Foreign Films
I don't remember how many Foreign Films (excluding Bollywood/Hindi Films, as they have their own genre, lol) I've seen in my lifetime, but I've seen at least some of them (mostly European films with English subtitles) and 5 of them are the ones I can remember the most (including the very recent film, La Misma Luna, which I've just rented a few weeks or so ago). I thought I'd post here these 5 very good Foreign Films I've seen that you may or may not have seen before.
Caché (Hidden) - starring Juliette Binoche, Daniel Auteuil
My Comments:
This movie was very good. It's about a hard working mother who lost her connection with her 9-year-old son. Because she moved to the U.S. (to work and make a living), she was living in a constant fear of not being able to do the best for her only young son. To make matters worse, her little boy feels like he was not wanted by his mother anymore. Things become worse as events develop in such a way that he is forced to follow the path of many other immigrants (though in this film, mother and son were illegal immigrants) and endure a series of ordeals to reunite with his parent. The cast were great in this movie esp. the young actor (Adrian Alonso, you may or may not remember watching him in The Legend of Zorro as he played the young Joaquin, the precocious and adorable son of Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones' characters Alejandro/Zorro & Elena) who played the young boy named Carlitos. He was very good in this film. He showed and explored an amazing range of emotions in his character in this film. The actress who played his mother (Kate del Castillo) was very good too, but there wasn't much shown to her character. I wish there was more. Also, the ending leaves you wanting more...esp. for the mother and son. Oh, by the way, there was a cameo appearance here from Ugly Betty's America Ferrera looking very different and un-Betty like, lol.
Synopsis: A Jewish man has a wonderful romance with the help of his humour, but must use that same quality to protect his son in a Nazi death camp.
Country: Italy
Language: Italian, German, English
My Comments:
This Film, was of course, very well known as it won 3 Oscars including for Best Foreign Language Film (and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Roberto Benigni). I must say, I've seen this film ages ago, so I don't remember much other than it was very good and funny.
Country: Italy
Language: Italian, German, English
My Comments:
This Film, was of course, very well known as it won 3 Oscars including for Best Foreign Language Film (and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Roberto Benigni). I must say, I've seen this film ages ago, so I don't remember much other than it was very good and funny.
À la folie... pas du tout (He Loves Me... He Loves Me Not)
starring Audrey Tautou, Samuel Le Bihan, Isabelle Carre
starring Audrey Tautou, Samuel Le Bihan, Isabelle Carre
Synopsis: Angelique, a young student, is in love and obsessed with a married doctor.
Country: France
Language: French
My Comments:
This movie was great! I saw this on cable (Encore) a few years back when I was just flipping through channels and stumbled to this interesting film. It was a film that I didn't think was a Foreign film at first till the actors started speaking French and the English subtitles start appearing on-screen, lol. It surely grabbed my attention (good enough for me to not change the channel and glued to my television watching it) and with Audrey Tautou's very strong performance in this movie...I watched it from the beginning (as it started just when I saw it) all the way through the end. She was superb (Audrey Tautou) in this film. Her character reminded me of Glenn Close's character in Fatal Attraction. So much in love with a married man and obssessed at the same time. I think this film was so much better than Fatal Attraction, in my opinion. The plot and story was so much more interesting to watch.
Country: France
Language: French
My Comments:
This movie was great! I saw this on cable (Encore) a few years back when I was just flipping through channels and stumbled to this interesting film. It was a film that I didn't think was a Foreign film at first till the actors started speaking French and the English subtitles start appearing on-screen, lol. It surely grabbed my attention (good enough for me to not change the channel and glued to my television watching it) and with Audrey Tautou's very strong performance in this movie...I watched it from the beginning (as it started just when I saw it) all the way through the end. She was superb (Audrey Tautou) in this film. Her character reminded me of Glenn Close's character in Fatal Attraction. So much in love with a married man and obssessed at the same time. I think this film was so much better than Fatal Attraction, in my opinion. The plot and story was so much more interesting to watch.
Auberge espagnole, L' (The Spanish Apartment)
starring Audrey Tautou, Kelly Reilly, Romain Duris, Christina Brondo
starring Audrey Tautou, Kelly Reilly, Romain Duris, Christina Brondo
Synopsis: A straight laced French student moves into an apartment in Barcelona with a cast of six other characters from all over Europe. Together, they speak the international language of love and friendship.
Country: France, Spain
Language: French, Spanish, English, Catalan, Danish, German, Italian
My Comments:
Another film with the very talented French Actress Audrey Tautou, but this time she was part of an ensemble cast from different actors in different countries and languages. Very interesting film with students from all over Europe who all got together living in the same roof in Barcelona. Their stories were relatable as it deals with everyday lives of students and roommates dealing with their own personal problems. I've seen this on cable too. Gotta love those premium cable channels (ie. Encore, Starz, Showtime, etc.) 'cause they also show very good Foreign Films. Besides AT, Kelly Reilly (pre Caroline Bingley of the 2005 Pride & Prejudice film) was also in this movie.
Country: France, Spain
Language: French, Spanish, English, Catalan, Danish, German, Italian
My Comments:
Another film with the very talented French Actress Audrey Tautou, but this time she was part of an ensemble cast from different actors in different countries and languages. Very interesting film with students from all over Europe who all got together living in the same roof in Barcelona. Their stories were relatable as it deals with everyday lives of students and roommates dealing with their own personal problems. I've seen this on cable too. Gotta love those premium cable channels (ie. Encore, Starz, Showtime, etc.) 'cause they also show very good Foreign Films. Besides AT, Kelly Reilly (pre Caroline Bingley of the 2005 Pride & Prejudice film) was also in this movie.
Caché (Hidden) - starring Juliette Binoche, Daniel Auteuil
Synopsis: A married couple is terrorized by a series of videotapes planted on its front porch that may be the direct result from an event from years ago
Country: France, Austria, Germany, Italy
Language: French
Country: France, Austria, Germany, Italy
Language: French
My Comments:
This movie started off really bizarre at the beginning with a hidden surveilance camera showing an outside of the apartment of a couple living inside it or something (I don't remember much as it's been a while since I saw this movie)...with some kind of a mysterious stalker sending them a spooky video...very, very strange! lol! With the very talented and wonderful actress Juliette Binoche (Chocolat), I decided to sit through and watch this film. I kept wondering what was going to happen as it was somewhat slow for the story to move along. I almost didn't finished watching this, lol. Fortunately, the 2nd half of this film had a lot of suspense and had me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what will happen next. The English subtitles was poorly done though that it was hard to understand what was going on in some parts of the movie. Still, the movie was well done.
This movie started off really bizarre at the beginning with a hidden surveilance camera showing an outside of the apartment of a couple living inside it or something (I don't remember much as it's been a while since I saw this movie)...with some kind of a mysterious stalker sending them a spooky video...very, very strange! lol! With the very talented and wonderful actress Juliette Binoche (Chocolat), I decided to sit through and watch this film. I kept wondering what was going to happen as it was somewhat slow for the story to move along. I almost didn't finished watching this, lol. Fortunately, the 2nd half of this film had a lot of suspense and had me on the edge of my seat waiting to see what will happen next. The English subtitles was poorly done though that it was hard to understand what was going on in some parts of the movie. Still, the movie was well done.
Synopsis: A young Mexican boy travels to the U.S. to find his mother after his grandmother passes away.
Country: Mexico, USA
Language: Spanish, English
Country: Mexico, USA
Language: Spanish, English
My Comments:
This movie was very good. It's about a hard working mother who lost her connection with her 9-year-old son. Because she moved to the U.S. (to work and make a living), she was living in a constant fear of not being able to do the best for her only young son. To make matters worse, her little boy feels like he was not wanted by his mother anymore. Things become worse as events develop in such a way that he is forced to follow the path of many other immigrants (though in this film, mother and son were illegal immigrants) and endure a series of ordeals to reunite with his parent. The cast were great in this movie esp. the young actor (Adrian Alonso, you may or may not remember watching him in The Legend of Zorro as he played the young Joaquin, the precocious and adorable son of Antonio Banderas and Catherine Zeta-Jones' characters Alejandro/Zorro & Elena) who played the young boy named Carlitos. He was very good in this film. He showed and explored an amazing range of emotions in his character in this film. The actress who played his mother (Kate del Castillo) was very good too, but there wasn't much shown to her character. I wish there was more. Also, the ending leaves you wanting more...esp. for the mother and son. Oh, by the way, there was a cameo appearance here from Ugly Betty's America Ferrera looking very different and un-Betty like, lol.
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