Best Foreign Films

I agree, there are alot of very good foreign movies out there. The thing i like about some of these movies is that they have a whole different tone and direction than hollywood films. Here are some of my favorites:

Twilight samurai - JP - Drama with a little samurai sword fighting but the fighting is not the focus of the movie. Main character was in the Last Samurai (not Ken W.).

City of God - BR - Poverish kids growing up in Brazil have no choice but to steal and kill to survive. based on a true story.

The Motorcycle Diaries - About Che Guevara, pre revolutionist. Great adventure movie

Zatoichi - JP

Once were warriors - NZ?

I'd like to hear of any others worth watching.

Some personal favorites include:

1) Most all films by Ingmar Bergman (Sweden) including Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries, Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light, Persona, Hour of the Wolf, The Magician.
2) Most all films by Akira Kurosawa (Japan) including Seven Samurai, Ikiru, Rashomon, Yojimbo, The Hidden Fortress, High and Low and many many others.
3) Robert Bresson (France) A Man Escaped, Pickpocket.
4) Many films by Luis Bunuel (Spain) including Phantom of Liberty, Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Belle de Jour, Simon of the Desert, El This Strange Desire, Exterminating Angel

Roughly in the order I enjoyed them:

Best:

Amelie
The Road Home

Pretty Good:

Behind the Sun
Chocolat
City of God
The Dish (I think this is Foreign)
The Emperor and the Assassin
He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not
Life is Beautiful
Twilight Samurai
Shanghai Triad
Shower

Good:

A Very Long Engagement
Branded to Kill (and the remake Pistol Opera)
Brother
The Cuckoo
Divided We Fall
Farewell my Concubine
Foyle's War (TV)
Gorgeous (and not for Jackie Chan!)
Happenstance
Happy Times
House of Fools
The Housekeeper
Ran
Run Lola Run
Shadow Magic
So Close
To Live
The Way Home
Y To Mama Tambien

Gawd. Where to begin??

Just a few off the top of my old head.

Turtles Can Fly
Goodbye Lenin!
Kitchen Stories
Muriel's Wedding
Downfall
Oldboy
Spirited Away
Queen Margot
Fanny and Alexander
The Devil's Backbone
Enigma
Dirty Pretty Things
Whale Rider
Talk to Her

Oldboy
Infernal Affairs
Hana-Bi
Cinema Paradiso
To Live
Ran

not mentioned yet...

Jean de Fleurette
Raise the Red Lantern
Red Sorghum (one of my very favorites)
Horseman on the Roof
Red
Blue
Journey of Hope
Scent of Green Papaya
Walkabout

My favorites are:

Das Boot
Jean de Florette/Manon de Sources
City of God
Le Fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain

DAS Boot ( directors cut in German with english sub titles and DD 5.1 )
RAN
The Seven Samurai
Crouching Tiger , Hidden Dragon
Aguirre: The Wrath of God
Fitzcarraldo
Wings of desire
Paris, Texas
Cinema Paradiso ( extended version )
Rules of the Game
Hero
House of flying Daggers
Raise the Red Lantern
The Killer ( John Woo )
Run Lola Run
Underground ( Yugoslavia )
La Dolce Vita
Life is Beautiful ( Roberto Benigni )
Once Upon a Time in the West
Insomnia ( Norwegian version )
Three Colors trilogy ( Blue/White/Red )
Wild Strawberries
Walkabout ( Auz )

GREAT LIST Karyk
I agree on the ones I have seen

Amelie is the best Foreign movie I have seen ...

Well I only have a few foreign films but they are among my favorites.

La Vita E Bella (Life is Beautiful) mentioned here many times, I have the Region 0 I bought in Rome, Italy.
And I can't believe no one mentioned these two:
Malena (Italian-one of the best stories ever!)
La Femme Nikita (French- Point of No Return was US remake, Leon was introduced in this movie!)

Movies like this make American blockbusters seem silly sometimes.

I can see this thread will keep my Netflix list full for some time!

Of the movies mentioned that I've seen, the only one I'd disagree with is Kitchen Stories. A bit too offbeat for me. (Also, I don't really care for Crouching Tiger, but I realize others disagree.)

As to my list, I checked The Dish, and not only is is really foreign, but the same director had another film not quite as good, called The Castle. Both stories are apprarently not only based on true events, but also somewhat humorous.

And one final thing. If you have a new set (or maybe new tweak to your HTPC) of my entire list I'd recommend watching Pistol Opera. Great PQ, colors and visuals.

Edit: Also, Pistol Opera has an interesting history. As mentioned, it's a remake of Branded to Kill, but the remake was done by the same director. He made the remake even though he was fired after making Branded to Kill (apparently too offbeat for his studio).

More:

In July
Metropolis (the original silent one)
Pygmalion
Rififi
The Ruling Class
The Thief of Bagdad
Traffik (the original BBC miniseries, okay, it's TV, but still . . .)
Babette's Feast

Movies I have not seen yet but have heard marvelous things about:

Small Change
Prisoner of the Mountains
The Night of the Shooting Stars
Grand Illusion
L'Auberge Espagnole (The Spanish Apartment)
The Bicycle Thief
The Lavender Hill Mob
Together
Open City
Butterfly
Our Lady of the Assassins
M
Europa Europa
Like Water for Chocolate
The Visitors
Farewell My Concubine
The Sorrow and the Pity
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
Goodbye Lenin
The Price of Milk

Here are some good ones that I really enjoyed:

Italy - Cinema Paradiso
Spain - Talk To Her
Canada - Jesus of Montreal
Japan - Tampopo/ Sanjuro
China - Jou Do
France - A Very Long Engagement/ Umbrellas of Cherbourg

I was mesmerized by the art direction and cinematography from some of these, like Jou Do and A Very Long Engagement.

Most of these are mentioned in the "Best film no one has ever heard of" thread, plus others, so you might want to see that thread.

Red
White
Blue
are some good movies ! Really enjoyed watching them.

I even liked Malena (original Unrated DVD) for that matter


EDIT: just noticed that they are already mentioned above by REWJR - so i will just second (or third ) that !

Morte a Venezia (Death in Venice) - You'll either think it is a lyrical and evocative story of an aging composer dealing with his own mortality and quest for beauty in an unexpected form ---- or else better than a sleeping pill to put you to sleep.

I like Amarcord, and El Norte. I'll try to think of others.

For those that mentioned City of God; have you seen "City of Men"? It is a TV series that follows the same story but with different characters. One of the actors is the boy who played Lil Dice. Worth a watch if your region free.

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P...2.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

A great, albeit fairly out there film was "Bad Education". This one was one of my favorite foreign flicks recently. Always enjoy stuff by Takashi Miike as well but some of that stuff is way out there so brace yourself.

One of my all-time favorite films (foreign or otherwise) is "No Man's Land" by (I think he's Bosnian) Danis Tanovic. Set mostly in a trench during the Bosnian-Serbian war, but don't let the seemingly bleak subject matter deter you from renting this jewel! There are some very funny scenes despite the very harrowing situation depicted. A "must-rent".

Spring Summer Fall Winter Spring

Korean. Great moral story.

Didn't notice any mention, but I really liked Sex & Lucia.

Some of my favorites are

Europa Europa
Chicken Run
Muriel's Wedding
Run Lola Run
Amelie
A Room With a View
Hero
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

I really like most of the films mentioned already, but I just don't get "Red, white, blue" and "Babette's Feast". Those films were more boring than watching paint dry IMHO.

Most Wong Kar Wai films - Days of being wild, In the mood for love, 2046.
And yes to Sex and Lucia.

"Shall We Dance?"- Japanese comedy*
"Babette's Feast" - Danish drama*
"Eat, Drink, Man, Woman" - Chinese comedy-drama*
"Jean de Florette" - French drama
"Manon of the Spring" - French drama
"The Way Home" - Korean drama
"The Road Home " - Chinese drama
"My Sassy Girl" - Korean comedy*
"Seven Samurai" - Japanese drama
"Samurai" Trilogy - Japanese drama
"Yojimbo" - Japanese drama
"Sanjuro" - Japanese drama
"Ringu" - Japanese horror
"Cinema Paradiso" - Italian drama
"Mostly Martha" - German drama

* my favorites

Well it seems I have a lot to watch. I only know the more well-known ones, including the renowned Amelie and My Life As A Dog and the Asian martial/visual arts films.

Grave of the Fireflies from Japan. Love mos of AK's stuff from Japan also.

I second Spring, Summar, Fall & Winter from Korea.

Ditto for Infernal Affairs I from Hong Kong (2 and 3 are similar to Godfather). Wong Kr Wai is too artistic for me.

Ditto for Cinema Paradiso.

Ditto for Hero from China.

Need to check out City of God.

Sorry but "Babette's Feast" is not Belgian it is Danish.