My Favorite Foreign Films

Today (which should have been last week) I'm going to blog about my favorite foreign films, limiting them to one per country.

The United Kingdom: Hot Fuzz
This is a British action comedy that parodies or spoofs many cop movies from the ages (inculding Bad Boys I & II, Point Break, etc.). The film's creators, Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost also made another great movie, Shaun of the Dead, which spoofs zombie movies. While filled with a distincly British sense of humor, the movie also targets movie nerds everywhere, of whom I count myself amongst.

France: Amelie (Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain )
This Romantic Comedy starring the extremly gorgeous Audrey Tautou is one of the few Romantic Comedies that I enjoyed. About a young girl who lives alone but stumbles upon love during one of her quirky missions, the movie's characters are all so quirky and strange that the movie is down right hilarious. Albeit a little fantastical and a little TOO loved by the Indie scene, it's still one of the cutest movies I've ever seen.

Japan: Departures (おくりびと, Okuribito)
This Japanese movie tells the story of a cellist in a Tokyo orchestra who loses his job and moves to a smaller Japanese city. Here he gets a job working at a morgue (which is a taboo in traditional Japanese society). The movie mixes serious story telling with humor very well, and the soundtrack is one of the best in a movie that I've heard in a long time--but then again I am a sucker for the cello.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joepLZtiFyM&feature=related

China: Hero (英雄, Yīngxióng)
This martial arts movie (the genre is known more specifically as wuxia) not only has some awesome fight scenes with great choreography, but also has amazing cinematography. The set is extremely colorful, and the colors change based on who is telling the narrative (the movie is split between different people telling different versions of the same story). The movie may have some subtle political undertones that I disagree with, but it's still a fun movie.

South Korea: Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (태극기 휘날리며)
A movie about the Korean War will automatically catch my attention. Known as the "Forgotten War", there are radically few movies about it in the US. Because of my interest in the war and the modern histories of the US, Korea, and China, I sought out this movie and watched it. It's basically South Korea's "Saving Private Ryan"...only even bloodier. It's gory--really gory, but it is not biased as one may expect. The movie shows the horrors done by both sides during the war. Not for the faint of heart and a little cliche but definitely good for those who like novel war films.

-Michael