Access Atlanta > Movies > Blog > Archives > 2008 > June > 27 > Entry
In foreign film debate, a beautiful mind trumps the heart
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Dear Mr. Smithee,
Long-time, first-time, and hoping you can settle an argument between me and my (imaginary) friend. He insists that the best foreign film director of all time is Pedro Almodovar and cites “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” and “Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down” as evidence of his mastery.
I steadfastly insist that this honor should go to Akira Kurosawa, who directed perhaps the greatest foreign film of all time, “The Seven Samurai,” not to mention “Rashomon” and “Ran.”
We can think of no better arbiter of this debate than you. So where do you weigh in on the greatest foreign directors or films of all time?
RICHIE LESTER, Lake Worth, Fla.
Dear Step Into My Office, Please,
If I were to analyze you and your friend, which as you must realize I started doing posthaste, noting your inclusion of “(imaginary),” I would have to say you and your friend are yin and yang.
Your friend thinks with his heart. You, Richie, think with your mind. Which is why you are right and your friend is, well, not as right.
I wasn’t the first on the Almodovar bandwagon, but I will tell you that by the time I saw “Talk to Her” that this was a director who most certainly had become a film master.
But Almodovar is no Kurosawa.
The Japanese master, who passed 10 years ago this September, made astounding movies, many of them heady action movies with spurting blood and violence.
The list is long and stunning: “Rashomon” (1950), “The Seven Samurai” (1954), “Throne of Blood” (1957), “Yojimbo” (1961), “Sanjuro” (1962), “High and Low” (1963) and “Ran” (1985).
There are several scenes in the latter that transcend film.
I am also a fan of “Madadayo” (1993), Kurosawa’s exquisite, loving World War II-era dedication to teachers. It poignantly displays Japanese tradition, the culture’s respect for elders and sheer human decency.
Some of my more recent favorite foreign films: Danish director Christoffer Boe’s “Reconstruction,” Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles’ “City of God,” German director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck’s “The Lives of Others” and Mexican director Guillermo del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth.”
Among the best foreign films ever: Swedish director Ingmar Bergman’s “Fanny and Alexander,” Italian director Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” and Italian director Vittorio De Sica’s “The Bicycle Thief.”
Two directors whose works I happen to like a lot are German director Tom Tykwer, especially “Run, Lola, Run” and “The Princess and the Warrior”; and Danish director Lars von Trier, especially “The Element of Crime,” “The Kingdom,” “Breaking the Waves,” “The Idiots,” “Dancer in the Dark,” “Dogville,” “Manderlay,” “The Five Obstructions” and “The Boss of It All.”
ALAN
P.S. You get a T-shirt and button for “The Incredible Hulk.”
Dear Mr. Smithee,
Until Christmastime, my husband and I went to a movie every Saturday night. Since then we have seen three movies, and they were not very good. It seems to me that there is a lack of good plots, compelling characters, good writing and fresh ideas.
Is it that way to you?
MICHELLE BARNETT, Powder Springs
Dear Seems?
How is it that you have not realized that Hollywood is a business geared mainly toward teen males?
It is an industry of horror films and action movies with an emphasis on jokes about the two P’s (hint: poop and penises).
ALAN
P.S. You get a “Kung Fu Panda” plush toy and “Young@Heart” T-shirt.
NOTE TO A SPECIAL READER: After my recent list of movies I’d take with me to a deserted island, I got this dismissive missive from an apparently uninformed reader known only as anythinguwantidontcare: “Those are your Top 10 movies? Joking, right? If serious, makes me wonder if you have ever seen any great movies.”
My humble reply: Who said anything about those being my Top 10 movies? Three of them would be in my Top 10. Some are just guilty pleasures.
And since it’s an island with just me on it, you don’t have to be bothered viewing films you don’t appreciate.
HAVE A QUESTION FOR MR. SMITHEE?
E-mail him at alansmithee@ajc.com or go to accessAtlanta.com and click on Movies. Please include your name, city and daytime phone number. Mr. Smithee can’t reply to every request, but inquiries chosen for publication will receive movie-related prizes.
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