From: hafner@ifi.unizh.ch (Michel Hafner)
Subject: Re: Enough is Enough (was Re: Top Five Movies of All Time)
Organization: University of Zurich, Department of Computer Science
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 92 13:10:06 GMT

In article <4448@cvbnetPrime.COM> csroc@dime.UUCP (Charles Sroczynski x4014 5-2) writes:
>In article <kaxiras.724462968@cs.wisc.edu> kaxiras@falcons.cs.wisc.edu (Stefanos Kaxiras) writes:
>>I agree with Pentti. Americans are very ignorant regarding
>>foreign cinema. Most masterpieces do not come from USA.
>>You people have no idea of Italian cinema, German cinema
>>(epsecially the very early one - silent ), Jpanese, Russian
>>( two of my favorite movies -SciFi mind you- come from Russia ),
>>and what have you.
>Well....excuuuuuuuusssssse me!
>You claim Americans are very ignorant regarding Italian cinema,
>Gee.. does a week go by without mention of Cinema Paradesio,
>and Fellini and MM(astrioni)etc.

Mention, eh? And how many people have seen "Cinema Paradiso", a Fellini or a
"Mastroianni" in US? And how many have ever heard of the rest of Italian cinema
( there is more than Fellini/Mastroianni/Cinema Paradiso!! )? Well, I don't
claim Italian cinema is well known everywhere except US, maybe it's even not
so well known to the average Italian, but there is much more to it than what
reaches US general release and therefore 99,x% of the American public. If you
compare the US revenues of a major foreign ( not English spoken )  hit ( 
Cinema Paradiso, High Heels... ) with the domestic hits there is a BIG diffe-
rence. This difference is not so big in European countries. US movies are on
top there too, but the best local and non US movies are not 90-99% behind!
 
>You Claim Americans are very ignorant regarding German cinema,
>Gee.. does a week go by without mention of Das Boot.

German cinema is NOT "Das Boot"! This movie is simply a untypical German example
with hollywoodesque proportions regarding technical aspects ( therefore it was
accepted in US ). It's in no way representative for German cinema as a whole,
it's a small branch which could be called "aspiring big budget stuff, aimed at
the world market and trying to get Hollywood's attention". If you want to know
about German cinema watch the movies of Wenders, Schloendorff, Herzog, Staudte,
von Trotta, FASSBINDER, Kluge, von Sternberg ( pre Hollywood ), Pabst, Murnau,
( pre Hollywood ) LANG etc. etc. You don't know German cinema when you have
never heard of Heinz Ruehmann, O.W. Fischer, Hans Moser, Theo Lingen,
H. George, Gustav Knuth, Maria Schell, Liselotte Pulver, Maximilian Schell,
Horst Buchholz, Hildegard Knef, Lilian Harvey, Oskar Sima, Heidemarie Hatheyer,
Sonia Henie, Romy Schneider, Karlheinz Boehm, Magda Schneider, Josef Meinrad
etc. etc. etc.

>French films play in all major American cities(and I imagine
>some not so major ones.

Yes, about 2% (?) of the annual production! In Paris there are every week new 
French movies coming out!
 
>Indian films, especially by the figure who recently passed away,
>Singat Ray(pls excuse my spelling)

And what about the 790 other movies every year? ( Not all of them are the usual
uninteresting dance-love-bad guy vs good guy stuff ).
 
>Haven't you noticed that Kurowasa((sp)) and Bergman are
>idolized as GODS of cinema in America.

Maybe, but how many Americans have actually ever seen a Bergman or Kurosawa in
their local cinemas? Did one ever show up there? And what about all the other
good directors from Japan and Sweden? What about Mizoguchi, Ozu, Kinoshita,
Naruse, Ishi, Molander, Sjoestroem etc. etc. 
The fact is that except for a very small number of "cinephiles" people in US
AND in the rest of the world are unaware of the wealth of movies world cinema
potentially has to offer. Sad, but true. Usually the own cinema is closest to
people, followed by the cinema of countries with the same language. And that's
about it.
 
>It is you who are ignorant of Americans(IMHO), not the Americans
>ignorant of foreign cinema.

Wrong, most people everywhere are ignorant of most of world cinema. The situa-
tion in Europe is generally better than in US concerning the choice of movies
available to the average guy, but it's a problem everywhere to see specific
movies if you are not happy with some lousy video, and often even then.
								M.H.