Shot with an immersive style, it welcomes viewers in for both the better and the worse. We see their public actions and private moments, but the film’s most alive in scenes showing their strategy sessions featuring celebration, dissent, planning, and conflict. The AIDS crisis of the 80s/90s has simmered down in the “civilized” world, but those unaware of the fight to reach even this point will find themselves well educated by this look into the turbulent early days of France’s ACT UP organization. Writer/director Fatih Akin is more interested in his lead character’s journey through sadness, rage, and realization, and Diane Kruger delivers with a performance that leaves viewers feeling it all with her. The result is a film where cinematic beauty is constantly at odds with mankind’s ugliness.īilled falsely as a revenge thriller of sorts, this tale of a woman who loses her husband and son to an act of terror is interested in more than mere cathartic thrills.
The Cambodian genocide is well-documented both onscreen and off, but Angelina Jolie‘s latest directorial effort offers a harrowing and far more personal look at the reality of it all. Sharp satire, thrilling action beats, and broad comedy (thanks Jake Gyllenhaal!) blend together into a condemnation of the corporate world we’re all complicit in creating.ġ0. (It makes for an unruly companion to the films above and below.)īong Joon-ho ( Memories of Murder) follows up his first international production ( Snowpiercer) with something far weirder but every bit as critical of man’s actions. Far from a lazy attack on American brands - Kentucky Fried Chicken plays host to murder, cannibalism, and things far, far worse - the film offers a grotesquely brilliant critique of commercialism and the power of brands. One leads to the other after all, and the result is a film that pairs well with the likes of Ginger Snaps as horror tropes are applied to real-world fears of growing up, fitting in, and making it out alive.īrutality and consumerism meet in Le Binh Giang‘s feature debut, and the result is an audacious film guaranteed to provoke, disturb, and disgust. It suggests, and even demands, that we treat all life with respect.Ĭoming of age films typically focus on what we’re putting out into the world, but writer/director Julia Ducournau‘s debut is just as interested in what we ingest.
Part mystery, part PETA recruitment tool, this atmospheric and methodically-paced tale is ultimately a plea for the better treatment of more than just the animals around us. When’s the last time you saw that pairing onscreen? It works beautifully on those simple merits, but it stands apart from the crowd with a strong lead character who’s both an ass-kicking hero and a Muslim woman. It’s occasionally familiar but overcomes some deceptively simple plotting to reveal a sweet, sad, and funny look at the redemptive power of regret.Ī sleek and effective genre thriller, this is an entertaining tale about a woman who witnesses a murder and is then herself targeted. She Remembers, He Forgets (Hong Kong)Ī woman whose present life is in distress looks back on her youth and the turns of fate that led her there. Old Boy‘s Choi Min-sik plays a man who has everything only to see it all torn away, and he anchors both the drama and thrills of this crime story all the way through a fourth (?) act that twists convention into something affecting and surprising.ġ6. Keep reading for a look at the 17 best foreign language films of 2017 (that I’ve seen from my seat in the U.S.). Niche theaters, a plethora of streaming choices, and a calendar filled with film festivals offers Americans more opportunities than ever to seek out and experience readable movies, and we’re happy to celebrate it with a look at some of the year’s best. It’s a big world out there, and while technology brings much of it closer the second-best thing to actually traveling to other countries yourself is sitting back and experiencing new places and cultures through the power of film.
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