{"id":2215,"date":"2011-12-31T09:00:37","date_gmt":"2011-12-31T16:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=2215"},"modified":"2011-12-31T10:11:12","modified_gmt":"2011-12-31T17:11:12","slug":"2011-in-review-foreign-language-offerings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/?p=2215","title":{"rendered":"2011 in Review – Foreign Language Offerings…"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>U<\/strong>nfortunately, I failed to see enough foreign pictures in 2011 to be any kind of authority. From what I\u2019ve read the South Korean film \u201cPoetry\u201d is the one to see. The Christian Bale Chinese film \u201cThe Flowers of War\u201d directed by Yimou Zhang (\u201cHouse of Flying Daggers\u201d) has failed to impress the critics from what I\u2019ve seen online. And this is too bad because it is China\u2019s official submission to the Academy Awards. I did see the Jackie Chan film \u201c1911\u201d and it was really heavy lifting. In fact, I can\u2019t imagine that \u201cThe Flowers of War\u201d could be any better. \u201c1911\u201d might acquire a \u201cHeaven\u2019s Gate\u201d kind of reputation, however, which might help it find a cult following.<\/p>\n

I did watch \u201cThe Last Circus\u201d in the safety and comfort of my own home. Wow! That Spainish horror\/comedy is one zany flick. But is it any good? I didn\u2019t write a review, but I might have given it a \u201cfix\u201d rating for that special qualified viewer who can take violence dished out by circus clowns. I have to say that the opening battle sequences featuring a clown in drag with two swords slicing his way through the ranks was a rousing highlight. And if you\u2019re into that sort of thing, \u201cThe Last Circus\u201d is for you. But the battle sequences early on in \u201c1911\u201d are pretty well-staged too, but they hardly save the dreary film.<\/p>\n

The French film \u201cPotiche\u201d was released here in 2011, and it was awfully entertaining. Catherine Deneuve is wonderful as Suzanne Pujol, a housewife who decides to enter politics in 1970s France. Gerard Depardieu is fun as her former lover and liberal politician who becomes her unlikely ally.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrollHunter\u201d was really awesome. Yes, it was awesome, because it took the tired mockumentary form with ample nods to \u201cBlair Witch\u201d and made it work again. It doesn\u2019t feel new, or fresh, and there is some cheating with the visual scope here and there, but it was damned entertaining. After watching \u201cTrollHunter,\u201d you might never cross a bridge without some trepidation ever again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>My favorite foreign film of the year has to be \u201cHappy, Happy.\u201d The story of Kaja (an award-worthy Agnes Kittelsen), who is a housewife living in a rural community with her son and hunter husband. When a couple from the city moves in next door, Kaja begins an abrupt sexual relationship with her new neighbor\u2019s husband. Why she is so sexually aggressive is at first a mystery that deepens as the story unfolds. You might not think that a movie about adultery and promiscuity could be sweet and feel so entirely wholesome, but \u201cHappy, Happy\u201d is really very wonderful. Think of it as a mature and insightful polar opposite to the dark and horrifying \u201cWe Need to Talk About Kevin.\u201d
\n
\nNext: Number 10 – WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN<\/strong><\/a><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jonathan really liked the foreign pic HAPPY, HAPPY.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2217,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","has-thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2215"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2303,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215\/revisions\/2303"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyfilmfix.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}