WHAT FOREIGN FILMS HAVE YOU WATCHED LATELY?

[Feinberg]

Six Shooters (2010) Fernando Spiner, Argentina
A South American revenge western with exceptional camerawork and score. The picture editing was so-so but I thought this was well worth a look-see.
Yanco (1961) Servando Gonzalez, Mexico
A very poetic film about a young peasant boy who longs to play the violin like his aged mentor. The film is a bit slow and perhaps a touch naive but it is well shot and edited and a pretty good Independent effort from Mexico.

[Arsan444]

A South American revenge western with exceptional camerawork and score. The picture editing was so-so but I thought this was well worth a look-see.
Yanco (1961) Servando Gonzalez, Mexico
A very poetic film about a young peasant boy who longs to play the violin like his aged mentor. The film is a bit slow and perhaps a touch naive but it is well shot and edited and a pretty good Independent effort from Mexico.
[/quote]

I've always liked this movie. It's a wonderful story beautifully photographed, almost like a fairy tale. The leads are excellent, but the little boy is marvelous.
Servando González' filmography includes El Escapulario, Viento Negro, and Las Grandes Aguas, all excellent films that show the relationship between man and nature, sometimes with mystical undertones.

[Feinberg]

I watched two pretty decent Mexican films directed by Luis Alcoriza and both starring Julio Aldama.
The first, Tlayucan (1962) is about a desperate peasant who no longer has means to support his family. This was nominated for a Best Foreign Film Oscar.
The second, The Shark Hunters (1963) is about a fisherman who lives apart from his family in Mexico City in order to support them.
Both have a sufficient amount of complexity and realism to make them a worthwhile watch.

[LostHorizons]

The Merry Widow (1934) Ernst Lubitsch, USA- This is the French language version of the famous American musical film. Besides the main stars, Chevalier and Macdonald the rest of the supporting cast has been replaced with French actors. Edward Everett Horton is replaced by the pudgier, balding though still nervous and quick to shout Marcel Vallee. The sets are entirely the same and the script is mostly the same though it has minor variants (N’est pas Tu Oh!- Oh!- Oh!) The print was washed out and extremely faded and some of the scenes end abruptly and are cut off (Fifi’s angry statements at Danilo are cut off mid Vous-) The audio is also pretty crap and goes on and off. I wouldn’t recommend this except to the most devoted fans of French cinema. 3.5/10

[LostHorizons]

Here is a sample clip of the film’s quality. The entire thing is almost shot for shot a remake.

[kingrat]

Did anyone else see Donkey Skin (Peau d'ane) (1970), shown last night as part of TCM's Art of Artifice series? It was an excellent choice, and a film I had never seen. Alicia Malone's introduction told us what we needed to know about the fairy tale by Charles Perrault. She has a lovely French accent, quite a change from hearing Robert Osborne and Ben Mankiewicz mangle all French names.

The story is bizarre, even for a fairy tale, about a widowed king (Jean Marais) who wants to marry his beautiful daughter (Catherine Deneuve, perfectly cast as a beautiful fairy tale princess). Her fairy godmother (Delphine Seyrig) suggests giving the king impossible tasks, but he and the costume department are able to deliver beautiful dresses the color of the weather, the color of the moon, and the color of the sun. The princess has to run away, clad in a donkey skin that is complete with donkey head. Who can rock that like Deneuve?

Jacques Demy has experience directing brightly colored musical extravaganzas, so he is the right director for the project. There are songs by Michel Legrand, which might or might not be a plus, according to your taste. The set design and costumes are mostly what this film is about, and they are quite a spectacle.

[Feinberg]

Beyond All Limits (1959) is a Mexican melodrama directed by Roberto Gavaldon and shot by Gabriel Figueroa. But the version that I saw was completely in the English language. Apparently a Spanish language version was shot at the same time. It stars Jack Palance in one of his finest performances with support from Pedro Armendariz, Maria Felix and Paul Stewart. The location sound must have been pretty bad as I would say that just about 95% of the film is looped in post. While very professionally done, the looping of the little 5 year-old boy who has a prominent role, to me was very obviously done by a woman. The film is almost ruined by a very overwrought score. But see it if you fancy melodramas and for Palance.

[laffite]

Did anyone else see Donkey Skin (Peau d'ane) (1970), shown last night as part of TCM's Art of Artifice series? It was an excellent choice, and a film I had never seen. Alicia Malone's introduction told us what we needed to know about the fairy tale by Charles Perrault. She has a lovely French accent, quite a change from hearing Robert Osborne and Ben Mankiewicz mangle all French names.

The story is bizarre, even for a fairy tale, about a widowed king (Jean Marais) who wants to marry his beautiful daughter (Catherine Deneuve, perfectly cast as a beautiful fairy tale princess). Her fairy godmother (Delphine Seyrig) suggests giving the king impossible tasks, but he and the costume department are able to deliver beautiful dresses the color of the weather, the color of the moon, and the color of the sun. The princess has to run away, clad in a donkey skin that is complete with donkey head. Who can rock that like Deneuve?

Jacques Demy has experience directing brightly colored musical extravaganzas, so he is the right director for the project. There are songs by Michel Legrand, which might or might not be a plus, according to your taste. The set design and costumes are mostly what this film is about, and they are quite a spectacle.

I'll tell you who can rock like Deneuve, none other than Delphine Seyrig. At least here. I'll be dogged if she doesn't upstage Catherine in her only scene. She out-Catharines Catharine. But Catharine can wiggle out of it, she didn't have much to really do. She murmurs, "Do you really think so?" to which Delphine answers,"Fairies are always right." Not only does she she wear that amazing garment but the way she moves. She no doubt had a choreographer for her back and forths and she is divine in the doing. Delphine knows how to move. She is favorite, I have a number of her movies and she is special.

And yes, where did this movie come from? I never heard about it. I wondered by the musical numbers were so threadbare, but it is explained by the low budget. And yet they were at least adequate. The soft singing was nice. I remember Jean Marais from his fine turn in that classic Le Belle et La Bete and it was a pleasant surprise to see him here.

It was great to fall upon this and be enchanted.

[LostHorizons]

I have rewatched two Ealing comedies recently- The Lavender Hill Mob and Passport to Pimlico. I hate to drag in current events but can anyone else see a similarity between Passport to Pimlico and current goings on in Gaza? The residents of Pimlico neighborhood wish to become independent based on an ancient charter which is unearthed so the British government builds a fence around their neighborhood and tries starving them out by cutting off all access to electricity, food and water. It is a good story of what happens when two political groups can’t reach an agreement.

[j.lunatic]

The Merry Widow (1934) Ernst Lubitsch, USA- This is the French language version of the famous American musical film. Besides the main stars, Chevalier and Macdonald the rest of the supporting cast has been replaced with French actors. Edward Everett Horton is replaced by the pudgier, balding though still nervous and quick to shout Marcel Vallee. The sets are entirely the same and the script is mostly the same though it has minor variants (N’est pas Tu Oh!- Oh!- Oh!) The print was washed out and extremely faded and some of the scenes end abruptly and are cut off (Fifi’s angry statements at Danilo are cut off mid Vous-) The audio is also pretty crap and goes on and off. I wouldn’t recommend this except to the most devoted fans of French cinema. 3.5/10

How did you see this? Other forums mentioned that a French-language version had been made, but weren't sure if it survived. I don't doubt your review, but would like to see it myself.

Yesterday I watched Marius (1931), the first installment of Marcel Pagnol's so-called Marseilles Trilogy. The title character, the son of a waterfront tavern owner, loves shellfish seller Fanny but longs to go somewhere, anywhere, as a sailor. So Fanny tells Marius she doesn't love him, to send him off on a ship needing a crewmember. Then after he's gone she swoons in a manner indicating that she is...in the family way? This was recently on TCM in an excellent copy; I hope to see the two other films before long.

[LostHorizons]

The Merry Widow (1934) Ernst Lubitsch, USA- This is the French language version of the famous American musical film. Besides the main stars, Chevalier and Macdonald the rest of the supporting cast has been replaced with French actors. Edward Everett Horton is replaced by the pudgier, balding though still nervous and quick to shout Marcel Vallee. The sets are entirely the same and the script is mostly the same though it has minor variants (N’est pas Tu Oh!- Oh!- Oh!) The print was washed out and extremely faded and some of the scenes end abruptly and are cut off (Fifi’s angry statements at Danilo are cut off mid Vous-) The audio is also pretty crap and goes on and off. I wouldn’t recommend this except to the most devoted fans of French cinema. 3.5/10

How did you see this? Other forums mentioned that a French-language version had been made, but weren't sure if it survived. I don't doubt your review, but would like to see it myself.

Yesterday I watched Marius (1931), the first installment of Marcel Pagnol's so-called Marseilles Trilogy. The title character, the son of a waterfront tavern owner, loves shellfish seller Fanny but longs to go somewhere, anywhere, as a sailor. So Fanny tells Marius she doesn't love him, to send him off on a ship needing a crewmember. Then after he's gone she swoons in a manner indicating that she is...in the family way? This was recently on TCM in an excellent copy; I hope to see the two other films before long.

The copy which I have is from Zeus dvds.

https://www.zeusdvds.com/la-veuve-joyeuse-1935-dvd/

It doesn’t come with subtitles or with any sort of special features and the quality of the print is extremely lackluster. If you are really into Chevalier it is maybe worth checking out.

[LostHorizons]

Los que volvierons (1948)- Mexican remake of Five Came Back. Pretty meh. Wouldn’t recommend

[Feinberg]

The Golden Cockerel (1964) directed by Roberto Gavaldon. It is the story of a town crier who nurses a wounded cockerel to health and it then becomes a champion and changes his fortune. It is classically shot by Gabriel Figueroa. It is the best that I have seen Ignacio Lopez Tarso who is the lead and Lucia Villa as the femme fatale carnival singer and Narciso Busquets as the gambler are also good. If you can get past the cockfighting this is really quite good.



This was remade by Arturo Riptstein in 1986 as The Realm of Fortune. This is a much seedier film but equally valid. Ripstein's !996 remake of The Honeymoon Killers, Deep Crimson is also seedier and has a good dose of black humour.

[Arsan444]

Los que volvierons (1948)- Mexican remake of Five Came Back. Pretty meh. Wouldn’t recommend

i agree it's not a very good movie, heavy-handed at times, but I think I liked it a bit more than you did. Now I would like to see Five Came Back, a movie I've never seen.
I couldn't help thinking of La Sociedad de la Nieve, a movie I'd like to watch this weekend.

[Arsan444]

The Golden Cockerel (1964) directed by Roberto Gavaldon. It is the story of a town crier who nurses a wounded cockerel to health and it then becomes a champion and changes his fortune. It is classically shot by Gabriel Figueroa. It is the best that I have seen Ignacio Lopez Tarso who is the lead and Lucia Villa as the femme fatale carnival singer and Narciso Busquets as the gambler are also good. If you can get past the cockfighting this is really quite good.



This was remade by Arturo Riptstein in 1986 as The Realm of Fortune. This is a much seedier film but equally valid. Ripstein's !996 remake of The Honeymoon Killers, Deep Crimson is also seedier and has a good dose of black humour.

I think both are excellent movies, but for some reason I prefer Roberto Gavaldón's version.