Category Archives: Foreign Language

2014, Acceptable for teenagers, Action sequences, Arson, Austrian Detective, Bloody scenes, Boating, Buried Treasure, Crime, Disturbing Image, Divorce, Dysfunctional Lives, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, German, German Detectives, Greed, Gypsies, Illegitimate Child, MHz Choice, Missing Person, Mother-daughter relations, Motorcycles, Murder, Murder Investigation, Psychological Drama, Revenge, Suspense, Trailer Life, Troubled Personality, Unmarried mother, Violent, Witchcraft

Murder by the Lake (2014)

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From MHz Choice:

With Germany, Switzerland and Austria sharing its shores, Lake Constance has stories to tell. German homicide inspector Micha Oberländer and his Austrian partner Hannah Zeiler try to discover its secrets and have a few of their own.

From MHz Choice you can stream two seasons of this  German-Austrian TV crime series which is shot at  Lake Constance.  Season one consists of 7 episodes. Season two consists of 3 episodes. All episodes last about an hour and a half.  German with English subtitles.

Germany and Austria decide to create a small detective unit with dual authority in both countries. Initially the German Micha and the Austrian Hanna don’t get along together.

Each episode is a self-contained crime and solution. Running throughout all 10 episodes are two themes:

  •     Micha’s marriage is unraveling, mostly due to the usual   detective cliché that he is always on the job.
  •     Hannah is a stone-faced cold young woman whose life was tormented by the disappearance of her father.  Eventually her father appears.

Probably Hannah will never succeed in a relationship. However as the series progresses a genuine friendship develops between Micha and Hannah.

If you can sit still for an hour and a half, then this series is worth the time spent watching.

2017, Amazon Prime, Bloody scenes, Child Molestation, Family Conflict, French, French Detective Series, Gory, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Nudity, Occasional gore, Pedophilia, Police Culture, Promiscuity, Revenge, Romance, Sex Scenes, Sexual promiscuity, Unusual, Violent

Deadly Seasons (2017)

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From Amazon Prime:

A mysterious Superintendent with a troubled past teams up with a young, reckless female inspector to solve a series of troubling murders.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 4 episodes of this French detective series. Each episode lasts a bit more than an hour and a half.  Spoken French with English subtitles.

No visual punches are pulled in these episodes: nudity, beheadings, headless naked bodies entwined and other delights.

What is even more of a novelty is that Mariella de Luca, the “young reckless female inspector,”  at night dons a disguise, including a silver wig, and has sex with male strangers she finds online.

Each episode features a separate crime,  while underlying all four episodes are two themes:

  • What happened to the missing adult son of Commissaire Rousseau,  Marielle’s boss?
  • Can Marielle ever find true love instead of being sexually promiscuous?

By the end of the last episode both questions are resolved.  And while getting to that end we can all enjoy a few visual shocks.

 

2018, Abduction, Addiction, Ambiguous Conclusion, Bicycles, Bloody scenes, Conspiracy, Corruption, Crime thriller, Detective, DO NOT MISS, Dog episode, Drugs, Ethical struggles, Family Conflict, Flashbacks, Forensics, Greed, Hunting, Kidnapping, Made For TV, MHz Choice, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Personal Betrayal, Police Corruption, Police cover-up, Suspense, Swedish, Swedish Detective, Thriller, Uncle-Nephew relations, Violent, Wrongful Arrest

The Hunters (2018)

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From IMDB:

Erik returns to the northernmost of Sweden after a lifetime with Stockholm police [seeThe Hunters (1996) and False Trail (2011)]. Retirement doesn’t become him so he helps his nephew Peter, a rookie at the local police.

From MHz Choice:

Rolf Lassgard stars as a retired Stockholm cop drawn into a mystery in Sweden’s far north.

From MHz Choice you can stream the 6 episodes of this Swedish detective thriller. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.  Swedish sound track with English subtitles.

Evidently (from IMDB) “The Hunters” was a Swedish TV series that began in 1996.  Rolf Lassgard has played the same Stockholm cop in other installments.  His role as Erik Bäckström is played superbly.

THRILLER is an understatement. You have the privilege of being able to stream all the episodes as fast as you wish, where I had to wait not so patiently for each Tuesday’s new episode to be available.

But then I am always a sucker for plots in which the villain (or in this case villains) is so smoothly corrupt and knows how to seduce others into his corruption while framing others for the crimes. By the time I watched the last episode I was literally shaking with anticipation. Up to the very last moment the bad guys seemed to be winning.

DO NOT MISS!

 

2018, Abduction, Basically Sad, Bullying, Father-son relations, Fist Fight, French, French Culture, Friendship, Gay theme, High school students, Homophobia, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Promiscuity, Unusual ending, Violent, Young Adult

I Am Jonas (2018)

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From IMDB:

Two moments of Jonas’s life intertwine, each reflecting the other: in 1995, when he was a secretive teenager, and 18 years later, as an attractive and impulsive thirty-something looking for balance in his life.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 22 minute French film with English subtitles.

Also from IMDB:

Boys (Jonas) is a mystery told in two separate timelines. In the first, it’s 1997 and Jonas is entering 9th grade. A new boy in school immediately catches his eye. Perhaps it’s the bad-boy scar on his cheek or his devil-may-care attitude, but Jonas is smitten. The two boys quickly become friends and before long are skipping class to kiss in an empty gymnasium. In the film’s other timeline, it’s 2015 and the excitement of a teenager in love has been replaced with the sorrow of a man who can’t escape the past. The adult version of Jonas (Félix Maritaud, outstanding in this year’s sexually graphic Sauvage and last year’s ImageOut favorite BPM) is a broken man. His boyfriend has thrown him out for cheating on him a few too many times, and he’s been arrested for getting into a fight at Boys, a local gay bar. There’s something about the bar that seems to set him off. He meanders through life still carrying that same old Game Boy, trying to fill a hole that can’t be filled. So what happened …

Curious as to why Netflix is strongly promoting this film, I decided to give it a try.  Turns out the film is a well-made story about two gay boys Jonas and his impulsive friend Nathan. There is no sex in the film except for a kiss or two.  While centered in Jonas’ adult life, the story proceeds by flashbacks.

Different, satisfying while inconclusive ending, and not at all a waste of time.

2020, Acceptable for teenagers, Based on true facts, Bisexual theme, Classical musicians, Cult Brainwashing, Divorce, DO NOT MISS, Drama, Explicit sexual discussion, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Gambling, Gay theme, Good Acting, Hasidic Jews, Jewish Culture, Lesbian Theme, Mother-daughter relations, Mother-son relations, Netflix Streaming, Religious Theme, Sex Scenes, Wife leaves husband, Wonderful acting, Yiddish

Unorthodox (2020)

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From IMDB:

Story of a young ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman who flees her arranged marriage and religious community to start a new life abroad.

From Netflix you can stream the 4 hour long episodes of this masterpiece.

At this point in April 2020  critics are raving about the film. For example you can find a discussion in the New York Times.  Unfortunately you must subscribe to the NYT to read full articles. From that review we read:

“Unorthodox” is loosely based on the best-selling 2012 memoir by Deborah Feldman, who left the Satmar sect of Hasidic Jews in Williamsburg and ultimately settled in Berlin.

In the film the young woman Esther Shapiro, who is called Esty, is played by the slight pixie of an actress Shira Haas.  Shira Hass is an incredible performer who presents her role to perfection. 

There are also short documentaries on the making of this film and how it strived for correct Hasidic details by hiring Hasidic men to help with the filming. Only the mink fur men’s hats are fake.

Constant switching between the past and the present, between New York and Berlin, might be a tad confusing.  Just keep in mind that the Berling portion of the film is fictional while loosely based on the memoir.

For me the most stunningly breathtaking moment in the film occurs when Esty auditions at a music school. We are talking real gooseflesh.

DO NOT MISS!

2019, Acceptable for teenagers, Acorn TV, Amnesia, Boating, Detective, Drug Dealers, Drugs, Dutch, Dutch detectives, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Father-son relations, Forensics, Jealousy, Marital Infidelity, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Plot Twist, Postpartum Depression, Revenge, Suicide, Surprise Ending, Violent

The Schouwendam 12 (2019)

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From Acorn TV:

Decades ago, teenagers Olaf and Alice disappeared from the Dutch village of Schouwendam without a trace. Then an unknown man suddenly turns up in town with no memories but a clear resemblance to Olaf. The residents are forced to confront the mysteries of the past, but who is lying and who is telling the truth? As new fatalities occur, the community is riven with fear in this Dutch-language drama.

From Acorn TV you can stream this 10 episode one season Dutch mystery drama. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes. English subtitles. Now and then the characters speak English.

As this mystery proceeds, one by one residents of this small town are being murdered. Meanwhile the newly appeared “Olaf” who is suffering from amnesia keeps trying to discover if he really is Olaf.

As a subplot the young policeman Pim must contend with his wife and newborn infant because his wife is suffering from serious postpartum depression.  This becomes relevant to the mystery solution.

To help Pim a new superior  woman detective Karlijn van Andel  arrives on the scene.  Her personal story also becomes relevant to the plot.

Be prepared for a very surprising final episode.

Well worth your time.

2013, Amazon Prime, Bisexual theme, Ethical struggles, Explicit sex, Gay theme, Hebrew, Israeli culture, Masturbation, Mostly About Sex, Mother-daughter relations, Nudity, Occasionaly violent, Rape, Sexual Tension, Thought provoking

Snails in the Rain (2013)

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From IMDB:

Tel Aviv, Summer 1989. Boaz, a beautiful and alluring linguistics student, receives anonymous, male-written, love letters that undermines his sexual identity and interfere with his peaceful life with his beloved girlfriend.

From Amazon Prime you can stream this 1 hour 21 minute Israeli film with English subtitles.

In this well-made gem of a film, the bisexual Boaz is tormented by his homosexual tendencies and fantasies which add conflicting tensions in his relation with his live-in girl friend and lover Noa.  One major aspect of the story is: just who is this male stranger that is writing love letters to Boaz?  Because Boaz is handsome he continually gets admiring glances from women and men. With each such male admiring glance Boaz asks “Is he the one?”

Be prepared for much explicit straight and gay sexual activity . For example to relieve his sexual frustration, Boaz visits gay cruising spots in the park.  But his personal conflicts lead him often to be brutal to Noa and confrontational with male advances.

You will just have to watch the film to see what Boaz’s decision is because I will never tell.

2020, Acceptable for teenagers, Action sequences, Child abuse, Child Molestation, Complicated, Conspiracy, Corruption, DNA, Family Conflict, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Netflix Streaming, Norwegian, Norwegian Crime Story, Norwegian Detective, Orphanage, Pedophilia, Physical child abuse, Police Corruption, Police cover-up, Police Culture, Police Investigation, Police Psychologist, Psychological Drama, Rape, Suspense, TV Reporter, Violent

The Valhalla Murders (2020)

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From IMDB:

Police profiler Arnar is sent back home from Oslo to his native Iceland to investigate the country’s first serial killer case. He teams up with the local senior cop Kata.

From Netflix you can stream the 8 episodes of this Norwegian detective series. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

Orphanages in which the boys are sexually molested is a theme that has been used several times in other dramas.  In that sense there is a sameness to this series that seems a bit copycat. It takes 8 episodes to find the predator, deal with police bureaucracy,  and fight a conspiracy to cover up the murders and rapes.  Expect at times to suspend disbelief:  injured cops heroically save lives,  TV commentators miraculously save the day, etc.  Sometimes I am happy that a too convenient solution relieves the tension.

Along the way the divorced Kata has trouble with her son while the unusually taciturn Arnar must fight his own personal demons.

Despite any flaws, the clever obstacles created by the bad guys, the personal stories, and the action sequences kept me glued.

2019, Acceptable for teenagers, Bad Acting, Barely Acceptable Trash, Beautiful Seaside Town, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, Career Competition, Chick Flick, Child Molestation, Contract Killing, Contract Maiming, Corny, Corruption, Dancing, Detective, Drama, Drug Dealers, Drugs, Eccentric cast of characters, Ends in Cliff Hanger, Ethical struggles, False Imprisonment, Family Conflict, Fist Fight, Frame someone for a crime, Friendship, Gangs, Gay Bashing, Gay theme, Improbable details, Latino Culture, Love Story, Male Prostitutes, Mediocre, Melodrama, Mental Illness, Mother-son relations, Motorcycles, Murder, Murder Investigation, Must suspend disbelief, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Personal Betrayal, Plot twists, Police Corruption, Police cover-up, Police Politics, Rape, Revenge, Ridiculous plot, Soap Opera, Sometimes seems silly, Somewhat trashy, Spanish, Telenovela, Uncle-Nephew relations, Unjust crime conviction, Various Romances, Violent

Toy Boy (2019)

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From Netflix:

A stripper sets out to prove his innocence for a crime he didn’t commit and was unjustly incarcerated for seven years earlier.

From Netflix you can stream the 13 episodes (each episode about 70 minutes) of this Spanish telenovela.  Many spoken languages and caption languages are available.

Spanish telenovelas inhabit a world of their own.  Chief among their attributes are “corny”, “amateurish”,  and “sometimes really stupid.” So why on earth did I watch this unintentionally laughable marathon? Netflix seemed to promote this series, so I started. Injustice and villains always get me going.  Because I have to see justice done I just keep plodding along to the end.

Before you waste your time let me list some of the “features” of this charmer:

  •  You might enjoy listening to the original Spanish (as in Spain, not Latin America) sound track. You might want Spanish captions. At the very least it could possibly be a learning experience although there are better options.
  •  Each tension point is almost immediately resolved so you don’t have to get all worked up.  Sometimes those immediate solutions seem far fetched or just too convenient.
  • Recall that telenovelas for all their involvement with sex are really very chaste.   Certainly the endless number of male stripper dance sequences are as innocent as they are boring.
  •  Warning: From the very last scene, it is obvious that there will probably be another season or even 100 more seasons. Possibilities are endless.

You can do much better, but in a certain sense the whole production is a hoot!

2014, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Belgian detective, Bloody scenes, Could Be Hard To Watch, Detective, Disturbing Image, Dutch, Gory, Grim, MHz Choice, Missing Person, Not Recommended, Police cover-up, Psychopath, Rape, Sadism, Serial Killer, Suspense, Torture, Violent

The Killer of Flanders Fields (2014)

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From IMDB:

Witse returns to his hometown to find his niece’s murderer. It doesn’t take long before Witse gets in trouble with local police authorities. While conducting his investigation, old family issues are starting to surface.

From MHz Choice you can stream this 1.5 hour police procedural from Belgium. In Dutch with English subtitles.

For 9 seasons Belgium TV offered the program Witse featuring the detective Witse. That series ran from 2004 till 2012.

Before starting this film, be aware that it is the story of Witse trying to catch the sadistic psychotic serial killer that kidnaps young women and tortures them to death.  During the film you will see the killer’s very horrifying film clips of his tortures.  You might want to avoid this well-done but sadly stomach-churning film.  Had I known, I would not have started, but once hooked I had to see the conclusion.