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Thanks for the list (Reply to this comment)
by tunesjer
I certainly agree with you on "Amelie" -- sort of a "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" girl, but of course in France they have thousands of years of surroundings and beauty (unlike Mary, lol).
One of the pleasures of "Amelie" is that you can view it or parts of it much like you have a Coca-Cola from time to time, as a refreshment. You don't really have the heavy sense of "Oh-I-saw-that-movie-five-times" as you would after repeated viewings of any other motion picture. Bravo!
My VERY top film -- one I like too much to bring it down to the #1 position is called "Tiger Bay" -- since the 1950's we've seen a lot of mystery stories via the telly -- but this is described as being an "art film" -- very interesting to see how movies have changed in fifty years.
It stars a PRE-Disney Haley Mills. And her father, John Mills.
It's now available on DVD. You can't miss. If you don't want your copy sell it to me via eBay. I give them away, I just love the movie. You might want to view it a # of times to catch all the "artsy" (which in that time meant "thinky") cross references in dialogue and action.
Thanks again for the review. Let me know how you liked "Tiger Bay" -- Jertoons@aol.com
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Sep 01 '03
1:20 pm PDT
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Amazing!!! (Reply to this comment)
by AinsleyJo
It's pretty amazing how several of the foreign films you've described are originally known to me as American movies--even though they were actually originally foreign!
One favorite foreign (Japanese) movie that was made in 1962 was shown occasionally on TV in the early 1980s.
However, I don't see it anymore.
Wish I'd had a VCR back then so that I could have captured it.
Its English title is The Last War, and it has some similarities to The Day After--but, imo, made its characters even more sympathetic.
Have you seen it?
Its translation consists of a dubbing of English.
I think that the Japanese title is Desai Seiko--which I don't believe translates into The Last War, though I could be wrong about this.
The young woman in love with her Navy man is named Seiko, so I think the movie might have originally had a title pertaining to her.
Anyway, she's a sweet, young woman who works in an office, and I can remember this scene where her boyfriend calls her there, and the person with the main phone line on her desk takes the call.
She then tells Seiko that the call's for her.
Seiko asks, "Who is it?" and her co-worker asks, "Who do you think?" followed by a knowing giggle.
Besides her boyfriend, Seiko has sweet, loving parents and the most adorable little sister and brother.
She was one of these people who must have been an only child for several years, because she's probably somewhere between 18 and 21 and her sister looks to be around 8 and her brother around 3.
There's this one scene where the dad is getting ready to go to work, and he's gargling--and the little boy stands there making gargling sounds, too.
The mother, at one point, is out in the yard planting tulips, and she's surrounded by children's toys.
There's another scene where the entire family--along with Seiko's boyfriend--are shown going to some kind of family event at the local park.
Anyway, Seiko is concerned that Hiroshima might happen again, if people aren't educated to prevent it.
She urges her dad to buy potatoes from this guy who's selling them to raise funds to promote peace.
She really has to beg, because her dad thinks that this guy is just a shyster playing on people's fears to rake in the $$$$$$$, and he reassures Seiko that things are different now than they were back then, so there was no chance of history repeating itself.
But it happens.
It's one of those things where, because one person pushes the "button," everybody else does, too.
This is definitely going to be the war to end all wars--and all life as we know it.
Other poignant scenes in the movie include:
Seiko out in the backyard with her mother after hearing that the bombs/missiles are on their way looks at the tulip bed and tearfully comments that the tulips will bloom next spring but we won't be there to see them.
Her statement has actually inspired poetry in me.
Another scene is where, knowing that the end will be arriving soon, the family decides to have one last very special meal together.
Of course, the two younger kids have no idea what's about to happen, and they ask their folks what holiday they're celebrating.
There's a scene where the dad has stepped outside for a few moments to have some private grieving time, and he's weeping because he now believes that he could have done more to prevent this from happening.
Seiko's boyfriend (I believe, now husband, because I got the impression that they had ended up eloping before he sailed) is away at sea, but one of the last things Seiko does before the bombs/missiles hit is to look at a photo of him and hug it to her.
Then, you see all of this destruction going on and cities/landmarks being destroyed all over the world.
When all is quiet again, it shows Seiko's sweetheart and this other Naval officer whose daughter is a nursery school teacher (with both her and her adorable charges now, obviously, decimated) weeping and comforting each other before while viewing the nuked island of Japan from their ship--then, tossing a wreath into the water.
The kids in the nursery school had seen "Grandpa" off by singing It's A Small World to him, and you can hear the memory of that song in the background.
This song, of course, was dubbed. But the original song used (or so I've heard) was one that was a popular and positive kiddie tune over in Japan at the time.
Another poignant scene was in that nursery school.
Originally, the kids were going to be going on a field-trip to the local zoo, because one of the little girls was celebrating her birthday that day.
Her Mommy had been on the way to the school with a cake for her, and they were going to take it to the zoo and have a party.
Of course, the woman had been wounded on the way there and was now in the hospital--though, of course, she would be dead with everyone else before the day was over.
She called her daughter up and told her that Mommy would be a little late but that she would be bringing her cake and they'd still be going to the zoo.
The teacher got the kids into a circle and they began talking about what they would do and see when they went to the zoo later.
One little boy was all excited about seeing the lions and tigers and was making growling sounds.
Anyway, this movie is guaranteed to tear your heart right out of you--to make people see how important it is to destroy those weapons of mass-destruction.
This is especially true when they're in the hands of dictators to whom personal power outweighs the value of human life.
Do I want war? Not really.
But, even less, I want a worst-case scenario as portrayed in The Last War, so I hope that we'll do whatever is necessary to prevent this from happening!
Thanks for inspiring this comment with your foreign film review!
I've decided to also post it as an item in Writer's Corner.
Hopefully, it will get read by people who might be in charge of making decisions re: what happens next here in 2003.
Peace!
AJ :o)
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Mar 16 '03
5:47 pm PST
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Kudos From An "Ennio Morri-conehead..." (Reply to this comment)
by 29th_Candidate
Hollywood shouldn't get jealous; it should be taking copious notes.
Of course that'll never happen while industry fatcats continue to rake in 60 mil for formula, boomer-exploitation clunkers like "Scooby Doo" (or while suckers keep throwing their 10-spots at the theaters that play them.)
Now that I've covered "the bad" and "the ugly," I'll stand back to let your movie selections and review round out "the good" aspect of my comment's eponymous triumvirate.
--29th
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Feb 27 '03
3:02 am PST
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I speak foreign too (Reply to this comment)
by sweeper
Nice list. I'd say you've got some of these nailed. Good job.
Now get on that bike.
dave
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Feb 26 '03
6:50 am PST
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Nice job. (Reply to this comment)
by zapbot
It is amazing how many of us have many of these same foreign titles in our top 10 also.
Nice work on revisiting great memories.
God bless,
Zap...zzzz
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Feb 26 '03
5:27 am PST
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