5 Greatest Classic Foreign Films
Timeless Movies Everyone Should See From M to Bicycle Thieves
5 famous foreign films everyone should see - if not on the big screen then certainly on dvd, a great way to enable the classics to reach an eager new audience.
Certain classic films continually top critics' all time favorite film lists, with foreign films noticeably well represented and appreciated. Here are 5 of the greatest films ever made. Films which have stood the test of time and had considerable global impact, despite not being in the English language. These are the films true cinephiles hold dear, and their influence on modern cinema is immense. Many of the techniques and ideas behind these films have been seamlessly assimilated into the mainstream, but here's where it all began.
Bicycle Thieves - Italy, 1948
Vittorio De Sica's 1948 film Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di Biciclette) was an important film in the Italian Neo-realist film movement, but more than that it was, and still is, an eternally compassionate portrayal of the daily struggle to survive on the breadline. Living in poverty, Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) spots a bill posting job advertised, but it requires a bike. His family scrape together the money to buy his bike back from the pawn shop, and he gets the job. Then his bike gets stolen and Antonio finds himself even worse off than before.
Bicycle Thieves is a beautifully realised film which is both moving and dramatic. The focus on ordinary people and their day to day struggles was a direct influence on the British New Wave. The film demonstrates the power cinema has to humanize social and political concepts.
M - Germany, 1931
Fritz Lang's M is a shocking film about a pitiful child killer who incurs the wrath of the criminal underworld. It's one of those films that is so avant-garde in its story telling, subject matter and depiction of modern day terror, it's hard to believe it was made in 1931. Lang's chilling story implies far more than is ever actually shown, and Pete Lorre's performance as the murderer is outstanding. His tormented soul is masterfully portrayed in shades of gray, with Lorre able to convey complex psychological fears and desires just through his eyes.
A late addition to the German Expressionist canon, M's ability to build suspense through the light and shade of cinematography is palpable. As an influence it can be directly linked to modern serial killer thrillers such as Seven and Silence of the Lambs.
Battleship Potemkin - Russia, 1925
Sergei Eisenstein's epic film has had a major influence on cinema. He invented montage editing, splicing together diverse and varied clips to evoke a general feeling for a scene. Battleship Potemkin is based on the real events of a failed 1905 uprising. Eisenstein used cinematic effects to firmly establish the emotional response of the audience, juxtaposing images of innocence with extreme violence, implanting the idea of good versus bad, and leaving it clear whose side we're on.
Battleship Potemkin is a silent film, and as such the acting can appear dated in relation to modern films, but some of the sequences filmed are so outstanding they have passed into modern iconography. Parts of the infamous slaughter on the Odessa steps have been replicated many times, most effectively in Brian De Palma's The Untouchables.
Pather Panchali - India, 1955
Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali (Song of the Little Road) follows the story of Apu, a sweet natured boy living with his poverty stricken family in rural Bengal. The film is probably the best known non-Bollywood Indian film of all time, focusing as it does on the human relationship side of life which affects us all. Pather Panchali brought a realism rich in detail, mood and nuance. The film is beautiful to look at and gripping in its examination of the minutiae of life. It offers a privileged glimpse into a private world, as the family go about their daily life.
Pather Panchali was the first of what came to be known as the Apu trilogy. The following films Aparjito (The Unvanquished) and Apur Sansar (The World of Apu) trace the ups and downs of Apu's life to the age of 30. The films were based on the autobiographical novels of Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay and showcase Ray's admiration for the work of aforementioned directors Eisenstein and De Sica.
Seven Samurai – Japan, 1954
Akira Kurosawa's feted film is an action packed blockbuster. A poor village hire samurai to help defend against marauding bandits. Unable to offer money, they seek out down-on-their-luck, retired samurai who are willing to help in return for food. The individual personalities of the samurai, and their relationship with the villagers is developed slowly but surely in order to build audience identification. Many of Kurosawa's techniques for achieving this are easily recognisable in modern films, influenced by this masterpiece. In particular, the samurai recruitment scenes and the 'getting to know you' scenes spent horsing around are familiar to modern audiences.
Re-made in Hollywood as John Sturge's The Magnificent Seven, it is easy to see why Kurosawa's mix of gripping story and detailed characterization enthrall both Western and Eastern audiences in equal measure. Kurosawa, who co-scripted Seven Samurai, managed to raise cinematic storytelling to an art-form.
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