This seems like another interesting topic, but let me say up front: you don't have to restrict/ stretch yourself. If you have A favorite foreign film, please feel free to share. If you have 50, go for it; just remember the rest of us have to digest this too.

First off, depending on where you live, this could be a confusing topic. I'm talking about non-English-language films, and I know that many have been discussed in other favorite/best lists. It's OK to repeat yourself if you add something new. All right, here goes(gasp.)

1) Z (best real-life political film)
2) Cyrano de Bergerac (Depardeau/ Rappeneau}
3) Jesus of Montreal (best spiritual film)
4) My Father's Glory (best childhood reminescence)
5) The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (best social satire)
6) War and Peace [60s Russian] (best historical EPIC)
7) Night and Fog (best historical document, especially considering we are now in a war in perpetuity)
8) Allegro non Troppo/ The Triplets of Belleville (best animation)
9) M (best classic--extra credit for Peter Lorre's eyes)
10) Tie: Europa, Europa, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, Queen Margot, The Killer, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Olympia, Seven Samurai, Diabolique (1955), Babette's Feast, Divorce-Italian Style, Wild Strawberries and Amelie.

I left off many of the usual choices, so feel free to chime in. Bye.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mark f,

Well here are my fave foreign films:

1. Rashomon (1950)
2. Ratcatcher (1999)
3. L'Avventura (1960)
4. The Seventh Continent(1989)
5. Solaris (1972)
6. The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972)
7. Salò (1975)
8. Night and Fog (1955)
9. La Strada(1954)
10. Wild Strawberries (1957)

Honorable Mentions: Memorias del Subdesarrollo (1968), The 400 Blows (1959), Los Olvidados (1950)

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Originally posted by mark f:
If you have _A_ favorite foreign film, please feel free to share.

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In no particular order :

Shall We Dance ? (Japan)
Battle Of Algiers (France)
Delicatessen (France)
Battleship Potemkin (USSR)
Leningrad Cowboys Go America* (Finland)
*this is in English, but it's as "foreign" a film as I've ever seen.
Wages Of Fear (France)
M. Hulot's Holiday (France)

That's off the top of my head. I'm sure I'll think of more.

Wow - Only 10? Well as difficult as that is - here it goes:

Fast Runner
Amelie
City Of Lost Children
Run Lola Run
City Of God
The Harder They Come
Pixote
Cinema Paradiso
Children Underground
Brazil (does this count?)

The Killer
La Femme Nikita
Tokyo Decadence
Show Me Love (F**ing Amal)
The Red Balloon
The Pianist
Princess Mononoke
Hard Boiled
Lost & Delirious
High Heels

Y Tu Mama Tambien
Amores Perros
The Wind Will Carry Us
City of God
The Fast Runner
Crouching Tiger

My all-time favorite foreign film is "Amelie". This is based on an extremely limited spectrum of films, but, whatever, I gave my two cents.

...not necessarily my best list, but you can't go wrong with these:

Amores Perros..... Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Andrei Rublev..... Andrei Tarkovsky
Ararat..... Atom Egoyan
Belle de Jour..... Luis Bunuel
A Better Tomorrow..... John Woo
The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant..... Rainer Werner Fassbinder
The Blue Kite..... Tian Zhuangzhuang
Chungking Express..... Wong Kar-Wai
Chunhyang..... Kwon-taek Im
The Conformist ..... Bernardo Bertolucci
The Crime of Padre Amaro..... Carlos Carrera
Diva..... Jean-Jacques Beineix
Fallen Angels..... Wong Kar-Wai
Farewell, My Concubine..... Chen Kaige
Fox and His Friends..... Rainer Werner Fassbinder
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis..... Vittorio De Sica
Green Snake..... Tsui Hark
Hero..... Zhang Yimou
Hiroshima, Mon Amour..... Alain Resnais
In the Mood for Love..... Wong Kar-Wai
Intacto..... Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
La Femme Nikita ..... Luc Besson
The Last Emperor..... Bernardo Bertolucci
Last Tango in Paris..... Bernardo Bertolucci
Last Year at Marienbad..... Alain Resnais
No Man's Land..... Danis Tanovic
A One and a Two..... Edwaed Yang
Padre Padrone..... Paolo & Vittorio Taviani
Pauline at the Beach..... Eric Rohmer
Ran..... Akira Kurosawa
The Sacrifice..... Andrei Tarkovsky
Sex and Lucia..... Julio Medem
Solaris..... Andrei Tarkovsky
Spirited Away..... Hayao Miyazaki
Talk to Her..... Pedro Almodovar
Three Colors: Blue..... Krzysztof Kieslowski
Three Colors: Red..... Krzysztof Kieslowski
Three Colors: White..... Krzysztof Kieslowski
To Live..... Zhang Yimou
Va Savoir..... Jacques Rivette
Vertical Ray of the Sun..... Tran Anh Hung
Warm Water Under a Red Bridge..... Shohei Imamura
What Time Is It There?..... Tsai Ming-Liang
Wild Reeds..... Andre Techine
Wings of Desire..... Wim Wenders

A bit on the violent side, I realized, but good nonetheless. we're all adults here...

1. Seven Samurai (how could anyone miss THIS?)

2. Ashes and Diamonds - andrezj wajda

3. Rockers (Jamaica 1977, liked better than Harder They Come)

4. Songs from the Second Story - Roy Andersson - surreal flic from Denmark. amazing. if you can find it, buy it. if you don't like it I'll buy it back from you.

5. The Devil's Backbone (Guiellermo Del Toro's best)

6. Fallen Angels (a dark chungking express)

7. Hana-bi (fireworks) "beat" Takeshi Kitano

8. Fireman's Ball - Milos Forman

9. Tampopo - Japanese postmodern noodle Western

10. TIE City of God / Battle Royale - try and find it. about 40 high school kids in an island deathmatch. twisted. with "beat" takeshi

I regret that I can only give a Top 5...I mean, I could give a Top 10, but 6-10 would be pretty weak. I'm not sure how strong my 1-5 are either, as three of the five are very recent.

Anyway...

1. Shall We Dance? (Japan)
2. Amelie (France)
3. Life Is Beautiful (Italy)
4. La Cage Aux Folles (France)
5. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Germany)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: asc85,

Asc85, feel free to add the next five. I'm interested.

OK mark f, but you've been warned!

In no particular order...

6. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (China)
7. Ridicule (France)
8. Diva (France)
9. Fitzcarraldo (Germany)
10. Y Tu Mama Tambien (Mexico)

No problema. I enjoyed your second five as much as your first. I hope that's a GOOD thing!
P.S. I'm probably the only one who noticed how you switched one movie between the lists. Never tell.

I noticed the switch too! If only because it's my most hated foreign film of all time and it was being dropped further down on the list.

Everybody's too perceptive.

I wasn't trying to pull a fast one or anything. Since we're allowed to edit our own messages, it just seemed to make more sense to just make the edit, rather than to describe the edit I wanted to make in the subsequent note.

I don't know how I forgot all about "Life Is Beautiful"...it was one of my favorite films for that year.

ALright here it goes:
(in no particular order)

1. Rashoman
2. Night and Fog
3.Battle of ALgiers
4. City of God
5. 8 1/2 (fellini's best)
6. Insomnia (Norway)
7. Shoah (wow)
8. La Strada
9. La Dolce Vita
10. Bu San (aka Good Bye Dragon Inn)

1. Ran - Kurosawa
2. 8 1/2 - Fellini
3. Fitzcarraldo - Herzog
4. Rashomon - Kurosawa
5. Wild Strawberries - Bergman
6. Three Colors Trilogy - Kieslowski
7. City of God - Meirelles
8. A Time of the Gypsies - Kusturice
9. All About My Mother - Almodovar
10. Jules et Jim - Truffaut

I have to give mention to Amorres Perros, Talk to Her, Aguirre Wrath of God, The Seventh Seal, La Dolce Vita, Underground and many of the works of Lars von Trier.

I desperately need to revisit and seem more Tarkovsky and Bunuel films. I saw Belle du Jour last year and simply wasn't impressed and didn't get around to seeing his better works.

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Originally posted by wong828:

The Conformist ..... Bernardo Bertolucci

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I love that movie, glad to see it get some props! Another of my faves is "Fires on the Plain" by Ichikawa. Great film.

Well, having not seen many foreign films, I'm gonna have to say my favorite is Crouching Tiger. However, recently in French class, I watched "Jean De Flourette", and it's sequel "Manon Des Sources." Although a bit slow at points, They were both very well done and had an amazing little "twist" at the end. I love it when movies have good plot "twists." Anyway, has anyone else watched these movies. I definately reccomend them.

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Originally posted by kraftdeluxe: However, recently in French class, I watched "Jean De Florette", and it's sequel "Manon Des Sources." Although a bit slow at points, They were both very well done and had an amazing little "twist" at the end. I love it when movies have good plot "twists." Anyway, has anyone else watched these movies. I definitely reccomend them.

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Some of us have seen them. There's a thread here.