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Foreign Film/Series Recommendations on Netflix or Other Streaming Services

HuskerWeatherman

HuskerWeatherman

Feral Cat
25 Year Member
Over a third of the shows I watch on Netflix are in foreign language. Keep the original language, use the English subtitles.

I could add plenty to start, but I'll go with a series (season one) that I just finished.

Kleo

A spy thriller with a good dose of dark comedy.

Here's the synopsis from the Wiki page.

In 1987, after successfully assassinating a double agent in a West Berlin club, East German Stasi assassin Kleo Straub is falsely imprisoned by her agency. When she is released after the Berlin Wall is taken down in 1990, she plans her revenge on the conspirators who framed her. Meanwhile, Sven Petzold, an underappreciated fraud policeman who witnessed the 1987 murder, finds connections between it and Straub, leading him to impede her vengeance quest.

Kleo - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

Season one came out in 2022, and it's already gotten the go ahead for a season two.

Jella Haase plays Kleo Straub -- and she is fantastic! Lots of unique characters in this show.

Fast-paced and fun to the point where it's very binge-worthy (and I rarely binge-watch).

 

HuskerWeatherman said:
Over a third of the shows I watch on Netflix are in foreign language. Keep the original language, use the English subtitles.

I could add plenty to start, but I'll go with a series (season one) that I just finished.

Kleo

A spy thriller with a good dose of dark comedy.

Here's the synopsis from the Wiki page.

In 1987, after successfully assassinating a double agent in a West Berlin club, East German Stasi assassin Kleo Straub is falsely imprisoned by her agency. When she is released after the Berlin Wall is taken down in 1990, she plans her revenge on the conspirators who framed her. Meanwhile, Sven Petzold, an underappreciated fraud policeman who witnessed the 1987 murder, finds connections between it and Straub, leading him to impede her vengeance quest.

Kleo - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

Season one came out in 2022, and it's already gotten the go ahead for a season two.

Jella Haase plays Kleo Straub -- and she is fantastic! Lots of unique characters in this show.

Fast-paced and fun to the point where it's very binge-worthy (and I rarely binge-watch).

Click to expand...


Haven't seen Kleo yet, but the wife and I have found some pretty good foreign language series to stream.

Dark was one of my favorites if you haven't seen it.

Money Heist is a Spanish series that was also worth a watch.

The Chestnut Man is one of several nordic language series I've liked.

There are others we tried, but even with closed captioning, some don't really translate well.

If folks are dismissing them because they're not english speaking shows, they're missing some really good entertainment.
 
CrabHusker said:
Haven't seen Kleo yet, but the wife and I have found some pretty good foreign language series to stream.

Dark was one of my favorites if you haven't seen it.

Money Heist is a Spanish series that was also worth a watch.

The Chestnut Man is one of several nordic language series I've liked.

There are others we tried, but even with closed captioning, some don't really translate well.

If folks are dismissing them because they're not english speaking shows, they're missing some really good entertainment.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the additions!

I just looked up Dark, as you listed it first. That looks great. I'll check that out.

I'll add a couple to this thread later today.

I do think some people avoid foreign movies or series out of concern they won't be able to follow along well watching the subtitles. However, you adapt quickly to the point where reading subtitles almost seems subconscious. Of course, there's always the option to watch with English voiceovers -- but I would never recommend that. I found myself watching how the lips and mouths don't match the words, and it took away from watching the show. Let alone the fact that the voices (regardless of language) don't match the actual actors' voices.

And I'm with you -- there's a lot of great non-English shows available that people miss out on if they avoid foreign productions. My all-time favorite series (not yet listed) is in German.
 
Narvik moved to #1 on Netflix this week. It's a Norwegian movie (not a series) based on Hitler's first defeat -- in the far northern town of Narvik, Norway. Fascinating story, outstanding cinematography.

 



HuskerWeatherman said:
Thanks for the additions!

I just looked up Dark, as you listed it first. That looks great. I'll check that out.

I'll add a couple to this thread later today.

I do think some people avoid foreign movies or series out of concern they won't be able to follow along well watching the subtitles. However, you adapt quickly to the point where reading subtitles almost seems subconscious. Of course, there's always the option to watch with English voiceovers -- but I would never recommend that. I found myself watching how the lips and mouths don't match the words, and it took away from watching the show. Let alone the fact that the voices (regardless of language) don't match the actual actors' voices.

And I'm with you -- there's a lot of great non-English shows available that people miss out on if they avoid foreign productions. My all-time favorite series (not yet listed) is in German.
Click to expand...

I’m deaf without my hearing aids, so I have the CC on most of the time. I do think it’s benefitted me with the foreign language films and series.

Dark is in German and is one of the better series I’ve ever seen.
 
HuskerWeatherman said:
Over a third of the shows I watch on Netflix are in foreign language. Keep the original language, use the English subtitles.

I could add plenty to start, but I'll go with a series (season one) that I just finished.

Kleo

A spy thriller with a good dose of dark comedy.

Here's the synopsis from the Wiki page.

In 1987, after successfully assassinating a double agent in a West Berlin club, East German Stasi assassin Kleo Straub is falsely imprisoned by her agency. When she is released after the Berlin Wall is taken down in 1990, she plans her revenge on the conspirators who framed her. Meanwhile, Sven Petzold, an underappreciated fraud policeman who witnessed the 1987 murder, finds connections between it and Straub, leading him to impede her vengeance quest.

Kleo - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org

Season one came out in 2022, and it's already gotten the go ahead for a season two.

Jella Haase plays Kleo Straub -- and she is fantastic! Lots of unique characters in this show.

Fast-paced and fun to the point where it's very binge-worthy (and I rarely binge-watch).

Click to expand...

I guess I'd put a couple of Swedish films separated by a generation... You are likely old enough to have been aware of both...

"My Life as a Dog" from 1985 and "A Man Called Ove" 2015 (Not happy that Hollywood/Hanks felt the need to redo it).

Personally, I greatly prefer dubbing English to subtitles. The reason is one spends all their time reading the subtitles and not taking in the actual movie picture experience (facial expressions, scenery, special effects, cinematography, etc). All of the things that separate cinema from other non-visual art forms. I can't remember if the above were dubbed or subtitled; both were great however.
 
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KleinTxHusker said:
I guess I'd put a couple of Swedish films separated by a generation... You are likely old enough to have been aware of both...

"My Life as a Dog" from 1985 and "A Man Called Ove" 2015 (Not happy that Hollywood/Hanks felt the need to redo it).

Personally, I greatly prefer dubbing English to subtitles. The reason is one spends all their time reading the subtitles and not taking in the actual movie picture experience (facial expressions, scenery, special effects, cinematography, etc). All of the things that separate cinema from other non-visual art forms. I can't remember if the above were dubbed or subtitled; both were great however.
Click to expand...

You bring up an interesting discussion.

I have zero problem with subtitles. To the point where they are very close to subconscious. I wonder what sort of genetics or upbringing determines this. ;)
 
HuskerWeatherman said:
You bring up an interesting discussion.

I have zero problem with subtitles. To the point where they are very close to subconscious. I wonder what sort of genetics or upbringing determines this. ;)
Click to expand...

It's 100% a learned.....skill? Learned tolerance? Behavior?

I used to just switch channels when a show was either dubbed or had subtitles. Now I've learned to be able to seamlessly read the subtitles and miss very little of the visual content of the show and it's effortless and second nature.
 
We're watching 'Snow Girl' now.

Another Spanish series.

It didn't crush it out of the gate, but three shows in and it's growing on me.
 
HuskerWeatherman said:
You bring up an interesting discussion.

I have zero problem with subtitles. To the point where they are very close to subconscious. I wonder what sort of genetics or upbringing determines this. ;)
Click to expand...
Maybe my problem is I cannot walk and chew gum at the same time.

I just find reading subtitles to be very detracting. Yet, I often do have closed captions on when watching even English language movies because the dialog isn't often so clearly enunciated anymore. Or maybe my hearing is real bad.

I just find it difficult to focus on the big picture when reading the minutia. I also get a bit bemused hiking in the wilderness where one has to be very focused on obstacles on the trail ahead to the point where one is not paying as much attention to the spectacular surroundings. So I try to remind myself to look up.
 



KleinTxHusker said:
Maybe my problem is I cannot walk and chew gum at the same time.

I just find reading subtitles to be very detracting. Yet, I often do have closed captions on when watching even English language movies because the dialog isn't often so clearly enunciated anymore. Or maybe my hearing is real bad.

I just find it difficult to focus on the big picture when reading the minutia. I also get a bit bemused hiking in the wilderness where one has to be very focused on obstacles on the trail ahead to the point where one is not paying as much attention to the spectacular surroundings. So I try to remind myself to look up.
Click to expand...

I'm sure you're not alone. Probably even in the majority.

While you find the subtitles distracting, I find lip/mouth movements that don't match the English voiceovers to detract me. Or knowing the actual sound/tone of the voice is nothing like the voiceover.

I do agree with Crab. I don't think I had an instantaneous ability to read subtitles with no significant distraction. But after watching three seasons of a German series with English voiceovers, I'd watched it again in German with English subtitles (which helped some as I already had some idea of the dialog). By the time I got through that series in German, everything after just clicked. In fact, now if I try to watch a foreign language show with English voiceovers, it ruins the watching experience -- artificial, in a way.
 
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XCHusker said:
Dark was amazing.
Click to expand...
CrabHusker said:
I’m deaf without my hearing aids, so I have the CC on most of the time. I do think it’s benefitted me with the foreign language films and series.

Dark is in German and is one of the better series I’ve ever seen.
Click to expand...

I'm near the end of season two of Dark.

Easily top 10 series I've seen. Quite possibly top 5 -- I'll wait until I'm finished to decide.

You really have to pay attention to every single moment of the series. It's a challenge tracking all of the characters -- and their relationships and interactions through each time period. Very well-written. "Dark" is a fitting title -- there isn't much for feel good moments.
 

HuskerWeatherman said:
I'm near the end of season two of Dark.

Easily top 10 series I've seen. Quite possibly top 5 -- I'll wait until I'm finished to decide.

You really have to pay attention to every single moment of the series. It's a challenge tracking all of the characters -- and their relationships and interactions through each time period. Very well-written. "Dark" is a fitting title -- there isn't much for feel good moments.
Click to expand...

I think Dark helped me be a better subtitled show watcher for the very reason you state. You have to be in the show. It’s not a casual watch and requires your attention. I’m myself loved the fact that you’d get so immersed in it the entire purpose of entertainment in my mind is confirmed. To escape.
 
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