# Favorite Foreign Films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2003, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-foreign-films/188216 "2003-07-13T19:37:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-foreign-films/188216/21 "2003-07-14T12:26:17Z")
Enjoy many of the above-named films. Absolute fave: **Soldier of Orange** (Dutch) ---
**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:** [July 14, 2003, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-foreign-films/188216/22 "2003-07-14T12:45:07Z")
In addition to many of those mentioned: **La Belle et La Bete** by Cocteau – the most poetic film ever made **La Grande Illusion** – one of the greates of all antiwar films **Skammen** (Shame) by Ingmar Bergman – his one science fiction film. **För att inte tala om alla dessa kvinnor** (usually titled “All these Women,” but I understand a better translation is “Let’s not talk about all these women”) by Ingmar Bergman. His one slapstick comedy **Yojimbo** (has to be mentioned) – the best western ever made 😉 **La Strada** – For Guilietta Masina alone **Le Roi de coeur** (King of Hearts) – decent antiwar comedy **Le Grand blond avec une chaussure noire** (The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe) – terrific slapstick comedy **El** – Louis Bunuel story of sexual obession. ---
**Author:** ![YoudNeverGuess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a587f6/32.png) [@YoudNeverGuess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YoudNeverGuess)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-foreign-films/188216/23 "2003-07-14T12:51:54Z")
- Le Roi Qui Danse\* is an excellent and beautifully made film about the relationship between the composer Lully and King Louis XIV (the Sun King) - a visual feast to use a critic’s cliché. There are so many other non-Hollywood films I like that it’s probably pointless to try and list them but singled that one out for special mention. Also _Cinema Paradiso_ and _A Room with a View_. ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-foreign-films/188216/24 "2003-07-14T13:03:19Z")
A sampling of my favorites, by director: **Fellini** : [ul] [li]La Dolce Vita[/li][li]8 1/2[/li][li]La Strada[/li][/ul] **Bergman** : [ul] [li]Seventh Seal[/li][li]Wild Strawberries[/li][li]Fanny and Alexander[/li][/ul] **Kieslowski** : [ul] [li]The Double Life of Veronique[/li]Three Colours trilogy (esp. Blue)[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-foreign-films/188216/25 "2003-07-14T14:34:44Z")
Heh, Mad Max? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-foreign-films/188216/26 "2003-07-14T14:43:07Z")
My top alltime favorite films (hardcore elitist filmgeek here) are all foreign films. The top spot on my list tends to rotate films like Carl Dreyer’s _The Passion of Joan of Arc_ and Andrei Tarkovsky’s _The Sacrifice_ and _Solaris_. ---
**Author:** ![karomon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@karomon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/karomon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-foreign-films/188216/27 "2003-07-14T14:54:19Z")
Most of my favorites have already been mentioned, but I need to add the Korean movies I like: **Take Care of My Cat** **A Bungee Jumping of Their Own** not a fancy art film, but a great comedy: **Just Do It** ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-foreign-films/188216/28 "2003-07-14T15:11:10Z")
A lot of **Kurosawa** 😉 British: [A Matter of Life and Death](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0038733) Lots of movies already mentioned and [Cinema Paradiso](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0095765) ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-foreign-films/188216/29 "2003-07-14T15:38:06Z")
A charming little Danish film; [_Italian for Beginners_](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0243862). ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-foreign-films/188216/30 "2003-07-14T16:48:12Z")
And speaking of Danish Films, so was “ **Babette’s Feast** ”, **Fairblue**. I really want to see, “ **It’s a Beautiful Life** ” and “ **Amelie** ,” as I’ve heard nothing but praise for them. I’m glad to see people mentioning some Australian work here. The “ **Mad Max** ” series certainly established a definite niche replete with its own quasitechnical Gibsonesque futureworld. In that vein, I’d like to mention “ **The Shiralee** ” starring Brian Brown. It’s a moving story with some rather decent acting. As “ **Sea Biscuit** ” hits the stateside screens, I’d also like to suggest another fine equine tale. Simon Wincer’s “ **Phar Lap** ” is as good a horse story as anyone can hope for. Another fine Aussie flick that rarely sees the light of day 'round these parts. ---
**Author:** ![aleong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4af34b/32.png) [@aleong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aleong)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-foreign-films/188216/31 "2003-07-14T17:12:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by karomon \* > \*\*Most of my favorites have already been mentioned, but I need to add the Korean movies I like: > > **Take Care of My Cat** > **A Bungee Jumping of Their Own** > > not a fancy art film, but a great comedy: **Just Do It** \*\* Some other great Korean films: [My Sassy Girl](http://www.mediacircus.net/mysassygirl.html) [Failan](http://www.mediacircus.net/failan.html) [Christmas in August](http://www.mediacircus.net/christmas.html) [The Way Home](http://www.mediacircus.net/wayhome.html) [Friend](http://www.mediacircus.net/friend.html) [Peppermint Candy](http://www.mediacircus.net/peppermintcandy.html) [Il Mare](http://www.mediacircus.net/ilmare.html) [Joint Security Area](http://www.mediacircus.net/jsa.html) [Attack the Gas Station!](http://www.mediacircus.net/atgs.html) ---
**Author:** ![Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_A_Tame_Lion)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-foreign-films/188216/32 "2003-07-14T18:11:56Z")
I second _Amélie,_ _Hard Boiled_ and _Life Is Beautiful_. Staying in the Benigni theme, I would also nominate _Johnny Stecchino_ (hilarious). And I’m surprised that no one has mentioned _Il Postino,_ a wonderful movie (which is both funny and sad without the one ruining the other). And _Waking Ned Devine_ is pretty good too. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-foreign-films/188216/33 "2003-07-14T19:50:08Z")
“A Better Tomorrow” -Chow Yun-Fat “The Killer” -Chow Yun-Fat “The Proffessional” -Jean Reno ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-foreign-films/188216/34 "2003-07-14T20:30:20Z")
Whew! Where to begin? Some all-time faves include: _The Italian Straw Hat_ (Clair) _The Lighthouse Keepers_ (Gremillon) _The Crime of Monsieur Lange_ (Renoir) _Children of Paradise_ (Carne) _The Earrings of Madame de…_ (Ophuls) _Hiroshima, Mon Amour_ (Resnais) _Contempt_ (Godard) _The Umbrellas of Cherbourg_ (Demy) _Au Hasard Balthazar_ (Bresson) _Playtime_ (Tati) _Chloe in the Afternoon_ (Rohmer) _Two English Girls_ (Truffaut) _La Belle Noiseuse_ (Rivette) _The City of Lost Children_ (Jeunet/Caro) _Man With a Movie Camera_ (Vertov) _Shadows of Our Forgotten Ancestors_ (Paradzhanov) _Andrei Rublev_ (Tarkovsky) _Come and See_ (Klimov) _Ordet_ (Dreyer) _A Page of Madness_ (Kinugasa) _I Was Born, But…_ (Ozu) _Ugetsu Monogatari_ (Mizoguchi) _The Seven Samurai_ (Kurosawa) _Branded to Kill_ (Suzuki) _Red Sorghum_ (Zhang) _In the Mood for Love_ (Wong) _Spirited Away_ (Miyazaki) _The Big City_ (Ray) _Shoeshine_ (De Sica) _Voyage to Italy_ (Rossellini) _La Dolce Vita_ (Fellini) _L’Eclisse_ (Antonioni) _Fist in the Pocket_ (Bellocchio) _The Gospel According to St. Matthew_ (Pasolini) _Pandora’s Box_ (Pabst) _Aguirre: The Wrath of God_ (Herzog) _The Bitter Tears of Petra van Kant_ (Fassbinder) _Kings of the Road_ (Wenders) _Ashes and Diamonds_ (Wajda) _The Double Life of Veronique_ (Kieslowski) _El_ (Bunuel) _I Am Cuba_ (Kalatozov) _The Green Wall_ (Godoy) _The Spirit of the Beehive_ (Erice) _What Have I Done to Deserve This?_ (Almodovar) _Vacas_ (Medem) _The Travelling Players_ (Angelopolous) _Persona_ (Bergman) _Underground_ (Kusturica) _A Moment of Innocence_ (Makhmalbaf) _Xala_ (Sembene) _The Battle of Algiers_ (Pontecorvo) _La Promesse_ (Dardenne/Dardenne) _Yol_ (Goren) ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2003, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-foreign-films/188216/35 "2003-07-14T20:35:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Malchats \* > > \*\*And _Waking Ned Devine_ is pretty good too. \*\* Oh my, how could I have forgotten that one? HILARIOUS! Great movie! Has anyone seen [_8 Femmes_](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0283832)? It got wonderful reviews and we meant to see it when it came out in theaters but managed to miss it. I was thinking of renting it – worth seeing? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-foreign-films/188216.md?page=1)