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#79235 08/30/02 01:30 PM
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I think everyone here would enjoy the movie "Ridicule" quite a bit.


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Well, won't you tell us why, Sweetie? Please? :-)


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Synopsis:
In the age of Louix XVI, a modest country engineer traveled to Versailles with a plan to save the people of his village from an epidemic by asking the king to subsidize a swamp drainage system. He thought he would persuade the palace with logic, reason, and an appeal to human decency. He was wrong. To succeed in this court, he'll have to learn to dress, to dance, to scheme, to seduce--and above all, he'll learn that wit is the ultimate weapon. In this strange world of decadence, where fortunes and power change hands overnight, where men are made and ruined in an instant, the key to survival is avoiding the ultimate disgrace: ridicule. In a place where even the slightest misstep can be fatal, he'll have to focus every ounce of energy on extracting royal favor. The one thing he must not do... is fall in love.
synopsis extracted from http://www.hollywood.com/movies/detail/movie/185953


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Well that's a better synopsis than I could have ever written.

It's a great movie, and as the description above implies, wit and language are central to the film, although it isn't about using unusual words. But quick-witted wordplay is one of the major elements. The fact that the leading lady is breathtakingly gorgeous has nothing to do with my recommendation, honest.

Keep in mind that it is in French with subtitles. Some people hate subtitled movies the way I hate fried okra. I'd rather not share some of the more memorable lines from the film as it might spoil the whole experience for you.

Anyway, I was hoping people would suggest their favorite language oriented films for my own edification.




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and don't forget to careful note of the buckles on everyones shoes!

i saw when it first came out... but, no surprize here, given how many food thread i have started/added toBabette's Feast is on of my favorites films.

i also love Tampopo (a japanese spaghetti western about a truck driver and noodle shop) and A Taxing Woman-- to understand it you need to know three things 1) how to hate a tax collector, 2) in Japan, bank accounts are identified by carved name seals (what i would call a chop, but we did have a discussion over a year ago, and the correct name was provided by someone)if you have the "chop" you are the legal owner of the bank account. 3)like US and UK, to some degree, a man's home is his castle and the police can not just barge in.. but in japan, they can if you open the door... (the fact that you don't know that police have assembled outside your door is your tough luck! once you open the door, the police can come in!)

it has some sexual scenes, (especially the opening scene!) but the japanese are pretty conservative so, its not anything but an R rating.

i saw a pbs presentation of Under the Glacier, and icelandic film, and i loved it.. it was interesting how words "jumped out" the icelandic language, one of the scandinavian, has many nouns that are almost identical to english ones.. (all these movies had sub titles.) If any one ever sees it on cable or PBS again, let me know, i would enjoy seeing it again..


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Two clever movies I'd recommend are Intermezzo and The Advocate. And, for those who ain't seen it yet and are bard buffs, Shakespeare in Love.



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So it's a YART...

Barcelona and Manhattan.


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it was interesting how words "jumped out" the icelandic language

I have had similar experiences listening to recordings of Old English poetry being read and the Dutch film, Antonia (American version Antonia's Line) had similar moments, sometimes whole phrases jumping out at you. The movie, The 13th Warrior had a grand scene wherein our hero, the Arab poet sent out among the Vikings, was sitting around the campfire listening to the Old Norse (or Swedish, or whatever it was) slowly transmogrify into modern English. Worth the price of admission all in itself. In fact, some may wish to stop right there and go no further in that movie.


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In reply to:

The movie, The 13th Warrior had a grand scene wherein our hero, the Arab poet sent out among the Vikings, was sitting around the campfire listening to the Old Norse (or Swedish, or whatever it was) slowly transmogrify into modern English. Worth the price of admission all in itself. In fact, some may wish to stop right there and go no further in that movie.


Faldage I couldn't agree with you more. That scene was so well done! And yet the rest of the movie was just formulaic action-adventure. It was like two different directors had been at work.


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My Dinner with André , the ultimate "narrator" movie.


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