Classic & Foreign Films

[Sam]

GREAT film. I just watched it a few days ago.

[Sickrose]

Fav classic cinema - the first thing which pops into my head is film noir movies like Double indemity which I love. Vetigo and The Birds are my favourite Hitchcock films.

Foriegn cinema:

Volver
Le dîner de cons, AKA The Idiot's Dinner
Ils
Switchblade Romance
The Grudge because it's so damn scary
pan's labyrinth
Run Lola Run
The Vanishing
13 Tzameti
and of course Mesrine

Thats all that comes to mind just now

[fernandito]

Has anyone else seen Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries ? I just saw it last night and I have to say that it's ... beautiful. No other word to describe it really.

[turtlex]

I saw it years ago, Feev, on VHS. Bergman's stuff is .... amazing.

[Sam]

I have to say that I've born witness to two of Bergman's films and was... unimpressed.
Wild Strawberries and The Seventh Seal. I know they're supposed to be great films, but I was so bored I just didn't care. Btw, I saw them between 10 & 15 years ago, so I wasn't a kid when watching them. I thought The Wages of Fear was a very interesting film though. Not on the level of Kurosawa, but still well made and well filmed.

[fernandito]

It is. It has very powerful philosophical undercurrents , and open invitations to introspective sessions. I loved it. I want to seek out all of his films asap.

[turtlex]

Sam - I would find it really hard to compare Kurosawa and Bergman. They make very different kinds of films.

Feev - I think Fanny and Alexander is probably the most well known of Bergman's films, at least in the US. It was very good. Scenes from a Marriage is outstanding as well. Very character driven ( it put Liv Ullmann on the map, and honestly, she's not been topped it, IMHO ).

[fernandito]

Actually , I believe The Seventh Seal is his most recognizable and sought after film, but I have read that F & A is an exceptional film as well.

[Darkthoughts]

Thanks Feev, I added it to my lovefilm.com list

I should have asked my dad really, Fanny And Alexander is one of his favourite ever films - I bought him the book/screenplay for Christmas, which was very hard to come by oddly enough.

For classic films I would recommend the original The Ladykillers (not the Tom Hanks travesty) it's an absolute classic Ealing black comedy with a fantastic cast including the likes of Alec Guiness, Herbert Lom and Peter Sellers. A Brief Encounter, Whistle Down The Wind, The Hasty Heart - I know it's cheesy but I love it I'll have to think more about this one...

Foreign films - I love lots that have been mentioned like Seven Samurai, Pan's Labyrinth, Run Lola Run, Let The Right One In, Cinema Paradiso and also recommend: The Hairdressers Husband, Etre Et Avoir (documentary), Delicatessen, Abre Los Ojos, Y Tu Mama Tambien...

...there's an old black and white French film that I loved that I can't remember the name of - it's set during the war and this boy finds a little girl who's family have been killed and sort of rescues her. She either goes to live with his family, or he hides her in the church...can't remember...and he brings her all these pets to keep her company, which all keep mysteriously dying so that she then has to have funerals for them, as shes sort of obsessed with death after seeing her family get killed. Does that sound familiar to anyone?

[Heather19]

Has anyone else seen Ingmar Bergman's Wild Strawberries ? I just saw it last night and I have to say that it's ... beautiful. No other word to describe it really.

I've had that in my netflix queue forever! Maybe I'll try to watch it this weekend. The only Bergman film that I've actually seen is The Seventh Seal. I've really been wanting to see more.

[Sam]

Sam - I would find it really hard to compare Kurosawa and Bergman. They make very different kinds of films.

Pam, I can compare Kurosawa to ANY director. Not only can I, but I invariably do. I just can't help it. True they make different films, but Bergman just never could seem to capture my emotions the way Kurosawa could, even with his dramatic pieces. Don't take from this that I loved anything Kurosaw put out, far from it. I though that his product after Red Beard (which was just ok) was greatly lacking with the exceptions of Ran and Dersu Uzala.

Even so, the same as I compare other writers to King, I find myself comparing other directors to Kurosawa.

[turtlex]

Sam - I would find it really hard to compare Kurosawa and Bergman. They make very different kinds of films.

Pam, I can compare Kurosawa to ANY director. Not only can I, but I invariably do. I just can't help it. True they make different films, but Bergman just never could seem to capture my emotions the way Kurosawa could, even with his dramatic pieces. Don't take from this that I loved anything Kurosaw put out, far from it. I though that his product after Red Beard (which was just ok) was greatly lacking with the exceptions of Ran and Dersu Uzala.

Even so, the same as I compare other writers to King, I find myself comparing other directors to Kurosawa.

Sam - - I love Kurosawa ( and especially Ran ), but honestly - I just don't see how he could have made the intimate kind of movie that Bergman captures ( Scenes From A Marriage. for instance ). They're just such different perspectives.

For instance, I can't see Scorsese doing ET, any more than I can see Spielberg doing Taxi Driver.

[Sam]

Sam - - I love Kurosawa ( and especially Ran ), but honestly - I just don't see how he could have made the intimate kind of movie that Bergman captures ( Scenes From A Marriage. for instance ). They're just such different perspectives.

For instance, I can't see Scorsese doing ET, any more than I can see Spielberg doing Taxi Driver.

I understand that, but have you seen The Quiet Duel or Drunken Angel? The first is his best of the two, or rather my favorite of them, but both are great examples of the intimate type of film you are referring to. The Bad Sleep Well was another interesting one, but not my favorite. It comes from a very foreign (no pun intended) perspective, but it's very illuminating at the same time. Kurosawa is mostly known for his samurai stories here in the states and many of his other works were not available until very recently in the last decade. I had to go to great lengths to watch The Quiet Duel and worked even harder to find Drunken Angel as neither one was available through Criterion. They were worth the work and are among his best work, but because of the lack of samurai they are often forgotten. Check 'em out if you haven't and then we'll talk some more.

While still on Kurosawa, I have yet to see Record of a Living Being (I Live in Fear) which is supposed to be a very good one. The Idiot on the other hand was a HUGE disappointment.

[Sickrose]

-Edit- Wanted to add that www.criterion.com is an excellent source for those looking to find films in both sub-genres.

I have just been checking out this website and it's pretty immense

I haven't watched an Ingmar Bergman film but I was wondering what you guys would recommend to watch first?

Also, I forgot to add L'argent to my previous post it's a quality film it's so sparse yet powerful it made me think that that seems to be somehting common in a lot of the world cinema films i have seen (from my limited experience) that they are not afraid of silence rather than filling up every second of the film with music or dialogue which makes you feellike you are watching a film whereas somehting like L'Argent makes you feel like you are observing real life. I think that's why I like seeking out these kind of films.

[Heather19]

This thread really shouldn't be on the second page.

Pam, I finally got around to watching The Snake Pit. I loved it. Olivia de Havilland was wonderful.

[turtlex]

This thread really shouldn't be on the second page.

Pam, I finally got around to watching The Snake Pit. I loved it. Olivia de Havilland was wonderful.

Oh, you can't go wrong with Livvy, Heather. She's a real talent. Very under-rated as an actress. Really, she lifts everything she's in.

[Heather19]

I really need to watch more of her films. I can only think of one other film that I've seen her in off the top of my head.

[turtlex]

I really need to watch more of her films. I can only think of one other film that I've seen her in off the top of my head.

Gone With The Wind?

Really, she's wonderful and worth the watch, always. Even when the movie isn't that great ... she brings a dignity and grace to the film.

[Heather19]

Surprisingly I've never seen that one
It was Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte. I love Bette Davis, she's always amazing. So I have to watch Robin Hood, but what are your other favorites with her?

[turtlex]

Well... you have to see Gone With The Wind ... it's a classic.

And I absolutely love Captain Blood with Errol Flynn.

[Heather19]

I forgot about that one. I know you've mentioned it before. And I promise to see Gone With the Wind at some point

[Sam]

I've seen Gone With the Wind, and my opinion is that I would like my four hours back please. I know I;m a southerner, and that we're all supposed to love this film (it's in the manual southerners receive the first day of Kindergarten), but I really did not care for it at all. But that's just me. The rest of the world seems to enjoy it, so have fun watching.

[turtlex]

I've seen Gone With the Wind, and my opinion is that I would like my four hours back please. I know I;m a southerner, and that we're all supposed to love this film (it's in the manual southerners receive the first day of Kindergarten), but I really did not care for it at all. But that's just me. The rest of the world seems to enjoy it, so have fun watching.

Sam, I understand some folks can't get into it, and the three hour length can be daunting .. but you have to admit it's a classic. I happen to think it's gangbusters great, but that's me. I didn't really feel the three hours. I was sucked in from the get go.

For me - the story is engaging, the characters ( while not all likable ) are strong and defined, the music is outstanding and the cinematography is beautiful. Great performances by all involved, and that adds up to a great movie for me.

( I also happen to like the background history of the making of the movie - the story of the casting of the film and the back and forth over who would play Scarlett ... I love all that old Hollywood stuff .... can you imagine? Bette Davis as Scarlett?!?? )

[Sam]

For me it was partly the length (I was about 12 when I was first forced, yes I actually forced and threatened with punishment, to watch the film) but also I didn't get into the story. I tried watching it later in my life and just couldn't get into it.

HOWEVER, I will readily admit that it's a classic. After all, it has sold more tickets than any other film in history. The cinematography is truly stunning for any film, not just for films of the period.

[Jean]

I didn't like Gone with the Wind in the least. I love the book a lot, and although everybody was portrayed kinda right... well, they did look like I imagined them in the book... but that was all. All the spirit was gone, all the subtlety, the depth, the controversy, whatever. It was just another corny American costume movie, very - you know - magnificent, costly, heavy like a margarine rose on a cake, solemnly proud of itself; the worst kind the USA produces.