2011 in Movies: foreign films

It was another year in which foreign cinema was essential (although not as great as years past).  Three of the nominees for the 2010 Best Foreign Language Oscar were released in the US this year: Incendies , Dogtooth and the Oscar-winning In a Better World.   Incendies earned a very prominent spot on my Best Movies of 2011.  Joining Incendies on my Best Movies of 2011 are The Artist from France, Poetry from Korea, Carancho from Argentina and Potiche from France.  That’s five films – down from ten on my list for 2010 and the lowest number of foreign films on my list ever.

Still, the French had a fine historical drama in Sarah’s Key, the costume epic The Princess of Montpensier, the sexy comedy The Names of Love and the arty head scratcher Certified Copy.   Stylized violence characterized both the Japanese gangster film Outrage and the Samurai movie 13 Assassins.  There was a sly Mexican dark comedy, Norah’s WillAttenberg was a better Greek comedy than Dogtooth.

The Polish documentary War Games and the Man Who Stopped Them was excellent. Hungary delivered a small drama, Question in Details.  The Aussies gave us a very violent contemporary Western, Red Hill.  Germany and Austria produced a contemporary crime drama in The Robber.  Even the Bolivians gave us a pretty solid Western:  Blackthorn.

Here’s the trailer for Poetry.

Blogging from SFIFF: Attenberg

Attenberg is a winningly offbeat original from Greek director Athina Rachel Tsangari.  It’s about a 23-year-old who grudgingly decides it’s time for her sexual initiation.  Her oversexed friend (who dreams of trees fruited with hanging penises) gives her some pointers.  Hilariously awkward attempts at intimacy ensue.  She has a poignantly close relationship with her single dad, and their love of sarcasm and animal documentaries help them cope with his cancer.  As if this weren’t enough,  the film is randomly interspersed with Silly Walks by the gals that would impress John Cleese.

As the lead, Ariane Labed won the Best Actress Award at the Venice Film Festival.