John Foote over at In Contention has assembled a list of the 15 greatest foreign films and I thought it was worth passing along to all of you. For the rest of the article please visit the source.
1. “The Rules of the Game”
2. “Seven Beauties”
3. “The Tin Drum”
4. “Breathless”
5. “Beauty and the Beast” (1946)
6. “Nosferatu the Vampyre” (1979)
7. “Das Boot”
8. “City of God”
9. “Downfall”
10. “Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner”
11. “Day for Night”
12. “Ran”
13. “8 1/2″
14. “Cries and Whispers”
15. “The Bicycle Thieves”
I haven’t seen any of the above films, but have wanted to get my hands on Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner. It takes place in the far north and was receiving a lot of buzz on the CBC. Lists like this remind me that I need to watch more foreign film. I don’t have an aversion to foreign film, nor do I mind subtitles; they are just not usually available at my local rental shops. Now that I am spending some time in Hollywood, I should probably take advantage of the superior selection.
Foreign films that I would like to mention are Babette’s Feast, Shaolin vs. Llama, Crippled Avengers, 5 Element Ninjas, Hard Boiled and Amazon Jail (today is my birthday).
International Friends: what foreign language films do you enjoy? Please give us your picks.
You are unquestionably right with this writing!!!
An all round amazingly written blog post…
Considerably well written article
This post couldn’t be more on the level
I have heard very good things about City of God, I intend to watch everything mentioned above eventually. I need to mark them down on a pad and check them off as I go.
I’m glad some of you mentioned Cinema Paradiso. It’s a film that moved me like no other.
Doug, I think you’d like City of God. It’s a gritty violent movie set in Brazil. It’s a bit jarring though to see how kids are exposed to violence in such an early age. It’s like war in your own neighborhood. Also notable is how the vivid and creative cinematography beautifully portrays the ugliness of the situations. It’s definitely an eye-opener.
Metropolis is totally missing in that list, and you really have to check out Das Boot (The Boat) imho it is the best WWII movie ever. Open Your Eyes from Spain is very good too and a lot better than Vanilla Sky, the Tom Cruise remake.
And Werner Herzog made some awesome movies, of which i would recommend Nosferatu, Alguierre and anything else with Klaus Kinski in the lead role.
Brotherhood of the Wolf is cinematically one of the most beautiful films ever made.
Best forign film of all time, in fact, in my opinion the Best Film Ever
Fritz Lang’s Metropolis
Josh, Breathless is great, but my favorite Goddard is Farenheit 451.
Das Boot is probably the best submarine film I ever saw (yes, better that Hunt for Red October) and RAN, how can you go wrong with King Lear in Samauri time (also directed by Akira Kurosawa, so say no more).
Ha, I’m obviously not that great of a reader–I listed Cries and Whispers as a movie that was omitted from the list, but in fact it was included. I have another, however: Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001, Alfonso Cuaron).
Doug I recommend “Breathless” – translated from the French “A Bout de Souffle.” It’s Godard’s best film and is a very early Tarantino influence from the bizarre gangster elements to the use of long shots. A great film as is “The Bicycle Thieves” (which has been translated a few times to “Bicycle Thieves” and “Bicycle Thief”), which features one of the best child act performances.
Worst omissions: “Amelie” and “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”
That is quite a difficult talk, to make 15 of the greatest Foreign Films ever. I dont think anyone will be completely satisfied with such a list. Although I see Cries and Whispers, what about Seventh Seal? Or more recently, Cinema Paradiso? Fellini’s 8 1/2 is there, but does La Dolce Vita need to be up there as well? What about the works of Carl Theodor Dreyer, who, in my opinion, is one of the greatest directors ever! So, in sum, the list is not bad, its not good, it just is someones favorite foreign films.
I’m always partial to Gong Li, so ‘Raise the Red Lantern’ and ‘Farewell My Concubine’ are always going to be my two of my favorites.
I concur that Pans Labyrinth & Run Lola Run are woefully omitted, but has no one watched No Mans Land? Pure genius.
I had a hard time with Fastrunner. It is really long and a bit redundant. I think that the buzz has to do with the fact that it stands as a big accomplishment, what with the whole film being shot in Innuit. But it is not a totally enjoyable film to watch.
Some of my picks that were left off the list, in no particular order: Cries and Whispers (1972, Ingmar Bergman), Band of Outsiders (1964, Jean-Luc Godard), Seven Samurai (1954, Akira Kurosawa), and Run Lola Run (1998, Tom Tykwer),
Good call on “Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner” Doug. Excellent Canadian film and if you like that, I’d also recommend “The Journals of Knud Rasmussen” which is produced by the same group and is somewhat similar in tone and style.
I completely forgot Sergio Leone’s Western: Once upon a time in the West or The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.
@Jay E
Maybe it’s one of those lists where the films selected have to be more than a decade old and proven to have stood the test of time. Then again, as you say, where is ‘Cinema Paradiso’?
I’ve no argument with ‘The Tin Drum’ being on there. That’s the one I would recommend you see Doug; a mesmerizing film.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Academy_Award_winners_and_nominees_for_Best_Foreign_Language_Film
Just looking at the Oscar list there seems to be a few films that I would choose to include to in the top 20:
Pan’s Labrynth
Amelie
Hero (or Crouching Tiger…)
Life is Beautiful
Cinema Paradiso
Not to mention a number of Miyazaki animated films…
Dragonslayer
Why isn’t Pan’s Labyrinth on there? Has everyone suddenley forgetten about it?
Def agree. Such a good movie
Basically, every movie of the following directors ist worth watching:
Fellini, Antonioni, Godard, Truffaut, Melville, Rohmer, Bergman, Kurosawa and if you want to see a good contemporary German director, check out Fatih Akin, for example “Gegen die Wand”, which is really great.
And yes, I do know, that the guys mentioned above are more arthouse but you can’t always eat fast food. Sometimes it has to be a good diner. I like this metaphor somehow. ;)
Greetings from Germany
I think the problem should be fixed now, sometimes I format the picture incorrectly.
@ Jason I am a comedian that started doing a podcast with John for this site. Through a chain of events I found myself employed to write and gab about movies.
I readily admit that many of our readers have seen more films than I. You will not find disagreement from me in regards to your statement, I should have seen these films given my job. But at this point I am playing catch up.
We have to make Amazon Jail shirts sometime.
Lots of love for german cinema on that list, which is always appreciated.
I can’t believe you have never seen Herzog’s version of NOSFERATU Doug. It’s unbelievably awesome.
Why isn’t Pan’s Labyrinth on there? Has everyone suddenley forgetten about it? The movie should be #1 (or at least in my opinion)
you are a movie blogger and you havent seen any of these films? am i the only one that thinks that is crazy?!?!
FREEMAN, I have the same problem!!!
Hey John, you should check “Nueve Reinas” from Argentina. (“Nine Queens” would be the literal translation). It`s an excellent film, about some con men, trying to sell some fake stamps (very old, rare ones, of course)
Before I make my complaint, I would like to say that I really enjoy your articles, Doug. But many of the articles you write has the first sentence pushed off screen. Maybe I am the only one with this problem because I have never heard anyone talk about it. If so, how can I fix it?