# Great Unique Non-English Language Movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [November 7, 2022, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540 "2022-11-07T23:26:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/82 "2022-11-12T20:09:58Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > This was a Japanese-language film, but it’s interesting to note that the novel it’s based on was in English. The book was called _Castle in the Air_; it is a Diana Wynne Jones book, which is a kind of sequel to _Howl’s Moving Castle._ She wrote a third book _House of Many Ways._ ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2022, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/83 "2022-11-12T22:20:13Z")
As a person who loves cooking, but is not a great chef, I adored this movie. It was the subtitled one, which is the way I prefer to watch non English language films. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2022, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/84 "2022-11-13T14:10:15Z")
I saw “Border” (2018)… 7/10… Decent mix of many genres. But, I prefer dramas… Great dialogue without the cliches, but not weird for weird’s sake. I don’t need much movement, nor do I need the constant conflict/solution every 20 minutes. However, I’ve seen some bad movies in one room, all in real-time. I think they think, “The art-house fans will eat this shit up and once we make our money, let them complain after its too late” ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2022, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/85 "2022-11-13T16:55:13Z")
The mention upthread of an Argentinian movie reminds me of **Bombon El Perro** , a bittersweet road movie/midlife crisis where an almost lost soul decides he can turn his life around by getting a fighting dog to breed from - only the dog he’s conned into buying turns out not to be that keen on fighting, or breeding. ---
**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:** [November 13, 2022, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/86 "2022-11-13T17:36:25Z")
MortSahlFan, at this point there should be a lot of films mentioned in this thread that you can watch for free or stream relatively cheaply on YouTube or some other services. Why don’t you do that for a dozen or so of them? Then tell us which ones you like. That will tell us which other films you might like. The phrase in your title “great unique non-English-language movies” is far too inclusive to allow us to know what to recommend to you. There are tens of thousands of films that fit that description. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2022, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/87 "2022-11-13T19:22:19Z")
I’ve seen a few, and thought I reviewed them… It’s just that some say they’re available on Amazon Prime (but then say “Unavailable”)… But, as you said, the more mentioned, the better, in case one movie isn’t available (or if its simply not my thing)… No big deal. I’ll be specific, if there are thousands similar. It’s hard to scroll, but I know a made a mention of liking unique, but not weird. To me, if the script isn’t good, chances are the movie is going to be bad, unless the acting is amazing (an example/scenario from the OP - “Last Day of Summer”)… I’ll name an American movie – “Buffalo '66”… Everyone says, “I’ve never seen a movie like it”, but it’s the writing. There’s no superficial things going on. After seeing so many movies centered around men, I seem to prefer movies that revolve around women… Or, even a movie with just two characters – a woman and a man, or even better, two women (romance or platonic)… Mother-daughter… Especially somewhere secluded; you get to know the characters better, hopefully, if the writing is original. The truest stories seem to be the best… I posted this elsewhere, and throw a few more characteristics… When it comes to Genre - it’s Drama… I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Sci-Fi movie I enjoyed, but I did watch one mentioned here (“Border”) that was a 7/10, with a little bit of everything… Realistic horror can be good, but the popular one isn’t one I like. It’s English (The Innocents), but another movie made around the same time/place is the wonderful, “The Collector”. I consider it a drama, and it’s not just some kidnapping movie, but there’s nuance, and depth, and you understand the “bad guy”, which is sometimes a bit too simplistic. I like two characters who both make good points, instead of a figurehead for right/wrong. “Blind” (2014) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/dKoZE_tU9as/maxresdefault.jpg "Blind - Trailer Legendado") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKoZE_tU9as) ---
**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:** [November 13, 2022, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/88 "2022-11-13T20:41:52Z")
> [@MortSahlFan](#): > > After seeing so many movies centered around men, I seem to prefer movies that revolve around women O.K., this is something we can use for our recommendations. You want to watch great unique non-English-language movies that revolve around women. Anybody want to recommend some? If I look through the films in the URL below, I find the following just to start with: _Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles_ (1976, Belgium/France, dir. Chantal Akerman) _Cleo from 5 to 7_ (1961, France/Italy, dir. Agnès Varda) _Rosetta_ (1999, France/Belgium, dir. Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne) _Persona_ (1966, Sweden, dir. Ingmar Bergman) > **[A tonne of landmark movies for International Women’s Day](https://www.timeout.com/film/best-feminist-movies-of-all-time)** > > 100 Best Feminist Movies You Need to Watch Right Now ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2022, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/89 "2022-11-14T21:55:54Z")
Thank you so much! I’ve seen all those movies except “Rosetta”… I remember the cover. I really liked “La Promesse” and every movie by the Dardennes brothers. I’ll try to watch it now before it gets too late. Cheers! P.S. - “Persona” (and Bergman is one of my favorites) is really great, but it took me a second viewing. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2022, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/90 "2022-11-14T22:49:44Z")
Have you seen **Parallel Mothers**? Almodovar is a great director of women. From my longer list of 2022 movies, you might find **The Worst Person in the World** and **Official Competition** worthwhile. ---
**Author:** ![Hoops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoops/32/6408_2.png) [@Hoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoops)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2022, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/91 "2022-11-14T23:55:29Z")
How about a mermaid horror film from Poland? > **[The Lure streaming: where to watch movie online?](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/the-lure)** > > Where is The Lure streaming? Find out where to watch online amongst 45+ services including Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video. ---
**Author:** ![Hoops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoops/32/6408_2.png) [@Hoops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoops)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2022, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/92 "2022-11-14T23:58:30Z")
Sorry, should point out the trailers linked there are NSFW (some nudity). ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/93 "2022-11-15T18:03:11Z")
I’ve actually seen “Rosetta”… It’s been a while, and for some reason, it led me to think about “Vagabond”. If you have any other recommendations, I’d appreciate them, since I think you have a pretty good idea of what I might like. ---
**Author:** ![MortSahlFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@MortSahlFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MortSahlFan)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2022, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/94 "2022-11-15T22:49:57Z")
I just finished, “The Worst Person In The World” and it was very good - exactly what I was looking for! She’s the center of the movie, crises, and without the endless twists and turns. It felt very natural flowing, without explosions or overly dramatic scenes (even with those two really cool scenes I’ll call “Frozen” and “Trip”). It was very subdued and not that predictable. Although I knew what was on the characters’ minds, I wouldn’t mind if there were a few scenes where one is unsure, or if the audience isn’t unsure… One user critic described it as an existential crisis on film relatable to many 40-year olds who are trying to adjust to a world much different than the ones we were born in. The internet changed the world, but who’s to say things would have worked out if it wasn’t invented. People still have many of the same problems they did a thousand years ago. And then when you add music from the 60/70s, it’s going to make the movie better, especially two very good songs by Harry Nilsson.Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/95 "2022-11-16T01:13:55Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > At the risk of sounding plebian, I’m going to go with _Shin Godzilla_, the 2016 Studio Toho reboot of the Godzilla franchise. It’s a masterpiece as far as disaster/kaiju movies go, and it’s very much a political movie on a level not seen since the original, being a satire of the Japanese government’s response to the Fukushima disaster, and does an amazing job of making the titular creature both terrifying and sympathetic. > > The scene where Godzilla discovers how to use its atomic breath, set to an orchestral piece with operatic vocals about dying alone and forgotten, sends a chill every time I see it. As I wrote on this Board several years ago, I think of **Shin Godzilla** as G **odzilla vs. the Bureaucrats**. And the Bureaucrats, damn them, win. A very interesting and unique take on the whole Godzilla mythos. Kurasawa has been mentioned already. His **Seven Samurai** is one of my all-time favorite films in any language. It’s far superior to _The Magnificent Seven_ (which was one of the titles Kurasawa’s film was released under in the US. I’ve seen several of Kurasawa’s films (including _Ikiru_, whose presence in this thread I concur with), but my favorites, after Seven Samurai are _Rashomon, Kagemusha, Throne of Blood_, and _Dersu Uzala_ (DErsu Uzala was in Russian, by the way, because Toho wouldn’t back another of his features, but MosFilm offered to. It was after this was released that George Lucas (whose original _Star Wars_ borrowed heavily from Kurasawa’s _The Hidden Fortress_) and Francis Ford Coppola arranged for financing for Kurasawa’s _Kagemusha_, a film he feared he’d never get to make – he had tons of pre-production sketches for it already . After that he got to make _Ran_ and _Dreams._ ---
**Author:** ![omenran](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omenran/32/3318_2.png) [@omenran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omenran)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/96 "2022-11-16T02:30:21Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Kurasawa has been mentioned already. His **Seven Samurai** is one of my all-time favorite films in any language. It’s far superior to _The Magnificent Seven_ (which was one of the titles Kurasawa’s film was released under in the US. I really like Kurosawa too, and I didn’t mention his films because to me they’re pretty obvious as foreign films go, and were already mentioned, so I wanted to suggest other directors and films that are less well known. Besides _The Magnificent Seven_ which was turned into a western theres also _Yojimbo_ which was remade into _A Fistful of Dollars_, and _Sanjuro_ which is a sort of sequel. I’ve also watched _Stray Dog_ and _The Lower Depths_. I don’t think there are too many-if any- bad Kurosawa films, and most of the critically acclaimed and popular ones have subbed versions available. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/97 "2022-11-16T10:19:50Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Castle in the Sky > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > This was a Japanese-language film, but it’s interesting to note that the novel it’s based on was in English. > [@carrps](#): > > The book was called _Castle in the Air_; it is a Diana Wynne Jones book _Castle in the Sky_ (AKA _Laputa:Castle In The Sky_) is an original story by Miyazaki and not based on a Wynne Jones book at all. The _name_ comes from Swift but it’s also completely unrelated to _Gulliver’s Travels_. ---
**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:** [November 16, 2022, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/98 "2022-11-16T10:48:24Z")
Sorry, that was very sloppy on my part. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/99 "2022-11-16T19:23:08Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > _Castle in the Sky_ (AKA _Laputa:Castle In The Sky_) is an original story by Miyazaki and not based on a Wynne Jones book at all. Ah. I haven’t seen it. I knew Howl was based on the book. Since Castle in the Sky was so similar to Castle in the Air, I moronically assumed they were based on books in the sames series. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2022, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/100 "2022-11-16T19:26:21Z")
**Les Triplettes de Belleville** is like no other movie I have seen, and in a very good way. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2022, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540/101 "2022-11-17T05:24:13Z")
I don’t remember any talking in that movie, although it’s been a while. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-unique-non-english-language-movies/974540.md?page=6)