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Ted Striker
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United States of America
Jan 1970
time: 21:22
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Alright this weekend I watched Seven Samurai and Monsieur Ibrahim.
I had high hopes for Seven Samurai, it had an extremly high rating on IMDB and was listed as the 5th greates movie of all time, the Citizen Kane of Japan. Well, I thought it was a good movie.
Each of the samurai were extremley likable characters, my favorite of course being the big brave wannabe samurai who provided lots of comedy relief and moments of surprises. I was laughing a few times at him.
I think this film is better more on an intellectual level than on an enterainment level, though, there were many entertaining moments in it. I would have like to rewatch it, with the commentary on, there is a scholar of Japanese film that does the commentary. THere are lots of themes going on, especially how the villiages used the samurai and then didn't care for them when they got their village back.
That Japanese farmer chick who turned down my main man was a b1tch!!! That dude was young, buff, good looking, smart, and had mad skillz with the katana. She wasn't even hittable but rejected him at the end. I am sure that is some kinda metaphor for what the Japanese society did to the samurai, but I didn't investigate it any further.
She wasn't even hittable. 
Monsieur Ibrahim was a fantastic film, with Omar Sharif, about a man and his adopted son who go on an inner journey. This film had me thinking about many of the things I've experienced in my own life. They even end up in Turkey at one point. 
My other film was Snatch which doesn't really count as a foreign film since it had a domestic release but it was ALOT of fun!
I try and mix up the fun stuff with something deep.
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Wernazuma III
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Decolonize!
Aug 2000
time: 06:22
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quote:
Originally posted by Ted Striker
That Japanese farmer chick who turned down my main man was a b1tch!!! That dude was young, buff, good looking, smart, and had mad skillz with the katana. She wasn't even hittable but rejected him at the end. I am sure that is some kinda metaphor for what the Japanese society did to the samurai, but I didn't investigate it any further. |
It's not a metaphor, but about the constraints of the Japanese society, where there was a unbridgeable incompatibility between the world of peasants and the world of the warrior elite that not even the strongest affection could overcome. It is interesting that in "The Magnificient Seven", based 95% on the 7 Samurai, the cowboy and the farmer girl get together, because there is no such extreme distance between the two spheres.
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GePap
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of the Big Apple
Nov 2001
time: 23:22
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quote:
Originally posted by chegitz guevara
How long has it been since you watched the film? The state proves rather inept at finding him. It is the thugs, i.e., the fascists who track him down, try him, and kill him. That is the whole point of the film. The Weimar state is useless and an outside force is necessary to restore order. Lang's work is not so straightforward as you want to make it out to be. |
Ahem- I had just watched the day before. In fact, I still have the DVD home.
The thugs to catch him- at the time, police were waiting in the guys very apartment waiting for him to come home (ie, had the criminals not intervened the police would have done it). The Criminals do set up a trial, and in a great scene the appointed defense lawyer denies the right of criminals to try hima nd speaks about how he was innocent due to insanity. AND the criminals do not kill him-they are all arrested after the one guy who was left behind from the job in the office space spills the beans. The Courts try the murdered.
quote:
Consider Metropolis. On its face it seems to be a movie about how horribly the working class is treated, how they need a savior, how evil the capitalists are. And yet the solution is that both need each other, the "head and the heart" neither can live without the other. Most of the best European cinima is allegorical. You can't watch these films as if they were some Hollywood flick. |
Given the poor handle you have on the actual plot points, how can you know the symbolism?
And most of the film focuses on the paranoia caused by the murderer, with people arguing with each other.
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Sikander
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Boulder, Colorado, United Snakes of America
Jan 2000
time: 22:22
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quote:
Originally posted by Wernazuma III
Hm, random thoughts:
The Boat
Stalingrad
Run Lola Run
Good Bye, Lenin
Der Untergang (new, it should come to the US though as it's going to be the German candidate for the next Oscar)
Ridicule (everyone: go watch that movie, very fine humor!)
Amelie
La haine - The hate
Au revoir les enfants (Good bye, children)
Train de vie (Train of Life )
La vita e bella
1900 (2 parts)
Il postino
Don Camillo and Peppone (all parts)
Trainspotting
The Englishman who climbed a hill and came down a mountain
Monty Python movies of course
Ran
7 Samurai
Kagemusha
I'm sure I forgot a lot good movies |
What I've seen on this list is good stuff indeed. In particular I recommend Ridicule, 7 Samurai (the fighting is excellent among many things), Amelie, Au Revoir les Enfants, Run Lola Run, Das Boot, Goodbye Lenin.
In addition, I like a lot of Bergman's films, in particular Wild Strawberries and Virgin Spring. He's already seen City of Lost Children (which is great). I don't care all that much for Alomar (he's the Spanish director isn't he?), but his movies might appeal to Ted. I love Kurosawa, and recommend also Yojimbo, Sanjuro, and much of his other work. I even liked Dreams, which gets mixed reviews typically.
I know there are a lot of French films I'm forgetting now, as I see a lot of them for some reason. The Dinner Game is quite hilarious for instance.
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Cruddy
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One of my fave movies (not mentioned yet) is from New Zealand;
Once Were Warriors
It's a moving family story about a man descended from black slaves trying (and failing) to integrate into Maori culture.
Ultra violent... and not one gun in it.
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Kontiki
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Canada
Aug 2001
time: 00:22
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I can't believe it took until Monolith's post two above this to list La Femme Nikita from France. Thought Point of No Return with Bridget Fonda sucked? You're right - watch Nikita to see how it really was meant to be.
And I think Dis was asking about Canadian films. I haven't seen many, but some classics you may be interested in: Jesus of Montreal, The Red Violin, The Sweet Hereafter, The Barbarian Invasions.
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monolith94
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New England
Jan 1970
time: 00:22
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If he wants a great Gerard Depardieu film, he should check out Le Retor De Martin Guerre, or Danton, both of which are the tops, so to speak.
The plot summary, from IMDB:
"During the medieval times, Martin Guerre returns to his hometown in the middle of France, after being away in the war since he was a child. Nobody recognise him, and the people who knew him suspect he is not Martin, but he knows all about his family and friends, even the most unusual things. Is this man really Martin Guerre?"
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11-10-2004 09:09
) 
. Yes I'm attempting to find them on the internet, where else? 
so true 
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