5 foreign films to watch this Christmas
Many would agree that Christmas is a time of customs and traditions. Christmastime means family gatherings, Christmas carols, Simbang Gabi, and Christmas feasts. However, we always find new ways to celebrate Christmas, and Christmas movie marathons are quickly becoming a way of sharing the holiday spirit.
To film buffs, Christmas would not be complete without a rewatch of their favorite classic Christmas flicks such as Charlie Brown, Home Alone and It’s a Wonderful Life. However, maybe it is also time to step away from the classics and try a more foreign flavor. While not as popular, many other countries have their own roster of underrated Christmas films that possess that certain holiday gleam.
Tokyo Godfathers
(Japan, 2003)
Tokyo Godfathers is an anime comedy-drama that was brought to life by the renowned Japanese film director Satoshi Kon. Satoshi was best known for experimenting with concepts of reality and the subconsious in his animations such as Perfect Blue, Paprika and of course, Tokyo Godfathers. The story takes place in Shinjuku, Tokyo on Christams Eve. Three homeless people — Gin, a middle-aged alcoholic, Hana, a transvestite drag queen and Miyuki, a young runaway girl — discover an abandoned infant nestled in a pile of garbage. Finding a baby-bag filled with clues on the identity of the parents, the trio soon decide to set out on a journey to bring the baby home. These three homeless friends venture through the rough, flashy landscape of Tokyo not only to find the newborn’s parents but also to truly find their own happiness and history on Christmas Eve.
Joyeux Noël
(France, 2005)
Christmas is a time of love and peace and even soldiers know that. Joyeux Noël is a French film that takes place in 1914, World War I, when numerous sections of the Western Front (namely the Germans, British and the French) declared an unofficial Christmas truce. Soldiers from all sides laid down their weapons and staggered out of their trenches to sing Christmas carols together to commemorate the birth of the savior. However, to their higher-ups, the consequences for fraternizing with the enemy are severe and all soldiers were punished and reprimanded. Written and directed by Christian Carion, Joyeux Noël is the kind of film that will make you happy but also somewhat sad at the same time.
The Tower
(South Korea, 2012)
If you’re looking for something rather different from the usual vibe of Christmas films, The Tower is a South Korean disaster thriller about hundreds of people trapped inside a skyscraper engulfed in flames. The film was loosely based on the 1974 Hollywood film The Towering Inferno. On Christmas Eve at the 108-story luxurious skyscraper Tower Sky in Seoul, South Korea, a “White Christmas” party is held for the wealthy tenants and VIPs — complete with bright helicopters circling and sprinkling snow from above to achieve that winter wonderland effect. The party is at the peak of festivities until one of the helicopters crashes into the building, explodes and sets everything on fire. Several party-goers and firemen (both groups with their fair share of personal conflicts throughout the film) have to work together to save the lives of everyone around them.
Un Conte de Noël
(France, 2008)
Un Conte de Noël or A Christmas Tale is another French Christmas movie but this film explores the depth of the importance of family in the context of Christmas. In competition at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival for the Palme d’Or (the highest prize at Cannes), A Christmas Tale tells the story of the Vuillard family, a tragically strained family full of conflict from past grievences that frankly, most of them have not yet moved on from. Right before the holidays, Junon, the mother, finds out that she is suffering from leukemia, the same disease that took her firstborn child, Joseph. Her only hope for survival is a bone marrow transplant so she and her husband, Abel look for a suitable donor within the family—at around the same time that they attempt to gather this splintered group for Christmas.
Rare Exports
(Finland, 2010)
Rare Exports is a Finnish flick that strays away from the usual cheer of average Christmas movies and instead focuses on horror and dark comedy to excite its audience. In the depths of the Korvatunturi mountains, American archaeologists unearth from the ice a scrawny, primal man with a beard who appeared to be the real Santa Claus. However, when the local reindeer herd has mysteriously been slaughtered and children of a nearby village start vanishing left and right, it is up to a fatherand-son duo to find out the truth and why Christmas can be so utterly terrifying.