The Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame III: Foreign Language Edition

Floating Weeds

It took me a little while to get into this, but once I grasped who everyone was and got into the rhythm of it, I quite enjoyed this.

What I like most about Ozu films is the stillness of the shots of buildings or interiors. They are obviously films about relationships and humanity but that is what always strikes me first.

I did feel like there was something lost a little in translation for me with this film, some kinds of cultural resonances that I was probably missing. There were some things about the relationships and motivations that I didn't completely understand either, but that didn't stop me appreciating the film.

I've only seen a couple of Ozu but his style of film making suits me to a tee. I haven't seen Floating Weeds but I bet I'd like it.

I thought it was strange that 3 members tried picking this for you, not that it isn't good because it is.

Which version did you watch?

Breathless

I thought this film could have went either way for me, as has most of Godards filmography for me. I felt like it was a very passionate debut for a director. To me, it almost felt like an early version of a good Tarantino film, as weird of a comparison as that sounds. The film looked magnificent. The composition and the shots just looked like they had a lot of time put into them. I loved the banter and the dialogue between the two leads. The story had me intrigued from the beginning to see just what would happen between these two people. Really cool nomination and probably my second favorite Godard film so far.

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^ I'm glad you got more out of it than me.

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Yea it's known as an important classic. Some people will get a lot out of it and it's nice to see that Raul did.

I didn't know there were different versions, to be honest. Apart from that there was an earlier film of the same name.

No, that's what I meant. I've seen the 30s version but not the 50s one.

Just finished Cries and Whispers. Certainly a film that I'll have to think about as it sinks in. Review soon.

Ok, I'm about to finish Sansho the Bailiff. Had to stop for another reason, but before I go back to it, I wanted to throw something out here cause it's been bothering me since it happened.



I'm gonna finish it now, so I'm still holding any final judgment until, but it's the kind of thing that has been nagging at the back of my head since. Other than that, I'm enjoying it a lot.

Hara-Kiri (1962)

A Ronin, hearing that the Lord of the palace is offering money in exchange for committing hara-kiri in his courtyard, shows up at the Lords home and asks permission to commit hara-kiri in the palaces courtyard. The folks in the palace are aware of this little huckster move and agree that they must go through with letting this man commit hara-kiri as a deterrent for future ronin. It turns out the man is not much of a samurai and his execution goes about as well as Ed Delacroixs' execution in The Green Mile. Shortly after another ronin (Tsugumo) shows up for the same reason and we're off!

There was a point in this where I felt like, okay, this just got a helluvalot more interesting and it's the moment Tsugumo asks for his second (the man who chops off your head after you gut yourself). The man he requests is home "sick". Sick? What?!? Hara-Kiri is a movie that unpacks slowly, mostly via flashbacks and for me how it unfolds is what makes it so good, so the less said about the plot the better. It's not big on action but there are a couple nice fights and it's surprisingly brutal for the time it was made.

Visually there is nothing to complain about. It looks fantastic. Tatsuya Nakadai plays Tsugumo and he does a very good job. He's a burnt out samurai, just tired of everything and he plays it in such a perfect, monotone performance. He looks beat down and sounds beat down but is he really THAT beat down? There were several scenes that felt like I had watched before. Of course I hadn't but this is one of them movies where several scenes have been copied and pasted over and over because they're so ******* good. I was pretty tired when I started this, wasn't sure if I'd finish it and about forty minutes in I fired up some popcorn and grabbed a Dr. P. Outstanding!

I have two reviews pending (Cries and Whispers and Sansho the Bailiff), but work has been hectic these last few days. Still, I'm prioritizing watching the films versus writing the reviews for now. Might try to sneak Tokyo Story tonight, but why oh why you all chose 2+ hour films??

Check out what Suspect had to watch for the first personal rec.



And Harakiri continues to climb up the upcoming countdown!

I’ll finally be getting around to Stalker tonight

I nominated this for ya. Helluva d@mn good movie!!

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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

They dropped some big ones on him But nah, it's ok it's just that my current situation makes it extremely hard for me to watch a film on one sit for 2+ hours. Forces me to split it in two days most of the time

ONE MONTH UNTIL THE DEADLINE!

Shoplifters



It was cool to finally connect with a Kore-eda film. It was a very touching film that really didn't have much of any flaws. Was it completely realistic? No probably not but with the way Kore-eda told the story it really made me look past all of that. It was very well acted and technically it had no flaws and looked fantastic. Almost felt like a modern Ozu story but perhaps even one that all audiences could connect with better. In the end felt pretty invested in the kids fates and that definitely seems to linger after the end credits role. A really good recommendation for me.

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