The Best Films of the 2000s and more.
Posts tagged Foreign
Tokyo Sonata (2008)
Aug 29th
Starring: Teruyuki Kagawa, Kyôko Koizumi, Yû Koyanagi
Director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Country: Japan
Genre: Foreign, Drama
If there’s one thing that can’t be said about a Kiyoshi Kurosawa film, it’s that it’s predictable. He put together a number of unforgettable horror films, most notably the truly chilling and bizarre Pulse, and here he applies his unique storytelling sensibilities to use in a family drama. One may expect more conventional methods of storytelling in a more traditional realm of characters… one would be wrong to expect as much.
The Sasaki family is a rather typical family, functioning at levels to sustain everyday living with one another. But the each member of the family tends to keep aspects of their lives secret from one another: the father loses his job, one son joins the army, another starts up piano lessons, and the mother is the victim of a robbery and develops a quick case of Stockholm Syndrome.
This film is a slow disintegration of the family unit. It’s a great commentary on how when family communication fails, everyone becomes self-involved. While most families might not suffer quite the same consequences as the Sasaki’s, it’s nonetheless gripping entertainment. There’s a lesson to be learned somewhere in the extremities this film finds itself. Perhaps it’s the importance of family, perhaps it’s that no matter how alone or distant we feel there’s always someone we can fall back on, perhaps it’s simply ‘don’t lie.’ Whatever it is, it resonates.
The Maid (2009)
Aug 22nd
Starring: Catalina Saavedra, Claudia Celedón, Mariana Loyola
Director: Sebastián Silva
Country: Chile, Mexico
Genre: Foreign, Drama, Comedy
The Maid is a film about the struggles between different social classes, about the vague lines that are sometimes drawn working relationships, and a great look at humanity. These issues are ever present in everyday life whether its a relationship with the local coffee shop employee or the live-in maid that cleans your house and knows all of your secrets.
Raquel has been working for the same family for over twenty years. She’s watched the kids grow up, hell, it could be argued that she raised them. She’s spent the better part of her life developing a routine, and in her mind, and to some truth, a bond with the family that employs her. But a strain starts to show on the relationship as tensions start to rise between Raquel and the eldest daughter, which leads the family to hire extra help. Jealousy overtakes Raquel who has a tendency to act out, usually locking the new maids out of the house.
This is one of the best character studies of the last decade. It’s sharply written and relentless in its examination of its subject. So often in films like this the filmmakers would be prone to show the self-destruction of a character, but Silva seems to know better keeping the film light and surprising. Perhaps the greatest thing about the film is Saavedra’s performance as Raquel. It’s absolutely fearless and penetrating. As an actress that has been around for nearly two decades, it’s impossible to think she’s spent her time anywhere else but working as a maid. With a biting commentary on working relationships and the concept of family, The Maid is a great film.
Mother (2009)
Aug 21st
Starring: Hye-ja Kim, Bin Won, Ku Jin
Director: Joon-ho Bong
Country: South Korea
Genre: Foreign, Thriller
Joon-ho Bong has quickly become one of the most promising international directors around. In 2003 he made his presence known with a tour de force called Memories of Murder. In 2006 his brilliant take on the all-but-forgotten ‘monster’ genre manifested itself in the form of The Host. And here, returning to the mystery/thriller genre he creates his masterpiece, (surely the first of many,) with Mother.
Do-joon and his mother have a unique bond that extends well beyond her overprotective reach. She attempts to look out for him, but as he’s growing into adulthood (slowly, I might add, due to a mental handicap,) he seems to push her away. But when he’s arrested for the murder of a girl, his mother will ‘stop at nothing’ to prove his innocence – even if he can’t remember the details.
There are so many things that go into making this film great. Naturally part of it is Bong’s visual style and ability to tell a compelling stories through the eyes of intriguing characters. But no amount of praise can overstate the magnificence of Hye-ja Kim’s performance as ‘mother’. Without her raw and natural talent to wear her emotions on her face, (and trust me, they get complex,) Mother could not have been made, at least not in the capacity in which it stands. This is one of those special films that only come around once every ten years or so.
Thirst (2009)
Aug 13th
Starring: Kang-ho Song, Ok-bin Kim, Hae-sook Kim
Director: Chan-wook Park
Country: South Korea
Genre: Foreign, Horror
Jury Prize – Cannes Film Festival
The popularity in vampire films in the last few years isn’t anything new. In fact, it’s just a resurgence of a fascination of a myth that goes back hundreds of years. But when we compare the different facets of vampirism in films today, it’s rather astounding the amount of differential nuances that can be found.
Chan-wook Park (Oldboy) directs this dark and twisted vampire tale that balances the romanticism of vampires with the remorse (or perhaps pleasure) derived from the constant sin that must be committed in order to survive. What better way to poise this balance than centering the film around a main character who is a man of the cloth. Sang-hyeon (played by the brilliant Kang-ho Song) is out to sacrifice himself to save lives by infecting himself with a disease to determine whether he has the immune system that could procure a remedy. Unfortunately it has some negative side-effects – simply put, it turns him into a vampire. While he tries to come to terms with his new ‘affliction’, Tae-ju, a stir-crazy housewife desires his powers and will stop and nothing to obtain them.
Park slowly develops the conflict in this film. It’s not immediately apparent what the obstacles are going to be. They seem to come like divine gifts with unexpected circumstances. After the halfway point, the film hurtles toward a climax that only Chan-wook Park could conceive, (and execute.) Utilizing his luscious cinematography and terrifically cringe-worthy sound effects, this might be Park’s best film to date.
The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
Aug 9th
Starring: Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Pablo Rago
Director: Juan José Campanella
Country: Argentina
Genre: Foreign, Mystery
Best Foreign Language Film – Academy Awards
This Argentinian film certainly knows its way around a script. Eduardo Sacheri adapts his own novel for the screen (with the help of director Campanella,) which follows an attorney haunted by the one unsolved case of his career. It’s told in two perspectives: in present day the retired attorney revisits the case to scrounge up material to turn it into a novel, and the same attorney twenty-five years in the past as he first takes on the case.
What’s refreshing about this mystery is that it doesn’t try to manipulate the audience. The flow of the story is entirely natural, the suspense isn’t artificially generated – particularly the ending which avoids the pitfall of ‘shock and awe’ that so many mysteries fall into. It’s an inherent conclusion that provides fulfillment and satisfaction because it’s innate. Sacheri’s ability to develop three-dimensional characters is quite profound. Every character is not without his or her flaws and strengths, culminating in a group of people that’s impossible not to care about.
Campanella’s technical prowess shapes this film into kind of brilliant. For the most part, his cinematography is imbued with a sense of reality (albeit slightly romanticized,) developing an atmosphere that is at once nostalgic and immediate. Only once does Campanella really boast his talents with an insanely complex long-take that encompasses an entire chase scene. But for the most part he uses his talents for good, creating a funny, touching, surprising and romantic story of closure.
Devils on the Doorstep (2000)
Aug 7th
Starring: Jiang Wen, Teruyuki Kagawa, Yuan Ding
Director: Jiang Wen
Country: China
Genre: Foreign, Drama
“… a film that once you see it, it makes all other films feel small.”
- Steven Soderbergh
This WWII film from writer, director, and star Jiang Wen is positively one of the most disarming and disquieting films of the last decade. Shot in luscious black and white, it makes it indistinguishable from cinema from the post-war era. And like those films, it tells an unconventional story of bystanders forced to deal with the consequences of war. In Japanese Occupied China, a village man (Wen) is bombarded by a stranger who drops off two Japanese prisoners and is told to keep them alive otherwise it would mean his life. The problem being with the Japanese Forces in the area, if he gets caught with the prisoners it would also mean his life.
The first two-thirds of Devils on the Doorstep is a beguiling comedy. Humor is derived from every situation and the eclectic roster of characters keep the film lively. It’s in the last third that the film takes a sharp turn and lifts the veil on its intentions. To call the conclusion of this film ‘shocking’ would be wholly underselling it, but to speak about it is to spoil it. Wen’s direction is about as perfect as it can be. His compositions are intriguing, the script is tight and clever, and the cast is spot on. It’s no easy task to direct and act without sacrificing a sense of vision, but Wen is the end all example of how it’s done.
Devils on the Doorstep isn’t an easy film, and should not be watched on a whim. It demands unrequited attention (though it’s not hard to give.) However those who seek it out are sure to have an overwhelming experience.
A Town Called Panic (2009)
Jul 28th
Director: Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar
Country: Belgium
Genre: Animation, Adventure
Absolutely wonderful.
If there’s one characteristic of animated films over the last decade it’s that they are consistently surprising. This feature-length (short though it may be) is an extension of a four minute short from 2000, by the same name. The animation mirrors that of Robot Chicken, though creates characters all its own. The film follows Cowboy, Indian and Horse in their outrageous escapade to retrieve their home from crazy sea dwellers. What’s most striking about this whimsical stream-of-consciousness adventure is that it has the same mentality as a story written by a child. It’s almost as if the filmmakers adapted a one-page story written when they were seven – it really accentuates the naive imagination. This film is sure to rack up the laughs and plaster smiles on the faces of everyone who watches it.
