The Personal Recommendation Hall of Fame III: Foreign Language Edition

you will NOW, pal
lol

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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

I need Links for L’Avventura and Show Me Love please.
I already have The Last Emperor on tap. Looking to finish this up this week before the deadline. Thanks in advance

sent you L'Avventura @Wyldesyde19 and on a quick search, no luck for Show Me Love
So, I guess I'll show you adventure, but NO love lol

Just like the sale at your local supermarket


3 DAYS LEFT!

Will start up L’Avventura tonight

Will have a review of L’Avventura up later. Starting The Last Emperor tonight. Might need an extra day to finish this.
Sorry 🙁

I'll see if I can watch Woman in the Dunes tonight. If not tonight, tomorrow for sure.

EDIT:

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I got a link, PMing now.

L’Avventura


I’m aware that this film has a strong fan base, and is considered among the best of its time. Somehow, this film failed to make an impact on me though.

The films starts with a woman (Anna) who seems reluctant to meet her boyfriend (Sandro). They’re to meet up with friends and visit a volcanic island of sorts, and swim. This includes her best friend, Claudia. We see Anna as an enigma, as she falsely claims to have seen a shark during a swim, and tells Sandro she feels nothing for him.
She seems selfish in some ways, as she makes herself the focus of the trip. And so we think she is the focus of the movie.

Until she vanishes.....and her friends frantically search for her to no avail. This was the most interesting part for me. And I thought it would be a mystery, one with a payoff at the end where we find out who did it and why?

About an hour or so into the film, this is dropped, by the director, and the actors, and everyone goes back to their own lives as if nothing was amiss. Sandro and Claudia spark up a relationship and here I think “She is going to find evidence pointing to his guilt.”

Wrong again. The film switches everything up and focuses instead on Claudia and Sandro, and it’s here I became frustrated. I wanted to answers to my questions. I wanted closure. I got nothing. I was left feeling cold to this movie as a result.

There are some great scenes in this, especially on the island. And Vitti is radiant on the screen, mixing her emotions of guilt and sorrow and ecstasy.

Maybe it’s me. Maybe my expectations needed to be temepred. And maybe I’ll need to see this again, but for now, it’s a near miss.

2 more Wyldesyde, 2 more!

Starting The Last emperor tonight.

Hmmm. So I started The Last Emperor, and about 20 mins in I come across a scene that is very familiar. And I’m thinking to myself....have I seen this before? And I think it’s quite possible.
If I have, it’s been well over 20 years. We’re talking high school. So it’s basically a new watch but yeah. The cricket stands out. The sniffing the poop in the bowl stands out big time.
(Don’t judge me.)

weirdo




I had forgotten I had seen L'Avventura until I searched for a link for you and reading your review, I was the same way. Wondering: so what happened to her? Why is everyone so flippant about it later when it was SUCH an intense hunt for her?
I do believe someone here had some insight into what the Director was aiming for, but, like the film, it has drifted off. Much like the concern for the missing Anna.

The Cranes Are Flying aka Letyat zhuravli (1957)

Veronika's Father: That is what love is, my dear. A harmless mental illness.

Initially, I had expected a very Arthouse Film. Cold, aloof, a harsh, cerebral experience filled with symbolism. Sans emotion. Sans beauty.
Sans love; for life, for family. . .

All of which is wonderfully dashed within the first fifteen minutes of this exquisite composition by Director Mikhail Kalatozov and Cinematographer Sergey Urusevskiy.
We meet Veronika "Squirrel" (Tatyana Samoylova) and her lover, Boris (Aleksey Batalov), sneaking into their homes early in the morning.
How it plays out and the warmth of their families along with the brilliant camerawork pulled me in, and, in bliss, there I remained throughout this story of star-crossed lovers during WWII.

This was, at the time of its release, a surprise for the audience. Stepping outside the rigorous limitations that had been implanted during Stalin's lifetime:

"When the film was released in the Soviet Union, it caused a sensation amongst audiences weaned on propaganda fare. For the first time, audiences were able to weep at the pain of losing millions of their population in the war. It was also the first time that subjects like draft-dodging, war profiteering, and the black market had been expressed on film."


Like numerous Life-affirming films that illustrate the Beauty of those enduring Horrorific situations, TCAF captures the very essence of it and all the subtitles, nuances, and cinematic magic that we, as movie lovers, crave: To be engaged, be entertained, laugh, cry, and be happily lost in the story/film before us.
The pacing, the story, dialogue, characters throughout held a beguiling spell over me. Experiencing, intimately, the lives of everyone with such artistry. In equal measures of camerawork and the actors who never appeared as if they were acting. Giving performances that express the Beauty, the Love of Life, and Family counterbalanced by the Loss that is heaped upon everyone during wartime. And, in the end, endured as Hope is given a chance.


F@CKIN BRAVO!! BRAVO!!

With only one film left to go, and looking over a list of amazing films, I do see the ONLY logical vote for me will be:

First Place: f@ckin EVERY SINGLE one of them!
lol

The Last Emperor

Puyi was christened Emperor at the age of two, and yet spent his entire life vying for control, and freedom, because in many ways he was a prisoner.

The Last Emperor shows how he was only an Emperor as long as he remained in the forbidden city. His rule didn’t extend beyond its walls. That would be a theme through this sad tale based on true events.

We watch as this child grows to become an adult, always forced to be a prisoner of some sort wherever he was sent. As a puppet ruler of Manchuria (Then renamed as Manchukuo during the Japanese invasion during the event of WW2), and finally as a prisoner for collaboration with the enemy. His life is told in flashbacks, and how he struggled to control even his city.

There are two scenes that stood out, the first, when his nurse is sent away without his permission and he chased after her vehicle. When he reaches the gate much later, he is refused when he demands it be open. Their scenes plays out again when he wife is sent away during his rule of Manchukuo, and again he chases after her car, and again he comes upon the gate and is refused when he demands it to be open. He realizes then and there his rule is a hollow one. His is a lonely existence.

The direction is tight, and without meandering, as Bertolucci guides us along with a sure hand. We do more then witness these events, we experience them.

The acting was also great, with standout performances by John Lone as Puyi and Joan Chen as his wife. And of course, Peter O’Toole as his tutor.

I didn’t expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I was pleasantly surprised. I’m also quite sure I am correct in thinking I may have watched this once when I first started watching films seriously. But it was so long ago (about 25 years iirc?) that the scenes weren’t fresh and recognizable, except for a few, that it is basically a new watch.

Great film.

Show me love will be tonight

Well looky here, 2 more members with only 1 movie left. It's a good think because the Deadline is upon us!

Just started Woman in the Dunes. I'm not gonna finish it today for sure, but I just wanted to get it going. Deadline is tomorrow midnight?

Oh boy, 40 minutes in and this is the kind of film that I can't stop watching Have a tough day of work tomorrow, though, so it will have to wait.