Uplifting foreign films?

[FurrySlipperBoots]

My mum only really likes foreign films, but I always seem to end up buying her ones that turn out pretty depressing! The biggest hit was 'Le Petit Nicolas' which she thought was hilarious, but she wasn't so keen on the sequel. Can anyone recommend something along those lines? French or German would be ideal, but Italian is OK if there are subtitles. She loves animals and prefers 'nice' films, without much violence and nothing too raunchy.

@nancywhisky

Les Visiteurs has always been a favourite in our house.

I made the mistake of buying the American remake by accident - it too stars Jean Reno and Christian Clavier - and it is, quite frankly, crap.

I'm still on the lookout for the original.

Another vote for The Lunchbox here. One of my all-time favourite films.

La faute a Fidel (Blame it on Fidel)

Catherine Frot - the midwife in @nosswith's suggestion has starred in some good French films including these, definitely uplifting, movies:

Marguerite - more or less the French version of the Meryl Streep film Florence Foster Jenkins. "Paris, 1920s. Marguerite Dumont is a wealthy woman, lover of the music and the opera. She loves to sing for her friends, although she's not a good singer. Both her friends and her husband have kept her fantasy. The problem begins when she decides to perform in front of a real audience."

Haute Cuisine - The story of a French country cook and how she was appointed as the private chef for President François Mitterrand. This one is free on Prime atm.

I saw Haute Cuisine on Amazon Prime and it is very worth watching. Though the actor playing Francois Mitterand is nothing like him in appearance.

Lots of good film recommendations from pp.

Would your mum like Asian films?
I went to the cinema to see Sweet Bean An (m a few years ago (think it may be just ‘sweet bean’ on Amazon prime) and enjoyed it. We loved Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and House of the Flying Daggers but there are fight scenes, so may not be her cup of tea; amazing dress and choreography though.

Goodbye Lenin

Amelie
A Very Long Engagement
Cinema Paradiso
Malena
Life Is Beautiful

Another vote for Heartbreaker which is wonderful and definitely fits the uplifting bill. It's one of my favourite films and I have watched it many times. Romain Duris is very charming.

I'm going to say Slumdog Millionaire. I know its director is English but it's DNA is Indian/Bollywood.

Capernaum a film about a young boy living in the slums of Beirut who attempts to sue his parents for child neglect. His story told in retrospect as a runaway whilst living on the streets where he encounters a kindly Ethiopian immigrant woman and her baby son who he briefly lives with. A wonderful film well worth a watch it's on Prime. The child actor who played the young boy wonderfully well, was himself a Syrian refugee living in Lebanon at the time.