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Re: Favorite foreign films
I remember Wishing Stairs. A terribly underwhelming film.
Been watching Kurosawa lately. Saw Seven Samurai and Ran only a few days apart. For the uninitiated, Seven Samurai is a textbook example on how to do a siege film. A village consisting of feeble peasants gain knowledge of a ensuing attack by travelling bandits and hire seven swordsmen for their protection. That's the story in a nutshell, but don't let the simplicity fool you - Seven Samurai pushes all the rights buttons at all the right times. While the deceptively easygoing first half of an over three-hour film consists of the formation of the group and establishing their individual personalities and interpersonal relationships, the latter half is in contrast as gripping and relentless, as Kurosawa stages his action scenes like a master craftsman. Kurosawa also realized how significant it is to lighten up the story with minor humorous occurences every now and then, mostly supplied by the slightly buffoonish Kikuchiyo (Toshiro Mifune in his most memorable role), either by fault or his knack for comedy.
The party's personalities would later re-emerge in various genre films, as they round up a colorful group dymanic. There's the sage old leader Kambei (Takashi Shimura), his reliable right-hand man Shichiroji (Daisuke Kato), Kambei's first lieutenant Gorobei (Yoshio Inaba), the cheerful good old boy Heihachi (Minoru Chiaki), Katsushiro, the young man anxious to prove his worth in battle (Isao Kimura), the taciturn but unsurpassably deadly Kuyzo (Seiji Miyaguchi), and the aforementioned Kikuchiyo, who'll rise from a rejected laughing stock into a brave warrior worthy of his peers.
Originally released in 1954, it was picked up and remade stateside by John Sturges as The Magnificient Seven in 1960. The remake only further proves the mastery of Kurosawa's original, as the themes explored in detail in Seven Samurai (such as the forever remaining rift between those who apply force and those who yield underneath it) can be said to be universal in nature, not to mention the screenplay itself reflects some of the basic ideas of dramaturgy, as it can be switched around into American gunslingers in a pueblo with relative ease. The remake, however, fails to capture the operatic nature of Kurosawa's masterpiece. Others, including Kurosawa himself, have tried, with mixed results.
I personally consider Ran (1985), his King Lear-adaptation set in feudal Japan, ultimately superior to Seven Samurai in many ways. As Seven Samurai has steadily followed in the coat-tails of Citizen Kane on every other 'Greatest Film Ever Made' list for the past 40 years, this should come as no small compliment.
- the_real_jessica
- Rep: 22
Re: Favorite foreign films
I am in awe with an italian film called " La Scorta", talking of the security that protects judges against the mafia in Italy. Loved it. I must have seen it 15 or 16 years ago now. Very much under rated.
There is also a film whose title i have not been able to find on the net, it's a german movie, black and white, about a man who is disfigured and who falls in love with a blind woman. He is very rich and they fall in love, she can't see how horrible he looks and he eventually pays for her to have an eye operation, she recovers her sight, freaks and leaves him and he kills himself.
Re: Favorite foreign films
I just watched Ringu. Shockingly, I think the american remake was better. The backstory to the video was more creative and interesting than in Ringu.
That's only because, you have an idea of what's gonna happen. Trust me, if you had seen that version first...
Re: Favorite foreign films
This film is a masterpiece. Its about this young boy that wants to be a girl. The issue is handled very well, and you really feel for this young kid who obviously has gender identity issues.
They picked the perfect child actor for this. He looks a bit feminine, and was perfect for what was required of him. He deserved an Oscar for his performance.
Re: Favorite foreign films
Sa Majesté Minor
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0870921/
I watched it yesterday. Pretty funny how some myths are derided; 
- Communist China
- Rep: 130
Re: Favorite foreign films
Last month I saw Life Is Beautiful for the first time, that was a great movie.
Re: Favorite foreign films
A few months months ago I saw "Fitzcarraldo", it's one of the best foreign films ever made. On a par with just about anything ever made in English.
James you should really check it out. It's pretty hard to explain why, without spoiling it though.
In recent months, I've also seen "Wild Strawberries" and "The Seventh Seal", from an Ingmar Bergman season here on "Film 4" in the UK, I regret not checking out the rest of his movies.
