1. 8 ½ (1963) – Fellini
2. Le Cercle Rouge (1970) – Melville
3. Bleu (1993) – Kieslowski
4. City of God (2002) – Meirelles
5. Mon Oncle (1958) – Tati
6. Chungking Express (1994) – Wong
7. The Rules of the Game (1939) – Renoir
8. All About My Mother (1999) – Almadovar
9. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974) – Fassbinder
10. The Five Obstructions (2003) – Von Trier

I've seen a fair number of foreign films, but have never connected with Kurosawa, Goddard, and Bergman in the same way that many others have. I came close to listing Tarkovsky’s Solyaris, but The Five Obstructions is that great, IMHO. Of note, I have yet to see Jacques Tati’s Playtime and have been told that it surpasses Mon Oncle in ways that I’m sure other films may surpass these selections.

I look forward to trying to see many of the other films listed before my post -- thanks for the recommendations.

I haven't seen a wide range of international films, but thought I'd give this a try:

Il Postino (The Postman) - 1995
Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) - 1964
La Vita è Bella (Life Is Beautiful) - 1997
Cidade de Deus (City of God) - 2002
Como Agua para Chocolate (Like Water For Chocolate) - 2002
Una Giornata Particolare (A Special Day) - 1977

1. Alphaville - Godard
2. Fallen Angels - Wong Kar-Wai
3. 8 1/2 - Fellini
4. L'avventura - Antonioni
5. Amores Perros - Inarritu
6. Underground - Kusturica
7. The Seventh Seal - Bergman
8. Beauty and the Beast - Cocteau
9. Le Mepris - Godard
10. Il Posto - Olmi

Also, does anyone know the name of a Korean film that involves one guy who goes around to people's houses when they're away and cleans them? He also has this golf club that he likes to hit a roped ball with. Then when he's in prison he learns how to disappear (but without any special effects). I saw it last spring and it was great, but I forgot the name.

I think the movie you're thinking of is called 3 Iron.

1. L'Age d'Or/Un Chien Andalou (1930)
2. L'Atalante (1934)
3. The Bicycle Thief (1948)
4. Breathless (1960)
5. Diary of a Country Priest (1950)
6. A Nous la Liberte (1931)
7. Belle de Jour (1967)
8. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
9. Europa '51 (1952)
10. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)

quote:

I think the movie you're thinking of is called 3 Iron.

That's the one. At the time of the last post my imdb skills were sorely lacking. Thanks

Top Ten in no particular order

Il Postino
Cinema Paradiso
My Life as a Dog
The 400 Blows
All About My Mother (or just about any Almadovar movie)
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Jean de Florette/ Manon of the Spring
Das Boot
King of Hearts
Mediterraneo

I know this is going to start a flame war but...(deep breath)..I detested "Life is Beautiful". Everyone else loves it but I think Benigni is an over the top Jerry Lewis wannabe (what could be worse than that). Feel free to kick me if you disagree.

In chronological order:

1. M (1931)
2. Children of Paradise (1945)
3. Seven Samurai (1954)
4. The Seventh Seal (1957)
5. 8 1/2 (1963)
6. Onibaba (1964)
7. Solaris (1972)
8. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972)
9. Wings of Desire (1987)
10. Blue (1993)

1. Band of Outsiders
2. La Dolce Vita
3. Masculin-Feminin
4. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
5. Jules and Jim
6. That Obscure Object of Desire
7. 8 1/2
8. The Double Life of Veronique
9. Amarcord
10. Contempt

(In no order)

Thank you, dz. Please keep postin' in movies!

jules and jim
seventh seal
three colors: white
wild strawberries
y tu mama tambien

If you're looking for foreign movies worth watching, I liked the dutch (?) "festen," a claustrophobic family gathering turns sour, again and again, as a father's son toasts him at a large party with an accusation of molesting him in his childhood and it keeps getting worse and worse.

Shortly after watching wild strawberries, I noticed a clock with no hands in a Subway restaurant, and I put my laptop down at a table with my crap as I was ordering, and when I turned around a big thug was holding it...

No Particular Order:

Aguirre

Lancelot Du Lac

Au Balthasar Hasard

Hiroshima Mon Amour

When a Woman ascends the Stairs

Faust (1926 Murnau)

Forbidden Games

Andrei Rublev

Battle Royale

Ten Canoes

Charulata

..and for the record, I find Godard enormously overrated, pretentious and hollow.

at least no one is flipping head over heals for l'enfant

Actually, some did, but that was in Best of 2006. I'd probably put it in Worst of.

eek! I rather liked L'Enfant!....(runs away covering head)

I haven't seen too many foreign films but i have to say my favorite is Survive Style 5+.
I'd recommend it to anyone who doesnt mind reading a film.

Am curious how this forum (and Metacritic) define a "Foreign Film". Seems a little narrow-minded to even use that connotation. How about Harry Potter series (British) or Lord of the Rings series (Kiwi)? Are they foreign?

Hey MrMark, welcome to the forums.

The definition is of course relating to any non-English language film, as this board is an English language board, and any of those damn people who don't speakum good English are wierd and foreign.
OK?

Well, now...

Post what you want, but I set up the criteria when I started this thread. (Maybe I should have just called it Best Non-English Language Films?) You can make a new thread about Best Foreign Films (including English-language films). No problem with that at all. I'd still like to see a list here too, though.

I was questioning MetaCritic's definition of a film genre of "Foreign". IMDB does not have such, and I agree with IMDB that it is senseless. Kind of like having a genre of "B&W" or "Dolby 5.1".

Anyway, here is my list of top twenty non-English language films (in no particular order):

In the Mood for Love
The Beat My Heart Skipped
Il Postino
Elevator to the Gallows
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Nowhere in Africa
Under the Sand
Intimate Strangers
Rififi
Lacombe Lucien
Talk to Her
House of Flying Daggers
Oldboy
Hero
The Son's Room
Yi Yi
The Conformist
Chunking Express
Le Samourai
Fanny & Alexander