My Foreign Film Collection

Hello Everyone,

I just bought Lady Vengeance (the second part in the Vengeance Trilogy; I think it is the second part anyway) the other day and thought that I would do a rundown of my entire foreign film collection, which depending on whether I get rid of my cheaply purchased copy of Ameile is between 28 and 29 in total. I thought Ameile was cute but I do not know how much I would want to watch it in the future, so I think that I will give it another try. I however hate Jean Paul Jeunet's Alien Resurrection, which is in my eyes and the eyes of my friend Chris, the only truly crappy Alien movie, because Alien 3 is not bad, not great, but not terrible. Anyway, I go off on tangents, but no more I say, no more (sorry). The following may contain spoilers. I try to be as general as possible to just give, you (the readers) a general idea about what to expect if you were to watch any of these foreign films as well as my feeling about them. Enjoy.

I am going to start this alphabetically starting with the two 3 Extremes compilations. I first saw one of the segments in my Theories of Generic film class at the University of Toronto. The segment was called Going Home (Directed by Peter Chan) and was about a widower police officer and his son moving into a soon to be demolished apartment building. Strange things begin to happen when the officer's son disappears and he begins to suspect the only other tenant in the apartment block; a man who wheels around his comatose wife and frequently carts leaking garbage bags to the dumpster. This episode is very eerie, sad, intriguing and I think very beautiful. Both of the 3 Extremes DVDS feature 3 episodes from Asian filmmakers (Peter Chan, Ji-Woon Kim, Nonzee Nimibutr, Fruit Chan, Chan-Wook Park and Takashi Miike). I prefer Going Home and Cut (directed by Chan-Wook Park). Cut is about a film director that is being held hostage by a sadistic extra who has been in all of his films, but has remained unnoticed by the director. Beautifully set decoration in this sick and twisted horrific hostage and torture situation. Various Asian Countries.

I am now just realizing that this entry is going to go on forever. The describes of the other foreign films in my collection will be much briefer.

Audition (dir. Takashi Miike) is probably the most horrific film in my collection. It is sort of a very twisted Asian version of Fatal Attraction. There is more to it than that but I am trying to be concise. Japanese.

The Barbarian Invasions (dir. Denys Arcand) won the foreign language film Oscar a few years ago and is the sequel to Arcand's earlier film The Decline of the American Empire. It is a rumination on how Quebec society is changing and becoming more technocratic. It is also a story about what makes up a life etc. French-Canadian.

Cache (dir. Michael Haneke) is a bizarre film about a family that keeps receiving videotapes of someone spying outside their house and their efforts to find out who it is. I did not really get this film; I think that I missed something; I only watch it once and need to give it another try. Some of my fellow students in the University of Toronto Cinema Studies department kept talking about it so I rolled the dice and decided to buy it when it came out and give it a try. French.

The Celebration (Festen; its Danish Title, dir. Thomas Vinterberg) is a great dramatic thriller (yeah I made that up) that masterfully constructs a style by taking away many of the tenants that make up a film's style in a Hollywood film. One of my top five films of all time. Danish.

Chungking Express (dir. Wong Kar-Wai) is a mosaic narrative about the love lives of two Hong Kong police officers and the females that they interact with in their daily lives. Also one of my top five favourite films of all time. Chinese.

Cinema Paradiso is a great Italian film about cinema, growing up and love. Possibly my favourite Italian film of all time; I think that The Easy Life is my most favourite Italian film. Italian.

Crazy (dir. Jean-Marc. Vallee) is a coming of age story about a gay man as he grows up in a religious French-Canadian household. Great film; my second favourite French-Canadian Film.

Days of Being Wild (dir. Wong Kar-Wai) is a film about a reckless youth who is trying to find his origins in an attempt to understand who his relationships with women are so damaged. Very good. Chinese.

The Decline of the American Empire (dir. Denys Arcand) is sort of a French-Canadian precursor to The Big Chill (I have heard and read this but I cannot confirm because I have not seen The Big Chill). It is about the sex lives of a bunch of Quebec Intelligensia University Professors as is discussed and shown over the course of a cold, Quebecois winter. Very funny and thought provoking.

Eat Drink Man Woman (dir. Ang Lee) is about the love lives of three woman and their father and the different romantic circumstance that each find themselves in. Very cute little movie. Taiwanese

Fallen Angels (dir. Wong Kar-Wai) is the companion film to Chungking Express. Wong Kar-Wai often pairs films together (see also In The Mood For Love and 2046). It is a mosaic narrative love story; on one side about a hitman and his handler who he has never met, but she seems to be in love with him and on the other side about a mute and his father who he hassles [very funny segment]. I love it second only to Chungking Express. Chinese.

La Femme Nikita (dir. Luc Bresson) is about woman junkie who is discovered at a crime scene and is train to be a hitman or hitwoman, whichever you prefer. Very good spy/espionnagesque action film. Probably Bresson's best film. French.

Goodbye Dragon Inn (dir. Tsai Ming-Liang) is about the final screening at a movie theatre in Taiwan before it is to be torn down (the movie being screened is an old swordplay/marital arts film that was filmed in Taiwan when Taiwan was still part of Mainland China; the film is called Dragon Inn). The film basically a lamentation on the lost lustre and prosperity that Taiwan once had when it was part of China, but has since lost and has never gained back. This is all told as you observe the lives of the people watching the film and running the theatre. There is no dialogue in this film for the first 40 minutes or so; movie is only about 80 minutes but seems longer because of the lack of major action) This is a watch for only those who have more an average amount of patience. I believe there is a pay off if you sit through the entire film, but others might disagree. Taiwanese.

High Tension (Alexandre Aja) closely resembles the first 100 pages or so of a Dean Koontz novel entitled Intensity (see my brief blog entry on this from Jan. or Feb.). It is a slash film with a cool twist set in the French countryside. One of my favourite horror films of the last ten years. French.

Irreversible (dir. Gaspar Noe) is a hard to watch thriller told in reverse chronology about a woman's rape and the violent actions that her boyfriend and her ex-boyfriend take to 'payback' the responsible party. French.

Infernal Affairs (dir. Andy Lau) more commonly known as the film Martin Scorsese adapted with his recent Oscar wining film The Departed. The story is pretty much the same, although there are differences (the ending and others). The acting is great and story is well written; it is just a great foreign cop film. Chinese.

Intacto (dir. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo; also 28 weeks Later) is a interesting little film about group of people that gamble away their luck and try to get it back before they end up dead. Spanish, but has English dialogue at times. An interesting little watch.

Jesus of Montreal (dir. Denys Arcand) is about a group of struggling French-Canadian stage actors who perform a controversial Passion Play (about Jesus, the cross and all that business) that upsets some church leaders because it attempts to humanize Jesus Christ to a level that they are uncomfortable with. Probably my favourite French-Canadian Film.

Lady Vengeance is another revenge film (apparently the last in the Chan-Wook Park's Vengeance Trilogy; the second is Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance) from Korean director Chan-Wook Park. It is not as violent as Oldboy but it is still pretty disturbing, but worth seeing. I prefer Oldboy. The performances are all very good and the protagionist for Oldboy is also in this film, but this time around he plays 'the bad guy'. I need to see it again to piece everything together in my head better.

MPD (multiple Personality Detective) Psyho was a miniseries that aired on TV in Japan in 2000 and is based on a popular Japanese manga comic. It is about a detective who hunted and killed a serial killer who can transfer his soul in the bodies of others through phone lines. The detective developed a second personality that has taken over his life since a sad and drama encounter between the killer and the detectives wife. The film continues with him hunting this serial killer and trying to stop his transfer into other bodies. It is much weirder than you think. I need to take it in all again. Japanese.

Oldboy (dir. Chan-Wook Park), I thought was going to be a cool revenge film with a lot of violence (there is violence in the film), but turned out to be a much deeper film than I thought, with a really nice glossy polish to the film (what I mean to say is that the film has a reasonable budget and looks like a really well made film). I highly recommend this film. Korean.

Pan's Labyrinth (dir. Guillermo Del Toro) is about a young girl's glimpse into a dark, but magical fairy tale world while she is in the Spanish countryside with her pregnant mother and new Spanish Commander stepfather during the Spanish civil war in 1944. Very dark but very good. If you are a horror fan then give it a rent. Spain.

Run Lola Run (dir. Tom Tyker) is about a woman who races to help her boyfriend recover a mobsters money that he has lost. Three possible versions of her struggle to help him get the money back make up the film. Very cool, fast-paced and entertaining film. German.

To Live (dir. Zhang Yimou) is about a family and how they are affected by the changing society in China from about the 1930-1970s. A very good brief overview of China's history. Slow paced at times but is a very good foreign melodrama. Chinese.

Tout Va Bien (dir. Jean-Luc Godard) is a film about the changes in French society in the late 1960 involving the May 1967 protests in France involving the death of a protestor at the hands of the French Police Department. The narrative shifts between a couple and how their politics are pulling them apart, protestors at a supermarket and workers hold the head of a factory hostage in his office to get higher wages and breaks during their workday. Film had a very interesting narrative structure. Good foreign film about the turbulent decade that was the 1960s. French.

Yi Yi (dir. The Late Edward Yang) is about a family from Taipei who in different ways reflect on and question their lives and their place in the world around them. Very long but a very good foreign film. My favourite Taiwanese film. Taiwanese.

I hope that those of you reading this blog entry have seen or aim to see some of the films I have briefly discussed; I think they are worth seeing.

Looking forward to spring coming soon,

FaNbOy DaVe