Thursday, September 06, 2007

Foreign into Fall: Part V

Part I, Part II, Part III, & Part IV can be read by click on the links. Here's my most recent Foreign Film's viewed for this series and have been selected from Edward Copeland's best of non-English film nomination list.

In the Mood for Love (2000) directed by Kar Wai Wong
(Hong Kong)
In this film, two couples move rent rooms from next door apartments. Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan (Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung) each are left alone and become very lonely and form a unique bond as they deal with their belief that there spouses are having an affair.

The tone of the film reminded me of Lost in Translation, even in the sense that these two people want to do the right thing and remain faithful, even if there own spouses have abandoned them. The choices they make are very powerful and moving. This is an excellent film.

The Vanishing (1988) directed by George Sluizer
(Netherlands/France)
Definitly a thriller, but it's tone and resolve is different than most American thrillers. In this movie a man's girlfriend disappears at a gast station. Unlike, many films, this movie spends more time showing the kidnapper and his preperation more than the man searching for his missing girlfriend.

I felt like Sluizer did a good job creating the suspence, althought this was definitly the worst musical score of any movie I've seen in a long time.

Cinema Paradiso (1989) directed by Giuseppe Tornatore
(Italy)
Obviously a classic among film lovers. This movie tells the story of Salvatore as he grows up in a small Sicillian town, and his rebellious love for movies and a deep father-like relationship formed with Alfredo, the projectionist, at the Cinema Paradiso. The film follows the story of the power of the relationship between these two people and the Cinema in a powerful and moving way. I'm definitly glad I finally got a round to seeing this movie.

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8 comments:

Phillip said...

Ahhh, Cinema Paradiso. I'll never forget my first viewing. I believe I cried at three different times throughout the film especially during that amazing ending. I walked out into the kitchen afterward and my Dad immediately said to me, "Are you going to be ok, buddy?"

I simply responded by saying, "I hope so." Even though it can be a bit overly sentimental, I don't know of a movie that has moved me as much as Cinema Paradiso.

Kevin said...

I saw The Vanishing after viewing the Hollywood remake. The ending shocked me. I can't even watch the Hollywood version anymore.

Great movie. Sad ending.

RC said...

@phillip...that's pretty funny. i could see what you would have that experience.

@kevin...yea, i haven't seen the hollywood version of the vanishing, but i don't think i want to. i can't imagine a hollywood version.

Dale said...

I remember seeing The Vanishing and loving it but I don't remember the score, haha, now I'm curious again. The remake fell far short.

kat said...

RC, did you watch the theatrical release version of Cinema Paradiso or the director's cut version? Both are excellent, of course, but when I saw the director's cut a few years after I saw it in the theater ---(an arthouse theater in London was showing it in the early 1990s)-- there was some additional backstory included that fleshed out the characters even further.

Very much one of my favorite movies of all time. I saw it when it first came out in the theaters; I was in high school and I'm pretty sure it represented the first time I ever got a bit teary in a movie. (I'm not a crier.)

RC said...

@ kat, i watched the theaterical version.

I was aprehensive about the director's cut. I may have to go back and rewatch it...but I kind of wanted to watch it the way the first viewers watched it.

Sam Brooks said...

In The Mood For Love is first on my list for this survey. It's a movie that I love so much and is very dear to me. The only foreign language film that I find better than it is 2046; the sequel.

Harry said...

"Cinema Paradiso" is my favorite film of all time so far. The ending is such a powerful tribute to life and movies that I couldn't stop dropping tears of emotion. The music is also beautiful and the story is original and fascinating.