Foreign Films, Give 'em a go!

With the start of a new academic year under way and the pressure of AS Level exams but a distant memory, I feel now is the time to get blogging again, how I've missed it.  This post is not a film review, not because I haven’t been to the cinema of late, (recently saw The Dark Knight Rises - loved it, and The Bourne Legacy - pretty pointless, what did we think?) but because I have been aching to discuss something else for a while, foreign movies.  

Many of you would groan at the possibility of sitting through endless subtitles, because it feels like more work, however it is unfortunate that some of the world’s best contributions to cinema aren't all in the English language!  Yes believe it or not the likes of Nigeria, Brazil and China have produced their fair share of screen gems along with the more obvious French and German movies each inspiring a new wave of film-making. 

As I am fairly new to the concept of foreign films, I asked my film studies lecturer to compile a very short list of must sees and as I did in my first post, having watched these movies ill pass on the recommendations to you with my own take on things.  

1.) City of God - (Brazil) Now this is a real masterpiece and its four Oscar nominations and worldwide critical acclaim has given it a fair bit of positive publicity, not enough I feel so I'm here to give it some more.  City of God is the story of two boys growing up in the notoriously violent slums of Rio de Janeiro, one becomes an aggressive drug dealer whilst the others morals drive him into a more honest profession.  Full of struggle and using the chaos of the setting and the rich culture as a vehicle driving the narrative at an unstoppable pace, City of God is the perfect example of exceptionally raw movie-making.  Now aren't I selling it?  I have reason to. 

2.) Life is Beautiful - (Italy) This film is very much separated into two parts, almost two completely different scripts but there is one real consistency in both, the charisma and pure spirit of the protagonist.  It deals with the charm of young love and the hardship of the holocaust whilst being extremely comical, all in 116 minutes, sounds strange doesn't it?  But it’s one of those rarities that seizes complete control of every emotion in your body and with striking precision plucks at your heart strings and tickles your funny bone.  Need I say more?

3.) The 400 Blows - (France) This is more experimental than the fore-mentioned, it came at a time when Hollywood romantic cinema was the generally accepted formula to movie-making.  François Truffaut couldn't have been further from conventional, and his semi-autobiographical tale of a troubled teenage boy seeking love, attention and just about every other thing his mother deprived him of is nothing short of stunning.  I warn you, it takes patience but the concepts, ideas and the feeling of adolescent alienation so brilliant conveyed makes it all worth it.

I'm going to leave it at that for now, there's three to get you started, I'd be doing a lot of people an injustice if I didn't mention Chunking Express, La Haine and of course The Artist in these recommendations.  I will make my return to reviewing films sometime next week as I plan to go to the cinema on Monday, 'til then Stay Classy. (Anchor-man reference).