Foreign Film Classics
 

In another thread about film I read:

And it got me thinking about what are the foreign film classics?

A few pics off the top of my head:

"A Knife in the Water" & "Repulsion"- both Polanski
"Fanny & Alexander" and "Seventh Seal" - Both Bergman
"Cabinet of Dr. Caligari"
Tres Colours trilogy - "Red" "White" & "Blue" - Kieslowski
"A Bout de Souffle" - Goddard
"Blowup" - Antonioni

I could go on and on, but I want to hear other choices. I'll come back laer with more after I hit my head and can't believe I didn't think of that one. ;)

I. Don't. Like. Subtitles.


Sorry, but it takes me out of the film soooo completely, that foreign films are practically off-limits to me.


I watch the Miyazaki movies happily dubbed by Disney.


I don't give a fig about hearing the original language. I must hear and COMPREHEND the dialogue without resorting to reading it.

Kurosawa, Hidden Fortress comes to mind.

Les Diaboliques
Delicatessen
Le Retour de Martin Guerre
The Cook, the Thief, his Wife, & her Lover
Jean de Florette
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg

I honestly forget I'm reading subtitles after about five minutes. For that reason it can be distracting to me to watch German or Russian films because I remember just enough of the language that it distracts me from the subtitles.

I love
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (France). Amores Perros (Mexico)
The Wages of Fear - Le Salaire de la Peur (France)
Autumn Sonata - Höstsonaten (Sweden)
Porco Rosso - Kurenai no buta (Japan)
Z (France)
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis - Il Giardino dei Finzi-Contini (Italy)
All About My Mother - Todo sobre mi madre (Spain)
Drunken Master 2 (Hong Kong)

Drunken Master 2?

Interesting. We just watched Drunken Master (after seeing you had rated highly on Netflix). The choreography was awesome, and the drunk gods thing was pretty cool (was it just me, or did they completely give up on the clever god names after the 3rd one? "And, uh, this guy's the drunk guy who does this cool move"). Something about the pace didn't work for me, but I was entertained.

So how does #2 compare?

Ya, what he said.

Habla Con Ella (Talk to Her)

What you watched is Drunken Master 2. When it was finally released in the United States (I'd seen it on bad VHS transfer as early as 1994 without subtitles or dubbing) it was under the name Legend of the Drunken Master. The first Drunken Master movie was made back in 1978 and is the movie that made Jackie Chan as star in Hong Kong but isn't all that great by timeless standards. But they couldn't just call it Drunken Master 2 since nobody in the United States ever had the official opportunity to see the first one.

Similarly, when Supercop was released here it was just as Supercop, even though it is actually Police Story 3: Supercop but the first two were never released in the United States.

And if you're willing to take Jackie Chan recommendations, check out Wheels on Meals. It is hokey and Sammo Hung sports an oily perm, but it is fun and has one of the best fight scenes Jackie Chan ever filmed. Bennie Urquidez (the guy John Cusack kills with a pen in Grosse Point Blank) is the oponent. It looks like Netflix may not carry it, but I'd be happy to mail you my DVD of it if you promise to send it back.