WHAT FOREIGN FILMS HAVE YOU WATCHED LATELY?

[Cinemaspeak59]

Fallen Leaves (2023) From Finland, just a tad contrived but overall quite charming. It’s only 81 minutes. Aki Kaurismäki’s deadpan writing and minimalist direction is a commentary (but with a light touch) on the struggles of the working-class, and also a romantic comedy. Something we don’t see much of.

[LostHorizons]

Nostos the Return- I have watched it several times in completion. Reading the Odyssey in conjunction with viewing it really helped decipher what was going on. It is one of the most beautiful films I ever watched and I can’t stop shilling it here. It is thematically like the literary adaptations of Pasolini with the earthy sensuality mixed with the slow pan, camera movements of Andrei Tarkovsky. Piavoli is one of the best living directors you probably have never heard of.

[Cinemaspeak59]

My Night at Maud’s (1969) If I had to recommend a starting point for understanding the French New Wave, this would be my choice, perhaps not as popular a choice as Breathless, or The 400 Blows. Like all of Eric Rohmer’s work, My Night at Maud’s has a narrative structure based on talk. The three main characters are an interesting mix: Jean-Louis, an engineer and practicing Catholic, who alternates between being stodgy and open-minded; Vidal, a professor, Marxist, and Maud’s occasional lover; and Maud, a divorced free-thinking doctor and single mother who has no religion.

The exhilarating conversations begin with Jean-Louis and Vidal at a restaurant, and carry over into Maud’s stylish apartment. Among the topics discussed: the philosopher Blaise Pascal and his wager on the existence of God; chance and probability; whether knowledge can be acquired from history; and how religion applies to relationships. Maud and Vidal enjoy challenging Jean-Louis’s faith, trying to throw him off his game by labeling him a Jansenist, and worse, a Jesuit. But overall Jean-Louis takes it in stride. Another character makes an appearance: a genial university student, young and pretty, whom Jean-Louis sees at Mass, and based on that citing sets out to marry her.

TCM showed this as part of their Christmas movies. The setting here is the scenic French town of Clermont, beautifully decorated for the holiday, with the added benefit of snow. Picturesque locales were another Rohmer staple. One thing you won’t find in My Night at Maud’s is a nod to the turbulent times. Rohmer’s films, spanning five decades, rarely acknowledge the zeitgeist of the period.

[jameselliot]

The Unknown Man of Shandigor, a 1967 surreal sci-fi/Euro-spy film from Switzerland. Daniel Emilfork is a scientist who's invented a way to neutralize nuclear bombs. It's sought by American, Russian and French spies. Howard Vernon and French singer/songwriter Serge Gainsbourg co-star. The silvery b&w cinematography is extraordinary. This is no cheapie European spy film. Free on Tubi.tv.

[Feinberg]

Here are a few that I thought were quite good ...

Io Capitano (2023)
20 Days In Mariupol (2023)
The Zone of Interest (2023)

Prisoners of the Earth (1939) Mario Soffici, Argentina
Rebellion of the Hanged (1954) Alfredo B. Crevenna, Mexico

[txfilmfan]

Here are a few that I thought were quite good ...

Io Capitano (2023)

Where can I watch that one?

According to reelgood, it's not streaming. I looked on Google, and the wide US theatrical release date is 23 February and apparently it will eventually end up on max (HBO) later this year.

[Feinberg]

Where can I watch that one?

According to reelgood, it's not streaming. I looked on Google, and the wide US theatrical release date is 23 February and apparently it will eventually end up on max (HBO) later this year.

Did you watch it at a film festival?

BAFTA voting

[Cinemaspeak59]

La Chienne (1931) A henpecked cashier becomes infatuated with a prostitute, who in turn is in love with her cruel, violent pimp. Jean Renoir’s morality tale has its share of twists and turns, but in the end takes the side of freedom — even if it means destitution — as the truest state of happiness.