Monday, September 10, 2012

Foreign language DVD film recommendations

Excerpts mainly from LoveFilm which we use to hire DVDs

The Skin I Live In (not the type of film you think it is when you start so stick with it even if some of it is uncomfortable viewing you will be so glad you did - we were gripped and talking about it still a week later)
"Ever since his wife was burned in a car crash, Dr. Robert Ledgard (Antonio Banderas), an eminent plastic surgeon, has been interested in creating a new skin with which he could have saved her. After twelve years, he manages to cultivate a skin that is a real shield against every assault. In addition to years of study and experimentation, Robert needed a further three things: no scruples, an accomplice and a human guinea pig. Scruples were never a problem. Marilia, the woman who looked after him from the day he was born, is his most faithful accomplice. And as for the human guinea pig... "

Sexmission
Brilliant in the cheesy sets and music plus plot. A right old Polish delight I wish to remake in English.
"Two scientists are chosen as guinea pigs for a time experiment: they are placed in hibernation and should be brought back to life after three years. In the meantime, however, the World War III breaks out and life have been wiped out of the surface of the Earth. When they wake up, it turns out that not only 50 years have passed but also that they are the only living specimens of the male sex in a new, underground society composed exclusively of women. Max used to be woman-chaser so he finds himself in heaven. Albert, on the other hand, forgot all about love and sex as a serious scientist, but is willing to learn. So are the Amazons, who after a kiss turn into pliant kittens."

Priceless

"Delightful French comedy features AMELIE star Audrey Tautou and the charming Gad Elmaleh (THE VALET). Jean (Elmaleh) is a hardworking employee at one of southern France's elite resort hotels. He is known for his excellent work ethic, but that changes after a chance encounter with sexy hotel guest Irene (Tautou). Bored with her wealthy and much older boyfriend/benefactor"

3 Idiots
Stay with it and you will be entranced. A bollywood beauty that's not the old bollywood.

The Closet
"Witty French commentary on political correctness in the work place. A senior executive at a small corporation, Pignon overhears rumors that he is going to be fired. On top of a difficult relationship with his ex-wife and a failing relationship with his sullen teenage son, the idea of losing his job and becoming incapable of making alimony payments is unfathomable. That's why, when Pignon's next door neighbor (Michel Aumont) offers a solution to his problems, Pignon is quick to accept: He comes out of the closet, convincing his coworkers that he is gay, and making it improbable that the company would fire him at risk of legal action. But before he knows it, Pignon's plan has backfired and metamorphosed in hilarious ways, causing a string of bizarre office-related situations and family dilemmas that are both complex and comic."

Romantics Anonymous

"This is a story about love at first sight between Angélique and Jean-René who are both extremely shy."... and chocolate making.

Lovers of the Arctic Circle (Andrew didn't like it all but I did)
"In The Lovers of the Arctic Circle, Julio Medem weaves a complex story, dense with plot, symbol, and allegory, about the romance between Ana and Otto. Shot with keen visual sensitivity, Lovers is a film of strongly composed images and elaborately crafted structure which explores the themes of chance and destiny."

Nikita by Luc Besson

Nearly fainted when I left the cinema I was holding my breath so much
"The serpentine plotline of Luc Besson's La Femme Nikita begins its 117-minute slither when punkish, psychotic, and drug-ridden Nikita (Anne Parillaud) fires her gun into a cop's face following the stick-up of a drug store, and is promptly imprisoned. She is thrown into a dank cell, then injected with a substance and told it is a lethal toxin. Instead of dying, however, the comes to in an all-white interrogation room, where French intelligence officer Bob (Tchéky Karyo), informs her that an alternate to execution exists: she can receive covert government training as an assassin. She accepts the bid, is rigorously trained, and later returns to society as a seemingly normal and gentle civilian, but falls in love with a drugstore employee while she's waiting for that first government assignment. The paradoxical concept of a young woman blossoming socially while carrying out cold-blooded murders was downplayed when La Femme Nikita was remade in America as the silly and disappointing Point of No Return"

Broken Embraces
Wonderful Almodovar film about obsession.

Talk to Her
"Driven by similar themes of fate, destiny, magic, and chance happenings, TALK TO HER is the tale of two men whose lives intertwine unpredictably."

Volver
Great film - even better if you adore Penelope Cruz
"Pedro Almodovar directs this mysterious and suspenseful film with panache and Penelope Cruz--with the enhancement of a prosthetic backside--shines in a sparkling performance."

The Motorcycle Diaries

"An adaptation of a journal written by Che Guevara when he was 23 years old. Along with his friend Alberto Granado he crossed South America by motorcycle in the 1950s and he recounts some of their adventures."

Adventures of Adele Blanc Sec
My favourite heroine ever and a delightful crazy fantasy adventure film - Indiana Jones meets Moulin Rouge meets Jurassic Park meets Harry Potter
"Legendary director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, Leon) transports us to the wild days of early Twentieth Century Paris, where feisty young writer Adele Blanc-Sec embarks on thrilling missions to find exciting material for her book and a cure for her sick sister. She sails to Egypt to raid a tomb that supposedly hides the cure, but what will she do when an army of resurrected mummies get in the way?"

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