Foreign Language WWII Movies?

Hi all . .

Please dont let me give you the wrong idea with my next line . . . I watched Inglorious Basterds the other night . . Once again, please don't let me give you the wrong idea!! . . But one thing I really really enjoyed was listening to foreign language with subtitles (Germen and French with english subtitles) . . I'd love to discover some WWII movies I havent seen before. . and I imagine there is a large amount of european WWII movies out there. .

My wife and I would like to know of some WWII movies, preferably european/WWII movies . . (we both find the Nazi's fascinating) I remember seeing many bits and pieces on Australian TV station SBS but never watched anything as I wasnt into reading subtitles at the time. . . my taste has changed recently . . hearing real language makes the authenticity so much better, therefore very enjoyable for to watch. I plan to watch Downfall next and we've seen Das Boot (which was great!). They dont need to be battle orientated either . . Anything great that is WWII. .

Can anyone recommend any great foreign WWII movies for us to check out?

 

You could start with these in German


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6L-SjuHigI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLtxQWOvz_k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUDuPuqWrSo

 

This was one of the ways in which the 1969 movie 'Battle Of Britain' changed the game - the director was absolutely determined that the Germans should be German, and not the cartoonish 'Ve haff vays off making you talk' which had been the vogue. . After a major tussle with the producers, he got his way and at the time it seemed revolutionary for the English to speak English and the Germans to speak German ( with subtitles ).

 

Thanks Skip!

Martin, the 'cartoonish' reference is a great way of describing the whole 'we haff vays of making you talk' haha! Battle of Britain is another one I gotta watch again after 20 years.

 

I also suggest this if you like Japanese language.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n38F-0a_WhE

 

A brilliant German production last year on Hitler's last days...but my all time favourite is Das Boot...don't watch it, buy it : )

 

While kids my age were watching Disney movies . . I was watching Das Boot. . haha! One of my all time favourites!

Skip, all those clips look fantastic. . there is SO MUCH great stuff out there that I need to discover. . I will be getting hold of those films above. Thanks again

 

'Das Boot' is quite fantastic to watch - but beware, there are several different versions. You need the very full-length one with subtitles. The 'cut-down' version which is dubbed into English is absolutely awful !

 

Come and See

 

Downfall (German: Der Untergang) is a 2004 German war film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, depicting the final ten days of Adolf Hitler's reign over Nazi Germany in 1945.
The film is written and produced by Bernd Eichinger, and based upon the books Inside Hitler's Bunker, by historian Joachim Fest; Until the Final Hour, the memoirs of Traudl Junge, one of Hitler's secretaries (co-written with Melissa Müller); Albert Speer's memoirs, Inside the Third Reich; Hitler's Last Days: An Eye–Witness Account, by Gerhardt Boldt; Das Notlazarett unter der Reichskanzlei: Ein Arzt erlebt Hitlers Ende in Berlin by Doctor Ernst-Günther Schenck; and Siegfried Knappe's memoirs, Soldat: Reflections of a German Soldier, 1936–1949.
The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

I loved this movie. It's all in German, and it's the best cinema-version of a Hitler that I've ever seen.

 

Yes! I have the full length with subtitles version. . For many years I only had the shorter, English version but maybe 5-7 years ago I got the real deal

Also McCabe, Downfall is next on the list for my wife and I to watch! She's not so much into battle scene / action movies but we both find Nazi / Hitler / Jewish survival movies amazing to watch. Tonight we watched Defience. . It was good but didn't blow me away - but was worth watching. Tomorrow or the weekend we'll watch Downfall!

 

and the older Chinese version of Nanking . A must see

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn2OHcPT2_M&list=PL7C5FD22ED09A4927

 

Not WW2 for the most part but Kuroswa's films are almost all worth watching. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akira_Kurosawa
Eisensteins films are also of interest particularly when viewed as being propganda in the inter war period. Alexander Nevsky is one of my favorites. See:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Nevsky_(film)
Of course if you are talking propaganda in the pre WW2 period there's always the Triumph of the Will I think you can get that legally now. When I was in college it could only be shown for "educational" purposes. Beautiful filmography and a very chilling film when you know what is to come.

 

This is a good one-
"Indigenes- Days of Glory (2006)
The film deals with the discriminatory treatment of North African soldiers serving in the Free French Forces during the Second World War. The film's release contributed to a partial recognition of the pension rights of soldiers from the former French colonies by the French government."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0444182/

A few more, though I haven't seen any myself-
http://frenchfilmsite.com/articles/Best_War_Films.html

 

"Unsere Mütter, unsere Väter" a mini-series about five friends from Berlin on the Eastern Front caused a stir in Germany in 2013...

part 1 here
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1au6hk_unsere-mutter-unsere-vater-episode-1-part-1-subbed_shortfilms

http://www.amazon.de/Unsere-M%C3%BCtter-unsere-V%C3%A4ter-DVDs/dp/B00B1UAK8A/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1421858497&sr=1-1&keywords=unser+mutter+unser+vater


Ulrich Tukur's "Rommel" is a 'myth-busting' German account of the last seven months of the GfM's life ...more 'rat' than 'fox' here

http://ww.amazon.de/Rommel-Ulrich-Tukur/dp/B0096121CO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1421857990&sr=8-1&keywords=ROMMEL


http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/row-over-film-that-portrays-rommel-as-more-rat-than-fox-8229392.html

 

I may be the minority, but I don't find that having to read subtitles contributes anything to the movie experience. We all know they're "really" speaking German, Japanese, Latin, whatever; I'd rather concentrate my visual sense on the actors, scenery, cinematography, etc. An exagerrated accent can be annoying, but English with a slight accent is fine.

p.s. it's well known that ancient Romans spoke with upper-class British accents

 

Lol. I watched Das Boot for the first time when a teen with the English dubs. It was horrendous. Ruined the whole movie. I never let my father, who bought it for me, forget it. I came home from school one afternoon and he had the other copy waiting for me. Said he watched 30 mins of the dubbed and went to the video store. Lol

 

B/W movie about Stalingrad...........I like it: (maybe as good as the other newer one, but less action so most won´t like it as they like action more)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxS7uFNX4sk

 

This is also a damn good movie. It's in four languages-
The Black Book (2006)-
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0389557/