Now that Parasite has become the first ever foreign language film to win Best Picture at the Oscars, what foreign language films do you think should or could have won best picture in years past?
Hero (2002) for me would be one that stands out, Ran (1985), Cyrano de Bergerac (1990) and Jean de Florette (Or its sequel) would have been worthy winners too!
its bad enough streaming undercutting Cinema and now we want Foreigns the Film Industry in a Fragile State NO
shareCompetition from countries like South Korea, China and France may give Hollywood the kick up the backside it sorely needs. Some of the American films nominated over the last few years have been embarrassingly average.
sharePan’s Labyrinth.
shareYet to see that, and City of God, Cinema Paradiso, Hidden Fortress and Seven Samurai. All on my to watch list.
shareOn the off chance you're in the Bay Area, the Stanford Theatre is running 11 of Kurosawa's films in the coming weeks. You've missed Seven Samurai, but they've got Hidden Fortress on a double bill with Yojimbo.
Wherever you are, I strongly advise you seek out all four of those films you mention on a big screen. While most films are better when seen in a cinema, the four you list lose a lot when watched on a television screen. I'm lucky enough to have seen Seven Samurai twice in a theater, including the first time I watched it, and while I can enjoy it on a t.v., its effect is heavily dampened when seen that way. Same with each of the films you listed. Cinema Paradiso is an entirely different film when seen in a theater.
What do you think it is about watching films on the big screen that have a different effect on people?
shareFor one, and this applies especially to films made before the '60s, the films were made with a big screen in mind. They sized things with the idea that it would be seen on a massive screen. View the same scene on a t.v., and something that was larger-than-life and in-your-face and unmissable is suddenly a tiny speck of motion on the bottom corner of a screen that is barely noticeable.
Beyond that, a format where your entire field of vision is filled entirely by the film, and you see every bit of it clearly, with nothing but movie to distract you, seems to allow for fuller immersion in the film, and greater awareness of what's going on.
Not having anyone speaking to you, phone calls, barking dogs, loud neighbors, etc.
No pause button option. You watch it from start to finish as intended.
The crowd adds something-- I notice that I nearly never laugh out loud at a movie I see at home, but in a theater I am laughing aloud at every joke, as is everyone else. During tense moments, the tension is magnified by the palpable sense of dread in a crowded theater, as are emotional moments.
I was lucky-- from age 19 to 31 I lived walking distance from a theater that ran a different double feature of old and new movies each day. Two by Kurosawa today, two from Preston Sturges tomorrow, two modern films day after that, 2 James Bond movies, etc. They ran literally every kind of film imaginable. One day was 5 Godzilla movies. For two months they showed 2 classic film noirs every Wednesday night. I've seen so many films on a big screen, and again on a small one, and realize how much better the big screen experience is.
Random Anecdote: For a long time it was 2 full-length Buster Keaton films and 2 of his short films every Monday, so I was able to watch nearly all his surviving films on a gigantic screen with a Wurlitzer organ accompaniment. A few years later I was telling a friend how amazing Keaton's films were, so we rented Steamboat Bill Jr. We watched about 1/2 of it before turning it off, and I was surprised by how much less enjoyable it was. Had I watched it first on a t.v. I doubt I'd have become much of a fan. A couple years later, a local theater showed The General, and the two of us went and that time she loved it, and I realized what a significant difference the theater setting made.
That's incredible. Thank you for your thorough explanation. It's great you were fortunate enough to have that opportunity, as it appears to have reinforced your love for film.
I believe that one needs to be in a certain emotional/mental state in order to get full enjoyment out of a film, and I agree that the big screen tends to put one in this state more easily than a t.v. screen.
Great piece of information. It's funny you mention the pause button, as the immersion is eliminated when that option is available.
Awful picks you mentioned.....
Lots of films by Fellini or Bergman or better Kurosawa (Ran is barely ok).
In the mood for love.
Just to name a few, too many to count anyway.
BTW, the oscars are trash and don't count for quality, it's a popularity contest in a very clearly limited high school (Hollywood).
I will second that for "Jean de Florette" and "Manon des Sources" These two films are masterpiece of storytelling
shareCinema Paradiso and The Double Life of Veronique
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