Some great suggestions, but I am surprised no one has mentioned the work of art that is Character, by first-time Dutch director Mike van Diem. One of my favorite movies of all time, in any language.
I just rented a movie (Russian) called Vor or The Thief. It ROCKED. I think it came out about four years ago?
Also Au Revoir Les Enfants was very good.
And let’s not forget Almodovar’s Tie Me Up Tie Me Down, for the more…advanced tastes. 
Anatomie, a recent horror movie from Germany starring the same actress from Run Lola, Run.
Let there be Light and Delicatessen are two French films that I can’t believe Hollywood have not tried to improve yet.
Post, a Norwegian black comedy, was excellent I thought.
Man Bites Dog, another very black comedy, this time from Belgium. te
Update: One of said friends informs me that Einhorn’s music is usually performed live in conjunction with showings of the film, and thus may not be available on the tape itself. I stand corrected.
One of my all-time favourites is Jean Renoir’s La grande illusion (1937), starring Jean Gabin, Erich Von Stroheim. Brilliant.
Ooh maryliza, I love Kusturica’s stuff as well. Black cat, white cat had me in stitches. I also really enjoyed When father was away on business. Warning! Avoid Arizona Dream. It’s crap.
I’m amazed no one has mentioned two of my all time highs (if you happen to have a somewhat black sense of humour):
Truffaut, François: Une belle fille comme moi(aka Such a Gorgeous Kid Like Me)
and
Scola, Ettore: Brutti, sporchi e cattivi (aka Ugly, Dirty and Bad/Ugly Dirty and Mean/Down and Dirty) (unfortunately I havn’t been able to find a good description of it)
I almost forgot “My Best Fiend, Klaus Kinski.” Definitely one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.
Kurosawa’s “The Hidden Fortress” (Kakushi Toride no San Akunin), starring Toshiro Mifune. The film that reportedly spawned the characters of C3PO and R2D2.
Alain Resnais’ “Hiroshima mon amour” – a trifle dated, but still worth watching.
You need some mandarin language films.
Zhang YiMou did many films with Gong Li. Red Sorgum is probably the best of the breed.
Chen Kaige has done many films including Yellow Earth.
My favorite may be Chen Kaige’s King of the Children, which IMHO is the greatest indictment of an educational system ever put on film.
Many of my friends say that Zhang Yimou as the lead actor, was the only Asian guy they would ever want to jump the bones of.
Sorry, meant to add in the Old Well was the flick. Zhang Yimou was quite the stud muffin.
Since we’re dealing with revisionism here, Chen Kaige’s Farewell to my Concubine is pretty awesome as well.
Also, the Black Cannon Incident (hei pai shi jian) (1986) is a pretty awesome indictment of bureaucracy. I did a google but can’t find who filmed this. But he was one of the “new wave” Chinese along with Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige.
- “Thesis”
- “Open Your Eyes”
(#1 and 2 are by Alejandro Amenabar) - “Tampopo”
- “Blue” w/Juliette Binoche in it
- “Taxing Woman”
- “Taxing Woman Returns”
( #5 and 6 are Japanese films. I forget the director’s name.) - “Ran” by Akira Kurosawa
- “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown”
- “The Dinner Game”
This is all I can think of right now. Sorry if I’m repeating some.
Oh, but have they seen Tony Leung Chiu Wai and Takeshi Kaneshiro of ‘Chungking Express’ fame? They look pretty do-able. And the film’s pretty good too.
Thanks for the tip, China Guy.
Yes! Underground is one of the finest movies I’ve ever had the privilege to watch. Black Cat, White Cat is also excellent. I also recommend Time Of The Gypsies by Kustarica. All of these films are perfect with stunning imagery and music, as well as compelling stories which give a perspective of Eastern European culture that most westerners usually don’t get to see.
Just want to add to the list “La Jeté.” I don’t remember the director’s name.
I don’t know the foreign language title, but in English this one is called A Pure Formality. It stars Roman Polanski and Gerard Depardieu. It was written and directed by Giuseppe Tornatore. It’s a great film with a terrific twist at the end. highly recommended
QuanSu, the director’s name is Chris Marker. La Jeté is indeed a very cool experimental French film.
Well, most of those that I thought of have already been named in the thread. However, I don’t think I saw any of Giuseppe Tornatore’s movies. Cinema Paradiso is wonderful, as are most (if not all) of his other films. And though it’s in English, I’ve got to say that The Legend of 1900 is simply amazing (though it doesn’t seem to be available everywhere, yet).
I was curious, though: which The Red Violin was being referred to, before? The Canadian film, though it is excellent, was in English.
I’m going to check in with the little known Nang-Nak, a tragic/romantic ghost story from Thailand. The translation of the title (Ghost Wife) somewhat gives the movie away, but the movie loses nothing because of it.
Here is a review that I fully agree with, but it goes into detail from start to finish and therefore contains spoilers (scroll down all the way for the DVD cover art- no spoiler there).
Here is a snippet without spoilers:
Expertly edited with very moving flashback images that help amplify the sense of tragedy as the film reaches its crescendo. Do not pass this movie up if you have the opportunity to watch it.
I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned it yet, but “Madadayo”, directed by Akira Kurosawa, was a really good movie. One of his best, in my opinion. Also, I hear that “Aguirre, The Wrath Of God” , directed by Werner Herzog is a good movie, also. He also directs the movie that I mentioned earlier - “My Best Fiend, Klaus Kinski.” Here’s a link for the review of that movie.
Hey, that link didn’t work, so try this link instead.
I really should proofread these things.
Also by Clouzot, Diabolique. An incredible chiller! Don’t waste your time on the Sharon Stone remake.
Just recently, La Fille sur le Pont (Girl on the Bridge), directed by Patrice Leconte. An absorbing film about love, luck and really sharp knives!
And from Iranian director Majid Majidi, Children of Heaven. A brother-sister film that will make you feel better than you’ve felt in a long time.