The Films (and TV shows) You Like To Read

[BNB 100]

Foreign movies you like.  I have a hard time recommending and getting recommendations from friends and family as most are to lazy to read the movies.  I admit I have to be in a certain mood to concentrate on a movie that much, but there are a lot that are worth it.  These are some of mine, many I have seen a couple of times.  What about U?  

 

Elite Squad - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/elite-squad In 1997, before the visit of the pope to Rio de Janeiro, Captain Nascimento from BOPE (Special Police Operations Battalion) is assigned to eliminate the risks of the drug dealers in a dangerous slum nearby where the pope intends to be lodged.

 

Elite Squad 2 - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/elite-squad-the-enemy-within

 

City Of God - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/city-of-god Cidade de Deus is a shantytown that started during the 1960s and became one of Rio de Janeiro’s most dangerous places in the beginning of the 1980s. To tell the story of this place, the movie describes the life of various characters, all seen by the point of view of the narrator, Buscapé. Buscapé was raised in a very violent environment. Despite the feeling that all odds were against him, he finds out that life can be seen with other eyes..

 

Life is Beautiful - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/life-is-beautiful A touching story of an Italian book seller of Jewish ancestry who lives in his own little fairy tale. His creative and happy life would come to an abrupt halt when his entire family is deported to a concentration camp during World War II. While locked up he tries to convince his son that the whole thing is just a game.

 

The Lives of Others - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-lives-of-others A tragic love story set in East Berlin with the backdrop of an undercover Stasi controlled culture. Stasi captain Wieler is ordered to follow author Dreyman and plunges deeper and deeper into his life until he reaches the threshold of doubting the system.

 

The Raid - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-raid Deep in the heart of Jakarta's slums lies an impenetrable safe house for the world's most dangerous killers and gangsters. Until now, the run-down apartment block has been considered untouchable to even the bravest of police. Cloaked under the cover of pre-dawn darkness and silence, an elite swat team is tasked with raiding the safe house in order to take down the notorious drug lord that runs it. But when a chance encounter with a spotter blows their cover and news of their assault reaches the drug lord, the building's lights are cut and all the exits blocked. Stranded on the sixth floor with no way out, the unit must fight their way through the city's worst to survive their mission. Starring Indonesian martial arts sensation Iko Uwais.

 

M - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/m-1931 In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.

 

8 1/2 - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/eight-and-a-half With 8 ½ Frederico Fellini leaves a self-portrait where dreams and reality are a mix. With help from a most excellent cast and unique scenery this self reflecting film is one of his master works.

 

A Seperation - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/a-separation A married couple are faced with a difficult decision - to improve the life of their child by moving to another country or to stay in Iran and look after a deteriorating parent who has Alzheimer's disease.

 

Y Tu Mama Tambien - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/and-your-mother-too n Mexico, two teenage boys and an attractive older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life, friendship, sex, and each other.

 

The Hunt - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-hunt-2012 A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son’s custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.

 

I Saw The Devil - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/i-saw-the-devil Kyung-chul is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. He has committed infernal serial murders in diabolic ways that one cannot even imagine and his victims range from young women to even children. The police have chased him for a long time, but were unable to catch him. One day, Joo-yeon, daughter of a retired police chief becomes his prey and is found dead in a horrific state. Her fiance Soo-hyun, a top secret agent, decides to track down the murderer himself. He promises himself that he will do everything in his power to take bloody vengeance against the killer, even if it means that he must become a monster himself to get this monstrous and inhumane killer.

 

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance (Chan-Wook Park, 2005) - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/sympathy-for-lady-vengeance After a 13-year imprisonment for the kidnap and murder of a 6 year old boy, beautiful Lee Guem-ja starts seeking revenge on the man that was really responsible for the boy's death. With the help of fellow inmates and reunited with her daughter, she gets closer and closer to her goal. But will her actions lead to the relief she seeks?

 

The Chaser (Hong-Jin Na, 2008) - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-chaser-2008 Joong-ho is a dirty detective turned pimp in financial trouble as several of his girls have recently disappeared without clearing their debts. While trying to track them down, he finds a clue that the vanished girls were all called up by the same client whom one of his girls is meeting with right now.

 

Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (Chan-Wook Park, 2002) - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/sympathy-for-mr-vengeance This is the story of Ryu, a deaf man, and his sister, who requires a kidney transplant. Ryu's boss, Park, has just laid him off, and in order to afford the transplant, Ryu and his girlfriend develop a plan to kidnap Park's daughter. Things go horribly wrong, and the situation spirals rapidly into a cycle of violence and revenge.

 

The Man from Nowhere (Jeong-beom Lee, 2010) - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-man-from-nowhere His only friend called him 'the man from nowhere'... Taesik, a former special agent becomes a loner after losing his wife in a miserable accident and lives a bitter life running a pawnshop. He only has a few customers and a friend named Somi, a little girl next door. As Taesik spends more and more time with Somi, he gets attached to her. Then Somi is kidnapped by a gang, and as Taesik tries to save Somi by becoming deeply associated with the gang his mysterious past is revealed..

 

Oldboy - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/oldboy With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate businessman seeks revenge on his captors.

Memories of A Murder - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/memories-of-murder 1986 Gyunggi Province. The body of a young woman is found brutally raped and murdered. Two months later, a series of rapes and murders commences under similar circumstances. And in a country that had never known such crimes, the dark whispers about a serial murderer grow louder. A special task force is set up in the area, with two local detectives Park Doo-Man and Jo Young-Goo joined by a detective from Seoul who requested to be assigned to the case.

Infernal Affairs - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/infernal-affairs Chan Wing Yan, a young police officer, has been sent undercover as a mole in the local mafia. Lau Kin Ming, a young mafia member, infiltrates the police force. Years later, their older counterparts, Chen Wing Yan and Inspector Lau Kin Ming, respectively, race against time to expose the mole within their midst.

 

Downfall - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/downfall-2004 In April of 1945, Germany stands at the brink of defeat with the Russian Army closing in from the east and the Allied Expeditionary Force attacking from the west. In Berlin, capital of the Third Reich, Adolf Hitler proclaims that Germany will still achieve victory and orders his generals and advisers to fight to the last man. When the end finally does come, and Hitler lies dead by his own hand, what is left of his military must find a way to end the killing that is the Battle of Berlin, and lay down their arms in surrender.

 

A Prophet - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/a-prophet Sentenced to six years in prison, Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim) is alone in the world and can neither read nor write. On his arrival at the prison, he seems younger and more brittle than the others detained there. At once he falls under the sway of a group of Corsicans who enforce their rule in the prison. As the 'missions' go by, he toughens himself and wins the confidence of the Corsican group.

Battle Royale - https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/battle-royale Before Hunger Games - In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act

 

 

Edited July 5, 2018 by BNB

[tantric superman 4,667]

Nobody has time for people who "don't care to watch movies with subtitles".

Morons.

 

 

 

[tantric superman 4,667]

That's not "A Prophet".

[BNB 100]

8 minutes ago, tantric superman said:

That's not "A Prophet".

Oh, thanks...fixed description.

[tantric superman 4,667]

Fellini is a tough one.  I think the only Fellini I could truly recommend is I, Vetteloni.

And that is just a simple, coming of age story.

I probably enjoyed La Dolce Vita and La Strada more than 8 1/2, but 8 1/2 probably his "greatest".

I always thought Jean Renoir was the most accessible of the classic French directors.  Grand Illusion, The River, The Southerner...

 

[tantric superman 4,667]

And agree on "A Separation".  Iranian films do a slow boil pretty good.  I didn't like the more recent "The Salesman" quiet as much but it was good and equally as SNAFU.

[BNB 100]

I have not seen I vittaeloni.  I will have to check it out, thanks.

https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/i-vitelloni   

La Dolce Vita - https://decider.com/movie/la-dolce-vita/ 

La Strada - A care-free girl is sold to a traveling entertainer, consequently enduring physical and emotional pain along the way. https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/la-strada

 

Thanks for the recommendations.  I will have to check them out.

 

[Tuco 5,076]

 el Mariachi, 13 Assassins, Audition, Mother, War or the Arrows, Hard Boiled, most pre-2000 Jackie Chan, Let the Right One In, Girl with a Dragon Tattoo trilogy, Amelie...yeah, lots others.

Any more, I don't think people are necessarily too lazy to read, they are too distracted to read.  It's hard to check up on Facebook and not get lost.

[tantric superman 4,667]

Weird exercise. Went through the TSPDT Greatest 1000 movies by country, and came up with this relatively random list of flicks I remember liking for one reason or another.  Made me realize how some countries (France, Italy, etc.) just have tons of stuff.  And how much I haven't seen.

465        465        Road Warrior          Miller, George    1981      Australia              94

639        600        Funny Games      Haneke, Michael               1997      Austria  108

670        654        Son, The              Dardenne, Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne     2002      Belgium 103

330        335        City of God          Meirelles, Fernando & Kátia Lund               2002      Brazil     129

Ararat      Egoyan, Atom    1997      Canada 112

541        502        Loves of a Blonde             Forman, Milos    1965      Czechoslovakia  88

34           33           Ordet     Dreyer, Carl Theodor       1955      Denmark              125

252        247        Three Colours: Red          Kieslowski, Krzysztof        1994      France   99

493        509        Lives of Others, The         von Donnersmarck, Florian Henckel           2006               Germany              138

705        693        Killer, The            Woo, John          1989      Hong Kong          110

533        549        Separation, A      Farhadi, Asghar  2011      Iran        123

176        180        Rocco and His Brothers   Visconti, Luchino              1960      Italy       180

383        382        High and Low     Kurosawa, Akira 1963      Japan     142

Amores Perros – Mexico

870        815        Knife in the Water            Polanski, Roman               1962      Poland   94

830        ---           Return, The         Zvyagintsev, Andrey         2003      Russia    110

804        835        Host, The             Bong Joon-ho     2006      South Korea        119

430        497        Talk to Her          Almodóvar, Pedro            2002      Spain     112

71           70           Seventh Seal, The             Bergman, Ingmar             1957      Sweden 96

450        478        Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon  Lee, Ang              2000      Taiwan  120

165        170        Black Narcissus  Powell, Michael/Emeric Pressburger         1947      UK          99

473        436        Alexander Nevsky             Eisenstein, Sergei             1938      USSR      107213  236              

Wings of Desire Wenders, Wim   1987      West Germany   130

Edited July 6, 2018 by tantric superman