My Top 30 Favorite Foreign Films

[Nam]

I have this posted at ATT; I saw most of these movies thanks to Netflix, they have a huge foreign selection but I no longer belong to that website anymore :'( but maybe someday I'll rejoin. The ones bolded I have on DVD:

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Now, in my view these are the best foreign films that I've personally seen. So, if there's a movie not on the list that you think should be, I probably haven't seen it.

(in order - non-english speaking movies)

1. Cidade de Deus (2002)/City of God (2002)
2. Taegukgi hwinalrimyeo (2004)/Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004)
3. Nirgendwo in Afrika (2001)/Somewhere in Africa (2001)
4. Bacheha-Ye aseman (1997)/Children of Heaven (1997)
5. Mou gaan dou (2002)/Infernal Affairs (2002)
6. Ying xiong (2002)/Hero (2002)
7. M - Eine Stadt sucht einen Mörder (1931)/M (1931)
8. Das Boot (1981)/The Boat (1981)
9. La Grande Illusion (1937)/The Grand Illusion (1937)
10. Wo hu cang long (2000)/Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
11. Zwartboek (2006)/Black Book (2006)
12. 37°2 le matin (1986)/ Betty Blue (1986)
13. La cité des enfants perdus (1995)/The City of Lost Children (1995)
14. Lakposhtha parvaz mikonand (2004)/Turtles Can Fly (2004)
15. Lapsia ja aikuisia - Kuinka niitä tehdään? (2004)/Producing Adults (2004)
*16. Dare mo shiranai (2004)/Nobody Knows (2004)
17. Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004)/A Very Long Engagement (2004)
18. Y tu mamá también (2001)/And Your Mother Too (2001)
19. Hamsay-e khoda (2001)/Baran (2001)
20. Bad ma ra khahad bord (1999)/The Wind Will Carry Us (1999)
21. Shichinin no samurai (1954)/Seven Sumarai (1954)
22. La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc (1928)/The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
23. Batoru rowaiaru (2000)/Battle Royale (2000)
24. Ma mère (2004)/My Mother (2004)
25. Bumbai (1995)/Bombay (1995)
26.  Une vraie jeune fille (1976)/A Real Young Girl (1976)
**27. Das Erbe (1935)/The Inheritance (1935)
28. Ôdishon (1999)/Audition (1999)
29. Haute tension (2003)/High Tension (2003)
30. Seom (2000)/The Isle (2000)



*most depressing movie I've ever watched.
**Nazi-propaganda film but not bad for propaganda

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What are your favorites?

-Nam

[PeterRabbit]

Grave of the Fireflies is exceptionally good for an animated feature.

[Graybeard]

Das Boot (The Boat) Petersen
Bronenosets Potyomkin (Battleship Potemkin) Eisenstein
Hakuchi (The Idiot) Kurasawa
Shichinin no samurai (The Seven Samurai) Kurasawa
Swathi Muthyam (The Pearl) Vishwanath
Ladri di biciclette (the Bicycle Thieves) De Sica

[Gnu Ordure]

Nam, have you sean Jean de Florette and the sequel Manon des Sources ?

From wiki:

Jean de Florette is a 1986 French historical drama film directed by Claude Berri, based on a novel by Marcel Pagnol. It is part of a duology, and is followed by Manon des Sources. The film takes place in rural Provence, where two local farmers scheme to trick a newcomer out of his newly inherited property. The movie starred three of France's most prominent actors – Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, who won a BAFTA award for his effort, and Yves Montand in one of the last roles before his death.

The movie was shot, together with Manon des Sources, over a period of seven months. At the time the most expensive French movie ever made, it was a great commercial and critical success, both domestically and internationally, and was nominated to eight César awards, and ten BAFTAs

Manon des Sources starred Emanuelle Beart. Here's a picture of her, for no good reason:

[Gnu Ordure]

or Queen Margot ?

wiki:

La Reine Margot is a 1994 film based on the 1845 historical novel of the same name by Alexandre Dumas, père. It was released in the UK under its original French title, and as Queen Margot in North America. The film was directed by Patrice Chéreau. < snip> The film won 5 César Awards and two awards at the Cannes Film Festival. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Costume Design.

It starred Isabelle Adjani in the title role. Here's a picture of her, for no good reason:

[Gnu Ordure]

or Le Dernier Metro ? wiki:

The Last Metro (original French title: Le Dernier Métro) is a 1980 film made by Les Films du Carrosse, written and directed by the French filmmaker François Truffaut, and starring Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu.

In 1981, the film won ten Césars for: best film, best actor (Depardieu), best actress (Deneuve), best cinematography, best director (Truffaut), best editing, best music, best production design, best sound and best writing. It received Best Foreign Film nominations in the Academy Awards and Golden Globes.

or Repulsion ?

Repulsion is a 1965 film directed by Roman Polanski on a scenario by Gerard Brach and Roman Polanski. It was Polanski's first English language film, and was filmed in Britain. The cast includes Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser, Yvonne Furneaux, with a cameo appearance by Roman Polanski himself. It is widely considered a masterpiece of the psychological thriller genre.

Since both films those starred Catherine Deneuve, here's two pictures of her:






The top photo's by Richard Avedon - the second one is a still from Belle de Jour.

[Gnu Ordure]

Someone's going to come along to this thread in a minute and accuse me of being shallow, I just know it.

[Seppuku]

Someone's going to come along to this thread in a minute and accuse me of being shallow, I just know it.

Oh and by the way, you are shallow.

[Codswallop]

Anything by Kurosawa (watch "Seven Samurai" and then "The Magnificent Seven" for a terrific homage).
Silly but fun: "The Triplets of Belleville"
The two more obscure Barrytown films: "The Snapper," and "The Van."

[Operator_016]

For light silly Sicilian mob comedy, watch Johnny Stecchino.

[JTFC]

Catching up on some threads, I just had to post in this one.  A must see movie: Black Rain.  No, not that crappy Ridley Scott/Michael Douglas drivel, but Shohei Imamura's stunning cinematic masterpiece about Hiroshima.  I would really like to see this re-released on DVD and widely distributed, but I doubt that will happen.  So be prepared to pay obscene prices on the collector market.