19TH JULY 2024

ANTI-HEROINES OR ANTI-HEROINES ON PAPER THAT SPEAKS OR HAVE A FOREIGN ACCENT IN ENGLISH.

DEDICATED TO NON-AMERICAN PRODUCTIONS (AND BRINGING JUSTICE TO OSCAR’S CONTROVERSIAL CATEGORY OF BEST FOREIGN FILM)


DEEP RED (1975) DIR. BY DARIO ARGENTO

GIALLO FILM MASTER, DARIO ARGENTO CREATED DEEP RED (1975) WITH PROFOUND ATTENTION TO COLOUR, PACE, WRITING AND MUSIC. THIS IS A DETECTIVE THAT TAPS INTO THE WORLD OF SPIRITUAL AND PHYSIC FOLLOWING A MUSICIAN THAT ATTEMPTS TO CATCH A SERIAL KILLER.


HAUSU (1977)
DIR. BY NOBUHIKO OBAYASHI

INITIALLY DELAYED WITH ITS RELEASE TO THE AUDIENCE, THIS FILM GAINED A CULT STATUS WITH ITS CINEMATIC VISUAL LANGUAGE. PARTLY PUTTING IN HIS FEELINGS OVER GROWING UP IN HIROSHIMA PREFECTURE POST WORLD WAR II, OBAYASHI CREATED A STORY ABOUT A GIRL TRAVELLING WITH HER SIX FRIENDS TO HER AUNT’S COUNTRYSIDE COTTAGE, WHERE THEY ARE FACED WITH SOME SUPERNATURAL ACTIVITY.


STRAY CAT ROCK: GIRL BOSS (1971)
DIR. BY YASUHARY HASEBE

I CLEARLY WAS INFLUENCED WITH THE 1970S FOR THIS LIST. AS HERE IS A JAPANESE GANGSTER FILM ABOUT A GIRL GANG, WHICH IS A PART OF A STRAY CAT ROCK SERIES. THE STORY FOLLOWS GANG GIRLS’ LIVES WITH A BACKDROP OF MEN-VS-WOMEN BOXING MATCHES, CRIMINAL POLITICS AND NIGHT LIFE IN TOKYO. 


THE VAMPIRE DOLL (1970)
DIR. BY MICHIO YAMAMOTO

ONE OF THE MOST NOTABLE JAPANESE HORROR FILMS (RELEASED BY TOHO). THE VAMPIRE DOLL (1970) COULD BE DESCRIBED AS A MESH-UP (IN A NICE WAY WHEN PLAYED ON YOUR SENSES) OF BRAM STROKER’S DRACULA AND GISELE WITH A JAPANESE HISTORICAL PLOT LINES AND THE TRAUMA ABOUT IT.


PAPRIKA (2006) DIR. BY SATOSI KON

SATOSI KON IS FAMOUS FOR PRETTY MUCH INVENTING HIS OWN GENRE, INFLUENCING A LOT OF CREATIVE VOICES GLOBALLY. PAPRIKA (2006) IS DEFINITELY ONE OF HIS GREAT WORKS, ALONGSIDE NONE LESS INFAMOUS PERFECT BLUE (1997). IN THIS FILM, A DETECTIVE IS ENCOUNTERED BY A MYSTERIOUS GIRL PAPRIKA TO INVESTIGATE AND UNTANGLE AN EPIDEMIC MADNESS STARTED WITH A MISUSE OF A NEWLY DEVELOPED DREAM COLLECTOR TECHNOLOGY.


TIGER STRIPES (2023)
DIR. BY AMANDA NELL EU

STRAIGHT FROM CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2023 RECEIVING CRITICS WEEK GRAND PRIZE, THIS BODY HORROR NARRATES THE SUDDEN DISCOVERS THAT 12-YEAR-OLD ZAFFAN NOTICES ABOUT HERSELF, AS HER BODY CHANGES. THIS IS A DIRECTORIAL DEBUT OF EU.


THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO (2009)
DIR. BY NIELS ARDEN OPLEV

BASED ON STIEG LARSSON’S THRILLER TRILOGY, THIS FILM IS TO BE CONSIDERED AS A MORE ACCURATE FILM ADAPTATION (COMPARED TO ITS HOLLYWOOD VERSION) STARRING NOOMI RAPACE. THIS IS THE FIRST PART OF A THREE-FILM SAGA THAT FOLLOWS A HACKER AND A JOURNALIST UNCOVERING DARK WEB OF SECRETS FROM THE PAST.


THE WITCHES (1990) DIR. BY NICOLAS ROEG

I KNOW, THIS IS AN AMERICAN LEGEND ANJELICA HUSTON IN AN AMERICAN PRODUCTION BASED ON A BRITISH WRITER’S CHILDREN’S BOOK. BUT IT IS STILL A STORY THAT COMES FROM SCANDINAVIA AND ABOUT WOMEN WHO ARE HAVING DOUBLE LIVES (WITH SOME FUNKY 90S SPECIAL EFFECTS). I WAS TERRIFIED AND INTRIGUED AS A KID.


RAW (2016) DIR. BY JULIA DUCOURNAU

A DIRECTORIAL DEBUT AND A CANNES FILM FESTIVAL HIT THAT FOLLOWS A STORY OF A MEDICAL STUDENT THAT DISCOVERS AN UNUSUAL CRAVING AS SHE IS ABOUT TO BECOME A DOCTOR. YOU ALSO MIGHT KNOW DUCOURNAUS BY HER BODY HORROR TITANE (2021), WHICH AS SHE SAID WAS INFLUENCED BY DAVID CRONENBERG’S CRASH (1996).


BLACK ORPHEUS (1959)
DIR. BY MARCEL CAMUS

THIS ONE IS FOR MIRA, ORPHEUS’S FIANCÉ AND A BRILLIANT DANCER, THAT GETS OVER-FLAMED WITH JEALOUSY WHEN SHE DISCOVERS THAT HER BELOVED HAS FEELINGS FOR ANOTHER ONE. ACTUALLY, THE FILM IS NOT ABOUT THIS SPECIFICALLY. BUT IT IS AN AMAZING FILM AND WHY NOT TO WATCH IT AGAIN AND TO LOOK AT IT FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE.


A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONG AT NIGHT (2014) DIR. BY ANA LILY AMIRPOUR

I THINK IT WOULD BE FAIR TO SUMMARIZE THIS FILM AS A VAMPIRE REBEL WITH A CAUSE. AS THE UNNAMED GIRL WHO LIVES IN A DARK DEPRESSING CITY SOMEWHERE IN IRAN HAUNTS BAD GUYS BY NIGHT AND SKATEBOARDING, LISTENING TO MUSIC IN HER FLAT FOR THE REST OF THE TIME. BUT ONCE SHE MAKES A FRIEND...


THE VELVET VAMPIRE (1971)
DIR. BY STEPHANIE ROTHMAN
I KNOW (AGAIN) A FULLY AMERICAN PRODUCTION AND STEPHANIE ROTHMAN IS AN AMERICAN FILM DIRECTOR. HOWEVER, SINCE WE ARE HERE TO POINT OUT OVERLOOKED FILMS THAT WERE SHADOWED WITH BIG HOLLYWOOD NAMES AND PRODUCTIONS, THIS FILM IS THE ONE TO BE DEFINITELY INCLUDED! A CLASSIC OF FEMINIST HORROR FILMS (AND JUST GENERALLY BOTH FEMINIST AND HORROR), ABOUT A VAMPIRE DIANE THAT BRINGS JUSTICE. MORE ABOUT ROTHMAN AND THE FILM IN THIS REALLY NICE REVIEW I FOUND.








Yours,
5TO9 FC TEAM

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT


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