Foreign films give us an eye into other cultures and other ways of seeing the world.
In this SDG we'll enjoy 14 films voted by film critics and directors as the best foreign movies ever made, and explore what makes them great films.
The list of the best is taken from poll of directors and critics conducted every decade by “Sight and Sound” magazine, which is regarded as one of the most important "greatest ever film" lists.
American critic Roger Ebert described it as "by far the most respected of the countless polls of great movies—the only one most serious movie people take seriously."
In addition to watching each of films chosen by critics and directors as among the best, we'll look at the screenplays, and reviewers comments, and read or watch what the directors have said about the films.
Our goals will be:
First, to have fun.
Second, to enjoy watching some really great movies and talking about the stories they tell , and the culture, the settings and times where they take place, the characters, their motivations and their interactions, and what the films tell us about the human condition
In addition-- and to the extent there is interest among our participants-- we’ll offer additional sessions for each movie (attendance purely optional), where we will have a chance to look more closely at the finer points of moviemaking. There, we’ll look closely at the details of these films the way an aspiring screen writer or director (a young Spielberg, or Kubrick or Tarantino or Bergman or Fellini ) might look at how each of these films were put together; and the choices made by the screenwriter, cameraman, location manager, and most importantly, the director made, regarding the plot, the casting, the acting the dialogue, the screenplay, the settings, the camera work, , the lighting, the, the music, the editing, -- and how the director put everything together to make each of these into great film.
We’ll aim to have lively and fun discussions, and end up with a greater understanding of the choices writers, directors, cinematographers make; how these foreign movies reflect the cultures they depict, what they say about the universal human condition. And, and in the final analysis --how sometimes everything can come together to make a movie truly great,
So join us as we watch, discuss and analyze 14 foreign films, critics and directors say are the greatest foreign movies ever made.
