11 Movies That are Well Worth the Added Effort of Reading Subtitles

[kappamaki33]

I’ve been writing here and there on this post for a while now, and I figured since LJ access is so spotty lately, I’d better finish up and post before there’s another long outage.

This post was inspired by a movie I watched and reviewed recently, The Bubble. The movie is in Hebrew and Arabic, with a little English thrown in. I really enjoyed it

Comments

[falafel_musings]

Great list! I like the 'Everything is Illuminated' film more than the book too and *sniff* love 'Grave of the Fireflies'. If I were doing my favourite subtitled films I think I'd include Delicatessen, Farewell my Concubine, Open Your Eyes, Save the Green Planet, Let the Right One In and Life is Beautiful.

[kappamaki33]

Thanks so much for the recs! I just watched Delicatessen and loved it. A comedy about cannibals--never would've thought that could work, but it did!

[plaid_slytherin]

Shall We Dance? and Rashomon are two of my favorites. (Did you read both stories?)

If you liked Grave of the Fireflies (which I actually have not seen because I'm not sure I could get through it), I would recommend Barefoot Gen. That one is tough.

[kappamaki33]

I only read "In a Grove." I didn't even realize there was actually one called "Rashomon." I'll have to try that one out sometime.

I'll have to add Barefoot Gen to my Netflix queue, though I just barely made it through Grave of the Fireflies. It's worth it, but it's tough.

[daybreak777]

I enjoyed #1 and #6. I still remember the character in Everything is Illuminated saying, "You and your father are proximal, right?" Heee. But it was a sad story. It is very hard sometimes for me to watch films with references to the WWII.

Thus, I've avoided Inglourious Basterds. I'll check out some of these others! If I'm in the mood, I don't mind subtitles!

[kappamaki33]

I love the way Alex talks. :) I should warn, though, that the two movies you've seen are probably the ones with the two happiest endings on the list, although Rashomon isn't emotionally difficult. But yeah, I wouldn't recommend Grave of the Fireflies to you if you don't like sad WWII stories.

[wishflsinfl]

I'm definitely going to check out the ones on this list that I haven't seen. Everything is Illuminated is excellent and I loved Lust, Caution.

I'd recommend "La Vie en Rose" and "Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring" as some of my top choices. Also, "Last Year at Marienbad" is interesting but might be a too much if you're looking for a plot that makes sense or any sort of coherency.

[kappamaki33]

La Vie en Rose has been on my must-watch list for a while now--I'll have to move it up a few spaces. :)

I should try Last Year at Marienbad. I feel like I can't really say I'm a movie buff without having at least tried a French New Wave film or two.

[puszysty]

I've only seen one of these, actually. Most of the foreign films I've seen are either German or South American, so I've seen next to nothing out of Asia (sad, I know). But now I have ideas for stuff to watch after I finish exams, so thanks!

PS. I can't get over how much that guy in Yossi & Jagger looks like JC Chasez circa 1996.

[kappamaki33]

As you can see, I'm pretty much the opposite--I've seen a bit more out of Europe than this list suggests, but next to nothing from South America. So we're probably a good pair to give recs to each other! :)

He totally does! I kept thinking he resembled someone, but I couldn't figure out who.

[puszysty]

Sadly I don't remember the names of a lot of them, but I think most of what I liked came out of Argentina.