La Double Vie de Veronique (The Double Life of Veronique) (1991)
Polish film by Krzysztof Kieślowski. First Kieslowski film I've seen, introduced me to him. The story is about two identical women named Weronika and Veronique who exist at the same time but unbeknownst to each other. Weronika lives in Poland while Veronique resides in France. Weronika dies which creates a spiritual and metaphysical void in Veronique's life that she spends most of the movie trying to understand. I can best describe the film as meticulous, allegorical, and philosophical. I don't know if I like Kieslowski's style, his imagery is beautiful but the movie is very slow and maybe too indirect and suggestive. He is without a doubt a masterful filmmaker who has a distinct style though. I recommend the movie to people who like implicit metaphysical themes, beautiful, sensual female leads, and movies you have to watch at least twice to understand.
Lucia y El Sexo (Sex and Lucia) (2001)
Spanish film by Julio Medem. I loved this movie. The basic plot is about a writer who meets a woman and then struggles to finish his latest novel. The plot structure evokes traces of Memento and Adaptation. Most of the storyline is not really what it seems. I love the female lead, Paz Vega who plays the writer's girlfriend. She is one of the most beautiful and gifted actresses I've ever watched. Everything about the movie is beautiful. Its depiction of sex is unrelenting. I can't really say more without spoiling but I highly recommend this film to everyone who enjoys beautiful cinema.
4 Months 3 Weeks 2 Days (2007)
Winner of the 2007 Palm D'or. Brilliant Romanian film by Cristian Mungiu about abortion. Sick realism. The story is about a young women whose friend undergoes an illegal abortion during 1988 Romania. The style of the film constrasts very strongly to the character driven American dramas I'm so used to watching. I've realized I'm so sick of American movies with their overly dramatic portrayals of central characters, constant failed attempts to depict human nature, etc. I need to expose myself more to this kind of cinematic realism. 4 Months would be described as "understated" in America but it's really not, it is just real. Its characters speak and act like normal human beings. The way they handle situations are what you would expect of people you know. And the result is more dramatic than almost everything I've ever watched. I haven't felt what I would actually describe as catharsis from watching a movie in so long, and I'm not even a woman so I have no empathy whatsoever for the movie's characters who are handling an abortion. This is one of the best movies I've watched this year. Highly recommended.
BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT IS SO AWESOME IT NEEDS NO AWESOME DESCRIPTION.
I also watched "Thank you for smoking " an elegant satire as some call it. A very good movie, highly recommended. It's also starring , Aaron Eckhart, the guy who plays Harvey Dent.
King Kong is also a very entertaining movie I watched this morning, the 2005 version featuring Naomi Wats and the big-phat-animated-gorrilla-that-destroy's-3/4-of-1930's-New York.
You had thread about movies a while back, I meant to post it there.
Edit: I'll watch those you mentioned, too. My friends really like movies and have Netflix cues 50 films long, or however long the limit is. So maybe 100 films from now.
I like your taste zulu :O how do you find out about what independent/foreign films to watch? check out The Man from Earth . it's not really in the same vein as the movies you listed but you might enjoy it.
In China there are a lot of bootleg dvd stores. I try to hit up the few near my home every now and ten and sift through about 500+ dvds for the few that are actually worth buying. Once in awhile they'll have some great independent or foreign films that are hard to find elsewhere.
I have the good the bad and the ugly. I can't really enjoy really old movies though I know it's like the best western ever, etc.
And also I'm sure every movie ever is available on torrent or rapidshare.
On August 16 2008 06:47 EpiK wrote: you have good taste
qft
I've had 4 months 3 weeks 2 days on my HD for a while and i've been meaning to see it, but the movie was going too slow in the first 15 minutes and I ended up watching Batman again. I think i"ll see it nwo when i get home.
i'm sure you've seen it, but the only film I've seen recently that would suit your taste is "City of God." What a beautiful film.
I also really like capote, but that's because i also love his books.
Oh, and I just remembered, please watch the German film "The Lives of Others." Stunningly powerful.
I prefer metacritic for my movie reviews. Check it out.
EPT
