Probably because most versions that went into theatrical circulation dubbed the film. Screening a subtitled Ghibli film is not completely unknown but still relatively uncommon.
In all fairness, this is pretty much a dialogue-free film (I don’t remember a single subtitle in it). There are vocalizations to be sure, but nothing that’s supposed to be recognizable and what few lines I do remember are by the English-speaker in the nightclub party.
Yeah, I intentionally excluded them because the language issue really isn’t a barrier. Otherwise I would’ve included I Was Born, But… (Ozu)–made in the sound era but still a holdout to the technology.
There are a lot of candidates for me, but one just jumped to the top of the list recently: Your Name (君の名は, Kimi no Na wa.)
OK, fine, I’ll take Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday.
My very best I’ve seen is probably M (German language, 1931)
There are a number that are more or less tied for second place:
Das Boot (German, 1981)
The 400 Blows (French, 1959)
Come and See (Russian/Byelorussian, 1985)
Downfall (German, 2004)
Pan’s Labyrinth (Spanish, 2006)
Amélie (French, 2001)
A Separation (Farsi, 2011)
Yes, but the theme song is not dialogue, and knowing the lyrics (which are pretty nonsensical even in French) aren’t required to understand anything in the film. Ditto for the brief snatches of radio/TV broadcasts in the film, which are about establishing atmosphere rather than advancing the plot through narrative. AFAIK the only time in the film that one character actually speaks to another is in the very last scene, just before the credits roll. All he says is (paraphrasing from memory), “Is it over yet?”
But have you tried The Tall Blond Man With One Black Shoe? 
Tons of great films being listed!
The first movie I thought of was “Delicatessen”, but I probably like “Kung Fu Hustle” more (depending on what I’m in the mood for).
Police Story
Or any one of a dozen or so 80’s/90’s Jackie Chan action flicks.
Amarcord (1974, Italy, dir. Federico Fellini)
Army of Shadows (1969, France/Italy, dir. Jean-Pierre Melville)
Chungking Express (1994, Hong Kong, dir. Kar Wai Wong)
Fantastic Planet (1973, France, dir. Rene Laloux)
La Jetée (1962, France, dir. Chris Marker)
La Strada (1954, Italy, dir. Federico Fellini)
M (1931, Germany, dir. Fritz Lang)
Seven Beauties (1976, Italy, dir. Lina Wertmuller)
Seven Samurai (1954, Japan, dir. Akira Kurosawa)
The Tree of Wooden Clogs (1978, Italy, dir. Ermanno Olmi)
As mentioned, it’s a much more faithful translation than is usually the case. One of my not yet mentioned favorites Bicycle Thieves (1948) was known for the longest time in the U.S. as The Bicycle Thief. As you can well imagine, if the title of one of the greatest films of all time is mistranslated, the problem is of translation to English rampant.
This cracked me up because I love this movie and think the opening scene means to make even European audiences uncomfortable. It’s a slow zoom on the final full two minutes of an intense lovemaking session, but is also the set up to one of the best opening lines in cinema:
They…ummm…finish, and the male voiceover deadpans:
I met Betty a week ago.
Wendell Wagner @51:. I’m not a huge Fellini fan, but Amarcord rates damn high for me, too.
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.
And big, big ups for Rolf de Heer’s Ten Canoes, and Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto.
I had known Betty for a week. We screwed every night. The forecast was for storms.
Indeed. Hilarious! 
Not just my favorite foreign language films, but my favorite films, period:
- Tornatore’s Cinema Paradiso.
- Truffaut’s *L’Argent de poche * (Small Change). I adore the Deluca brothers, but am very glad they’re somebody else’s children. Love the food lift to crafty brat Sylvie, with her screaming “j’ai faim, j’ai faim”.
- Fellini’s Amarcord. Ah, Gradisca.
Apparently I like films about children, just not films about American children.
No, there’s English narration.
But there is the “Italian Fantasia”, Allegro Non Troppo, a guilty pleasure and my favorite foreign film.
If Playtime counts, then I’d think Metropolis should too, as you’re not really watching either for spoken dialogue. Though Metropolis with a full orchestra is just gorgeous. I’ll check out Der Golem, it sounds amazing.
Kicking myself for forgetting Downfall. And I guess Apocalypto does count, though I don’t know why I didn’t think of it as a foreign language film. I mean, the whole thing is in Yucatec; you’ve got serious bragging rights if you didn’t need the subtitles to understand the dialogue. Though it’s not really a dialogue driven story, is it?
I mainly popped in because I forgot Ridicule. 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.
I wanted to like Come and See a lot more than I did. It’s ‘dreamier’ than a war picture IMHO should be, (probably why I couldn’t get into Waltz with Bashir) albeit the artillery barrage about 1/3 through the film is amazing, and compares well with footage of the real thing.
Same reason.
It was one of the first films I took my wife to see when we met.
…and I was a projectionist at the time so the film resonated with me.
Johnny Stecchino is a good film.