THE Independent and Foreign Film Thread

[Cil]

I have seen and enjoyed many of the films mentioned, esp Nowhere in Africa, The Motorcycle Diaries, and The Closet.
I am posting foreign first, then a few indie faves.

Yesterday I saw and very much enjoyed Pedro Almovodar's Volver.
(It's playing in Panama City.)
Penelope Cruz plays the mother of a teenage daughter whose own estranged mother dies, then reappears.
I love all Pedro's movies.

These two movies are permanently on my list of ALL TIME FAVORITES:
Local Hero (Scottish) Peter Riegart, and Ewan McGregor's uncle, Denis Lawson
Quiet but quirky (quirky long before it became trendy)
A fish out of water tale, as a Texas oilman enters a small coastal village with the idea of possibly purchasing the town. The villagers are all too willing to sell out, but then the oilman falls in love with the town. Superb soundtrack by Mark Knopfler, great cameo by Burt Lancaster

Soldier of Orange (Soldaat van Oranje) Dutch, a very young Rutger Hauer, directed by Paul Verhoeven
This is one of my very favorite films: it is a coming of age tale, a war story, and an interesting view of WWII from the perspective of the Dutch. It is a true story, and I even managed to track down an English version of the book.
This movie is funny, sad, romantic, epic.

Other faves:
Y Tu Mama Tambien (Mexico--directed by one of my faves, Alfonso Cuaron, who also directed A Little Princess and The Prisoner of Azkaban)
Coming of age tale. Spoiled-brat teenage boys go on road trip with lissome older woman

Ridicule French
Rural nobleman goes to court in an attempt to help his lands and his villagers.
Petty court intrigues plague him, beautiful women seduce him, the pageantry and hypocrisy of court life is displayed in a most sardonic fashion.

L'Auberge Espagnole (French, other nationalities too)
Foreign exchange students from all over Europe live laugh love in Barcelona
Russian DollsTen years later, foreign exchange students grow up
With Audrey Tatou and the most adorable Romain Duris

The Beat That My Heart Skipped (French) More Romain Duris!
A young man who is basically a gangster tries to return to an old passion: playing classical piano

Cache (French) Thriller, Juliet Binoche, who is always divine, and the very able Daniel Auteil
A complacent French couple becomes terrorized by a series of videotapes left here and there. Long-buried secrets are revealed.

Run Lola Run (German) Lola must save the day. You will be on the edge of your seat watching her do just that, with multiple endings. Riveting.

Shallow Grave (UK) Funny Brit thriller full of surprises

City Of God True rags to riches (well, not riches) story from Brazil.
Heartbreaking, terrifying, and powerful.

Reservoir Dogs My favorite Tarantino. Bloody good fun, crackling dialogue, great soundtrack

Donnie Darko (directed by Richard Kelly) Wow, what a weird movie!
I was entranced. After I saw it I had to discuss it with everyone I knew who'd seen it, then I had to discuss it online with total strangers. I think there was a short period of time (maybe 15 minutes) when I completely understood it.

The Roddy Doyle Movies: The Committments, The Snapper, The Van
All funny, all good, all Irish.

There are many others but that's it for now.

 

[Teresa]

Mermaid!:clap_1: Thanks for the list. I'll need to start updating my Netflix list. I have Il Postino- in a boxed set with Chocolat, Like Water for Chocolate and Amelie.
Oh this is going to be a blast! OK, I've got to go to bed! Road trip at sunrise!

JR-looking forward to the input!

dka

all wonderful!

 

[Mermaid]

Cil, Donnie Darko is something of a teen cult favorite around here. It's Philippa's favorite. It IS strange! But very imaginative. I'm glad Fyl was around to interpret it for me. ;-)

Comedy:
Priscilla Queen of the Desert Not a girl, but a bus that takes a bunch of drag queens around Australia. This is wonderful and funny.

Strictly Ballroom I never get tired of watching this Australian movie. It's about the ballroom dancing competion circuit and all the accompanying hijinks. Funny with an endearing love story wrapped around it.

Danny Deckchair Yet another Australian funnybone, about a hapless truck driver named Danny who floats off in the sky. Priceless.

Odd:
Kitchen Stories The Scandinavians make different films than the rest of the world and this is no exception. It's a difficult film to get through but your suffering is amply rewarded with a twist of an ending. It's about a science study of kitchen patterns of useage. See, I told you it was odd. But good!

French Family Saga
My Father's Glory and My Mother's Castle Based on the Marcel Pagnol autobiographical stories, set in the south of France before WWI, they tell of a school teacher's family who travel to the wild hills of Provence every summer.

Jean de Fleurette and Manon of the Spring Two more French films of the same era, they tell the story first of the unlucky father (Gerard Depardieu) and later, the incomparably beautiful daughter (Emmanuel Beart). One of my all-time favorites.

 

[peapod1980]

In recent years, I'd pick "Chocolat" as a fave. A million years ago, "The Gods Must Be Crazy."

 

[Cil]

Mermaid
You and I like a lot of the same movies!

The Long Engagement (French)
Audrey Tautou searches for her fiance, who is lost in the trenches in WWI.
Look for a cameo by Jodie Foster (who speaks excellent French.)

All the Coen Brothers movies are good, but two of my faves:
Blood Simple Their first, and perhaps their darkest. Murder most foul.
Miller's Crossing Gangsters, conscience, and the delightful Gabriel Byrne.
A lot of other people prefer the sunnier, wackier Raising Arizona.

Election
Hilarious, vicious, excellent. Reese Witherspoon must win the high school election.

 

[Allifunn]

I have Il Postino- in a boxed set with Chocolat, Like Water for Chocolate and Amelie.


dka

I have seen all of these. I loved Amelie!! Like Water for Chocolate was great! (I, too, am a member of Netflix!! )

I recently watched "Divorce Itlaian Style" it was an interesting flick. It was a dark comedy and somewhat interesting.Marcello Mastroianni stars as Ferdinando, a self-centered Sicilian nobleman who's facing a midlife crisis and has lost all romantic interest in his wife. But there's no divorce in 1960s Italy, so Ferdinando devises an elaborate scheme for another man to seduce his wife -- which would, under Italian law, allow him to kill her with impunity in defense of his honor. Highlights include the fantasy murders Ferdinando imagines as he pursues his goal.

"Cinema Paradiso" Director Giuseppe Tornatore's sentimental tribute to moviegoing of days past celebrates its 12th anniversary with an additional 48 minutes of footage. Spanning three stages of a man's life, Cinema Paradiso tracks the relationship between a boy, Salvatore, and the cinema projectionist, Alfredo (Philippe Noiret), who inspired him to become a film director.
Some people may disagree but I enjoyed "Babette's Feast" (it could be because it is about food???) Philippa (Hanne Stensgaard) and Martina (Vibeke Hastrup ) turn down a chance to leave their Danish town, instead staying to care for their pastor father and his small church. Thirty-five years later, a French woman (St?phane Audran) seeks refuge, and Philippa and Martina (now Bodil Kjer and Birgitte Federspie) take her in. The feast the woman prepares in gratitude is eclipsed only by her secret in director Gabriel Axel's Oscar-winning drama.

these are some that I would like to see:

**La Dolce Vita 1961 - Italian w/English subtitles - 174 minutes
Banned by the Church in many countries, the sensationalism of the film
often obscured its serious intent. La Dolce Vita follows a society
journalist (Marcello Mastroianni) through a nightmarish world in which
emotions have been destroyed by surface realities, moral conventins and
unresolved guilt.
"Eat Drink Man Woman" (1994)
Widower Tao Chu, Taiwan's most famous chef, struggles with accepting his three daughters' newfound appetite for boys, an interest that begins to break the family apart with hilarious and often touching results.
(one reviewer states:I thought my wife would like it and I'd be bored. I was way wrong. One of the best "food as metaphor" films. Very deft mix of angst, heartbreak & subtle humor draws you right in and leaves you feeling good at the end.)

"The Wedding Banquet" This lyrical film by Ang Lee dares to expand the definition of love. Wei Tong (Winston Chao) is a successful Manhattan businessman enjoying a thriving relationship with his live-in lover, Simon (Mitchell Lichtenstein). Life is perfect, except his parents don't know he's gay. So, when they decide to visit from Taiwan, he asks his tenant, Wei Wei (May Chin), for help. She agrees to pose as his fianc?e -- a plan that goes a little too far.
( One reviewer:ACTING: 4 stars WRITING: 4 stars PLOT: 5 stars FUN: 5 stars This gay romance was a complete delight. The lead characters are handsome, intelligent and funny. Pretty good acting all around. The story is interesting, and realistic, and you don't want it to end. This is one of those films where you really care about the characters. I've seen this film many times.

This one looks interesting:"Strawberry & Chocolate" Can two people from diametrically opposed sides of the political coin be friends? Apparently so. This Academy Award-nominated dramedy set during the Cuban Revolution mines the complex bond between the stick-in-the-mud conservative David (Vladimir Cruz) and his homosexual, anti-Castro neighbor, Diego (Jorge Perrugoria). When Diego's subversive adventures land him in hot water with the authorities, David decides that friendship trumps politics.
(reviewer:This story is basically the tale of one man teaching another about life, and learning some hard truth's of his own. Diego, a Gay man of culture uses a ploy to bring a strident communist college student back to his place.The student , David, is taken aback by the anti communist effects in Diego's appartment(ART! MUSIC! LITERATURE!-OH MY!),and tells a fellow student about them. the student's hatch a plan to get Diego arrested, requiring David to return to Diego's apartment. Yet , slowly a friendship blossoms between the two, and we watch as David's eye's are opened to a side of life not "santioned" by the regime, and Diego's begins to crumble because of his fight against those same sanctions. Diego learns sometimes to keep what we love we must toe the line, while David learns there is more to life than toeing the line.Well acted by an attractive cast, compellingly filmed in a crumbling but still beautiful Havana , this film is an insight into the live's of modern Cubans and how they are affected by Castro's regime.Worth seeing!

Ever notice how most foreign films are about sex, homosexuality and food???

"Good Bye Lenin" (2003) In East Germany in 1989, Alex Kerner's (Daniel Bruhl) mother Christiane (Katrin Sass) falls into a coma just as the Berlin Wall is about to come down. Eight months later, she wakes up, but her heart is too weak to withstand any great shock. So Alex goes to great (and often hysterical) lengths to keep the truth about her country's reform a secret. This widely praised, Golden Globe-nominated comedy played in festivals around the world.

 

[Cil]

Loved Goodbye Lenin. That son was so sweet to his mother! I like the other choices as well.

Francois Truffaut's Small Change (French)
A simple story seen through the eyes of children in a small town in France.

The Bicycle Thief (Italy)
A man and his son try to retrieve his bicycle, which he must have for his job.
I am not sure I can ever see this movie again, it is so poignant. But everyone should see it at least once.

Raise The Red Lantern (China, directed by Yimou Zhang)
In 1920's China, a young girl (the gorgeous Gong Li) is forced to become the fourth "wife" of a wealthy, powerful, much older man. The scheming and jealousies of the other wives erupt as they each struggle to be the one who gets the red lantern.
Also directed by Zhang:
House of Flying Daggers
Warriors, male and female, battle it out.
Incredible cinematography, lush colors, heart-stopping romance, betrayal, and special effects.

 

[Allifunn]

Thanks, CIL. Raise the Red Lantern sounds a bit like a book I have read, Dream of the Red Chamber.

Thank you DKA for starting this thread!!! :clap_1:

 

[Mermaid]

Cil, we watched The Bicycle Thief last weekend. It didn't touch me quite as deeply as I thought it would, but I was fascinated at how differently we raise our children now as opposed to then. That little boy was given responsibility that American children don't get until they're teens (at least). What also struck home was that our society is such a throw-away society. If any of us lost our main source of transportation, we'd charge it or head to the bank for a loan to get another. It wouldn't present the same earth shattering effect as losing the bike did to the Italian. Those were horrible years after the war.

 

[Mango]

Thanks Cil and Mermaid, I've seen some of these movies, but some I haven't so, I am going to print and get them, as I am mulling over joining Netflix vs. Blockbuster mail videos.

Has anyone seen La Balance? (French 1983)

"French Police lean on a a small time crook and pimp and his whore/girlfriend to persuade them to snitch on Messina.
They use threats,beatings - in fact anything to get a result. The cops are played in a very unsympathetic light - the're really thugs who bend the law to suit their ends.
Interestingly both Dede and Nicole are are much more attractive characters - he's her pimp but he loves her as she loves him. You really care about them as they are exploited by the cops who don't care what happens to them as long as they get their villian. There are car chases and shoot-outs aplenty but its the central relationship that lifts this above our average cop movie.
All the leads are well played and you hope things will work out for Dede and Nicloe but you know life isn't like that.
Not an obvious ending either and directed with an intesity by Bob Swaim who films it almost as a documentry so real is the gritty feel of the Parisian undwerworld."

I met the director at NYU my first year,(he sat with us students but didn't tell anyone he was the guest lecturer , (after class we talked more over hot dogs and sodas in Washington Square) but never could find the movie. Going to check Netflix or Blockbuster.