Pop Culture Imports: 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,' A Taut Danish Thriller, A Dario Argento Horror Classic, And More
(Welcome to Pop Culture Imports, a column that compiles the best foreign movies and TV streaming right now.)
Spring is here and the snow is still covering the ground. As the long winter months stretch into March, I'm back to recommend you the best foreign movies and TV streaming now to while away the time. This week, we have Ang Lee's wuxia classic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, a taut Danish thriller so good it's already set for a Hollywood remake, a Dario Argento horror favorite Deep Red, a fluffy Korean drama series, and a dark Japanese teen dramedy.
Let's fire up those subtitles and let's get streaming.
Best Foreign Movies and TV Streaming Now
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – Netflix
Country: ChinaGenre: WuxiaDirector: Ang LeeCast: Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen
What more can be said about this wuxia classic that hasn't already been written? Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a soaring, lyrical masterpiece that made the traditional Chinese genre of wuxia a worldwide phenomenon and launched its incredible cast to international success. Ang Lee crafts a tragic melodrama out of a martial arts epic, which follows a warrior (Chow Yun-Fat) who in seeking vengeance for the death of his master, gives his sword, Green Destiny, to his lover (Michelle Yeoh) to deliver to safe keeping. But when the sword is stolen, it leads to a grand chase replete with balletic fight sequences and betrayal. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is cinematic poetry at its finest, with Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen giving career-best performances and martial arts guru Yuen Woo-ping choreographing some of the most beautiful fight sequences put to the screen.
Watch This If You Like: Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Into the Badlands, rewatching that one fight scene between Michelle Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi on YouTube a thousand times.
The Guilty (2018) – Hulu
Country: DenmarkGenre: ThrillerDirector: Gustav MöllerCast: Jakob Cedergren.The Guilty is taut claustrophobic thriller that manages to make a gripping experience out a single character talking on a phone in a space the size of a closet. The Danish thriller follows police officer Asger Holm (Jakob Cedergren) as he works the dull beat as an emergency dispatcher, biding the time until he can get back into the field after his temporary demotion. But when he gets a panicked phone call from a woman who has been abducted, his instincts kick in and he desperately tries to locate and rescue her from his desk at the police station. The Guilty clocks in at a lean hour and 25 minutes, and every single minute is relentlessly tense. As the film unfolds in real time, the tension gives way to deep emotion, as more about the crime is revealed as well as the backstory of our intrepid police officer. It's razor sharp, intricately plotted stuff that deservedly pushed The Guilty to be the Danish entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 91st Academy Awards. While it didn't make the cut, it's got Hollywood's attention with an American remake set to star Jake Gyllenhaal in development. But do yourself a favor and watch the sleek and satisfying original.Watch This If You Like: The Taking of Pelham 123, Speed, Phone Booth, 24, the tinny sound of a voice over the phone.
Deep Red (Profondo rosso) (1975) – Amazon Prime
Country: ItalyGenre: Giallo horrorDirector: Dario ArgentoCast: David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia, Giuliana Calandra, Clara Calamai, Macha Meril.Deep Red is a fascinating glimpse at a transitional period for Dario Argento, the director behind the nightmarishly trippy 1977 Suspiria. More gory slasher than supernatural horror, Deep Red is a remnant of Argento's earlier whodunit plots, with dashes of psychological horror and self-mocking humor thrown in. Deep Red follows a British jazz musician living in Italy (David Hemmings) who, after witnessing the brutal murder of a psychic medium, becomes obsessed with finding the serial killer terrorizing Rome. He teams up with a female reporter Gianna Brezzi (Daria Nicolodi), who endangers his life by naming him as the chief witness in the murder. Though not quite as technically bold as Argento's later films would be, Deep Red is as violent as you would expect for an Italian giallo film, as well as disarmingly funny .Watch This If You Like: Suspiria, Vertigo, Halloween, constantly wearing black leather gloves.
Romance Is a Bonus Book — Netflix
Country: South KoreaGenre: Romantic comedy seriesDirector: Lee Jeong-hyoCast: Lee Jong-suk, Lee Na-young.
Rom-coms may be struggling to regain their footing in Hollywood, but they're alive and well in South Korea. K-dramas have started to gain a huge international following, in part because they're fulfilling the gaps left by '90s and early 2000s Hollywood rom-coms. And they've gotten the formula down to a tee. The latest hit rom-com offering from the K-drama world is Romance is a Bonus Book. But more than being a charming retread of rom-com tropes, Romance is a Bonus Book offers insight on working women and ageism. Lee Na-young stars as Kang Dan-i, a divorcee attempting to get back into the job field after 11 years as a housewife, but she finds herself shut out of the rapidly changing and youth-obsessed industry. Destitute and homeless, she fudges her resume to land a job at the publishing company where her handsome and successful younger childhood friend (Lee Jong-suk) works. They end up working and living together, and well, you know the rest. Romance is a Bonus Book is a light and endearing series that may be lacking a little in chemistry, but isn't lacking in heart.
Watch This If You Like: Younger, Something's Gotta Give, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, "older" women living their best lives!
River's Edge (2018)– Netflix
Country: JapanGenre: Teen dramaDirector: Isao YukisadaCast: Fumi Nikaido, Ryo Yoshizawa, Shuhei Uesugi, Sumire, Shiori Doi, Aoi Morikawa.
Based on a manga of the same title by Kyoko Okazaki, River's Edge is a bleak, often violent, portrait of teen ennui. But there's something hypnotic about these self-destructive teens on the cusp of adulthood in '90s suburban Japan. Set in the '90s and filmed in the old-fashioned 4:3 ratio, River's Edge is a perverse twist on nostalgia, instead evoking the feelings of emptiness and paranoia that were plaguing Japan in that era, which was distinguished by terrorism and earthquakes. The teens indulge in graphic, kinky sex which interweave fluidly with scenes of binge eating — all incredibly dark imagery for what amounts to a somewhat standard coming-of-age story. Fumi Nikaido stars as the jaded Haruna Wakakusa, who befriends Ichiro Yamada (Ryo Yoshizawa), a bullied gay teen who harbors a crush on a fellow classmate as well as a "secret treasure." That treasure is a washed-up corpse that he stumbled upon in the fields and shows to Haruna. The two form an odd trio with fellow outcast Kozue Yoshikawa (Sumire), a classmate working as a model and suffering from bulimia. Slow-burning and moody, River's Edge feels like it's building to something — with peripheral elements like a pair of goofy fisherman swapping tall tales and sinister industrial smoke pouring out of chimneys across the river — but it never quite offers you the catharsis.
Watch This If You Like: End of the F**king World, Stand By Me, The Virgin Suicides, stone-faced teen ennui.