Good foreign (not US) films?

As part of my effort to regain the lingo I have lost over the years, I've been watching a lot of French films and TV lately.

Many foreign films are shorter, for some reason. Two I saw recently that were cool, 'Calvaire', and, 'Baise Moi'.

 

I love German films, my recent favorite, hell, it's going to stay as a favorite for a long time:

Downfall. It's basically the last 3 weeks of Hitler in his bunker. It's done so incredibly well, and not to mention, it has one of the most BONECHILLING scenes I have EVER seen in this movie... and that's saying a lot. If you think Requiem for a Dream had a sick scene... you ain't seen nothin' yet. It makes me almost throw up everytime. It's not graphically sick, it's the concept that makes it so horrible.

Goodbye, Lenin is pretty funny. Basically it takes place right before and after the fall of the Berlin wall. And this guy's mother was like so "FOR THE FATHERLAND" and what not. And she goes in a coma, and when she wakes up, her whole world is changed, and now it's democratic. So in order to not shock her into another coma, they have to preserve the communist state in their apartment. It's pretty funny

Fuhrer Ex: This is basically American History X, but made by German's in Germany. So the plot was kind of predictable since I've seen American History X, but it is still very good, and has some great scenes. It's not the same story as American History X, but if you see it, you'll understand. HIghly recommended.

Now for my favorite Japanese movie:

Kikujiro. Writen/Directed/Starring Takeshi Kitano, so if you're familiar with his works (I'm not really) I hear it's one of his masterpieces, so you might enjoy this. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and the soundtrack is so catchy! I hum it for weeks after watching this movie. It's a coming of age story, that zany, sad, happy... every emotion, this movie has. It's a very good movie.

 

"Millions" is a good british movie.

 

City of God's pretty good...

 

I forgot about that. Yes, that is a great film.

And I forgot all about Japanese cinema; Asian extreme is a favourite of mine, too - D'oh! - as is Italian horror.

I like it extremely dark, though, so I'm not going to recommend any unless I'm asked, cos they are very, very sick. Apart from the original, 'Ring', of course. That's a cool film. And Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci make some of the best Italian stuff. 'Profondo Rosso' is great, as is, 'Trauma', and, 'The Beyond'.

 

The darker the movie, the better imo, so please list away.

However, I don't watch any horror... so if you know really dark drama's, I'm there!!!!

 

Mostly horror, I'm afraid.

There have been some good thrillers etc on TV here in recent years, notably a show called, 'Messiah'; a feature-length cop drama about sadistic murder cases.

 

La Buena vida, or also known as The Good Life, is a really good french film.

 

I love that movie! its awesome...

one of my favourite movies is a french movie..its pretty old now...called
Amelie - its a great movie..a little strange..it has subtitles if u dont speak french...haha but its a brilliant movie i love it!

 

City of God is an incredible movie. I believe its a Brazilian flick cause its all in Portugese and its all sub-titled. Its in my top 10 fav movies. Its a must watch for those who like foreign films...its mostly about drugs too.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479647/

Haha.

Only Canadians will understand the jokes in this movie.

 

I saw 'Baise Moi' a while back and its really strange if you haven't seen anything like it. I just watched calvaire last night actually while i was high and it hit me pretty hard. The thing that made it so terrifying was the psychological and physical torture the main character experienced, as it seemed quite possible. calvaire is strange and dark but i reccommend it for anyone seeking such a film.

 

I can't believe no one has mentioned perhaps the greatest foreign film ever made: The Seven Samurai.

Besides that, we have films like The Rules of the Game, City of God, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Downfall (Der Untergang), Ghandi, Lawrence of Arabia, Oldboy, Ichi the Killer, Hardboiled...

Sorry if that's a long list, I'm somewhat of a film buff.

Here's a good resource to get started: BAM
It's a list of all the Academy Awards given out for Best Foreign Language Films.

 

goodbye lenin was good. i would recommend it.


y tu mama tambien is a great movie. it's in spanish, but it's just an incredible film.

 

Layer Cake!!

movie kicks ass

 

Layer Cake is decent, about dealing ecstasy but isn't it US made? Goodbye, Lenin was ok in my opinion, not too great.

CITY OF GOD, you must watch this movie, it kicks ass.
KIKUJIRO, another awesome movie, drama/comedy but a good watch.
BATTLE ROYALE, cool concept, a little unrealistic at times but it's an original film.
SWEET SIXTEEN, about a boy who turns 16 and has some problems, good watch.
SEX IS ZERO, funny korean movie about sex in college.
FRIEND, a korean gangster movie about 4 friends and how they grow up, awesome movie.
A BITTERSWEET LIFE, another korean movie, pretty good watch.
ICHI THE KILLER, a Takashi Miike film, pretty crazy movie if you want to see something different.
HOWLS MOVING CASTLE, an animation movie by Studi Ghibli, awesome movie.
OLD BOY, another original film, a good watch.

Can't think of any more, but I'd definitly say there are a lot more better indie/foreign films out there than US films, especially now. I've watched sooo many different movies that I hardly even remember watching it unless I see the title again at some other point lol