Foreign Movies

[gite63]

Do you like to watch foreign movies? The ones you have to read subtitles?

I love Italian Roberto Benigni and almost all his movies, and French Jacques Tati and all his movies... I use to watch Eurochannel, and I like a lot Italian, French, Russian, Finnish, Slavic movies; but till today, I've never liked any Spanish one (I've never been able to watch an entire Spanish movie, actually).

I like the Russian Mary Poppins, Goodbye (Мэри Поппинс, до свидания!); I watched it many, many years ago, and I remember liking the song that plays at the end very much. I also like Mumu (based on a short story written by Ivan Turgenev) - " The story tells a tale of a deaf and dumb peasant who is forced to drown the only thing in the world which brings him happiness, his dog Mumu. This work takes aim at the cruelties of a serf society." (Wikipedia).

I remember enjoying very much the Chinese 山楂树之恋 (Shan zha shu zhi lian/Under the Hawthorn Tree).

I can't remember and I couldn't find the movie title, but I liked very much a Japanese one where a guy travels through the country with a cadaver 🙂eek: !!!) in order to bury him in his hometown or something; very good.

I'm not citing American movies, because I grew up watching them so they don't count... besides, I don't need subtitles anymore.

 

[Buffy Summers]

I do enjoy foreign films, thought I don't like Roberto Benigni 😉 Lately I've been watching a lot of Norwegian films like Cold Prey and Ragnarok, but my favorites in general are the Russian Nightwatch and Daywatch, and the French film La Reine Margot.

 

[GwenRaiden]

Some foreign films that I love:

Solaris (1972) (Russian)
Irréversible (2002) (French)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) (Mandarin)
La Femme Nikita (1990) (French/Italian)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 2009 (trilogy) (Swedish)
Das Boot (1981) (German)
City of God (2002) (Portuguese)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006) (Spanish/Mexican)

Oh, and I'm a sucker for pretty much every Studio Ghibli film. 😳

 

[ILLYRIAN]

I've watched films spoken in English by Asian people sometimes they can be hard to understand. I loved the film Dark Water but I needed an interpreter at times.

 

[Washburne]

Well... being swedish the whole "foreign" angle gets a bit different. So lets talk subtitles instead, even though that also is a bit different. Since many movies and tv-shows are in english, one way or another, having subtitles is something we're used to. I also watched a few v-shows in german while growing up. Subtitles were a must. As I've gotten older, and my hearing worse (?) I want subtitles on everything. The problem I get is when I understand what's being said and the subtitles don't match. So when I'm watching english spoken movies and shows I prefer to have english subtitles since the translation can be very bad. So one thing that annoys me is when I buy blu-rays or dvds (yes I like to buy) is that sometimes the swedish versions doesn't offer english subtitles.

When it comes to movies in languages I don't understand I don't care if the subtitles are in swedish or english. I can't say I watch that many movies where subtitles is absolutely needed but Crouching tiger hidden dragon, House of the flying daggers and Hero have a given place in my collection.

 

[Mr Trick]

I will post I lisf of some of my faves later, but sure I do a great film is a great film after not matter which native tougue it comes in.

 

[vellavu]

I assume this thread means "non-English-speaking movies".

The Chaser (Korean)
Achilles and Tortoise (Japanese)
Rashomon (Japanese)
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (Japanese Anime Movie)
Millennium Actress (Japanese Anime Movie)

 

[Taake]

Not really, because I really don't like having to read subtitles. Lol, I'm lazy. Also I like to do stuff while I watch a movie... like knit or something, can't do that if you have to read 🙂

I did really enjoy Pan's Labyrinth though, and for the rare moments when I can get myself to sit down, be quiet and focus, then yes, then I do enjoy foreign films. But those moments are sadly few and far between.

 

[The Bronze]

No I can't deal with subtitles. Takes me out of the film if I'm having to work to enjoy it. I can make an exception for Bruce Lee films because I'm mainly interested in seeing him kick people about.

 

[sk]

Can't say that I watch many foreign movies (non English, non Swedish).
But that's mostly because I don't know any.

Feels like you need to look more actively for those, especially if you want to find the good ones, and I don't really have that interest.
I'm sure I miss lots of gems that way but I have a hard time keeping up with the big, easy to find, movies I want to see.

Have no problem with subtitles. I grew up with them.
Like Washburne I actually prefer subtitles on everything. Find it easier to follow that way.
These days I also prefer English subtitles for English speaking movies. Bad translations are annoying... lol

/SK

 

[JCoatsworth]

I like Asian cinema. Seven Samurai (Japan) and Memories of Murder (South Korea) are two of my favorite movies of all time. I also like some Danish and French films.
I don't mind reading subtitles. If the movie is good, I'll watch it. (Hate dubbing, though. Even German dubs which might be the best in the world. They still suck and sound artificial.)

 

[HowiMetdaSlayer]

Some foreign films that I love:

Solaris (1972) (Russian)
Irréversible (2002) (French)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) (Mandarin)
La Femme Nikita (1990) (French/Italian)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 2009 (trilogy) (Swedish)
Das Boot (1981) (German)
City of God (2002) (Portuguese)
Pan's Labyrinth (2006) (Spanish/Mexican)

Oh, and I'm a sucker for pretty much every Studio Ghibli film. 😳

Pretty impressive list there. 🙂
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is my favorite movie! The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo & Pan's Labyrinth are definitely top 10's too. I'd add Whale Rider as well. It's mostly english, but also has Maori in it too. City of God is great too. The 3 colours trilgy (Blue/White/Red) are great as well. Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Apocalypto, Let the Right One In, Seven Samurai, Amelie, The Lives of Others, In the Mood for Love & Y Tu Mamá También deserve mention as well.

 

[Mr Trick]

I seem to be a rare desending voice on City of God. For me its a bit too flashy, and empty. It has many strong points too, but I find it is over praised.

 

[gite63]

I'm used to subtitles - they were introduced in our TV with the advent of cable TV, many years ago. I believe that I fell in love with BtVS because of the subtitles; before, I had watched the show dubbed and it did nothing to me - same thing with Highlander. But yeah, subtitles demand your full attention and that can be annoying since I like to do other things when watching TV, too; besides, after one learns English, one gets spoiled. Although sometimes I still caught myself watching Fool for Love with subtitles...

I absolutely hate dubbing. I can't understand people saying "I love Spike's voice" and Darla's is so sexy!" No! They are not their voices!!! You watch the show dubbed! I love the German show Kommissar Rex, and although I don't understand a word (even having a very German law name), I love to hear their voices.

Concerning animated movies and anime, it's the opposite: dubbed is better, because Brazilians really are great at that.

 

[Mr Trick]

I'm against dubbing as a rule, but then the dubbing for Studio Ghibli in the UK is pretty good and they have got some impressive voice artists for them. Also, I'm of the opinion than if it gets the films across to a wider audience then its worth it. Just as long as the DVD's still give you the option for both.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. A friend of mine bought a copy of it in Bali, the film is spoken in English but has subtitles in the language of that country but the subtitles cannot be removed. I threw it in the bin.
I was given the film Splice, bought from Bali it won't play on the DVD Players I have.

 

[Mr Trick]

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. A friend of mine bought a copy of it in Bali, the film is spoken in English but has subtitles in the language of that country but the subtitles cannot be removed. I threw it in the bin.
I was given the film Splice, bought from Bali it won't play on the DVD Players I have.

I want to say that Splice has Canadian roots? But could be wrong😉 What did you think of it?

 

[gite63]

I'm against dubbing as a rule, but then the dubbing for Studio Ghibli in the UK is pretty good and they have got some impressive voice artists for them. Also, I'm of the opinion than if it gets the films across to a wider audience then its worth it. Just as long as the DVD's still give you the option for both.

Nowadays I think it's butchering a work of art, but I may be exaggerating...

@JCoatsworth I loved Kommissar Rex when I was a very much adult and I was a Moser gal. Nothing against Brandtner, though. The show had a good audience here, we used to have a Yahoo! Group to discuss it. Good times.

And where you read law name, please read last name. Typing on the phone is a nightmare.

 

[Mr Trick]

Nowadays I think it's butchering a work of art, but I may be exaggerating...

@JCoatsworth I loved Kommissar Rex when I was a very much adult and I was a Moser gal. Nothing against Brandtner, though. The show had a good audience here, we used to have a Yahoo! Group to discuss it. Good times.

And where you read law name, please read last name. Typing on the phone is a nightmare.

In a lot of cases I'm sure you're right. I'm just talking about the my experience of the Ghibli dubbing. You have to remember that a big part of the audience for those films are kids.

 

[Buffy Summers]

I know you're not supposed to but I like dubbing if it's a language Ai don' speak - I can concentrate on what's happening not on the words.