# Best foreign language movies you've watched **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [December 15, 2021, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121 "2021-12-15T21:23:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/21 "2021-12-16T00:13:44Z")
I’ll second _Oldboy_ and _Life is Beautiful_, and add _Amores Perros_ (Spanish), _insomnia_ (Norwegian), _L’Ete Meurtrier_ (French), _Funny Games_ (German), and _Man Bites Dog_ (French). Also, I highly recommend avoiding the American remakes of Oldboy and Insomnia. They were awful remakes. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/22 "2021-12-16T00:16:24Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > No love for [Babbette’s Feast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babette%27s_Feast)? > Parisian woman shows up at an isolated Danish farm in 19th century Jutland - she was driven out of France because of the political unrest. Stuff happens, there is serious food porn action, and a surprising ending. Yes! I came to post this. Get the subtitled one, not the dubbed one. One of my favorite movies. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/23 "2021-12-16T00:23:45Z")
**Delicatessen** **City of Lost Children** Both directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (latter also made **Amelie** ). ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/24 "2021-12-16T00:59:05Z")
A few off (or near) the top of my head: _Hotel du Nord_ (1938) _Les Disparus de St. Agil_ (1938) _Panique_ (1946) _Un Revenant_ (1946) _Bob le Flambeur_ (1956) _Death in the Garden_ (1956) _Beyond Oblivion_ (1956) _Les Espions_ (1957) _Man on the Tracks_ (1957) _Classe Tous Risques_ (1960) _The Graceful Brute_ (1962) _Three Outlaw Samurai_ (1964) _The Saragossa Manuscript_ (1965) _The Sword of Doom_ (1966) _Branded to Kill_ (1967) _A Colt is my Passport_ (1967) _Goyokin_ (1969) _Horrors of Malformed Men_ (1969) _Hunter in the Dark_ (1979) _The Tin Drum_ (1979) _The Feather Fairy_ (1985) _Swordsman II_ (1992) _Brotherhood of the Wolf_ (2001) _Crime Spree_ (2003) ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/25 "2021-12-16T01:10:17Z")
In French, [Jean de Florette](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDJXPiyvQfg) and its sequel (or part II) [Manon des sources](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxScSXKXwPc) In English, French, and German, on the topic of the Christmas Truces of WWI: [Joyeux Noel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRrr-CDXijs) ---
**Author:** ![Ziberian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/919ad9/32.png) [@Ziberian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ziberian)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/26 "2021-12-16T01:27:43Z")
The Pillow Book (1996) Its been a long time since I’ve seen it so I checked it on imdb & realized the characters probably speak English, but the calligraphy, which is more important to the film, is Japanese Nine Queens – Argentina . The 2004 English version was titled ‘Criminal’ and does not compare to the original Farewell My Concubine Chunking Express Eat, Drink, Man, Woman ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/27 "2021-12-16T01:33:35Z")
Interesting recommendations being shared. Japanese seems to be quite popular although not something I’ve explored – yet. I am currently reading a Japanese classic mystery novel so maybe it’s opportune timing to get into the movies! Some other modern movies I would recommend: Fermat’s Room - Spanish locked room thriller. Great fun if you’re interested in those kind of stories of a group of strangers being invited to a remote location ostensibly for a professional purpose but in reality it is that they are specifically chosen to be participants in a game. Look Who’s Back - German satire movie based on a best-selling book about the ludicrous premise of Hitler coming back from the dead by waking up in modern day Berlin where his bunker once stood and his mind stuck in 1945. It has elements of good comedy and satire in it but the film also examines the dark and dangerous sociological undercurrent that exists even all these years later. It uses a lot of unscripted shots of ordinary members of the public reacting to a guy looking like Hitler showing many people outraged but also that many others would sympathize with those ideological views they wanted Germany to embrace once again. The movie was released in 2015 and the final scene acted as a warning to the rise of nativist populism and anti-immigration hate crimes that were festering around the world. Lagaan - Another Indian movie which did very well overseas as a sort of half epic half sports movie telling a story of Indian resistance against their British rulers in the late 19th century and how the game of cricket and beating the British at their own “gentlemen’s game” was a way to fight back. Put an asterisk against this movie as there is British actors obviously and therefore English dialogue is involved but it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Movie in 2002. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/28 "2021-12-16T01:35:33Z")
Which is why I posted it early. These threads tend to slant towards only foreign films, while American films made in foreign languages get pooh poohed. These are good films, get over it. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/29 "2021-12-16T01:44:41Z")
So many. _La Belle et La Bete_ (Cocteau) – the definitive version of _Beauty and the Beast._ Magic in every frame. _M. Hulot’s Holiday_ (Tati) – classic comedy in the Buster Keaton role. Tati’s _Playtime_ is even better, but you must see it in as big as screen as possible to spot everything that’s going on. _Blancanieves_ – retelling of _Snow White_, only she’s a matador, the dwarfs are the bullfighting equivalent of rodeo clowns, and the evil queen is into kink. (A silent film, so I suppose it might technically not be foreign language, but watch it anyway). _Shame_ (Bergman) _La Strada_ (Fellini) _Z_ (Costa-Gavras) – intense political thriller _The Discrete Charm of the Bourgeoise_ (Bunuel) – surrealist comedy _The Tall Black Man with One Black Shoe_ (Robert) – terrific comedy _Jean de Florette/Manon of the Spring_ (Berri) – Tragedy on the grand scale _Black and White in Color_ – comedy about the French and German colonies in WWI. _The Gods Must be Crazy_ – The danger of Coca-Cola _Osama_ – heartbreaking story of life under the Taliban _Children of Heaven_ – Life in Iraq, where a pair of shoes can mean the difference between survival and failure. _Grand Illusion_ (Renoir) – powerful antiwar film ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/30 "2021-12-16T01:51:00Z")
_**[Good Bye Lenin!](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0301357/)**_ An East German young man’s mother awakes from a coma in 1990. As the doctors have told him any shock could kill her, he has to recreate the experience of living in the DDR even though it no longer exists. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/31 "2021-12-16T01:56:40Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > _Blancanieves_ – retelling of _Snow White_ , only she’s a matador, the dwarfs are the bullfighting equivalent of rodeo clowns, and the evil queen is into kink. Reading this crazy description reminded me of the bizarre Western **El Topo**. I haven’t seen it in 20+ years, but it left a deep impression on me! ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/32 "2021-12-16T02:15:09Z")
**Europa, Europa**. A Jewish boy on his own tries to pass himself off as German to avoid a concentration camp. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/33 "2021-12-16T08:47:36Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > _Amores Perros_ (Spanish) Mexican. Same director of Babel and The Revenant. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/34 "2021-12-16T11:29:12Z")
I was trying to provide the languages of the movies. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/35 "2021-12-16T11:37:14Z")
Best foreign language movie I’ve seen has to be _Das Boot_. There are dubbed versions around but the skill with which this was made, and the awesome realism, absolutely demands that you see it in the original German with subtitles. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/36 "2021-12-16T11:37:46Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > No love for [Babbette’s Feast](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babette%27s_Feast)? > Parisian woman shows up at an isolated Danish farm in 19th century Jutland - she was driven out of France because of the political unrest. Stuff happens, there is serious food porn action, and a surprising ending. Love this film. For some reason my brain keeps insisting this is a Bergman film, which it is definitely not. ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/37 "2021-12-16T11:41:30Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > _**[Good Bye Lenin!](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0301357/)**_ An East German young man’s mother awakes from a coma in 1990. As the doctors have told him any shock could kill her, he has to recreate the experience of living in the DDR even though it no longer exists. Anyone who enjoys this should also enjoy: _Tales from the golden age : Romanian urban myths of the '80s_ (2009) by Ioana Uricaru. If you like urban myths, if you’d like to see how people can survive when a country has gone out of whack… ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/38 "2021-12-16T12:54:36Z")
Here’s a thread from three years ago with the same topic: > [@What's your favorite foreign language film?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/123): > > Hardee, har hah! I bet you didn’t notice this board was English centric----- nope. Didn’t notice that the board originated in Chicago. You had to make a joke. Didn’t you? Did you really think it funny?" “Godfather!” “Godfather!”-----really an overrated film. No? Prove me wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/39 "2021-12-16T13:19:12Z")
[Man bites Dog](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103905/) - A classic. Black comedy of a serial killer being filmed by a crew, but so much more. [Run Lola Run (Lola Rennt)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0130827/) - German film in three repeating timeloops of a day in a life a woman running to save her boyfriend. [The Secret in Their Eyes](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1305806/) - An Argentinian retired detective revisits a brutal old case from the times of the Dictatorship of Franco. Remade in English, I’ve never watched the remake. [Post Mortem](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1714886/) - In the last days of Allendes presidency (pre Pinochet), a Mortician hunts for someone as the country collapses into civil war. [Hidden (Cache)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387898/) - A french couple begins receiving video tapes of themselves through the post. The husband searchs for who and why they are being sent. There’s also one I can’t remember the name of, and my google fu can’t find it. It’s French, and set by the sea, and a detective is investigating something. I remember a severed arm in a boat, perhaps cannibalism. From recent times (2000s perhaps 2007). Anyone help me there? ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanubv.2/32/3260_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUBv.2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUBv.2)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2021, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121/40 "2021-12-16T13:49:03Z")
[A Tale of Two Sisters](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365376/) - After spending time in a mental institution, two devoted sisters return to the home of their father and cruel stepmother. Once there, in addition to dealing with their stepmother’s obsessive, unbalanced ways, an interfering ghost also affects their recovery. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-foreign-language-movies-youve-watched/956121.md?page=3)