Foreign Films

Anyone here watch foreign movies? NOTE: By foreign I do not mean British, Canadian, or Australian but rather from a country where English isn't spoken. Someone (I think Lap although maybe it was GoGetEm) told me to check out Metropolis which is a silent German film from the 20s. I researched Fritz Lang (the director) and he also had a "talkie" called M which sounds pretty good. It was remade in the 50s in the US but that version is supposed to be far inferior. I'm thinking about adding those 2 films to my list.

In addition, a couple years ago some Spanish movie won the Oscar for best foreign film. I might check that out at some point as well - that's less foreign though as I can speak Spanish.

It was me! You gotta see it! Lang did films in Germany before he came over here and primarily did the horror/mystery genre.

I'll probably see M first since it's a talkie. Then again, is a subtitled film any different than a silent film? I want to see both.

Peter Lorre is in M. He was also in The Maltese Falcon (speaking English obviously) and he was good in that one so I'd assume he can be even better in his native tongue. The Maltese Falcon is supposedly the first-ever film noir (I still don't really understand that term) but they say M is pretty close to that genre and much older.

Let me know what you think! Some parts are pretty silly, but the cityscape scenes and machine scenes are pretty far out for their time.

I'm probably going to buy these two movies on Amazon at some point. I need to get a get a gift certificate first and then I'll buy. It'll probably be a while but these are both high on my list of things to see.

another silent you might consider is Nosferatu, an early German horror flick starring Max von Schrek (sp?)

laprimamirala wrote:

another silent you might consider is Nosferatu, an early German horror flick starring Max von Schrek (sp?)

LOL! I was looking that one up earlier. That's a Dracula-type story, right?

I know Metropolis and M. Both awesome movies! You really have to check them out!

Another one you will love is The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari from 1920. It's probably my favorite silent movie. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0010323/

I didn't know there's a remake of M.
But hey, there's no better actor for this role than Peter Lorre.

You will love Nosferatu. He is the damn scariest Dracula I have EVER seen....

I have to get Nosferatu. I think i have seen it a long time ago.

Max Schreck really is great as Nosferatu! I'm sure you know that "Schreck" means something like "shock" or "fright" in english.

omg...yup! Was that his real or stage name?

I think he was like Lugosi in that he was pretty much typecast throughout his film career?

Actually it was his real name! I just checked on the german wikipedia.

There are some pictures where he looks quite normal i think. But Nosferatu was the movie that made him famous.

He had extremely long fingers too!

Maybe he would have been a good pitcher!

would have to cut the nails though!

haha, true! especially on this picture!

swiss_tiger wrote:

haha, true! especially on this picture!

Those are some really wicked nails!

this was also one of the few silent films I've seen that attempted the "disappearing" Dracula. It was a primitive attempt but historic all the same.

The English wikipedia site makes it sound like we're fortunate the film still exists. Something about copyright issues and they tried to destroy all copies of it but missed some.

The Nazis were probably responsible for most of that. Goebbels was a paranoid media freak.

Could be LAP. I think i read somewhere that the end of the movie "cabinet of doctor caligari" i posted in this thread had to be changed because of the Nazis.

In this movie doctor caligari is manipulating a guy with a special disease which forces him to sleep all the time. During these periods doctor caligari sends him out killing people. And as far as i remember, the problem was that it was like a comparison of the Nazis manipulating the people. I hope you got the point. I try to use the best english i have.

Absolutely.

I think in the original ending, this sleepwalking guy revolted against doctor caligari which the Nazis interpreted as: the people are revolting against the Nazis and win.

As far as i remember. Maybe i will check it on wikipedia tomorrow. The history behind these movies is quite fascinating i think.

I have a question regarding silent films, namely Metropolis and Nosferatu. I've never watched a silent film so I really don't get how they work. I mean I know they use title cards and everything to help the plot make sense, but are they all that difficult to watch? I mean if I took a random silent film (not necessarily one that has any significance or makes you think) and was drunk (not that I plan on being drunk when I watch these) would I be able to follow?

swiss_tiger wrote:

I didn't know there's a remake of M.
But hey, there's no better actor for this role than Peter Lorre.

The remake isn't famous at all. Supposedly it's bad. I saw Peter Lorre in The Maltese Falcon. While he wasn't the lead by any means, he did a pretty good job and that movie was amazing.

Tomorrow night Turner Classic Movies is showing The Man Who Knew Too Much (the first version Hitchcock remade his own movie) and that's Lorre's first-ever English movie. Supposedly he didn't even speak English when he made it.

catbox_9 wrote:

I have a question regarding silent films, namely Metropolis and Nosferatu. I've never watched a silent film so I really don't get how they work. I mean I know they use title cards and everything to help the plot make sense, but are they all that difficult to watch? I mean if I took a random silent film (not necessarily one that has any significance or makes you think) and was drunk (not that I plan on being drunk when I watch these) would I be able to follow?

Another thing...

All 3 foreign films I've mentioned are German. Is Germany that better than everyone else when it comes to film-making? I'd have thought France would be better or something. I've got 3 German films that I'm really excited about, but did any other non-British country (preferably European) make a film worth noting?

catbox_9 wrote:

Another thing...

All 3 foreign films I've mentioned are German. Is Germany that better than everyone else when it comes to film-making? I'd have thought France would be better or something. I've got 3 German films that I'm really excited about, but did any other non-British country (preferably European) make a film worth noting?

Good question catbox. I guess Germany had very popular movies in the old days (like the ones you have mentioned). These were milestones. There are still good movies coming from Germany like "Goodbye Lenin" (only as an example). I like the french and italian movies better though. So italy could be a country that you could explore for good movies.

My favorite country for movies in Europe (except UK)? I think i have to say: France.
I loved "The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain" (or is it called "Amelie from Montmartre" in the U.S.?).

btw: forget Switzerland when it comes down to movies.... we have great chocolate, mountains, snow, very very nice people , but no good movie. :lol:

catbox_9 wrote:

I have a question regarding silent films, namely Metropolis and Nosferatu. I've never watched a silent film so I really don't get how they work. I mean I know they use title cards and everything to help the plot make sense, but are they all that difficult to watch? I mean if I took a random silent film (not necessarily one that has any significance or makes you think) and was drunk (not that I plan on being drunk when I watch these) would I be able to follow?

I don't think they are very difficult to watch. I guess you can follow the plot quite easily. Sure, you have still to be able to read (don't know if you lose this skill when haha).

You know, not every dialog is shown with a title card. That would be too boring for the viewer. Because of that, the actors seem to act in a very exaggerating way so you can follow everything and can tell what they were talking about even they don't speak. I hope you know what i mean and get the point.

So i don't think you will have problems following a silent movie. Just give it a try. First sober but if you get the plot, get your first beer and keep on going.

Germany was actually the pioneer nation in making silent film between the turn of the century until the Nazis took over.
Most silent films are simply watching a pantomime...the script cards come in mainly as a filler. Sometimes you can read a character's lips but not always. I wouldn't recommend getting lit to watch one...you might miss something!