ChainsawAsh said:
Wow, Solaris was your first foreign film? I’ve known people who are super into foreign films that couldn’t stand Solaris.
I’m into world cinema in a big way and I loved Solaris. I’ve also seen the Soderbergh adaptation. Lew derided Soderbergh’s approach as reducing the storyline to, “Love in Outer Space.”
ChainsawAsh said:
Might I recommend:
- Pan’s Labyrinth
- Let the Right One In
- City of God (2002)
- Rashomon (or any Kurosawa, but that’s my favorite)
- The Lives of Others
- Das Boot
- Stalker (same director as Solaris)
All good choices. I saw City of God at my local art house cinema during its original release and I was transfixed from beginning to end. During a conversation with a Brazilian, I mentioned it and they launched into a tirade, “Cidade de Deus is not the only film from Brazil!” Yep, I had no idea. That entire semester during my BA where I studied Hispanic and Lusophone cinema was all for nothing. 😃
I’d also recommend:
- The Golden Dream
- Joint Security Area
- Black Book
- The Baader Meinhof Complex
- La Haine
- Mesrine
- Elevate (2011)
The other day, I caught Viva Zapata on TV - the combination of Kazan and Steinbeck sold me and it was interesting to see how it had influenced the work of so many filmmakers - from Lucas, to Coppola, to Noyce.