It's time to revise my August, 2004 post. Can't believe it's been 3 years since I listed my Top 5 at that time! Now, I've seen enough excellent foreign (non-English speaking) films to go up to 10!

1. Nobody Knows (Japan)
2. Shall We Dance? (Japan)
3. Amelie (France)
4. Life Is Beautiful (Italy)
5. Pan's Labyrinth (Mexico)
6. Untold Scandal (Korea)
7. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (Korea)
8. Lady Vengeance (Korea)
9. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (China)
10. La Cage Aux Folles (France)

The 400 Blows
Oldboy
3-Iron
The Seventh Seal
Talk To Her
Yojimbo
Pan's Labyrinth
The Conformist
Princess Mononoke
Army of Shadows

I haven't watched a lot of foreign films lately, but a couple that I remember definitely making an impression on me were Italian for Beginners and Wild Strawberries. The latter more so than the former, of course.

10. Zatoichi - I had heard of this character, but never saw any thing of him til this movie. Good stuff.

9. La Femme Nikita - Much better than the American version.

8. Seven Samurai - Of course.

7. Run Lola Run - Run Lola! Run!

6.Curse Of The Golden Flower - Some of the most breath-taking & just absolutely beautiful background sets designs ever in a film. So rich are the colors & exquisit details in this movie, that it requires multiple viewings just to be able to soak it all in. Once one can get passed that aspect of the film, it will become obvious that the sets are not a distraction, but an enhancement to the story. And enrichment that adds to the dialogue with an intesity that allows the ideas of what appears to be human pettiness behavior in a royal setting to be revealed as much grander in scope & concept.
And for a movie that make someone as simple minded as myself come to a conclusion like that, that's definitely a statement to power of it's artistry.

5. Pan's Labyrinth - Just an absolutely beautiful movie. This film's creativity & emotion are elegantly entwined in a manner that blurs the barrier between the "real" world & the fantasy dimension, almost beyond physical distinction.

4. City Of God - Watching this movie feels almost exactly like watching a documentary. The scene where the young kid gang member is asked to chooose getting shot in the hand or in the foot holds more power, depth & context than most movies contain in their entirety. An incredibly eye-opening & moving picture.

3. El Mariachi - Because of the financial restraints of this picture, the story is forced to be told thru the creativity of all-out action in it's purest, unadulterated form. There should be a law requiring that all action films be shot & directed with as much energy & fun as this one, before any of the million dollars of special effects are added on.
Action-adventure in it's all bared-boned glory.

2. Ran - Before movies like Crouching Tiger/ Hidden Dragon & Hero came along & added the artistically flair fantasy elements to these types of epic movies, there was Ran. Some of the most beautiful & grand visuals ever in an Akira Kurosawa film. The fact that his name was associated with this project guaranteed this film's sweeping quality. And, the added high budget seemed to compromise his vision not in the slightest. Instead, it seemed to open up the potentiality that Mr. Kurosawa had holding in his already abundant dreams.
Definitely my favorite of his works.

1. House Of Flying Daggers - Growing up, it always frustrated me whenever the majority of big budget action flicks or martial arts movies of the time often seemed to sacrifice on story to make room for the bangs & the effects. It was generally said, that in these types of movies, you couldn't really have both. And I was one those kids who always asked "Why not?"
And then came the House Of Flying Daggers. And with it's beatufil story of love & intrigue, combined with lavish costumes, great performances & unique individually themed action sequences, it seemed to asked the very same question.

1. Every Man For Himself and God Against All - Werner Herzog
2. The World of Apu - Satyajit Ray
3. Early Summer - Yasujiro Ozu
4. My Neighbor Totoro - Hayao Miyazaki
5. Casque d'or - Jacques Becker
6. The Exterminating Angel - Luis Bunuel
7. Unknown Pleasures - Jia Zhang-ke
8. La Jetee - Chris Marker
9. Camera Buff - Krzysztof Kieslowski
10. Berlin Alexanderplatz - Rainer Werner Fassbinder

Runners-up: Zerkalo - Andrei Tarkovsky, La Promesse - Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Late Spring - Yasujiro Ozu, The Fire Within - Louis Malle, Visitor Q - Takashi Miike, Taste of Cherry - Abbas Kiarostami, Ratcatcher - Lynne Ramsay, Xiao Wu - Jia-Zhang-ke, Rules of the Game - Jean Renoir, Au hasard Balthazar - Robert Bresson, Platform - Jia Zhang-ke, The Spirit of the Beehive - Victor Erice, Still Life - Jia Zhang-ke, I Know Where I'm Going! - Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, L'Eclisse - Michelangelo Antonioni, Nights of Cabiria - Federico Fellini, Wild Strawberries - Ingmar Bergman, Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie - Luis Bunuel, Solyaris - Andrei Tarkovsky, Cries and Whispers - Ingmar Bergman, Good Morning - Yasujiro Ozu, Children of Paradise - Marcel Carne, A Short Film About Love - Krzysztof Kieslowski

My humble, mish-mash of foreign movies that I have had a fortune of coming across (even though I'm not a big fan of foreign movies, I don't have the time with all the of USA stuff coming out).

1. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975). Australia.
2. Fear and Trembling (2003). France-Japan.
3. Spirited Away (2001). Japan.
4. Moliere (2007). France.
5. La Planete sauvage (1973). Czechlosvakia-France.
6. Amarcord (1974). Italy-France.
7. Nosferatu (1979). West Germany-France.
8. Like Water for Chocolate (1992). Mexico.
9. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). England. IMDb #217.
10. Amelie (2002). France-Germany.
11. The Widow of Saint-Pierre (2000). France-Canada.
12. Whale Rider (2002). New Zealand-Germany.
13. After Life (1998). Japan.
14. La Grande Seduction (2003). Canada.
15. Sip si 32 doe - Hypothermia (1996). Japan.
16. Mostly Martha (2001). Italy- Germany-Austria-Switzerland
17. Run, Lola, Run (1998). Germany.
18. Fahrenheit 451 (1966). England.
19. The Ipcress Files (1965). England.
20. Spider Lilies (2007). Taiwan.
21. Abre Los Ojos (1997). Spain-France-Italy.
22. Chariots of Fire (1982). England.
23. Planet of the Vampires (1965). Spain-Italy.