Foreign Language Hall of Fame

It took me three days to get through this, and I know I need to watch it again because it's a very dense film. The Saragossa Manuscript is an almost collection of short stories that's put together to tell one massive tale. This wasn't really my cup of tea, while it's an ambitious story that I can respect it has a number of problems. To start with it's three hours long and you have a number of indulgent scenes of feasting which makes me wonder if the actors were paid in food. The performances ranged from the okay to the terrible and the story feels a bit racist.

The Spaniards are depicting fairly brutally in this film, and they didn't get any actual moors to play the Moorish princesses. It's a little funny, it's sort of like a lighter version of a Pasolini film you have a lot of attractive women in this film.

The real strength of the film is in it's visuals and set pieces. It feels fairly historically accurate as a medieval story but then you get pulled out of by some terrible action scenes. And that's what makes critiquing a film like this so difficult because it has this uncomfortable duality of high art (stories within stories) and low art (boobs, slapstick, cheapness).

For now I'm just going to call it a film and see if time softens or hardens my opinion it.

Warning: Spoilers for Benny's Video below!

While it is certainly true that he's causing a lot of trouble for his parents, what's clever about the line is that he's not actually apologizing for what he's done. What he says is "Entschuldigung", and not "Es tut mir leid".

I imagine there would no distinction in the English subtitles, but his phrasing in German is more akin to just saying "excuse me", or "pardon me". So the implication is that he's just being polite as he walks past him, and nothing more.

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I don't think the film moved on quickly, I mean wasn't that whole segment about 20 minutes long? This is if we're thinking about the same thing.

I'm glad you brought this up, because I as well was terrified by the application of sound during that scene.

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"A film has to be a dialogue, not a monologue — a dialogue to provoke in the viewer his own thoughts, his own feelings. And if a film is a dialogue, then it’s a good film; if it’s not a dialogue, it’s a bad film."

- Michael "Gloomy Old Fart" Haneke

Potential spoilers for Benny's Video below.

I just meant the scene where the two parents were discussing what they should do after Benny shows them the video.

I liked how the father didn't particularly care what the right (or lawful) thing to do was, just how they could best get out of the situation without hurting their future prospects. We saw earlier that the mother approves of her daughter's pyramid scheme "game", and suggested that her husband try it as well, since he could probably get more money from his colleagues. I wanted to see more of the entire family showing psychopathic tendencies.

However we don't get to see much more of that behaviour after that scene. The mother sorts things out at the school and plans the trip, but then that's really all we get since the location changes and it's just Benny and his mom on vacation. Yes it highlights Benny's complete and utter lack of remorse, but that was already well established, so the majority of the Cairo scene adds nothing new to the film.

While Benny's obsession with the tape is vital to his character, it still could've been filmed far more tastefully. I also don't think it was necessary to slaughter a real animal for the film.

You say this like it's a bad thing

Anyway, I can't disagree with the rest of your objections: it is too long and morally dubious and doesn't provide much context. I guess it just depends how big a problem those things are for you when you're watching it.

I guess we really disagree on the Cairo segment of the film, because as I said previously, it was my favourite part of the movie.

Age of Shadows

Since this is in a similar vein as my nomination I'm sure it'll come to no surprise how much I enjoyed this.

Being a fan of so much of this: Simply that it came from South Korea and how much I enjoy movies from there. The Director, having seen several of his work and loving them, to a number of the actors in this film as well. Toss in a good period piece filled with action and espionage and it's pretty much a done deal.

With a few stylized shoot-outs, a wonderfully tense train ride and the enjoyable twists and turns of a any good espionage film, I was enjoying this from the get go til the very end.
For some, this may have seemed a bit long, but I enjoyed the extension that allowed us to delve deeper into the various players and the various "sit downs" that occurred. The first one being my favorite as the Captain, Lee Jung-Chool meets with and drinks very heavily with the representative from the Resistance, Kim Woo-Jin. Whereupon, afterward, after leaving one another, both "sober up" and the shadow games begin.
And with it, the prices to be paid and losses that accumulate as it draws to its end.

While, yes, the history lesson does not come with the movie, what does come with it, for me, is engrossing and very entertaining. While the more political aspects and the social history could be addressed, it would then be a completely different movie and not the adventurous and tense ride that this film is. An excellent "cat and mouse" game filmed beautifully with incredible, authentic scenery, costume and props; fueled by a sensible story line never gets far-fetched or makes you doubt the cleverness of those trying to finish the game.

I will be adding this to the long list of favorite Korean films that I truly enjoy watching, again and again.

I'm not the biggest fan of musicals. Matter of fact, I think the only "musical" I've ever seen and liked is "Dancer in the Dark"...which is an anti-musical. So, I was pleasantly surprised by my immense enjoyment of this nomination. Visually speaking, the following film is kind of a masterpiece. The cinematography, the set design, the costumes, along with all of the bright and flashy colours, they sync together perfectly, in order to visualise a small tale of romance and heartbreak. I wasn't that bothered by the generic love story, and not just because this is the 60's after all, but also due to the style of the movie, and how much it fit such a tale. Still, It really would've helped had there been more of an interesting flavour, to the relationships and the dynamics. Ultimately, what genuinely elevated this safe narrative, was its risky execution. Having every single last line of dialogue be sang, is a ballsy move that I didn't expect. More importantly, it worked, and never turned stale!

"The Umbrellas of Cherbourg" is a film that pleased all of my senses. In fact, just the phenomenal and powerful score alone, could of done that by itself, but the movie goes beyond that, and even wraps itself up with a satisfying ending, to one of the most unique musicals there are.

*Spoilers*

It’s cute and fresh and funny but also prone to a few cliches and implausibilities - the cheesy last-minute dash to the audition, for example.

The film doesn’t shy away from putting its characters into embarrassing situations. It would be embarrassing enough having to translate at a doctor’s appointment without the way they behave, and her mother’s actions when she gets her period! But quirky as they are, they’re well-rounded, sometimes embarrassing and annoying, sometimes selfish and sometimes loving and proud as families tend to be.

When the music cut out while her parents are listening to her sing was very effective. And when she signs the lyrics of the song at her audition.

I feel like in reality, the teachers would be more understanding of Paula’s home situation than they seem to be in this movie. Maybe that’s what it’s like in France, I don’t know. It did make for a poignant moment when the music teacher realises the family are deaf.

It reminded me in some ways of The Way He Looks, it is also about teenager wanting to grow up and move away although in that film he has the disability, rather than his family. And a little bit of Billy Elliot.

I probably didn’t understand some of the cultural references like when the students don’t want to sing a song that they think is old, but otherwise it was a fairly universally enjoyable movie.

There were a few loose ends that didn’t seem to be tied up - what about the boy who was also going to audition? What about her father’s political campaign? Are the snapshots we get at the end real?

All in all, not a masterpiece, but pretty good and likable; I enjoyed watching it and wouldn't have heard of it otherwise, good nomination.

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I haven't seen Assassination yet, but the surface-value similarities between the two are the reason why I'm trying to put some distance between them.

If they really are quite similar, I wonder if the order we each view them in will affect which one we prefer more?

It seems like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is a hit with people who don't normally like musicals haha.

It's probably because it's not the type of musical we expected.

I as well adored the presentation of this film. Just thinking about its gorgeous visuals again, makes me want to revisit it. Satoshi Kon was such a master craftsman, right from his début.

While he wasn't involved in that many feature films, he certainly made the ones he did produce count. Out of the four, I think I might like Perfect Blue the least, but that's just because the other three are really good as well, and I just happen to like them more.

Tokyo Godfathers is definitely my favourite, and by a wide margin. But the other three are very close. Between Paprika and Millennium Actress I'm not sure which one I like more. Maybe Paprika, but I'd definitely have to think on it some more haha.

Intriguing question and I'm hard put to decide which one I prefer without using any bias over the other. There are story points, events and the such that separates them, and in the end that usually comes down to the individual and their enjoyment/dislike.
Though I definitely see how waiting between the two, (to cleanse the viewing palette as it were) so that you can access them individually.

As Cricket remarked within the first couple of reviews, it definitely seems to be getting some very high marks from those of us who have seen it.
I'm pretty excited to watch this. Especially for the beauty of it, as well as the story line.


I'm actually about halfway through Sword of Doom and thoroughly enjoying it. Depending on when I finish it tonight and time permitting, I should be getting a review put up tonight or tomorrow.

I have only seen "Perfect Blue" and "Millennium Actress" so far, and I almost want to say that I love them equally. I would hope that the next film I see of his, mixes both of my favourite aspects of these movies, the engaging story of "Perfect Blue", along with the gorgeous look of "Millennium Actress".

Now you got me excited for "Tokyo Godfathers", since initially, it seemed to be his least talked about work. Either way, at this point, I can't imagine myself not loving anything he does.

Having enjoyed both, you may very well wish to continue and see Tokyo Godfathers as well as Paprika.

Sword of Doom

SPOILERS

Equally artistic in composition as well as a visceral opus to the Samurai genre, we follow a murderous samurai with a serial killer's glee at his bloody actions.
After watching this I did a short search regarding this film, which is already acknowledged by the two previous reviews by Cosmic and by UltraViolence. To this end, I found this excellent Criteon article regarding the unfinished novel and the unfinished ending which, as I do agree that, while at first a bit of a WTF, it definitely makes for an ideal ending after the initial surprise of the freeze frame ending.

This is the first film I've ever seen by Okamoto and has made be very curious to see more of his work. Doing a splendid job of creating his lead as the villain as opposed to the lead that would normally be pursuing one. That lead being played with a slightly disturbed water's surface of what evil lies beneath by Tatsuya Nakadai, who plays the destructive samurai with such sublime insanity beneath such a quiet demeanor.
Which is mirrored in his swordsmanship. His stance and positioning of the sword appearing to be a docile weakness that lures in his opponents like a spider's web.
Introduced to us in the first fight, having nearly no action and an intense stillness that creates far more intensity than if carried out in a flurry of action.
Truly amazing work.

Bringing us to the brilliance of the composition of every single scene. I was constantly pausing to admire and study the composition and lighting. Such work, I would assume, could very well be one of such works that would inspire manga and graphic novel artists decades later.
There were some excellent shots and positioning of the camera throughout this, which is why my opening line expressed how captivating this was, both visually and for the amazing sword work throughout this film.
And this doesn't even include the emotional/psychological aspects of the film and the violence that consumes the lead character like a spiraling drug addiction. Played out in the eyes and expressions of Nakadai.

F@cking excellent film, @cricket!!

Definitely watch Paprika next then. The story has more sci-fi elements than Kon's other films, since the blending of the real and unreal is actually part of the film's plot. As such, it's emphasized more than in Perfect Blue and Millennium Actress. It's definitely his weirdest film, which could be a little off-putting, though it has plenty of creative imagery.

It's probably the least popular because it's quite different from his other three films. While Paprika, Perfect Blue, and Millennium Actress share a lot of visual elements and even have some common themes, Tokyo Godfathers is completely different.

It's very straight-forward, so you'll be disappointed if you expect something similar to his other films. However I really enjoyed the story and found it to be his most engaging film.