Train to Busan
Life is Beautiful is one of my favorites that should really only be watched with subtitles. It’s a really sad movie, but sticks with you in a good way.
Pan’s Labyrinth for me
I love it because it’s one of the few dark fantasy movies natively made in Spanish. The dead fascists are a bonus.
One of my favorite details that is easy to miss if you aren’t a native speaker is that Pan speaks in medieval Spanish. It honestly almost sounds like French
I can’t find anything to really support the note about the faun speaking an early version of Spanish; do you have a link I could read/watch?
I’ve found people noting that Doug Jones is dubbed by the Spanish voice actor into Castilian (rather than any Central or South American dialect) and that his language is formal and somewhat archaic.
Quick correction, Castilian and Spanish are he same thing. It’s not an old dialect or an old language. Spain has lots of languages, and the renaming of Castilian to Spanish was a “recent” (last 100 years) attempt from a dictator to delegitimize all of the other languages (also prohibiting them from being taught in schools or being used officially).
Also I strongly dislike the use of dialects here, although there are many different accents the language remains the same. If we start to call Mexican or Argentinians Spanish into dialects we might as well call Texan or Californian English as dialects as well, since they’re equally different.
Also, also, Mexico (the largest Spanish speaking country by population is in North America), not sure why you only mentioned South and Central.
That being said, yes, the Faun speaks very formally. It’s not necessarily archaic, but the sort of language one might expect in a court room. But yeah, that used to be the colloquial Spanish a while back.
Thanks. I really wrote “Castilian” to mean that sources on the web suggest his dialogue is at least somewhat modern Spanish Spanish (so to speak) – but I’m ignorant of the differences between Spanish spoken in the Americas, including North America as you rightly point out, and the Iberian peninsula. I didn’t mean to suggest that Castilian was archaic.
Looked into it a bit more. It seems it’s not exactly medieval Spanish but just old and really formal Spanish, akin to Shakespearean. Nevertheless, not something you’d hear nowadays. Everyone else just speaks with a Spaniard accent, there’s no Latin American dialects in the movie.
I remember looking up the script a little while ago. Here’s an excerpt
You will see a luxurious banquet. Don’t eat or drink any of it while you’re there
(Fwiw, I’m from Latin America so Spaniard accents all just sound weirdly posh to me, like that video of a British kid complaining about the ice cream man)
Thank you, that’s interesting to know!
I really liked “Battle Royal” i feel like the hunger games may have been written taking HEAVY influence from this film.
Kung Fu Hustle
Excellent film, and shaolin soccer is brilliant too from the same guy. Steven chow.
Came here to mention this one, and here it is! I love Shaolin Soccer.
Right on. At least half of Stephen Chow’s catalog came to mind when I read this question.
I mean it’s gotta be Parasite (the Korean Movie)
I would enter “memories of murder”. It goes toe to toe with Rear Window as one of the best suspense movies ever made, and MOM would go on my top 50 in any language any genre.
I was just going to say Memories of Murder. It’s my favorite Bong Joon Ho film, and possibly my favorite Korean language film (that I’ve seen).
It’s so fucking good. The fight scenes have to be some of the most realistic looking I’ve seen. At times it looks like they’re really throwing each other around. There’s one scene where the main cop guy comes flying in from off screen and full on drop kicks a dude, and he commits completely. Made me lol the first time I saw it, I had to rewind and watch it again.
I hated that movie, so predictable I had to stop watching.
Spirited Away or Run Lola Run
Spirited Away is so good in Japanese and does lose something being dubbed. Run Lola Run is so good in German, I don’t know if there is a dub because there is no reason to seek it, the dialogue was perfect for subtitling and the story is based on slightly different loops in time so you pick up what is happening each loop through. Very cool.
Likewise with Kiki’s Delivery Service for me, although probably because Disney felt the need to fuck with the music as well as the dialogue in their dub.
How this did not result in Miyazaki, Hisaishi, and Sugimura going on a rampage in Disney’s offices with their katana, Walther P-38, and magnum is beyond me.
There are so many, but I think my first choice would probably have to be Seven Samurai. It is such an amazing piece of cinema. One of the most influential pieces that has inspired almost all of the film we still see today.
Came here to write this, so many movie tropes have their roots in that movie and Kurosawas genius directing. Also the sounds and emotions in the original Japanese language are so brilliantly conveyed, it loses so much in dubbing.
Great choice. In a similar vein - Rififi.
Very solid choice! It’s another one that has been an inspiration to so much of modern cinema.
Most obviously including La Cercle Rouge by Melville which I prefer to Rififi
that rain… love it
that rain… love it
Godzilla minus one
Seven Samurai, and The Hidden Fortress.
My Neighbor Totoro
All of the Ghibli movies are great, though they’re some of the only foreign films I will watch dubbed, because the voice casts they get are insane. The English dub of Totoro with the Fanning sisters while they were still children is just fantastic.
The sketchy site I used only had the Japanese version unfortunately.
Such a perfect heartwarming movie.
Shaolin Soccer
Shaolin Soccer is great, but I think Kung-Fu Hustle edges it out for me.
Not actually my favorite as that’s too difficult, but Kung Fu Hustle is great
I’m here to laud Kung Fu Hustle as a masterpiece. The knife throwing scene… Peak physical comedy.
Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, hands down. Possibly the best movie ever made. Every shot is just beautiful.
Rififi
Parasite
Seven Samurai
Manon Of The Spring
Babette’s Feast
