Best Undistributed Films (2004)

[arsaib4]

*Films seen last year / Remained unreleased by the end of 2004.

*Limited to World Premiere - '03 or '04.

30 BEST UNDISTRIBUTED FILMS

Ana and the Others (Ana y los Otros) - Celina Murga / Argentina

Brothers (Brødre) - Susanne Bier / Denmark

Choker Bali: A Passion Play - Rituparno Ghosh / India

Come and Go (Vai~E~Vem) - João César Monteiro / Portugal

Distant Lights (Lichter) - Hans-Christian Schmid / Germany

Don't Move (Non Ti Muovere) - Sergio Castellitto / Italy

Evil (Ondskan) - Mikael Håfström / Sweden

Good Morning, Night (Buongiorno, Notte) - Marco Bellocchio / Italy

Head-On (Gegen die Wand) - Fatih Akin / Germany-Turkey

The Holy Girl (La Niña Santa) - Lucrecia Martel / Argentina

In the Battlefields (Maarek Hob) - Danielle Arbid / Lebanon

Jealousy Is My Middle Name (Jiltuneun Naui Him)
- Chan-ok Park / S.Korea

The Living World (Le Monde Vivant) - Eugene Green / France

Machuca - Andrés Wood / Chile

A Nation Without Women (Matrubhoomi) - Manish Jha / India

Not On the Lips (Pas sur la bouche) - Alain Resnais / France

Pornography (Pornografia) - Jan Jakub Kolski / Poland

A Real Man (Un Homme, un vrai)
- Jean-Marie & Arnaud Larrieu / France

Samaritan Girl (Samaria) - Kim Ki-duk / S. Korea

Schizo (Shiza) - Guka Omarova / Kazakhstan

The 7th Day (El Séptimo Día) - Carlos Saura / Spain

Shara (Sharasojyu) - Naomi Kawase / Japan

The Story of Marie and Julien (Histoire de Marie et Julien)
- Jacques Rivette / France

Take My Eyes (Te Doy Mis Ojos) - Icíar Bollaín / Spain

That Day (Ce jour-là) - Raoul Ruiz / France

3-Iron (Bin-Jip) - Kim Ki-duk / S. Korea

Triple Agent - Eric Rohmer / France

Vibrator - Ryuichi Hiroki / Japan

The Weakness of the Bolshevik (La Flaqueza del Bolchevique)
- Manuel Martín Cuenca / Spain

The Youth (Yuva) - Mani Ratnam / India

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13 of the 30 films listed above ended up being distributed in the U.S. during 2005.
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[Edit1] [links for HEAD-ON/NOT ON THE LIPS/SCHIZO/TRIPLE AGENT]

[Edit2][links for ANA AND THE OTHERS/BROTHERS/3-IRON/THE STORY OF MARIE AND JULIEN]

[Howard Schumann]

Did you see all of these films? It must have been at film festivals right? Actually, my son saw Triple Agent in the theater in London so it must have had some distribution, at least in Europe. Also Machuca played here in the local art theater.

[oscar jubis]

*I found Evil a bit formulaic but the audience I watched it with seem to love it, so I'm surprised it hasn't been distributed.
*I don't know what to think about Samaria, ki-duk's attitude toward sex seems priggish to me based on this, The Isle and Spring,Summer.... I plan to watch it again before I say more.
*I liked Take My Eyes and The Weakness of the Bolshevik very much.
*I passed on Vibrator.
*The new Martel played at our recent festival and I passed because it's having a commercial run soon. Two local critics and one from Brasil (O Globo) I befriended during the fest clearly prefer La Cienaga.
*So far in 2005, the best undistributed films I've seen are The Dark Side of the Moon from Canadian director Robert Lepage and the Argentinian film Los Muertos.

[arsaib4]

Originally posted by Howard Schumann
Did you see all of these films? It must have been at film festivals right? Actually, my son saw Triple Agent in the theater in London so it must have had some distribution, at least in Europe. Also Machuca played here in the local art theater.

It was good to hear from you again, Howard. After going over the list I'd say that I saw about half of the films either at a festival or at a screening of some sort. The others were seen on DVD - mostly imported in non-Region 1 format. I'm not sure if you've given in yet but since you saw an undistributed film like Deep Breath it wouldn't surprise me if you do own a multi-region player.

I bought the French DVD of Triple Agent recently so that's how I saw it. Perhaps I should link the names above with the brief comments I've made so far. I appreciated your review of Machuca. I liked how Andrés Wood integrated the coming-of-age aspect of the story with the political one and you captured that well in your review. I don't think many people realize that the film was officially released earlier in the year. Got a positive response from the critics but again, if you don't have an "indie" studio like Sony Classics or Focus behind you, it's hard to become acquainted even with your target audience. Hopefully it'll find its way to appear on DVD.

[hengcs]

Originally posted by arsaib4
It was good to hear from you again, Howard. ...
I appreciated your review of Machuca. I liked how Andrés Wood integrated the coming-of-age aspect of the story with the political one and you captured that well in your review. I don't think many people realize that the film was officially released earlier in the year. ...

oops ... before I posted Machuca, I did a search, and I could NOT locate Howard's review. That was why I started a new thread ... do you care to link me to his comments?

;)

[arsaib4]

I'm glad to hear that you did a search and you did the right thing by starting a thread because Howard hasn't posted his review here yet. It's available on CineScene.com.

[hengcs]

Brothers (Brødre) - Susanne Bier / Denmark
-- I will be watching this soon ...

Evil (Ondskan) - Mikael Håfström / Sweden
-- above average film ... I actually like this movie ... it questions what is evil ... ;) ... I recall posting my reviews on the OLD foreignfilms.com, I guess it is deleted after the revamp ...

Head-On
-- EXCELLENT movie! great cast too ...

Machuca - Andrés Wood / Chile
-- above average film ... I have just reviewed this ...

Samaritan Girl (Samaria) - Kim Ki-duk / S. Korea
-- above average film ... I like the beginning till near the end ... I did NOT like the last 15/20 min or so ... nor the ending ... Again, I recall posting my reviews on the OLD foreignfilms.com, I guess it is deleted after the revamp ...

Schizo - Guka Omarova / Kazakhstan
-- There is only 1 screening, and I could NOT make it ...

3-Iron (Bin-Jip) - Kim Ki-duk / S. Korea
-- EXCELLENT film ... watch it!

Vibrator - Ryuichi Hiroki / Japan
-- above average film ... about a road trip between a guy and a gal ... about love and s** ... interestingly done ... very japanese style ... Again, I recall posting my reviews on the OLD foreignfilms.com, I guess it is deleted after the revamp ...