Fabulous Indie & Foreign Films

[Alja-Markir]

So branching off from my post in the X-Men thread about how I find a lot of modern foreign film to be vastly superios to the turds of Hollywood, I felt perhaps we could all swap some of our favorite non-Hollywood cinema.

Here're the ones I posted in the other thread, plus another I thought up since.

Whale Rider (2002) - The moving story of a young Maori girl who struggles to find her place within her people's heritage. Although she is the only living heir of the tribe's chieftain, the patriarchal traditions of the Maori forbid her from becoming their leader. Despite this, she struggles to prove her worth, and in ways both succeeds and fails.

Vitus (2006) - When you're born a child prodigy, everyone expects the most of you. Vitus, a boy with incredible talent for the piano, wants nothing more than to be normal. A deceptively simple seeming story, Vitus speaks on many levels about hopes and dreams, gifts and curses, of fitting in and of being out of place.

Tokyo Godfathers (2003) - It's Christmas eve in Tokyo, and a trio of misfit hobos discover an abandoned newborn in a rubbish heap. Along with the child is an unsigned note, and a collection of belongings which the three use as clues to try and track down the child's parents. The journey is full of twists and turns, comedy and tragedy, and the spirits of hope and redemption despite all odds.

Paprika (2006) - A strange and dream-like film, Paprika quite appropriately is about dreams themselves. When a protype device is created which allows psychologists and therapists to view and examine their patient's dreams, it's hailed as a revolutionary breakthrough. But when three of the prototypes are stolen and people's minds begin to be invaded by the thieves, things begin to turn surreal. Blurring the lines between reality and imagination, the film is both visually and musically stunning, and is one of my personal favorites.

...and the one I finally remembered...

The Sea Is Watching (2002) / Umi Wa Miteita - Akira Kurosawa's final screenplay, filmed after his death. Neither one of his tradtional samurai film, nor the standard romance yarn one might take it to be from just a passing glimpse, the story revolves around a young woman's life in the red light district of feudal Japan. Neither a fairy tale, nor a melodrama, the film is beautifully simple and straightforward, and merely showcases young Oshin's life and what she tries to make of it.

So what are some of your favorite foreign or independent films you've seen? I'm always looking for fresh films.

~Alja~

[Cureless_Poison]

I've seen plenty of awesome films on the "Omni" network over the years around here, unfortunately I never learned what most of them were about.

[Tapir12]

I hardly ever watch Hollywood films anymore.

Alja, I can't agree with you on Paprika though. The animation and the music are gorgeous, and it definitely takes you for a ride, but the plot is too inconsistent and almost random. If you like Kon though, I assume you have seen Millennium Actress? That's my favourite of his. And of course there are the Ghibli movies (almost all of which are good), sticking with the anime theme.

Most people have heard of O Cidade de Deus (The City of God) but if you liked that I would encourage you to check out a couple other Brazilian flicks - Trope de Elite (Elite Squad) and Olga, both excellent films.

I just "acquired" Rashomon today, so I hope that is as good as people say.

Warning, if you are looking for foreign, stay as far away as you can from Nigerian movies..... ohhhh the pain.

[goat]

This list is not complete with out 'Amelie' or 'The City of Lost Children'. Or for that matter the obvious 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' and 'House of Flying Daggers'.

'Waltz With Bashir' was pretty good. Worthwhile if even just for the animation.

Oh and 'Versus' is a must see if you enjoy zombies and live action matrix/anime style combat.

Oh, oh and 'Attack the Gas Station!' is at least entertaining, if not a marvel of cinema.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head.

[zfubarz]

Primer is a great mindwarp of a movie if you can ever find it.

Layer Cake is great british crime drama, pretty easy to get now that daniel craig is bond.

Science of Sleep, Michael gondry even more screwy than eternal sunshine though.

Death at a Funeral, Fantastic british comedy from a couple years back.

Motorcycle Diaries, Pretty well known but worth the watch, story of young Che Geuvera.

JCVD believe it or not a movie about a washed up Van Dame is pretty good.

Pi is an interesting but totally messed up one.

Oh and for some fun movies just about anything by Stephen Chow is good.

[Metcarfre]

Run Lola Run is an all-time favourite.
Good-bye to Lenin is also very good.
If you are looking for an interesting date movie, you can't get much better than Italian for Beginners, which is a Danish romantic comedy that makes you wonder why American romantic comedies are so very, very terrible. It's shot fairly amateurishly, and the actors don't seem very reputable, but it is a very simple, beautiful film. I think it being foreign adds to it's charm as you don't have to struggle with bad line readings on the part of the actors.
Another vote for City of God as well.

[Hakaryu]

Tetsuo: The Iron Man:japan meets david lynch.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetsuo:_The_Iron_Man

[Lyinginbedmon]

There's an Australian film called Undead.

It's a bit weak occasionally, like with the aliens, but it is simultaneously awesome and hilarious as well. For example, the big damn hero of the film wields a gun that is basically three shotguns strung together, and may very well keep a pair of loaded pistols in his buttocks, just in case.

[ThrashJazzAssassin]

Okay, so I've already mentioned this in response to Alja's original post on the other thread, but it bears repetition somewhere where people will be looking for it:

Any Way The Wind Blows is a really good Belgian indie slice-of-life film. It's very humorous and, since it was written and directed by a Belgian alt-rock musician who prefers French and Spanish films, different. Making it very much worth seeing.

Also, the ending is probably my favourite of any film ever.

Antwerp, early June. On a sweltering Friday afternoon, eight people dream of a different life. There's wind and music, police and paranoia, hints and allegations. There's an ancient virus, a wandering frisbee, a dead horse, and, drifting through town, an enigmatic phenomenon called Windman who feels the pain of everyone but can't seem to help himself. At night, a party welcomes all....

[Kdz]

I saw this great movie on IFC several years back that was about a NATO conflict. I recall that the dialogue was in several different languages (which made sense, as it was a multinational NATO force that was in a different country). I believe it was based on true events.

For the life of me I can't remember the title. Really, really great movie, though. Reminded me of some movies about WWI that I've seen.

[Intellectually funky]

Where I agree that the modern foreign films can and on most occasions are good... Such as Oldboy( the newer one), The bad guy was absolutly genius and the ending shocked the Kablam out of me.

There are some foreign movies that sghall go unnamed that have ruin my opinion on the country of origin.

[Hakaryu]

If you want weird as hell, watch Eraserhead.

[zfubarz]

I always forget oldboy but it is insanely good. Completely changed Korean cinema when it came out

I still have to see the other 2 in that revenge trilogy though.

Oh and speaking of Korean films, Host is a fun one.

[CyberTractor]

City of Lost Children is my favorite French movie (tied with Amelie, actually).

Black Sheep is a New Zealand film about sheep attacking people.

Any Miyazaki movie is great (personal favorite: Castle of Cagliostro).

Susperia is a great Italian horror film. There's a triology of them, actually, about a trio of evil witches. They're really worth watching.

[Bob The Magic Camel]

Where I agree that the modern foreign films can and on most occasions are good... Such as Oldboy( the newer one), The bad guy was absolutly genius and the ending shocked the Kablam out of me.

There are some foreign movies that sghall go unnamed that have ruin my opinion on the country of origin.

There's crap films everywhere, the only reason many people say that indie/foreign/old films are good is because it has to be of a certain quality to make it out of its garage/country/decade. There was never a golden age of cinema, and there is no country that only produces good films. But you aren't bombarded with every movie made in the 50s, or France, there's a buffer between you and the producers. This, however is not true of Hollywood movies. Unfortunately, due to the sheer amount of money within Hollywood they don't get the foreign-film effect in countries other than the States, which is why no matter where you go there'll be the snob who refuses to watch films from his own country /and/ Hollywood.

[zfubarz]

While you're mostly right bob for some reason that rule doesn't hold true for thailand. for some reason Tony Jaa's crappy ass movies after ong bak and the protector managed to get out.

[Tapir12]

Oh, I remembered another one, but this one might be more well known:

The Orphanage - Spanish. By the same guy who did Pan's Labyrinth. Horror actually done well.