what we have here is a failure to communicate

Two of my favorite bloggers simultaneously started hosting movie watching events this month, and then kind of joined them up to make one delicious mash-up of true (foreign) movie mayhem. Of course I am beside myself with joy.

Caroline of Beauty is a Sleeping Cat came up with the World Cinema Series, which aspires to take the viewer on a whirlwind trip round the globe via film. Her guidelines are simply to find movies that open a door into another culture, preferably made by people from that culture.

Richard of Caravana de recuerdos invites interested folks to attend his Foreign Film Festival and watch movies from directors whose country of origin or residence is not your own.

Both of these charming hosts will be collecting links and occasionally publishing round-up posts so that everyone involved can keep tabs on what everyone else is watching. Richard’s list of links is here (January’s movies at least), and Caroline’s is here (she’s hoping to get at least one film from every country!)

And now, of course, I have a few titles of my own to add to the list:

The Guard (Writ. & Dir. John Michael McDonagh. Stars Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle. Ireland, 2011)
In a small Irish town, a cop with a perverse sense of humor and a talent for rubbing people the wrong way must team up with a straight-laced, by-the-book FBI agent in order to bring an international drug-trafficking ring down. Not an unusual plot by any means. But Brendan Gleeson (whom I am growing to adore) brings outrageous weirdness to Sergeant Gerry Boyle, balanced by an equally strange dignity. Although initially I wasn’t sure I liked Sgt Boyle, I grew to really care about this odd, socially awkward, probably lonely yet seemingly content man. Don Cheadle isn’t bad either, and the rapport between the two is believable and funny. Almost every scene in the movie has amusing elements, and even the characters with tiny parts are full-bodied (Mark Strong makes his usual hilarious appearance and Fionnula Flanagan is lovely as Sgt Boyle’s ailing mother). It’s not a very sensitive or politically correct movie, with the F word fired like machine gun rounds and plenty of cracks at the expense of Americans or anyone with the misfortune of being from Dublin. Although I was reminded of Guy Ritchie films while watching it, I was amused to find out that writer/director John Michael McDonagh is the brother of Martin McDonagh, who brought the ridiculously good and even more wonky In Bruges to screen (a movie that incidentally also stars Brendan Gleeson). I watched The Guard almost accidentally, but I am more than pleased to have discovered it. If you’re in the mood for a comic thriller (with some rather pretty scenery) this could be just what you’re looking for.

Soul Kitchen (Dir. Fatih Akin. Writ. Fatih Akin and Adam Bousdoukos. Stars Adam Bousdoukos. Germany, 2009)
Greek-German restauranteur Zinos has a lot on his plate. His restaurant in Hamburg is fairly successful, but his girlfriend is leaving him for a job in Shanghai and his brother is out of jail on day-parole as long as he pretends to work for him. When Zinos throws out his back and can no longer cook, a talented (if somewhat volatile) new chef seems like just the ticket. He soon alienates the local customers by refusing to serve their favorite run of the mill fare, and to make matters worse the tax office suddenly comes calling and health inspectors mysteriously show up on Zinos’ door. Soul Kitchen and everything Zinos holds dear teeters on the edge of a cliff. Zinos’ haphazard quest to save his restaurant and get on with his life is a thoroughly endearing tale. The performances (especially Adam Bousdoukos as Zinos and Moritz Bleibtreu as his disastrous but lovable brother) are excellent and the story perfectly combines slap-stick humor, food porn, music, and the dreary, wintery streets of Hamburg to make a highly enjoyable movie and one that I definitely recommend. Fatih Akin (born in Germany but of Turkish decent, fyi) directed the excellent The Edge of Heaven which I saw a few years ago and want to see again. I will also gladly add Head-On to my Netflix queue and, although I didn’t really have any interest in it before, New York, I Love You which has a segment directed by Akin that I’m now curious about. (And that reminds me that I’ve been wanting to watch Paris, je t’aime again – I guess New York, I Love You is considered a companion piece… SO MANY MOVIES TO WATCH!!)

And so my world travels for this year began on the coast of Ireland, and then moved to Hamburg, Germany. Where to next, I wonder, and who will take me there? Many thanks to Caroline and Richard for the extra incentive to travel via film and explore the work of more foreign directors in 2012. I can already tell it’s going to be a fantastic ride. Onward now, to the next port of call.