Movies with Subtitles.

[Svenskaflicka]

I hope and pray someone will translate Lika Barn Leka Bäst for you non-Swedish-speakers. It's hilarious!!!

It's about a group of women who loose their jobs, and open a brothel.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Farewell My Concubine is simply superb, some of the best acting I've ever seen and stunning vision of art, life, and the beauty and cruelty of which they are capable.


Il Postino. Nothing I can say can do it justice. It is, in its small, homely, and gentle way, the perfect answer to Farewell My Concubine - like Wordsworth's earthy, simple lyrics answering back to his great "Ode."

Shanglan

 

[AppleBiter]

Farewell My Concubine is simply superb, some of the best acting I've ever seen and stunning vision of art, life, and the beauty and cruelty of which they are capable.


Il Postino. Nothing I can say can do it justice. It is, in its small, homely, and gentle way, the perfect answer to Farewell My Concubine - like Wordsworth's earthy, simple lyrics answering back to his great "Ode."

Shanglan

[threadjack] SHANG!!!! So good to see you!!! (((((((HUGS))))))) You've been missed, horsey! [/threadjack]

 

[BlackShanglan]

Thanks awfully. It's a real delight to receive so kindly a welcome.

 

[Kassiana]

Um...should I say how much I hated Life is Beautiful and Il Postino? Probably not, but I was really surprised and shocked at how much I detested them when so many people like them. So if you tend to like movies that most people like, you'll probably like them. I wouldn't recommend them if your movie likes/dislikes track mine well, though.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Watch it widescreen and with subtitles. My mother has a full-screen dubbed version and she "didn't get it."

Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! It was the first movie my husband and I watched together before we were even dating. Funny, sexy, fun.

Cold Comfort Farm. Not subtitled, but definitely foreign in time and mindset. Fantastic and funny.

 

[NoJo]

I like comedies, and the French and Italians make very funny ones.

Quite a few get the Hollywood treatment, and invariably suffer -- sometimes the whole point of the movie is changed to twist what was originally a subtle or subversive meaning, which makes me wonder why the fuck anyone bothered to do the remake at all.

"Boudou", made in the 1930's, is about a kind-hearted bookseller who rescues a suicidal tramp from the Seine, and invites him to live with his family. It's a brilliant send-up of middle-class romantic attitudes towards poor people. And unlike the remake "Down And Out In Beverly Hills" , the tramp doesn't end up staying. He leaves as he arrives, floating down the Seine.

"Le Visiteurs" was made in the 1990's. It's one of my favorite modern French films; it's a good reminder that the French are still the world masters of cleverly plotted farce.

Fellini's films are all heavy on the humour. "The White Sheik", made in the 1940's, is one of his funniest.

I recently saw Ashik Kerib. It's a mind-blowing Opium dream of a film, But you have to be prepared for a totally different pace than most Western films.

 

[NoJo]

I hope and pray someone will translate Lika Barn Leka Bäst for you non-Swedish-speakers. It's hilarious!!!

It's about a group of women who loose their jobs, and open a brothel.

Sounds a bit like "The Full Monty", which I really liked. "My Life as a Dog" came free with the Newspaper yesterday. That's another fun Swedish film.

 

[yui]

Farewell My Concubine is simply superb, some of the best acting I've ever seen and stunning vision of art, life, and the beauty and cruelty of which they are capable.

Shanglan

Leslie Cheung made my heart hurt in Concubine. The world lost such a talent when he committed suicide.

I think The Vertical Ray of the Sun is the most visually beautiful movie I have ever seen. And I loved The Scent of Green Papaya by the same director and lead actress (they are RL husband and wife, I think). Both films are in Vietnamese with subtitles and available in the US.

Most Chinese movies are worth your time; Metada Fumaca is a personal favorite (but I don't think it is available in the US as of yet).

There are a large number of Japanese titles worth your times as well. French cinema offers Andre Techine and titles like Wild Reeds. Try the real La Femme Nikita, too, if you haven't already. The relationship between Anne Parillaud's character and Tchéky Karyo as her mentor, trips every helpless romantic trigger I have.

Sweet, my sweet, there are soooo many good movies out there from around the world. Netflix is a great way to get your hands on foreign titles if you do not have them available locally. Ebay is also an option; lots of Hong Kong sellers have Asian and even European titles at low prices. Watch out for counterfeits and be aware that shipping can be expensive with some sellers. If you know a little Cantonese (or even if you don't since most young people speak English) Yahoo Auctions Hong Kong is a great place to buy (if slightly more risky and a bit more complicated than eBay).

Much luck!

Yui

 

[Jagged]

Hard Boiled..... Awsome Hong Kong cop film. Huge gun fights and action sequences that put Hollywood to shame.


La Femme Nikkita....... remade several times now but the original is still worth looking at...

 

[maggot420]

Leslie Cheung made my heart hurt in Concubine. The world lost such a talent when he committed suicide.

I think The Vertical Ray of the Sun is the most visually beautiful movie I have ever seen. And I loved The Scent of Green Papaya by the same director and lead actress (they are RL husband and wife, I think). Both films are in Vietnamese with subtitles and available in the US.

Most Chinese movies are worth your time; Metada Fumaca is a personal favorite (but I don't think it is available in the US as of yet).

There are a large number of Japanese titles worth your times as well. French cinema offers Andre Techine and titles like Wild Reeds. Try the real La Femme Nikita, too, if you haven't already. The relationship between Anne Parillaud's character and Tchéky Karyo as her mentor, trips every helpless romantic trigger I have.

Sweet, my sweet, there are soooo many good movies out there from around the world. Netflix is a great way to get your hands on foreign titles if you do not have them available locally. Ebay is also an option; lots of Hong Kong sellers have Asian and even European titles at low prices. Watch out for counterfeits and be aware that shipping can be expensive with some sellers. If you know a little Cantonese (or even if you don't since most young people speak English) Yahoo Auctions Hong Kong is a great place to buy (if slightly more risky and a bit more complicated than eBay).

Much luck!

Yui

I loved The Scent of Green Papaya and La Femme Nikita is such a great film. I know what you mean about Uncle Bob and Nikita. That was a heart wenching relationship. Zhang Yimou makes beautiful films too. Raise the Red Lantern, Ju Dou, The Shanghai Triad, Red Sorghum, House of Flying Daggers, and Hero all beautifully shot films.

 

[BlackShanglan]

Leslie Cheung made my heart hurt in Concubine. The world lost such a talent when he committed suicide.

I had no idea. Strange how hard it strikes one. Art and life too closely entangled; it takes down the very best of them.

"The High and the Low" should have made my list as well. Toshiro Mifune as his best. Can't remember if it's Kurosawa directing or not, but it's wonderful work. I, too, found "Hero" superb work.

 

[eric shawn listo]

Been watching a lot of stuff with subtitles, actually.

Sex and Lucia

Irreversible (caution: rape--not for all)

Remember me, My love

And a great favorite: Malena (but get the uncut european version. Monica Bellucci--Mama Mia!)

 

[eric shawn listo]

Y Tu Mama' Tambien directed by Alfonso Cuaron. very sexy, very good...

Gotta agree with Bel, here. I saw this movie last night and it's wonderful and sexy.

 

[JamesSD]

People have caught a lot of my favorites (Talk to Her, Sex and Lucia, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Amile)

I'd add "Run Lola Run". It's not necessarily a movie for everyone, but I enjoyed it. It has a sort of "punk" sensibility to it.

 

[thebullet]

My favorite subtittled flick (and maybe my favorite flick): Babette's Feast
a wonderful story about a French cook exiled to a Swedish village in the early 19th century. The story is sad, funny, and ultimately inspiring.

Another one I love is: Z
Costa-Garvas' fact-based film about a fascist takeover in Greece. Scared the hell out of me in 1969 when I first saw it, and again in 2004 when I last saw it - but by 2004 it was far more relevant.

I also highly recommend: Italian for Beginners
this is one of the most romantic films in any language - though it was shot on video tape.

Bread and Tulips is a funny story about a run-away wife learning about herself.

Finally, the sexiest movie I ever saw, but have been unable to find anything about even on the internet:
Dear John, a Norwegian film that featured full frontal nudity (male and female), sex galore, and monkies fucking, all folded around the sweetest, most touching love story I'd ever seen. (1966) I've been looking for it ever since but can't find it. Does anyone know what "Dear John" translates to in Norwegian?

 

[CharleyH]

I saw an awsome movie the other day with subtitles. it was about a male oppera singer who worked for or with Handel. I found it quite by accident and was amazed by how great (and suprisingly very sexed up) it was.

What foriegn language movies have you enjoyed that you would recomend?

People read movies? What happened to voice overs? But, I saw an American movie recently, does it qualify as foreign if they spoke Brooklyn?

 

[The Neon Wolf]

..

Two movies actually, I'm a sucker for foreign stuff.

A tale of two sisters, watch it twice, it's a bit of a mind trip.

Sky High, it's a pretty good movie, in the same vein of returning from death as the crow. Well the first one, I'm not commenting on the other two.

I'm out of town at the moment and have no access to the growing stack of rented stuff at my flat. Blockbuster is going to have someone sent after me if I keep this up

 

[thebullet]

over half of my queue on Netflix are foreign films at the current time, mostly because I'm running out of half-decent comedies that I haven't already seen.

On a Friday night my wife and I will decide if we would rather drink and laugh, or keep enough concentration about us that we are willing to read subtitles.

Last night we chose the subtitle route, a Chinese movie called:
In the Mood for Love, a kind of Far East Brief Encounter

Another foreign language flick that meant something to me at one time:
A Man and a Woman - mostly great background music now that I think of it.

and there was that movie about movies: Day for Night

 

[thebullet]

I just thought of another film that could appeal to some people with a certain taste. The Umbrellas of Cherborg is entirely sung - there was a world-wide hit that came of it, "If it takes forever I will wait for you", or something like that.

It is a bit odd, reading subtitled singing. But the songs are actually good, the cinematography is awesome, AND, it features a very very young and extremely, extremely beautiful Cathernine Deneuve.

You think she looks good at 50, wait till you see her at 18!!! She's so blindingly beautiful it is sometimes hard to look at her.