{"id":27342,"date":"2018-01-08T00:46:38","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T05:46:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/?p=27342"},"modified":"2018-01-08T00:47:16","modified_gmt":"2018-01-08T05:47:16","slug":"emilie-blacks-top-10-indie-foreign-films-of-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/2018\/01\/08\/emilie-blacks-top-10-indie-foreign-films-of-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"Emilie Black\u2019s Top 10 Indie\/Foreign Films of 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>2017 is was a crazy year for films with so many good titles that picking only 10 was difficult and took much too long.\u00a0 That being said, here are my top 10 independent and foreign films which was gathered with much thinking and trying to figure out which films to keep, which not too.\u00a0 The list could easily have been a top 25 and it has been evolving everything it\u2019s being worked on.\u00a0 The order is constantly changing, the titles that keep coming back are the ones found below.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

10. Le Serpent aux Mille Coupures (Thousand Cuts)<\/strong>
\nA stellar French polar that warrants more than one watch.\u00a0 In the film, director Valette creates suspense, tension, and a touch of dread that stay the course and work in taking the audience along for the ride as they try to figure out the twists and turns of the film.\u00a0 The ambiance is reminiscent of film adaptations and novels of Jean-Christophe Grang\u00e9 in tone and how the story by DOA is adapted.\u00a0 Le Serpent aux mille coupures is a worthy addition to the French polar genre.<\/p>\n

Director Eric Valette gave Cinema Crazed an interview during Fantasia.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Watch with:<\/strong> Les Rivieres Pourpres (Crimson Rivers)<\/p>\n

9. Tom of Finland<\/strong>
\nTom of Finland is a carefully-crafted film that shows how to approach a subject such as this and how to treat any biography subject with respect and reverence while still showing all the angles of the man\u2019s life. The acting is talented, nuanced, and layered, showing that Pekka Strang is a great actor. The whole cast is deserving of kudos, showing the strength of the script, directing, and casting decisions. Details in the film, such as costumes and d\u00e9cors, show that everything was carefully calculated and planned before being put onto film by a talented crew. Tom of Finland, aka Touko Laaksonen, is an important figure in the art and lgbt worlds. He did more than just draw muscular, skimpily-clad men, he had a reason to do so and his art opened up doors for a slew of people. The film has a quality that should get many people not familiar with his works interested.<\/p>\n

Watch with:<\/strong> Camille Claudel<\/p>\n

8.Pilgrimage<\/strong>
\nPilgrimage is a Catholic story but it\u2019s also a story of brotherhood and convictions.\u00a0 Through strong performances and story, the film builds more than a simple mission across a land type of story, but one about the people involved and why they are involved.\u00a0 The way the story is developed and the use of many languages pulls the viewer in and the action keeps them involved.\u00a0 It\u2019s a beautiful film with mystery and suspense, supported by a strong cast and great attention to details.<\/p>\n

Watch with:<\/strong> Arn \u2013 The Knight Templar<\/p>\n

7. Prom King, 2010<\/strong>
\nProm King, 2010 is a sweet coming of age (kinda) and romantic comedy that just happens to star a gay lead.\u00a0 The film creates characters who feel human and real who are trying to live their lives and find love or at least figure out what they want from life and love.\u00a0 The performances are good, the direction and writing feeling personal and ringing true.\u00a0 It\u2019s a film with ups and downs that will end up making the viewer feel good through having a complicated yet hopeful lead character.<\/p>\n

Watch with:<\/strong> The Broken Hearts Club: A Romantic Comedy<\/p>\n

6. The Endless<\/strong>
\nThe Endless is a film that takes its time to get to the point, but makes sense the more it advances while also adding layers to its story.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of those films that can be considered a bit of a mindfuck and something that is more cerebral than most genre films have been of late.\u00a0 It\u2019s a film the audience needs to pay attention to and think while watching it for it to make sense.\u00a0 Yes, things are fairly wrapped up by the end but it still has a bit of mystery left.\u00a0 This film is one of those where knowing very little going in is most likely best, causing a bit of an issue for reviewing as spoilers or deep discussion of the film\u2019s content would be detrimental to viewers.<\/p>\n

Watch with:<\/strong> Resolution<\/p>\n

5. Bushwick<\/strong>
\nBushwick is an amazing film that works with its violence in a visual ballet of sorts while the performers within give strong, powerful performances that are perfect for the story.\u00a0 The way the film moves through its sequences, the way it\u2019s edited, and how it\u2019s directed create, with the performance, a sort of lulling sense of dread and stress, something that may not make sense on paper, but that leaves the audience speechless by its crescendo-ing ending.\u00a0 Bushwick is a beautiful, gut-punch of emotions that tells a worthwhile story that many will want to ignore but all should see.\u00a0 It\u2019s a sort of violent fairytale too close to a potential reality for comfort, but also so well-made that it feels like actual reality.\u00a0 It\u2019s a necessary watch and one that hits just right.<\/p>\n

Watch with:<\/strong> Quiet City<\/p>\n

4. La pazza gioia (Like Crazy)<\/strong>
\nLa pazza gioia is one of those films that makes the viewer happy. It\u2019s a film full of real people just wanting to be happy. From the leads\u2019 search for happiness to the two ladies running naked in the background of one scene, the film takes what makes one happy and makes it a goal for them to have. It\u2019s a film full of emotions and beautiful, strong performance. The two leads are so talented and used to the best of their capacities giving the film a quality that is only matched by its beautiful images and great score. This one is a film that should be sought out and seen. It will make even grumps happy.<\/p>\n

Watch with:<\/strong> Girl, Interrupted<\/p>\n

3. Dalida<\/strong>
\nDalida is one of those biographies that transcends the artist on screen and gives the viewer much more than a peep into her life; it gives them a full view of how she was, who she was, of her feelings, and what led to her becoming such and icon as well as what led to her untimely death. It\u2019s a big production like Dalida would have surely liked, but it does not skip on the darker moments of her life. It does fill in the information that could not have been known, but it does so with class and a respect for the artist and woman that she was.<\/p>\n

Watch with:<\/strong> La Vie en Rose<\/p>\n

2. This Is Not What I Expected<\/strong>
\nThis is Not What I Expected is a fantastic film that makes quirky work in its favor with strong performances all around, especially from the two leads.\u00a0 It looks amazing and has some scenes that are flat out of a fairy tale.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of those films that will make people happy and have them wanting to watch it a few times at least.<\/p>\n

Watch with:<\/strong> Amelie<\/p>\n

1.Ma Vie de Courgette<\/strong>
\nMa Vie de Courgette is one of those films that grabs you and doesn\u2019t let you go.\u00a0 It gives an inside view of a child\u2019s life in a group home after a traumatic event, giving children in this situation everywhere a voice, a way to make people know how much they need good adults to be there for them and to be their source of stability.\u00a0 The film has a ton of emotions crammed into it and brings them across in the best way possible as it does not shove them down the public\u2019s throat but lets them feel these emotions with the kids figuring out their way through life, through what they lived through while also learning to trust and love again after being thoroughly broken by adults who should have known better.\u00a0 Ma Vie de Courgette is emotional in just the right way and gets its message across without over doing it.\u00a0 It\u2019s one of those films that deserved its Oscar nomination wholeheartedly and should be winning a bunch of awards.\u00a0 It\u2019s beautiful visually, musically, and emotionally.<\/p>\n

Watch with:<\/strong> Ponyo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2017 is was a crazy year for films with so many good titles that picking only 10 was difficult and took much too long.\u00a0 That being said, here are my top 10 independent and foreign films which was gathered with much thinking and trying to figure out which films to keep, which not too.\u00a0 The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[58,99,111,113,219,302,367,501,1087],"class_list":["post-27342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-year-enders","tag-action","tag-animation","tag-arthouse","tag-asian","tag-comedy","tag-drama","tag-foreign","tag-indie-film","tag-thriller"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27342"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27345,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27342\/revisions\/27345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cinema-crazed.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}