Ten Great Foreign-Language Films That Should Be In
The HD Formats Now!
Despite
so many of the greatest films ever made being in other languages, many people
in the U.S. (and I bet vice-versa in other parts of the world, despite how
popular Hollywood fare is) do not want to watch anything with subtitles. Why?
Besides
the poor presentation of so many imports, picture and sound wise, as well as
cinematic illiteracy even in our colleges, there is the myth of pretension that
we have seen from hit beer commercials to other gags and assumed attitudes. Some in Hollywood who want their product to
dominate also would like to keep it that way enough, even when the studios
import.
In real
life, different countries that have cinemas produce all kinds of films, some
are innovative, some are forgettable, some try to imitate Hollywood and some
are innovative groundbreakers. With two
High Definition formats with us, there is a new opportunity for many to
discover and rediscover some great films because they will be able to see and
hear them with fidelity that rivals the local arthouse. It is amazing that hardly any foreign films
have been issued in either format in nearly two years.
The
following choices are not the typical obvious film school world cinema
favorites, though some of them would fit that.
Instead, this list (following my list for films that should come out
from HD-DVD exclusive companies and a list of the few supporting both elsewhere
on this site) only include widescreen productions, by-passing hundreds of key
classics and offers favorites and/or rarities that are the kind of films that
are as substantial as they are visually superior.
Yes,
classics from big names like Pasolini, Rossellini, Chabrol, Tarkovsky,
Fassbinder, Eisenstein and Lang, the later two of whom did not like widescreen
to begin with, are not included. What is
here are films long overdue for release in general, are landmarks and are not
just dramas, but films of all types and genres.
By passing on obvious choices and emphasizing the often underappreciated,
as well as little-known, we hope you will find this list as valuable as the
previous ones:
Akira (1988) – Long after computer
animated features have become commonplace and some have even been good, Katsuhiro
Otomo’s masterwork proves that America may have created the art form, but they
are not the only one’s who can pull it off.
The film also proves that hand drawn animation can go a few rounds with its
younger CG sister anytime and is far from dead.
The tale of bike gangs in Neo-Tokyo and strange happenings about to take
place has aged extremely well and is a must-see. You can read more about it at:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/67/Akira+(DTS
The Bride Wore Black (1967) – Francois Truffaut’s followed
the great director’s film of Fahrenheit
451 as he permanently switched back to French in this brilliant thriller
about a newlywed (Jeanne Moreau) who instantly becomes newly widowed and
intends to do something about it. Not a
simple revenge thriller, it is one of the greatest of all Hitchcockian-styled
thrillers not by the master himself, complete with a powerful score by Bernard
Herrmann. Raoul Coutard’s cinematography
is amazing and the use of color superior.
J’Taime, J’Taime (1968) – The greatest time travel
film you have never seen, the only thing more complex that the actual
chronological layout of Alain Resnais’ film is the complexity of the
characters, their lives, mortality and experiences. So much so that no one since has attempted to
either remake or rip-off the film, while it has never seen a U.S. home video
release of any kind. It is just
screaming for the high definition treatment and Science Fiction fans in
particular would love it.
Lola Montes (1955) – One of the earliest,
most innovative and groundbreaking uses of the widescreen scope format, Max
Ophuls’ last film helped to put CinemaScope on the map worldwide and is from
one of the few director’s Stanley Kubrick ever publicly expressed admiration
for. In it, a beautiful woman in the
circus circuit (Martine Carol) manages to affect the men around her (played by
no less than Peter Ustinov, Oskar Werner, Anton Walbrook) in ways that are as
vibrant as they are cold, split by the gaudiness of the somewhat fake world
they inhabit. This film was being
restored until the director’s son Marcel Ophuls objected by not being consulted
and had the “restoration” (in what is now old HD) halted. It is time for its revival and in an HD
format, would be a stunner, especially in a definitive version.
Love Film (aka Szerelmesfilm/1970) –Istvan Szabo’s starkly honest film about
male/female relationships is one of the smartest, most mature and most striking
films ever made on the subject, as we witness a couple fall deeply in love only
to see the ways this can and cannot last.
An amazing achievement, it remains far ahead of its time and Szabo’s
greatest film, including some of the strongest, most vivid cinematography you will
ever see in such a film by Jozsef Lorinc and a carefully thought out score by
Janos Gonda that includes impressive (and impressive choices) of Classical
pieces like nothing outside of Kubrick’s work.
In an HD format, it would be almost impossible to turn away.
Made In U.S.A. (1966) – One of Jean-Luc Godard’s
boldest film has never been issued in the U.S. as writer Donald E. Westlake won
an injunction against it as an unauthorized adaptation of one of his novels,
but if this matter could be settled, we would get a clever political/detective/Film
Noir where the famed director shows his growing political Maoist side before it
overtakes him, but inadvertently shows the early beginnings of neo-Conservatism
in the U.S. with Anna Karina as Paula Nelson (in the male detective role,
reflected in her Avengers Spy look)
along with actors as top political figures and Marianne Faithful singing As Tears Go By. In Techniscope and EastmanColor, a strong HD
release of this film would be a revelation.
PlayTime (1967) – Hollywood produced more
and more great large frame format films that anyone else (followed by The
Soviet Union, with far less success) but up there with 2001: A Space Odyssey and Lawrence
Of Arabia is Jacques Tati’s all-time comedy masterpiece featuring his
existential hero/cloud Monsieur Hulot. A
group of American tourists arrive in ultra modern France and so does Hulot,
both of whom are in for a crazy time as Tati brings on his most hilarious clash
of people and technology in the peak of his Hulot films. Not a hit in its time, it has finally been
restored and as Criterion has botched its U.S. DVD release twice (including no
5.1 mix from the sound master) even after the painstaking upgrade, it is time
to finally do this gem justice in an HD format from the 65mm materials.
The Red Desert (1964) - Michelangelo Antonioni
went from commercial filmmaking to being a major Italian Neo-Realist
figure. After a set of stunning black
and white classics in the genre, this was Antonioni’s first full color film and
wow, did he go all out. This included painting
entire walls and buildings to get the desired color instead of settling for
second-best with bad lab work (which we still see today, even if it is digital)
as Monica Vitti plays a woman increasingly disconnected with the world around
her. DVDs have been few on this one and
hardly stay in print. A version in an HD
format would fare better. Also, previous
releases have been monophonic, but some posters boast it as having something
called ElectroSound150. If such a mix
exists, especially if it is stereophonic, that would help make for a fine
upgrade and restoration of a film that deserves it.
Super Inframan (1975) – Quentin Tarantino has
put The Shaw Brothers back on the map, but outside of their best Martial Arts
Cycle films of the 1960s and 1970s, no film they have backed endures more than
Hua Shan’s zanily directed Superhero-battles-monster/villain fest that is as
much satire as it is dark commentary in its original Hong Kong version. This has been recently restored like many of
the Shaw titles and in HD, would fit perfectly with HD discs already issued of
Spider-Man, Batman and Superman. What
would this list be without a genre film anyhow?
You can read more about it at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1799/Super+Inframan+(Region+3/NTSC)
301/302 (1995) – No Korean thriller, or
any other Asian thriller in decades, can touch Chul-Soo Park’s tale of two very
different female residents who befriend each other at first, until the issue of
food comes between them. One has major
issues eating anything, the other
could land a series on Food Network as a cook.
Then things get slowly, increasingly bizarre. Shot in the rarely-used-but-amazing Agfa Color
film stock, this would quickly become a High Definition favorite for anyone who
saw it. You can read more about it at
this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1987/301/302+(Thriller)
For our
previous lists so far, try these links of titles that should be considered:
The
HD-DVD Exclusive Companies
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6364/Ten+Great+Films+Paramount,+Rhino
Companies
Issuing Titles In Both Formats:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6263/Ten+Great+Films+Warner/New+Line
- Nicholas Sheffo
