# What's your favorite foreign language film? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266 "2018-02-21T13:41:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/61 "2018-02-22T18:15:57Z")
My two favorites for repeated viewing: \*\* La Cage Aux Folles ``` El Secreto De Sus Ojos** (The Secret In Their Eyes) ``` ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/62 "2018-02-22T19:06:28Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > [_Johnny Stecchino_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102164/) is a good film. That it is. Benigni’s _The Monster_ is much funnier IMHO, but it’s certainly not for all tastes, given the subject matter. Johnny, your reaction to Betty Blue reminds me of a recent film I saw this weekend: [Look Who’s Back (Er ist wieder da)](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4176826/?ref_=nv_sr_1), a 2015 German movie that imagines how things might play out if Hitler magically returned. It’s a deft blend of slapstick comedy and vantablack political satire. I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of it before. I cannot recommend it enough. Everyone should see it - especially now. All that said, my favorite foreign language film is [The Seventh Seal](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050976/?ref_=nv_sr_1). Bergman’s blunt, ultimately life-affirming agnosticism plays out poetically against his backdrop of medieval magical realism. Practically every frame is an art photograph. That, and as an American of Swedish descent, I’m quite prejudiced. I have treasured this film since college; at the risk of invoking Bill and Ted, it is so excellent in so many ways. ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/63 "2018-02-22T19:23:19Z")
> [@jerseymule](#): > > _Cinema Paradiso_ was the first one I thought of. I also really like [_Let The Right One In_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1139797/). Another vote for these two. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/64 "2018-02-22T19:28:42Z")
Many of my faves have been mentioned. One of my favorite directors is Akira Kurosawa, and I especially like _The Seven Samurais, Ran, Yojimbo and The Hidden Fortress_. My favorite Bergman movie is probably _The Seventh Seal_. These should also count: [Münchhausen](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036191/) [Schtonk](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105328/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1), probably my favorite German comedy. It’s about the fake Hitler diaries and very close to the truth, that’s what makes it so hilarious. Those two were a bit of cheating, because they are not foreign to me, so I hope the next one counts, Jim Jarmusch’s _Night On Earth_. Two of the episodes in it are in English, but the others in Italian, French and Finnish, with even a smidgen of German by Helmut (Helmet!) the most incompetent taxi driver of NYC, played by the wonderful Armin Müller-Stahl. I love this movie. ETA: heck, ninja’d by \*\*StusBlues \*\*with _The Seventh Seal_. It’s all true what he said about the movie. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/65 "2018-02-22T19:42:49Z")
How could I forget Aki Kaurismäki’s movies??? Recommended: [I Hired A Contract Killer](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099818/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_32) [Kauas pilvet karkaavat](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116752/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_19) I don’t think there are any more deeply humane movies than Kaurismäki’s. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/66 "2018-02-22T20:05:10Z")
So many of them, I’d almost have to break it down by which language. But I’ll plop down [Fist of Legend](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110200/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) because I’ve watched it a hundred times and the act of posting it now will give me the insatiable urge to watch it again tonight 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2018, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/67 "2018-02-22T23:59:00Z")
Chris Marker’s La Jette I remember loving Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, but I haven’t seen it in years. ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/68 "2018-02-23T00:12:38Z")
_Sawdust and Tinsel_ _Kamikaze '89_ _The Tin Drum_ showing Bergman how it’s done - [_Whispers of the Wolf_](https://youtu.be/wjksZPJOkvk?t=88) and [_The Dove_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1TlAd6M-xU) - the real art house shit ---
**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:** [February 23, 2018, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/69 "2018-02-23T01:25:11Z")
Another vote for _Babette’s Feast_. Make sure you watch the subtitled one, not the dubbed one. Side question: Sometimes when I’m watching a foreign language movie (subtitled), even though I don’t understand the language, I find myself turning up the volume, as though somehow that will make me comprehend what they’re saying. Does anyone else catch themselves doing this? I guess it’s the same principle as talking louder to a person who doesn’t understand your language as if somehow additional volume will magically bridge the language gap. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/70 "2018-02-23T01:47:15Z")
**Babette’s Feast** is one of my top three favorite FOOD movies, along with **Tampopo** and **Big Night** (which only counts as a foreign language fil,m because a lotta people in it speak Italian). I’m shocked that there is no other love for Dreyer’s **Passion of Joan of Arc.**. You can watch the damn thing FREE on YouTube, although it’s better with Einhorn’s “Voices of Light” cantata, which was especially composed to accompany the film. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3Q6FVhqLY0) ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/71 "2018-02-23T01:54:54Z")
Jesus of Montreal Les Enfants du Paradise and some of the above-mentioned (Dreyer’s Passion of Joan of Arc being one – I saw this screened with a live symphony & choir singing the cantata, wowzer) ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/72 "2018-02-23T05:02:46Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Side question: Sometimes when I’m watching a foreign language movie (subtitled), even though I don’t understand the language, I find myself turning up the volume, as though somehow that will make me comprehend what they’re saying. Does anyone else catch themselves doing this? I guess it’s the same principle as talking louder to a person who doesn’t understand your language as if somehow additional volume will magically bridge the language gap. Weird. (Raises hand) Me. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/73 "2018-02-23T05:18:48Z")
Rashomon Seven Samurai Yes, but also Onibaba (1964) ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/74 "2018-02-23T07:16:04Z")
I’ve only seen a few through my life. I do find it difficult to concentrate on movies generally these days, and subtitles do not help. So I have to be boring and say _Amelie_. And if I’m honest it’s the one I’ve watched most often, so it must officially be my favourite. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/75 "2018-02-23T10:32:42Z")
The director’s cut of [Das Boot](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082096/reference) - best war movie ever. [Nine Queens](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0247586/reference) - I love a good caper movie. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/76 "2018-02-23T11:24:27Z")
I won’t repeat some of the great ones I see listed above, but I would also add **Pather Panchali** to my list. ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/77 "2018-02-23T14:29:46Z")
> [@Gray\_Ghost](#): > > I mainly popped in because I forgot _[Ridicule](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117477/)_. It’s a very cute, playful French film about the Louis XVI court, and an outsider’s attempt to ingratiate himself within it so that he can get the court to fix some things in his home province. Not a “great” film, but quite good. This is a good example of a film that might be considered “great” in the future, as improved English subtitles, adaptations and teaching materials are developed. I could understand if the usual half-assed job of translating to English was done here, it’s a film about language that is difficult to translate, and ideas that are currently unpopular in the English-speaking world. The last scene features an aristocrat who has become a refugee in the English-speaking world. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/78 "2018-02-23T14:56:27Z")
_Ma Vie En Rose (My Life In Pink)_ It’s a very small, very low-budged French film about a boy who identifies as and tries to live as a girl. Hijinks ensue. Normally I don’t care for smaller, “artsy” films, but I have a soft spot for foreign films that get into the minutiae of daily life. Going to work, going to school, going to football practice, that sort of thing; I like seeing the foreign experience portrayed on film. This movie does that in spades. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/79 "2018-02-23T16:06:09Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > I’m shocked that there is no other love for Dreyer’s **Passion of Joan of Arc.**. You can watch the damn thing FREE on YouTube, although it’s better with Einhorn’s “Voices of Light” cantata, which was especially composed to accompany the film. > > [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d3Q6FVhqLY0](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d3Q6FVhqLY0) This is on my list of movies whose high regard I just do not fathom. An entire film of (mostly) silent closeups? Not getting it. Glad you like it, though. And my friends share your high regard for _Babette’s Feast_. ---
**Author:** ![Evin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@Evin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evin)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2018, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266/80 "2018-02-23T16:30:23Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > The answer can only be resolved in a stand-up fight between Tampopo’s truck driving cowboy and the wily, generous and skilful Dersa Uzala. Agreed. Kurasawa’s **Dersu Uzala** , along with **High and Low** are IMHO his best “outliers.” As many of my favorites have so far been mentioned, I also nominate the Russian film **Ostrov** (The Island) as a sublime addition to any foreign collection. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-favorite-foreign-language-film/809266.md?page=5)