Man its been a really good time to discover non english media. We really do live I the golden age of multi lingual content fueled partially by a lot of VC money so Netflix and Spotify are encouraged to support content creators in multiple countries. Without further ado
I really enjoyed this Spanish move. Classic spy thriller kinda stuff, some action. But it was very non typical compared to regular popular European Spanish media because it avoided any escalation into telenovela territory barring some conversaciones intensas que no necesitan ser intensas. Funnily enough I mistook the poster for a Jason Statham movie and as much as I like the wham bam relentless action kinda stuff sometimes its nice to not spell everything out for the consumer and this movie does it well. Time spent well on a Sunday afternoon. The acting is really good.
Speaking of relentless action, Carter is one of those POV type of movies that spend a lot of time in video game mode. Most of those movies are kind hit and miss but, I dunno, Korean cinema always takes it up a notch just that much. And in that, Carter doesn’t disappoint. I never figured out which side Carter was actually on and the plot is completely unnecessarily convoluted but I actually liked it. Layered on top of the continuous action (think Crank starring Jason Statham) it works. I also just have a soft spot for Korean stuff.
Also, did you know there’s a Korean version of Money Heist out? Its absolutely hilarious. But both Carter and Korean Money Heist provoked enough curiosity to look into Korean History from 1900 onward and its.. lets just say it explains a lot.
A couple of other Korean recommendations are
Taxi Driver is a… taxi service that helps you get vengeance if you’ve been wronged by the justice system.
Extraordinary Attorney Woo is quite a sweet show. In my opinion, an empathetic portrayal of individuals on the Autism spectrum. The Good Doctor is an American show that’s essentially a remake of this except some market survey showed them that Doctor dramas play better in the US. Go figure.
And now for some multi lingual fun, first up
The concept is really nice. I think 20 minute episodes that don’t really depend on each other. Its really fun to watch the anglo version, then see the german version etc because the portrayal illustrated quite stereotypical differences in the media consumption in these countries. Its not necessarily the best example of this kind of show. A couple of ok episodes but I really love the concept of the same thing but made across different countries and languages. Of course, the real leveling up comes from something like
Caso 63 is a Chilean science fiction audiodrama revolving around time travel, basically like an audiobook but with a full cast and sound effects and all that. Sometimes they can get overwhelming if the producers are bad or you know some actor or sound effects person gets a little too enthusiastic but if they’re done well, there’s nothing better to give your eyes a rest or something to listen to on a walk.
What’s awesome is Spotify decided to do a Brazilian Portuguese remake with Paciente 63 and it stars Seu Jorge. If ever there was a voice that needs to be narrating, its him. They’re both incredible and if you’re at about a B1 level in either, definitely check them out.
They’re essentially the same story and very similar dialog so it carries over quite well.
Similarly, Spotify Studios is also releasing Batman Unburied in, get this, English, Portuguese, French, German, Hindi, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish!!!!!!!
Last, but not least, IMO, the show that has the potential to become the next Money Heist
Que disfruten!