Your top 3 non-English language movies?

donfers

quite tough call this one, so many damn fine foreign movies out there, i'll go for, in no particular order

los lunes al sol/Mondays in the sun (spanish movie with bardem about a group of unemployed lads, dark but funny in parts, especially relevant watch in these times for us poor Irish

tell no one (a more fast-paced and less intospective and pretentious french movie, this one can be appreciated by the blockbuster crowd as well as the conaisseurs, a man's wife goes missing and years later he gets an email claiming to be from her)

the lives of others (quite well known, won loads of awards, the closing scene still gets me - it's all about man's capacity to change, to have the courage to alter your views)

TheIrishGrover

In no particular order:

Infernal Affairs (1). I thought this was far superior to Scorsese's The Departed. I thought Lau and Leung were fantastic as the gangster/cop cop/gangster but it was Eric Tsang as Sam (Nicholson's character) was just amazing. No OTT histrionics (or very little) just quiet menace

Chungking Express. I just like Wong Kar-Wai's stuff. I especially loved Faye Wong's section in CE. (Although you really wanna have no problem with The Mammas and Poppas' California Dreaming) I think it was the first non-martial arts asian film I watched years and years ago.

Seven Samurai....... Showed me when I saw it first that not all action films have to be American. For all the talk about it being a classic film and amazing direction and cinematography (Both, of course, true) people forget that it's a bloody kick-ass exciting movie too

ziedth

Hard Boiled: John Woo at his Dove flying best and it's simply an insane action film. I must have seen it 20 times.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon: I'm a sucker for films like this. It was beautifully shot, well acted and very good action. Must watch it again.

District 13: French Action film that really deserves more attention then it has gotten. Avoid the dubbed version at all costs but I saw this and Taken in the one night and I never remember when I was so genuinely happy after watching a film(or two).

Skerries

Old Boy - this is one for those that like a good action thriller with a love story and the reveal will have you reeling

Akira - this film is one that has to be watched multiples times as you will get something different from each viewing and you still will not be sure of the full story, sci-fi genius

Das Boot - the sense of claustrophobia and dread is palpable while watching these men in a tin can at the bottom of the sea being stalked by an unseen attacker
3 periscopes up

Paddy Samurai

Hard to pick 3 , but based on the ones I have rewatched the most.......

Brotherhood of the Wolf

A visual feast with fantastic characters ,based loosely on a true event. Featuring super hot vatican assassin/spy,secret brotherhoods,gypsie type ninjas,and the beast of Gevaudan.Lots of over the top action. Reminds me a bit of a Hammer film on crack.The opening scene in the rain is a classic.Vincent Cassel is top notch.
Great Stuff


Jean de Florette/Manon des sources

Love these films,great historical dramas with a twist at the end. Gerard Depardieu, is outstanding in part one.Daniel Auteuil I will watch in anything,another great actor.

Downfall

Hitler did'nt die in the bunker , he changed his name to Bruno Ganz and became an actor. Great film portraying Hitler's last days.Not to be missed.

Zapp Brannigan

Off the top of my head (I'll probably think of other after I post this);

A Prophet
Gritty drama about a young Muslim who ends up in prison and does what he can to rise ip the ranks.

La Haine
Great film about the multicultural ghettos in Paris. Follows three friends around for a day after a friend of theirs was put in hospital by police. Amazing performance from Vince Cassell.

Pan's Labryinth
Visually stunning, and very creepy. Del Toro does what he does in this haunting fairy-tale set during the Spanish Civil War.

Peyton Manning

Liable to change any time, but I'd go for

Mesrine Parts 1 & 2 Fantastic gangster series, action packed, and you just can't look away from an utterly sensational performance from Vincent Cassel

City of God Great story, great characters and a beautiful setting. Couldn't ask for more.

A Prophet Best prison movie I've seen, better than Shawshank imo. Very gritty, but you can't look away. Fantastic movie.

todolist

Three Colours Blue French arty Film that works because Juliette Binoche is sensual and gorgeous.

neris

Ony ever watched two non english language movies das Boot and a really good Russian war movie on Afghanistan called 9th Company. If you like war films you,ll like this

Bruthal

Paddy Samurai wrote: »

Downfall

Hitler did'nt die in the bunker , he changed his name to Bruno Ganz and became an actor. Great film portraying Hitler's last days.Not to be missed.

Just seen this thread and your quote above is the first film i thought of. Some films are better in the authentic language even though you have to read the subs and this certainly shows that.

UrbanSea

Don't have a top 3 but I adore City of God. Really draws you in,a great crime movie. I particularly enjoy the part where they're telling theyir childhood years.

Battleflag

Really enjoyed Downfall, City of God and Pan's Labyrinth.

Love foreign movies but most people I know hate having to read subtitles... no idea why

Sad Professor

Explain your choices please. List threads are against the charter. Six posts have been deleted in here so far for listing. I'm leaving this open for now, but it's very close to getting locked.

Kevin Duffy

The Secrets in Their Eyes. Great performances, funny in places, a sharp intake of breath and a tear in others and I found myself rooting for all of them. Beautiful.

City of God. It just draws you in so far. I forgot the ultimate desperation of the lives they lead as the film went on, which really added to the imapct of the final scenes for me.

Life is Beautiful. You know it won't have a happy ending, but the joy and love between the three of them is so touching and the humour from a desperate situation is fantastic.

arsenallegend

THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED : a remake of James Torback's Fingers with Harvey Keital but surpasses it remaking it like a lost Robert de niro martin Scorcose film from the 70's. A top performance from Romain Duris and another great film from Jacques Audiard.

****ING AMAL: My favourite film on Teenagers from Lukas moodysson , Probably my favourite film from him about two girls wanting to escape small town life while falling in love with each other. Very touching and funny.

FESTEN- Best Dogme film by a mile about a family get together which opens old wounds when the oldest son reveals a secret over dinner. Great performances and very bleak film.

gingernut79

Amelie - it is just delightful and has a fantastic score

City of God - violent but brilliant. Visually breathtaking.

Jean de Florette - had to watch it in school but probably the only film I watched in school that I would watch again for myself.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Very tough to choose just three and I'm sure I'm forgetting a very important one, but here it goes anyway.

Rashomon: Can easily be found on any Film Studies course anywhere in the world, because of its unique style of storytelling. Absolutely fantastic and despite being made over 60 years ago, I think it can give any contemporary film a run for its money.

Brotherhood of the Wolf: Visually from beginning to end its a spectacular piece of cinema and great performance all around, particularly from Vincest Cassell.

Run Lola Run: This was the first non-English film I saw and I thought it was great - ultimately a German take on Groundhog Day, but a much darker story than the antics of Bill Murray.

CokaColumbo

The Lives of Others is a really good film!
The TG4 Gaeilge gearrscannan series is class as well.

bogmanfan

Run Lola Run
Saw this 3 times in the cinema back in 2000. Action packed, fantastic score, and a central premise that really makes you think.

Delicatessen
Just magnificent. Love the tea party scene, and the choreographed sex sequence. Also love Amelie, but this is funnier.

The Lives of Others
I remember when this won the best foreign film oscar I was aghast that Pan's Labyrinth had lost. Then I saw it . The better film won.

Warper

The Lives of Others - brilliant film set in Germany before the end of the Berlin wall. Didnt know exactly what on there before i saw the film but it was a very impressive film.

La Haine - explores the poor working class area of surburban Paris over the space of a few days through the eyes of disadvantaged young adults. Very good

Y'tu Mama Tambien - excellent Mexican film which is both humorous and very intelligent in which 2 friends, one poor and one rich share a road-trip.

One_Armed_Dwarf

I'm finding it really hard to pick just 3 because I reckon about 40% of my collection is non English language films, but here goes

Oldboy: I have to pick this film for the simple reason that it's the film that got me into non English language films. I wont describe the plot as i'm sure everyone here knows what its about. Before I seen Oldboy I was on of those people that would not watch subtitled films, but when a friend of mine talked me into watching this back in about 2006, I was blown away with how amazing it was and I then became obsessed with non English language cinema to the point that every second film I watch is subtitled.

Lilya 4-Ever: This film is about the life of a young girl from Estonia(I think!) who wants to escape Estonia and start a new life abroad. I wont go into to much detail as its probably better to watch this film without knowing to much about the plot. This is a very powerfull film which is brilliantly acted and directed but it is a very dark and depressing story. I've only seen this once but it stuck with me even though I am not sure if I will watch it again any time soon. Definatly not a feelgood film.

Cache: A family recieve a series of videotapes featuring recordings of their private lives. If you look at some of the reviews online for this film it seems to divide audiences, its been called pretentious etc but I think this is an excellent film and I like the ambiguity(spelling?) of it all. It's directed by Michael Haneke and being a fan of this director this may have swayed my opinion but I think everyone should check this out.

Hank Scorpio

Iv watched a good few foreign films but always seem to forget their names so Ill just say two obvious ones!

[Rec] - One of the best modern horror movies, insanely tence with a great script and plot. The follow up movie [Rec2] is also set in Spanish, although not as good as the first movie imo, its still well worth watching.

Dubhthamlacht

Ack, only 3?? I really wanted to include the two Mesrine films as they are brilliant but that would mean I'd have to leave something else out and I don't want to do that. So with that in mind...


City of God : I'd read about the hype but was quite cautious in my expectations about it. I needen't have worried. A powerhouse of a film.

Pan's Labyrith: Del Toro's masterpiece. Magical, brutal, uplifting. Beautifully shot with fantastic characters.

Waltz with Bashir : This is a film that lives long in my memory. Each time I see it , it reconfirms just how good it is. The dream sequences are haunting and the ending packs some punch

mrgardener

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon:
Visually stunning, great set pieces, fight scenes were amazing and great acting. Frickin' love this movie.

Let The Right One In:
The best vampire flick in years. The two kids were excellent and it was a nice spin on the usual vampire muck thats out there.

Pans Labyrinth:
Creepy as hell. The idea of turning kids fables etc into more serious films have been done before, but never as good as this. The creature with his eyes in his hands really freaked me out.

sensibleken

Black Cat White Cat - Yugoslavian film about gypsies. possibly the happiest film of all time. Ever want to see a fat opera singer pull a nail out of a plank during a high note? this is the film for you

Rec - Spannish 'zombie' movie that was remade a week later by hollywood as quarentine. definetely the scariest film of the last 20 years.

Ong bak - because i was sick of all the wire work thats dominated martial arts films for the last decade and this is the perfect antidote

eco2live

sensibleken wrote: »

Rec - Spannish 'zombie' movie that was remade a week later by hollywood as quarentine. definetely the scariest film of the last 20 years.

Yea I got that for a couple of quid in HMV that was left over from a voucher. I watched it after few cans with headphones late at night. Its a freaky film. Very diff. Good choice.

johndoe99

Inferno (1980)
The follow up to Suspiria, what can i say, thats its as creepy as suspiria and will keep you engrossed till the end.

Cold Prey (2006)
Fantastic horror from Norway, kind of like Halloween meets Wolf Creek, been a while since I saw a horror like this.

MR 73 (2008)
French crime film starring Daniel Auteuil partly based on a true story about a washed up cop who takes the law into his own hands.

liah

Erk, tough one, let's see..

(oh, and these are just personal favourites, not bastions of quality.. though they're still pretty good!)

Pan's Labyrinth
This is one of those films I always come back to and can put on at any time. If it's not my favourite film it's definitely right up there.

The script is just so beautiful, tragic, terrifying, whimsical.. The sets are so intricate, the CGI almost flawless for its time, the attention to detail perfect, each actor embodying the part, the audience's intelligence is never insulted. So much heart and care has been put into the film and it shows; this was del Toro's pet project and the story of its creation is almost as interesting as the film itself.

It may not be 100% flawless but it's still a film I hold very close to my heart.

A Tale of Two Sisters

Another one I seem to always come back to, albeit not quite as frequently as Pan's Labyrinth. There's something about the cinematic style in this film that grabs me. Warmth balanced with cold, everything deceptively crisp and clear. The parts could not have been cast more perfectly, and It's just chilling enough to get under your skin, with the scare scenes not forced down your throat but rather suggested to you, giving you only a glimpse and allowing your mind to do the rest while your heart breaks for the characters. Again, not a film that insults the intelligence of its viewer.

Oldboy

Anything I can say on this has already been said, really, but what a brilliant piece of cinema. Though, out of the Vengeance trilogy I have to confess-- I like...

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance

..more. I'm not exactly sure what it is, it strikes a chord with me, perhaps because I can empathize with the woman's side of the Vengeance story more than the male's, I'm not sure. It's a very.. feminine film, in an odd sort of way. The cinematic style was a pleasure to watch from the opening credits and throughout, never failed to hold my interest with the plays on relationship dynamics, vengeance, loss and family, and was a very thoughtful addition to the trilogy.

I need to watch this again soon, actually.

Delicatessen

This film was just brilliant. I love dark whimsy and this was just that. Very strange, very morbid, very.. French, but incredibly hard not to love.

tricky D

Can't believe that Cinema Paradiso hasn't yet been mentioned. Brimful with nostalgia, love for movies, romance, super characters....

The montage at the end is classic. An utterly charming gem of a movie.

(Don't go for the longer director's cut)

Dave147

I was just coming onto the thread to mention Cinema Paradiso, it is not only my favourite foreign film of all time, but my favourite film of any kind of all time!

First saw it when I was about 17 because we were studying it in school, and fell in love from the opening scene and have watched it countless times since. The Director's cut is a must see, but it's not better, it just has to be seen.

The themes involved come very close to home, young love and the respective loss of your first love, the same thing happened to me when I was 21, I had a whirlwind romance with an Italian girl called 'Marilena' (very similar to the love interest 'Elena' in CP), she left for Italy and I didn't see her for 3 years after that. So you can imagine how affected I am by this movie, I gave her a copy of it before she left and promised her we'd watch it together some day.. Please don't get me started on the montage at the end, I don't feel like crying now!

Anyway, away from my personal love life :P

A Prophet, watched this only a few weeks ago and found it enthralling, it's very long but you would find the time passes very quickly as you're eager to watch his rise to the top. I won't say anymore only don't ever let subtitles put you off an excellent movie, they don't bother me at all. Hate dubbed films.

Currently reading The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo at the moment, half way through and I'm enjoying it alright. Have ordered the Millenium trilogy on Blu-Ray so looking forward to watching the three of them. Trying to ignore the hype because whenever a foreign movie gets very popular it suddenly isn't as good anymore :rolleyes:

SVG

I just have to mention In the Mood for Love- it's so gorgeous and it really lingers.

p to the e

A lot of what I would said already mentioned so I'm going to have to say Zatoichi for it's shear fantastic action scenes containing wonderful swordplay and another one starring the wonderful Takeshi Kitano is Battle Royale. A concept so simple that you kick yourself for not thinking of it. Stay away from the second one though

Ridley

My go to recommendations are Infernal Affairs ("Longevity is a big hardship in Continuous Hell") and The Good, The Bad, The Weird (bandit, thief and bounty hunter battling over a treasure) but there aren't that many foreign language film I haven't liked (A Man Called Hero and The Treasure Hunter cause they were tedious).

It's hard to rank something like Akira or House of Flying Daggers against Survive Style 5+

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFiqnGILa1M

p to the e wrote: »

A lot of what I would said already mentioned so I'm going to have to say Zatoichi for it's shear fantastic action scenes containing wonderful swordplay and another one starring the wonderful Takeshi Kitano is Battle Royale. A concept so simple that you kick yourself for not thinking of it. Stay away from the second one though

Seconded.

johnny_ultimate

Three is such a restrictive number. Here's - let me pick a random number - eleven of my favourites.

Persona - Ingmar Bergman's (my all time favourite director) masterpiece. Probably not the best film of his to start exploring his vast filmography with, but a stunning culmination of his work up to that point, and while he made a significant number of fantastic films followed (from Cries and Whispers to Saraband) Persona remains the most intense, engaging and thought provoking of his many, many excellent films IMO. Best to start off with Seventh Seal and the Silence of God films, and naturally progress to Persona.

Week End - New Wave films can be a bit... cold and academic on occasion. But of those, Godard's meandering, almost structureless lark is the most curious I've seen. Technically impressive (the lengthy tracking shot through a traffic jam deservedly most famous) and thematically interesting. It may be pretentious and purposefully difficult, but along with Breathless a fine example of Godard's talents.

Umbrellas of Cherbourg - More New Wave, but very different indeed. An ode and respectful satire of the Hollywood musical, it's a bittersweet and more truthful 'operetta' than you'd usually expect from entirely sung plots. Helped of course by absolutely stunning music throughout.

Rashomon - I love Kurosawa, his films are always fun and inventive. But Rashomon's distinctive structure and brave storytelling differentiates itself from the pack even more so than others. I'd count a number of Kurosawa films amongst my favourites - Yojimbo and Ran are another two I'm particularly fond of - but Rashomon is his most vital, ambitious and important work IMO.

Tokyo Story - While I tend to find Ozu's films a little repetitive and overly similar to one another on occasion, Tokyo Story is an amazing film. A moving, emotive family drama, and Ozu's most successful attempt at capturing his preoccupations with an ever changing Japanese culture between generations. Truly emotionally involving though which makes it stand out.

My Neighbour Totoro - Some Pixar movies make a good claim to the title, but for me My Neighbour Totoro remains perhaps the definitive children's film. Playful and imaginative to keep younger viewers occupied, but a more nostalgic outlook on the innocence of childhood makes it deeper than most. It's just a joyful, innocent film though, and while there are darker undercurrents when the kids' imagination is interrupted by a less certain reality, it's almost impossible to come out without a smile. Spirited Away for me is Ghibli's other crowning achievement in a rich and varied filmography.

Hidden (Caché) - I knew nothing about Caché or Michael Haneke when I watched this film, only that it was meant to be decent, but was absolutely spellbound. The refusal to hold the audience's hand, the muted, slow cinematography and a genuinely shocking and surprising storyline is what pulled me. I like quite a few of Haneke's film - The Piano Teacher particularly is equally disturbing and effective - but Caché was one of the most memorable shocks to the system I've had.

Festen - By the sounds of it the theory behind Dogma was often more interesting than the films. I've only seen this and The Idiots, but going by the evidence the theory did at least make two excellent films. Festen is a compelling masterpiece - the scaled back visuals and determined focus on narrative and character is a true strength here, and far from the pretentions of other Vintenberg and Von Trier films. Shocking stuff, and almost impossible to turn away from the stark & limited cinematography such is the strength of the writing, direction and acting on screen.

Amelie - Overblown? Yup. Fun? Hell yes.

Chungking Express - California Dreamin' may play something like a hundred times in this film, but it's the sense of careless daydreaming, the neon city of Hong Kong and a lot of charm that makes CE so utterly dazzling and rewatchable.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - Had been somewhat suspicious and weary of the hype when I went to see this first, but my word is it a beautiful film. Uniquely directed, moving without being cloying - it pulls you into the world of it's protagonist like few if any other films ever had. Easily one of the best films of the last decade.

A random selection then, missing out on loads, but those are eleven foreign language films that have stayed with me over the years.

TheIrishGrover

SVG wrote: »

I just have to mention In the Mood for Love- it's so gorgeous and it really lingers.

Yeah, when I was naming my three it was a tough choice between Chungking Express and In The Mood For Love. I gave it to CE because it's just nice and fun especially for someone just dipping their toes into foreign language non martial arts movies.
And, yeah, it was tough leaving out animated movies but I decided, giving the nature orf the OP that I'd stick to live-action. Must say, if I'd included animation then I think Porco Rosso might juuuuuuust inch past Totoro. It's underappreciated. (Although the dubbed ver was just on Film four and I didn't care for the dub)

merlie

Hero What an amazing movie! I found the storyline, creative imagery, and the music, wonderful. The story - A series of Rashomon-like flashback accounts shape the story of how one man defeated three assassins who sought to murder the most powerful warlord in pre-unified China.


Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources. I enjoyed both of these moves. Once you see Jean de Florette, it is most likely you will want to see the sequel both equally as good as the other. The story of Jean de Florette - A greedy landowner and his backward nephew conspire to block the only water source for an adjoining property in order to bankrupt the owner and force him to sell. And Manon de Sources - A beautiful but shy shepherdess plots vengeance on the men whose greedy conspiracy to acquire her her father's land caused his death years earlier.

And in this lot I am going to include something unusual in the mix. It is a silent French movie from 1927 -

Napoleon by Abel Gance. I saw this movie a couple of years ago on tv and found it amazing! I enjoyed the various views, use of colour and triptych screen and also for the feeling of the history its conveys! Excellent work. The story -A film about the French Field Marshal's youth and early military career.

The Cool

Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain has to be my fave. It's just lovely, everything about it. I adore the soundtrack as well. Been to her cafe in Paris too, got stuck in the loo where yer wans get it on, oops!

Belle du Jour - one of those kooky French art films that features quite often on TG4 Friday nights.

Y Tu Mamá También - studied it on my course this year and really liked it.

g5fd6ow0hseima

Waltz With Bashir. - It's perhaps the only 'serious' animated film ive ever watched, but its quite brilliant. It's about a former Israeli enlistee reliving the trauma of the Shalita massarce in Beirut years after. The end is quite stirring too.

Amelie - Im sure everyone knows this one. It's just amazing, 10/10

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex - Brilliant action film about the ultra leftist terrorist group in late 70s West Germany. Definitely worth the watch if you're into political films.