Category Archives: foreign movie

silent horror film

“The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” Fully-Restore Silent Horror Film

foreign, foreign movie, horror
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

I enjoy watching quality silent horror films, particularly those by German Expressionists. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari captures the chilling essence of horror through captivating cinematic perspectives.

Directed by Robert Wiene and written by Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz, the 1920 German film centers on a young man named Francis. He remembers a terrible incident at the Holstenwall annual fair involving him, his friend Alan and his fiancée, Jane.

Francis and Alan attended The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari exhibit at the fair. A mysterious psychiatrist shows how Cesare has been sleepwalking for most of his life.

The doctor has Cesare show his clairvoyant powers. Alan asks Cesare about his future, and Cesare tells Alan that he will die before dawn. Alan tries to shake this off as nothing.

But the following day, Francis finds Alan dead and suspects Cesare of killing him. Francis spies on Dr. Caligari and Cesare to prove who killed Alan.

The next night, Cesare is about to stab Jane in her bed but grows infatuated with her when he realizes how beautiful she is. Instead of murder, Cesare abducts Jane.

The abduction causes a disturbance in the house and awakens Jane’s father. Realizing Cesare had kidnapped his daughter, he and his servants give chase. Cesare realizes he cannot outrun her father and his servants, so he gently lays Jane on the ground and runs away.

Francis joins the police to investigate Dr. Caligari. Yet, the psychiatrist easily slips away. But Francis follows him into a place for the insane. There, Francis enters the asylum and finds the truth behind the mysterious death and kidnapping.

The original 1920 horror classic is now available on HD Ultra Blu-Ray in a meticulous 4K restoration by the F. W. Murnau Stiftung. Also included is a new orchestral score by Emmy-winning composer Jeff Beal.

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari Blu-Ray also includes the documentary Caligari: How Horror Came to the Cinema, a restoration demonstration, and audio commentary by composer Jeff Beal.

Film aficionados believe The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari jolted the postwar masses and catapulted the German Expressionist film movement into history.

The plunge into the mind of insanity that severs all ties with the rational world. A nightmare realm in which light, shadow and substance create a world in which a demented doctor and a carnival sleepwalker perpetrate a series of ghastly murders in a small community. Wiene delivered a well-crafted horror film.

Wiene was a German screenwriter, director and producer during the silent era. His most widely known movie is The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. He also wrote and directed other films of various genres and styles.

Because he was of Jewish descent, he fled Germany into exile in Paris, France, where he died at age 65 in 1938.

“Superboys of Malegaon” Trailer, Poster and Images

Bollywood, comedy, drama, foreign movie, on Amazon

Superboys of Malegaon is a film based on the life of Nasir Shaikh, an amateur filmmaker from Malegaon. The town’s residents look to Bollywood cinema for a much-needed escape from daily drudgery.

Nasir gets inspired to make a film for the people of Malegaon, by the people of Malegaon.

He bands his ragtag group of friends to bring his vision to life, giving the town a fresh lease of life.

The film is a poignant yet uplifting reflection on filmmaking and friendship—and what happens when those two worlds collide.

The last of the sea women

“The Last of the Sea Women” Trailer and Poster

Apple TV, documentary, foreign movie

Sue Kim directed the documentary The Last of the Sea Women. It tells the story of an extraordinary band of feisty grandmother warriors who wage a spirited battle against vast oceanic threats.

Often called real-life mermaids, the haenyeo divers of South Korea’s Jeju Island are renowned for centuries of diving to the ocean floor — without oxygen — to harvest seafood for their livelihood. Today, with most haenyeo in their 60s, 70s and 80s, their traditions and way of life are in imminent danger.

But these fierce, funny, hardworking women refuse to give an inch, aided by a younger generation’s fight to revive their ancestral lifestyle through social media. Peering into what drives haenyeo young and old, this moving documentary zeroes in on their tight-knit friendships, savvy independence and infectious sense of empowerment.

The story unfolds into an uplifting tale of women taking on world powers to protect their beloved ocean and inspire a new generation.

“Kill” Trailers, Featurettes, Clip, Poster and Images

action, foreign movie, , , , , ,
Kill

Army commando Amrit, played by Lakshya, finds out his true love Tulika, played by Tanya Maniktala, becomes engaged against her will. He boards a New Delhi-bound train in a daring quest to derail the arranged marriage.

But when a gang of knife-wielding thieves led by the ruthless Fani, played by Raghav Juyal, terrorize innocent passengers on his train, Amrit takes them on himself in a death-defying kill-spree to save those around him — turning what should have been a typical commute into an adrenaline-fueled thrill ride.

Nikhil Nagesh Bhat directs Kill, a high-adrenaline film with riveting stunts. Most recognize Bhat for his work in Hindi film productions. The cast includes Hars Chhaya, Ashish Vidyarthi, Abhishek Chauhan and Parth Tiwari.

“Housekeeping for Beginners” Trailer, Images and Poster

foreign movie, , , , , , , ,

Filmmaker Goran Stolevski delivers a story exploring the universal truths of family, both the ones we’re born into and the ones we find for ourselves.

Housekeeping for Beginners follows Dita, who never wanted to be a mother. Yet circumstances force her to raise her girlfriend’s two daughters, tiny troublemaker Mia and rebellious teen Vanesa.

Samson Selim stars as Ali, Vladimir Tintor as Toni, Anamaria Marinca as Dita and Sara Klimoska as Elena in director Goran Stolevski’s HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS, a Focus Features release. Credit: Viktor Irvin Ivanov / © 2023 FOCUS FEATURES LLC.

The story turns into a heartfelt drama. A battle of wills ensues as the three continue to butt heads and become an unlikely family that must fight to stay together.

The foreign film in subtitles includes Anamaria Marinca, Alina Serban, Samson Selim, Vladimir Tintor, Mia Mustafa, Dzada Selim, Sara Klimoska, Rozafë Çelaj, and Ajse Useini.

Director Goran Stolevski on the set of his film HOUSEKEEPING FOR BEGINNERS, a Focus Features release. Credit: Viktor Irvin Ivanov / © 2023 FOCUS FEATURES LLC.

“I’ve always been drawn to moments that feel ‘found’ or ‘discovered’ as opposed to ‘staged.’ A lot of my filmmaking background has, from necessity, been built around shoestring budgets and skeleton crews. I’ve embraced this reality, developing a ‘verité’ style that has now become an important element of my work. I am a big believer in working with what’s there, rather than against it — assessing the means at my disposal and shaping the most exciting imaginable story around them,” explains Stolevski.

Films by Goran Stolevski:
Of an Age
You Won’t Be Alone
Would You Look at Her

“Sisu” Trailer, Clips, Images and Poster

action, drama, foreign movie, historical, true stories, war

Directed by Jalmari Helander, Sisu takes place during the final desperate days of WWII in northern Finland. A solitary prospector, played by Jorma Tommila, crosses paths with Nazis on a scorched-earth retreat. The Nazis steal his gold and soon discover they have just tangled with no ordinary miner.

I am not sure what these young ladies are about in the movie. They look tough.

There is no direct translation for the Finnish word “Sisu,” but this legendary ex-commando embodies what Sisu means. He’s a white-knuckled form of courage and incredible determination in the face of overwhelming odds.

And no matter what the Nazis throw at him, the one-person death squad goes to outrageous lengths to get his gold back.

He will if it means killing every Nazi in his path.

“Argentina, 1985” Trailer, Clips, Images and Poster

drama, foreign movie, historical, on Amazon

Santiago Mitre directs Argentina, 1985, inspired by a true story. The film follows public prosecutors Julio Strassera and Luis Moreno Ocampo, who dared to investigate and prosecute Argentina’s bloodiest military dictatorship in 1985. 

Undeterred by the military’s still considerable influence within their fragile new democracy, Strassera and Moreno Ocampo assembled a young legal team of unlikely heroes for their David-vs-Goliath battle. 

Under constant threat to themselves and their families, they raced against time to bring justice to the victims of the military junta, a government led by a group of military leaders. 

The film stars Ricardo Darin and Peter Lanzani.

“You Won’t Be Alone” Witches Tale of Horror

foreign movie, horror, , , ,

Written and directed by Goran Stolevski, You Won’t Be Alone takes place in an isolated mountain village in 19th century Macedonia, Southeast Europe. The story follows a young girl kidnapped and then transformed into a witch by an ancient spirit.

Curious about life as a human, the young witch accidentally kills a peasant in the nearby village and then takes her victim’s shape to live life in her skin.

Her curiosity ignited. She continued to will the horrific power to understand what it means to be human.

Noomi Rapace, Anamaria Marinca, Alice Englert, Carloto Cotta, Felix Maritaud and Sara Klimoska star in the movie.

Nazi-occupied Croatian Ustasha regime “Dara of Jasenovac”

biography, drama, foreign movie, historical, true stories,
Dara of Jasenovac

Written by Natasa Drakulic and directed by Predrag Antonijevic, Dara of Jasenovac follows a little girl named Dara, played by Biljana Cekic, during the Holocaust in the Balkans to the infamous extermination camp complex Jasenovac — coined as Balkan’s Auschwitz. The story takes place in the Nazi-occupied Croatian Ustasha regime “NDH” in former Yugoslavia during WWII. They are told through the eyes of Dara, who the Nazis sent as a child during the Holocaust, ruled by sadistic camp commander Maks Luburic until the liberation. It is the first modern WWII movie that takes place in or shows the NDH-era camp.

It begins during the summer of 1942 when the family of twelve-year-old Dara is taken away and separated into two concentration camps. She witnessed all the horrors of the Ustashe regime. After they kill her brother and mother, she tries to save her younger brother’s life, hoping that her father is still alive.

Probably one of the most overlooked parts of history, Germans do not run Jasenovac, but the fascist Ustase runs the complex. He brutally murdered Jews, Serbs and Roma people, which included many women and children. As unspeakable atrocities unfold, Dara must summon tremendous courage to protect her infant brother from a terrible fate. At the same time, she safeguards her own survival and plots a precarious path toward freedom. The movie is the Serbian selection for the Academy Awards for Best International Feature.

The movie has English subtitles, and the rest of the talented cast includes Vuk Kostic, Natasa Ninkovic, and Nikolina Jelisavac.

Monumental, Timely Destiny “The Painted Bird” Trailer

based on a book, drama, foreign movie, , , , , , , ,
The Painted Bird

Based on the acclaimed Jerzy Kosiński novel, The Painted Bird is a fastidious 35mm black and white summoning of wild, primitive Eastern Europe at the bloody close of World War II.
The film follows the boy’s journey, entrusted by his persecuted parents to an elderly foster mother. The older woman soon dies, and the boy is on his own, wandering through the countryside, from village to village, farmhouse to farmhouse. As he struggles for survival, he suffers through extraordinary brutality meted out by the ignorant, superstitious peasants. He witnesses the terrifying violence of the efficient, ruthless soldiers, both Russian and German.

In a defining scene, one of the peasants shows him the flight of a captive bird, whom the man has painted and then released back into its flock. Immediately, the bird gets attached and ripped apart because it is different from its fellows. That lesson reinforces all he already knows and will soon know better: the difference is fatal.

But there are rare moments of compassion: a German soldier spares him, a priest intervenes on his behalf, and finally, he becomes the protégé of a Russian sniper, who is kind to the child, but ruthless with the enemy. And there are signs of love. He is seduced by an older girl, finally rediscovering the comfort of intimacy, only to realize that he has been used. When he is miraculously reunited with his weakened father at the end of the war, the boy is cold and impenetrable, hardened by his ordeal. Yet we can still glimpse something of the old, sensitive boy behind the eyes of the new. Perhaps there is hope.

The cast includes Petr Kotlár, Udo Kier, Lech Dyblik, Jitka Čvančarová, Stellan Skarsgård, Harvey Keitel, Julian Sands, Aleksey Kravchenko, and Barry Pepper.