Foreign Movie Recommendations

 

"A Very Long Engagement"tells the story of a a young woman, Mathilde's relentless search for her fiancée, who has disappeared from the trenches of the Somme during World War One. Rated R for violence and sexuality. If you like Amelie, this is the same director and many of the same actors.

Frida. Plot Outline: A biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work. Salma Hayek stars as Frida. MPAA: Rated R for sexuality/nudity and language.

Amores perros (2000)
Directed byAlejandro González Iñárritu
Plot Outline: A horrific car accident connects three stories, each involving characters dealing with loss, regret, and life's harsh realities, all in the name of love.

City of God. Plot Outline: Two boys growing up in a violent neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro take different paths: one becomes a photographer, the other a drug dealer.
MPAA: Rated R for strong brutal violence, sexuality, drug content and language.

Talk to Her
Pedro Almodóvar
Plot Outline: Two men share an odd friendship while they care for their girlfriends who are both in deep comas.

Cinema Paradiso
Plot Outline: A filmmaker recalls his childhood, when he fell in love with the movies at his village's theater and formed a deep friendship with the theater's projectionist.
MPAA: Rated R for some sexuality. (director's cut)

The Motorcycle Diaries
Plot Outline: The dramatization of a motorcycle road trip Che Guevara went on in his youth that showed him his life's calling.
MPAA: Rated R for language.

The City of Lost Children
MPAA: Rated R for disturbing and grotesque images of violence and menace.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Plot Outline: A scientist in a surrealist society kidnaps children to steal their dreams, hoping that they slow his aging process.

Life is Beautiful (1998), Italy
directed by Roberto Benigni
Plot Outline: A Jewish man has a wonderful romance with the help of his humour, but must use that same quality to protect his son in a Nazi death camp.
MPAA: Rated PG-13 for holocaust-related thematic elements. Great film, but no longer allowed for the film reviews because of dishonest students. I still recommend watching this film, great work!

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (A La Folie...Pas Du Tout)
Both sides of an ill-fated love affair are put on display in this romantic thriller, and ambitious debut film, from Laetitia Colombani. Audrey Tautou (Amelie) plays a lovesick art student involved with a married doctor (Samuel Le Bihan). As her affections for the doctor grow more intense and less discreet, his life begins to fall apart. "Wickedly clever" (Rita Kempley, Washington Post). In French with English subtitles. France, 2002, 96 mins.