.Y. (Quebec represent!) and Summer storm (Germany, as we know).

 

A few of my favorites are listed below:

Mostly Martha (German): The American remake (No Reservations) is a lot worse than the original version, which is really good. It's about a very stubborn, somewhat controlling head chef of a restaurant who must learn to deal with changes around her, such as a new Italian chef in her restaurant kitchen, the death of her sister, taking care of her niece, and locating her niece's father in Italy. I like it because I'm continuing to learn German, but I think it also stands on its own as an equally funny and mature movie.

The Country Teacher (Czech): An LGBT foreign film! A teacher from the city goes to teach children in the countryside. Secretly homosexual, he lives modestly in a house with an old woman, befriends an old woman and single mother who runs a farm with her teenage son. The teacher begins to develop feelings for the teenage son, who is straight. Most of the characters feel alienation, usually brought on by their own actions. This movie has a lot of ambitious ideas (they filmed the birthing of a calf!), but I like it for three reasons. 1) Has to do with homosexuality 2) The imagery of nature is so beautiful, like when he falls asleep on a haystack, or when they climb a cherry tree. 3) This may sounds stupid, but I'm a quarter Slovak, and so a lot of the actors remind me of my family members; I could recognize noses as my own.

Amelie (French): Starring Audrey Tautou from The Da Vinci Code, this is a really visually stunning movie. Every shot looks like a painting. A whimsical romance movie about a very shy girl who decides to commit small anonymous acts of kindness for people around her, Amelie soon must confront her shyness to pursue a relationship with Nino, a fellow dreamer.

 

The Bubble - Israeli/Palestinian gay romance/comedy/tragedy.

 

I'm a big Almodovar fan, so I would recommend almost anything by him. But perhaps:

Habla con Ella- story of a man who falls in love with a female bull fighter. She has an accident and falls into a coma. At the hospital he meets a male nurse who attends to a young woman also in a coma. The two men start a frendship and talk about their women. The film is very beautiful, and you get to see how the young girl came to be in a coma, and how her nurse fell in love with her.


Todo sobre mi madre as you can see by the title inspired a bit on All about Eve (if you haven't seen this movie, go, run, and watch it!!). This movie won the Oscar for best foreign movie, if memory doesn't fail me. A tale of a mother that has kept her son in the dark to whom his father was. She decides to tell him on the night of his 18th birthday. Unfornatetly he boy has an accident and dies. The woman saerches for the father of the her son to tell him that he's dead. In that journey she encounters a lot of people from her past.

La mala educacíon Ok.. Very shocking movie because it's about sexual abuse. On the other hand it's also about murder, and the very innocent relationship between two school boys who feel in love with eachother. A must watch, since it features Gael Garcia Bernal, which in my book is good enough of a reason.. First time I watched it, I didn't even noticed if they talked at all in the movie, i was so mesmerized by Gael :icon_redf So watch it a second time and this time, pay attention to the story :icon_bigg

Tacones lejanos Today a classic, is also a must see. A woman kills her husband, but nothing is that simple in the Almodovar universe... Watch it.

Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios My favourite!! One of the famous Almodovar women films, loaded with excelent actresses like Carmen Maura. You can also see a very young, geeky Antonio Banderas!!
Story of a man who's married, has a mistress but left her, and has a new mistress!! the action centers around Pepa (Carmen Maura), who wants explanations why they broke up! She spends about 48 hours chasing this man for answers, but in that time she gets to know more about this man than he ever told her. The movie is hilarious, sad, absurd, everything! Very well done!!!!!

La Ley del Deseo Another gay themed by Almodovar. It's a crime story, with loads of layers. You must consider that this was made in the mid 80's, in Spain, and that the nudity scenes are very well aheadof their time. Features Antonio Banderas as an obsessive stalker/lover to a film maker. Trouble is, the film maker is in love with someone else. Antonio Bandera's character doesn't take it very well.


France

Here's a country with beautiful movies! Lately i've been watching stuff by Truffaut. I would highly recommend one of his best Jules et Jim. If you watch Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain you'll see little scenes of this movie!!

Jules et Jim tells the story of two close friends in the beginning of the 20th century. Everything is fine until a girl comes in between the friends. What starts like a nice friendship soon becomes a love triangle. Beautiful movie, great story, great detail, great actors!! A masterpiece!

Le dînner de cons based on a play. It's very funny, the first time I watched it, my stomach hurt from so much laughing! A very simple concept: a group of friends have a very unusual pass time. Every now and then they get together for a dinner. To that dinner every one of them will bring a guest. This guest has no idea why he has been invited for dinner. So, the hosts will let the guests talk, and after they left decide who was the dumbest of then all. They have a little competion going on, and even talk about having a "champion" of idiocy. We get to follow one of the men and his idiot. Hilarious!!!

À la folie... pas de tout features Audrey Tautou! Some call it the dark side of "Amélie", I call it a very well made film. You get to see the same story from two different points of view, and boy are you in for a surprise!!! Watch a doctor have an affair with a younger girl, while his wife is pregnant. But is this really what is going on? Watch it and found out!!

Delicatessen is an older movie by the same director of «Amélie». You don't know very well when all the action is taking place, could be any time of need. Food is scarce and there's a black market of meat, a revolutionary vegan group who lives underground, and a lot of strange things going on in this particular building..
The music is amazing, the actors too, and the story is creepy and funny.

La Reine Margot based on the Alexander Dumas book. It's a movie about a certain period in France's History.
While the country is devasted by wars between catholics and propestants, the royal family tries to set an example of union by marrying princess Marguerite de Valois to the King of Navarre, who's a protestant. This union brought very little peace, in fact it was during their weeding night that the terrible Massacre of St.Bartholomew took place. The intrigue in the parisien court is almost palpable. Virna Lisi who plays Catherine di Medici won an award for her portrait of the power driven queen. Isabelle Adjani is a dream to look at, almost every scene she's in is a painting.

Les Choristes a very touching movie about a teacher that wants to make a difference. It's set in France, after the Second World War, in a correction home for troubled children, although most seem to be left there because the parents just could afford them. This teacher starts to make something out of these kids, by teaching them music and how to sing, at the same time he gives them the father figure most didn't have, and he also teaches them about life.The music is astoundingly beautiful. The movie will move you to tears. The tenderness and humanity of the movie is its all.
It was nominated for best foreign film by the Academy and won two Cesars in France.

Swimming Pool i think this is a co-prodution between the Uk and France... anyways, most of the movie is in French. A crime writer novelist is having a writer's block, and she is invited by her publisher to take a few days off in his villa in the south of France. Wanting to be alone, so that she can write, she's really looking forward to the little vacation time. But as soon as she settles in, the daughter of the publisher appears out of nowhere, and her world is turned upside down. Another movie with a twist very good, highly recommended by me ::icon_cool

8 Femmes[/] eight women in a house, cut out from the outside world and a corpse in the house. Who killed the guy?
The dresses are to die for!! Set in the 50's, it features a luxury cast:
Catherine Deneuve
Isabelle Huppert
Fanny Ardant
Virginie Ledoyen
Luduvine Sagnier (who's also in «Swimming Pool»)




Italy

La Stanza del Figlio a Nanni Moretti movie, although almost any of them are worth watching! It's a very brutal movie about a very normal family, which gets along very well. The mother works in publishing, the father is a psychoanalyst, both kids are very atheletic and get along with the parents.
But tragedy stricks the family as the son dies in a diving accident. You get to see how a family works the mourning of the young man. The various reactions to this devastating death.


Ieri, Oggi & Domani It's a classic!! It's by Vittorio de Sicca one of the best directors in post-war Italy. It features Sophia Loren and Marcello Mastroianni. The movie is actually three movies- Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow.
I personally like the first story the best- Adelina in Napoli.


Sweden

Both movie i'm about to suggest are by the same director- Lukas Moodysson.
The first one, is called Fucking Amal and it's a coming-of-age movie. A very solitary girl is in love with another girl. Watch as their discover themselves and defy the world.

Lilya 4ever is a very strong movie. It's like beeing punched in the stomach several times, and when you think you have enough it's time to cry. Watch it with a pack of hankies nearby because you'll need them.
Story of Lilya, a 16 year old in a god forsaken city in the ex-URSS. Her mother has a new boyfriend that wants to take her to the US. The mother leaves with the boyfriend, leaving Lilya behind, promissing she'll ask for her when she's settled etc. That never happens. lilya is forced out of her hoe by a bastard of an aunt who squats the palce for herself, and puts Lilya in a shit hole of a place. Lilya has a best friend, a younger boy called Volodya. Together they take care of each other and try to survive. Soon though, Lilya falls in love with a guy called Andrei, who also promisses her a better life in Sweden.
Or is it?


Germany

Someone already mention Goodbye Lenin!, but itn's never too much to say it again: very worthy movie to watch.
In the same lines, so about the ex-DDR, you can also go with:

Das Leben der Anderen Won best foreigner movie at the Oscars in 2007(?).
The action takes place in the 1980's in East Berlin, where a playwriter is being spied by the Stasi- the political police of the DDR. His girlfriend is being controled by the Stasi to inform on the man. The man of the secret police who's watching and listening on everything the playwriter does, ends up saving his life. Years later, the playwriter has access to the Stasi archives and reads his own file.

Sonnenallee a coming-of-age movie. Basically what meant to be young in East Berlin. How did people felt in love, survived. A comedy with a light heart.


Argentina

I wish i knew more movies to suggest.. But this one is a very good one. Especially if you watch it in this summer weather of stuffy days where the air pressure is almost unbarable- that's just the perfect setting for this movie! :lol: It's called La Ciénega or The Swamp and it features a large family who´s vacatining in a very large house in the middle of the jungle (?). You'll get an absent father, a drunk mother, a faithful maid, a daughter that is in love with the maid, another daughter who's in love with her own brother, african rats the size of large dogs... you take your pick!!


Portugal

Also wish i had more to tell you, but most of the worth seeing movies were done back in the 30's and 40's, and from there on it was down the drain. I'll talk about two somewhat recent movies that really are a rare exception in ther bleak universe of portuguese movies.

First one is called Noite Escura- a very rough in-your-face movie about life in the underground business of the night. A couple owns a strip/brothel and they are being forced to go into business with the russian mob. In the end, they get out of the situation by 'selling' their own daughter to the mob, so that she can be exploited in Spain in a brothel. The coldness of the characters and their twisted minds sell the movie. Also, the movie is almost claustrophobic, as most of it is set inside the club. Really good movie!!

Alice is a very different movie from the previous. A couple lives happily with their 3 old daughter, until the day the little girl disappears. Both parents become obsessed with finding her, especially the father, and you get to see their journey in trying to cope with the situation. In the end their daughter is nearer than they ever dreamt!
Touching, raw, but not over the top dramatic. it feels real and the actors are really good.

***

This took me more than two hours to write!!! Phew!! Hope it can help to give people ideas to watch new movies

 

La mala educacíon is a fantastic film!!!

 

While I'm on here, it's not a gay orientated film but it's amazing none the less. A film called Noce Blanche [White Wedding.] A teacher of philosophy discovers a complicated pupil, a seventeen year old girl with a quite cynical and lucid view of the world. He gets involved in helping her to follow the routine of the study, but soon he is fascinated by her and they fall passionately in love. When the teacher confronts their affair with reality he decides upon staying with his wife. But the girl will not accept it.

Vanessa Paradis is such an underrated actress. She should so be more recognized as an actress rather than just 'Johnny Depp's girlfriend.'

Proving case and point I also recommend checking out Elisa and Girl on the Bridge. French movies RULE.

 

Hmm, for me all English-speaking movies are foreign as well. But for the sake of this thread, I’ll assume I’m part of the Anglo-Saxon world.

Lots of good films have already been presented. In fact, most of what I first would have thought of has.

Some others you might want to check out are:

German: I’d like to explicitly mention Goodbye Lenin and Das Leben der Anderen (The lives of others) again.

Lola Rennt: In English known as “Run, Lola, Run”, this movie chronicles the day of Lola, who finds out her boyfriend is in a life-or-death situation, and she needs to run to help him. It’s basically the same movie three times, played out from a minute difference at the start, and seeing the huge implications one or two seconds of delay can make. As the day diverges in each scenario, we also get to see snapshots of how the lives of others utterly change depending on whether they bumped into Lola or not.
You’ll definitely need at least two viewings. The speed at which the movie proceeds is gruellingly fast, so you’ll miss a lot if you don’t know wh

Der Untergang: “Downfall”, in English. A recounting of Hitler’s final days before the fall of Berlin, based on memories of his secretary (in fact, there is a documentary that consists of the interview with his secretary, and which is a compelling film in its own right). Good acting, and it’s baffling to see how some in the German command reacted while their world came crashing down. I remember this being extremely controversial at the time, because it showed Hitler as an old, broken man. My school forbade viewing it because it would make us sympathise with Hitler. (There was no surer way of making us all see it, of course )

I like German cinema all-round. But most of the older movies aren’t for everyone. A lot of the more interesting ones (IMO) are all silent movies. If you like that, my personal favourites are the original “Dr Mabuse” movies (arguably the source of the “evil mastermind” concept), and the “Nibelungen” movies. And the timeless “Metropolis”! (all by Fritz Lang). And “Nosferatu”, by Murnau (though it’s hard to find, and there are several versions of that one around)

Chinese: I’m not a big Chinese movie buff. But the only two Chinese movies that are in my collection, and which I like are:

Hero: The story of the unification of China by Quin Shi Huangdi, the first emperor. A nameless assassin confronts the would-be emperor. To get close, he offers him proof that he has killed the emperor’s enemies. As he recounts the physical battles, he also engages the emperor in a battle of wits. Nice use of colour, and some awesome fighting scenes.

House of Flying Daggers: An order of assassins (these Chinese sure like assassins as a storytelling tool ) threatens the stability of the realm. After catching one of the assassins (a blind girl), the police allow her to escape, sending an undercover agent to infiltrate the order while pretending to help the girl. Obviously they fall in love. But as the story goes on the plot thickens, and who exactly is good or bad becomes more muddled. As in Hero, nice fighting, and good use of colours.


Not a big fan of French movies, myself. Most of the ones I like have already been mentioned.
That’s all that I can think of right off the bat, but if I remember new ones, I’ll post again.

 

Hello I'm with you on that one. I had a Frizt Lang phase a few months ago, and watched all I could find by the man. «Metropolis» is just one of the movies of my life! I really love the message of the film, even though it's a tad utopic, but beautiful just the same. Also a pity that it's missing so many scenes- i own a restored version, with the original soundtrack like it was played on the original.

 

Kudos to La Ciénaga! One of my favourite Argentine films.

I totally dig Lars von Trier's films, especially "Dancer in the Dark", "Dogville", "Breaking the Waves" and "Epidemic". Right, they speak English in most of them, but they are shot in Europe (and the director is Danish). Even though I was never quite fond of the Dogme stuff, I also loved "The Celebration" which is allegedly the first one to follow the set of rules. The story about a man who, right in the middle of his father's 60th birthday party, accuses his him of raping him and his sister is very well developed, and the eerie photography and camera work adds a lot to the film.

Asian horror films are interesting too. I liked "Three... Extremes", which consists of three amazing short films (the one liked the most is '"Box"). "Battle Royale" was great too.

Italian movies that come to mind: "Ladri di Biciclette" (or "The Bicycle Thief"), humorous and heartbreaking at the same time. "Teorema" by Pasolini is fascinating, it deals with topics such as the bourgeoisie and (homo) sexuality in a very profound way.

And probably many more, but I wants to have lunch :lol:.

 

oh! I forgot to add City of God from Brazil which is AMAZING but somewhat disturbing and sad to watch.

And on the "Fucked Up Movies" Note, Irreversible from France, which is possibly one of the most screwed up, depressing movies I've seen. It's very good though. Very Very Good.

Mysterons mentioned The Bicycle Thief, which is a GREAT film, we watched it in my film history class. Italy also makes some amazing movies, like with filmmakers like Fulci, and Dario Argento, and so on. Great stuff

 

Perseoplis and Bread and Tulips are two incredible movies.

 

Oh, I remembered another one! It's a psychological thriller called Das Experiment (Germany). It's loosely based on the real "Stanford experiment", in which a bunch of test subjects pretend to be prison guards, and the other group pretends to be prisoners. Only the experiment doesn't turn out as well as it should... Freaky and so good!

Yes, it's an excellent film! In French it's called Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain.

OMG, yes. It's one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen. Twice I just pressed MUTE, unable to endure the sound. Very innovative (though the reverse chronology is apprently a lot like Memento) and well-made.