We are back again with the non-English language movies which is a yearly theme. I started to participate in TMP and I struggled with this theme. I’ve gotten so much better over the years though. I’ve watched more non-English movies and shows these past few years and it’s actually easier to pick. That being said, my movie watching has taken a huge dive into almost nothing this past year so I simply don’t have a lot to choose from in the first place. Regardless I tried my best and thanks to my local film festival I actually managed to see a few non-English movies.
3. ANOTHER ROUND (2020)
This Danish movie is a wild ride about drinking. It’s quite a strange gem among European movies and if you consider yourself a Mads Mikkelsen fan you should definitely watch it. You might end up loving it but you’ll might end up liking it just like I did. I wasn’t fully in love with Another Round but I definitely enjoyed the ride.
2. WHEN I’M DONE DYING (2020)
This is a Turkish movie that was filmed in the slums. I had the pleasure to interview the director and the main actors for my job so this movie holds a special place in my heart. The movie isn’t your Hollywood type gem but it’s a very decent love story mixed with music and drugs. Definitely take a look if you can find a way.
1. POPPY FIELD (2020)
This is a Romanian movie about a gay cop who gets into a difficult situation. The movie starts off super strong, the first half has some compelling moments and there are some visually stunning shots. Then the movie loses its footing and crumbles. There’s also not much to tell about the ending, it feels too unfinished and raw. But I do must say that these kind of movies, gay movies, are not easily made in countries such as Romania. Jebeleanu, who is considered to be the only openly gay director in Romania, wanted the film to be the Romaniavon heute shows, specifically a protest in Bucharest in 2013 when conservative groups interrupted the showing of an LGBT film in a cinema. So while flawed, the intention of the movie remains pure.
THIS SERIES IS CREATED BY WANDERING THROUGH THE SHELVES
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These all sound wonderfully intriguing but sorry to say I haven’t seen any of them, but I’ll add them all to my ever growing too see list. Hopefully by the time the theme rolls around next year I’ll have seen at least some of them maybe even all three!
It always seems as if I’m working on my foreign film knowledge in incremental bits. Sometimes I watch several over a period of a couple of weeks and then take a break and don’t see anything for a month or two. It often depends on what’s available. I have however seen my three picks, each from a different country, within the last year and enjoyed them all.
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970)-An Italian police inspector (Gian Maria Volonte) held in high regard within the department and community murders his mistress and then insinuates himself into the homicide investigation that follows. Believing he is above suspicion he takes it as a game to plant clues at the crime scene to test the competence and integrity of Italian law enforcement. Winner of the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.
A Colt is My Passport (1967)-Hitman Shuji Kamimura (Joe Shishido) and his partner Shun Shiozaki (Jerry Fujio) are hired by yakuza boss Senzaki to kill a rival whose greed has become a problem. The job comes off but then the pair runs into complications that seem to be headed in a deadly direction. This pastiche of noir/yakuza/spaghetti Western takes you on a wild ride.
Orpheus (1950)-During an altercation in a Parisian Cafe involving the poet Orphée (Jean Marais) rival poet Cègeste (Edouard Dermithe) is killed. A mysterious princess (María Casares) appears and insists on taking Orpheus and the body away in her Rolls-Royce. Orphée soon finds himself in the underworld, where the Princess announces that she is, in fact, Death. Orpheus escapes in the Rolls back to the land of the living but at a cost. Jean Cocteau directed this surrealistic updating of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.
I’ve only seen Another Round from your picks but it’s such a great one! I love that last scene so much <3