so damn random
Too bad this was my first foreign film. I was convinced to never see another one again.
shareWell... it takes a little thinking. A great film.
shareIf you're new to foreign film than you made a grave lapse of judgement in deciding which film was to be your first exposure. Code Unknown is one of the most challenging films I've seen of the last 5 years, regardless of genre of country. You probably would've been better off testing the waters with something that was a little more.......likeable, for lack of a better word, rather than something as esoteric as Code Unknown. Amelie would be a hell of a choice.
"And then here you are....and it's a beautiful day." - Marge Gunderson
Too bad this was my first foreign film. I was convinced to never see another one again.
Your first foreign film, yellowplush? What is that? Like your first time with a girl or a boy? Like the first time you smoke someone who supposedly threatens your way of life out of his hole?
So you’ve been saving yourself for years for this moment and then it comes and it’s disappointing, eh?
This is the most small-minded thing I’ve encountered all day! But don’t worry, in an hour or so, I’ll probably turn on my set and watch some shallow movie straight out of Hollywood. That garbage will numb my brains sufficiently to forget your idiotic remark. I watched Rocky 2-5, From Hell, 8MM, The Wolfman, and thousands of other bad Hollywood movies and I never, NEVER felt a general feeling of disappointment in ‘American films’.
You know what? You’re right, pal.
All foreign movies are bad. All Belgians are easily startled. All Arabs are terrorists. All Americans are shortsighted. And all stereotypical labels are correct.
By the way. If you’re still in the game, compare: Princess Mononoke (to The Lion King), C’est arrivé près de chez vous (to Pulp Fiction, which it predates), Naked (to Falling Down), Tirez sur le pianiste (to The long goodbye), Kikujiro (to The Kid ‘starring’ Bruce Willis), Ringu (to The Ring) and City of God (to Spun). Just watch Festen for the fun of it.
Now think about what you would have missed.
(Avoid Amelie Poulain. She's sweet as sugar, but bad for your teeth. And besides, the colours in that movie resemble the colours of a commercial for butter or beer. Il Postino is more recommendable as a discovery in that area of storytelling. At least the feelings are REAL in that one.)
Hollywood's fallen a long way since the golden era, but the mindless bashing of it and all those who find enjoyment out of it by simple-minded cineastes is borderline vomit-inducing.
Your pairings of acclaimed foreign films and American films (some acclaimed, some not) seem to have served absolutely no purpose. It smacks more of the knee-jerk, generic response "Go watch XxX" whenever somebody speaks against a well-liked and semi-challenging film than a viable critique on those who forgo foreign cinema. The original poster obviously did this to get a reaction out of fans of foreign film, but your defensiveness led you down a misguided road.
The Amelie blurb isn't worth the time.
"And then here you are....and it's a beautiful day." - Marge Gunderson
Try these foreign films, yellowplush. They are all available on DVD at amazon.com and I guarantee that you will like some of them if not all of them.
Shaun of the Dead (2004) (UK)
Good Bye Lenin! (2003) (Germany)
I'm Not Scared (2003) (Italy)
In July (2000) (Germany)
The Spanish Apartment (2002) (France/Spain)
Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) (France)
Amelie (2001) (France)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) (UK)
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) (UK)
Run Lola Run (1998) (Germany)
Trainspotting (1996) (UK)
Open Your Eyes (1997) (Spain)
The Devil's Backbone (2001) (Spain)
Nightwatch (1994) (Denmark)
The Experiment (2001) (Germany)
Godforsaken (2003) (Netherlands)
Secret Things (2002) (France)
Common Wealth (aka La Comunidad) (2000) (Spain)
River (aka Joki) (2001) (Finland)
Live Flesh (1997) (Spain)
thanks! since then I have seen films that I understand better. Also, I was 11 when it came out and I saw it, so that may have been another reason I did not understand it.
shareI admit this film is challenging, but it's up to us to accept the challenge or decline. Haneke doesn't force his opinion or any opinion for that matter on the viewer. If you say you don't understand the film, it's because you didn't try to interprate what you saw.
You're presented with the obvious given themes like multicultarism, immigration and communication in the modern society, but what you do with it depends on you. In my opinion this film forces to think.
No worries yellowplush, I'm 28 and I didn't understand it either.
shareI always kinda wonder who these trolls are on imdb, 11...speechless. Your parents should have forbidden you access to the internet.
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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797/ - Best movie ever made.
His parents should have considered a durex.
http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=7917401 - Vote Historyshare
I know this thread is hella old, but I felt I had to respond. This is my bazillionth foreign film (not to mention my second to last Haneke to complete his canon -- 71 Fragments is now the only one I havent seen). Being a HUGE Haneke fan I was extremely disappointed. It didnt seem at all to me like a Haneke film. I couldnt get into it at all. I guess, also, I was looking for something disturbing about it and there was nothing to be had. Granted, this film came out 6 years prior, but I couldnt help but think that it seemed like a watered down version of Inland Empire lol. You were brave in coming on here and expressing what you thought. Sorry that other people might not have thought that way. Im glad that you have since then seen and appreciated more foreign films, and that this did not really turn you off forever.
http://www.listology.com/ubik/list/favorite-films-every-year-1900-pres ent
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This is officially the peak of stupidity on this site.
share