Best Foreign Language Films

[waltzingparrot]

I'm English, so by that I mean films not in English

Just watched a brilliant film. The Invisible Guest on Netflix. Psychological-thriller, very, very clever plot. Spanish film and there's no English audio so you have to watch it with subtitles (unless you're fluent in Spanish or some other european languages that are available).

Haven't really watched any subtitled films over the last decade so there must be some recent blinders that I've missed.

Any recommendations please?

Jean De Florette
Cinema Paradisio

Diabolo menthe/Peppermint soda (70s)
La vie est une longue fleuve tranquille (late 80s I think)
The Choir/les choristes 00s

Jme

Amelie

Betty Blue, and the soundtrack is brilliant. Babette's Feast.

Cidade de Deus/City of God is my absolute favourite foreign language film. I've seen it countless times and never get tired of it.

Some I like in Spanish:
[REC]
Fermat's Room
Anything by Pedro Almodovar
Pan's Labyrinth
Cronos

I saw a German film called Sonnenallee/Sun Alley once at a film festival and really loved it but haven't been able to find it on DVD or streaming with English subtitles.

Roma (Netflix)

The Lives of Others and Goodbye Lenin are two of my favourites. I do like a films set in the Cold War.

Departures and Akira, both Japanese - I’d also add Spirited Away.

Ponette, which is French. I cried the whole way through…

Goodbye Lenin
The Educators

Both German, both brilliant.

Nine Queens - it’s an Argentinian classic

@DazzlePaintedBattlePants

Departures and Akira, both Japanese - I’d also add Spirited Away.

Ponette, which is French. I cried the whole way through…

Love Spirited Away. In fact we've worked our way through most Miyazaki films. So much in them.

Couldn't quite fathom Roma. Utterly mesmerising and yet I wondered why I'd sat through it all. Why did I watch a woman cleaning dog poo off her driveway??

Contra Corriente (I think it's Undertow in English)
Also several of those named above.

Oooh I luffs me a bit of foreign film

Another vote for Parasite

Also Almodovar films especially
Todo Sobre Mi Madre
Hable Con Ella

More obscure but I love it
La Ardilla Roja by Julio Medem

Jagten by Tomas Vinterberg with Mads Mikklesen which is reason enough to watch it

Cache french film really intriguing lots of possible interpretations

El Espiritu de la Colmena (Spirit of the Beehive)

Old boy, city of god, old boy..

Cinema Paradiso
Il postino

Spanish language films:

Y tu mama también (a Mexican road trip film - excellent though not light viewing)

Amores Perros (Mexican- follows three people’s life in Mexico City as their lives are connected by a car crash)

The Orphanage (Spanish horror about a woman who goes back to the orphanage she was from to start it again with her adopted child)

Mientras duermes (while you sleep) - creepy Spanish film about a guy who is caretaker for a block of flats and has a thing for a woman staying there

Todo sobre mi madre (all about my mother)/ hable con Ella (talk to her)- two films by the Spanish director Almodovar. Those in my opinion are the best. A lot of his films are similar.

Tesis - Spanish thriller and a student who finds a snuff film

Te doy los ojos - take my eyes - the only film I’ve ever seen which represents domestic violence realistically

Open your eyes - the film Vanilla sky was based on. I’ve only seen the original and it’s good. Also has Penelope Cruz

There’s a good Spanish film which I’ve forgotten the name of. It’s about a man who has someone turn up at his house saying the phone booth out on street isn’t working and can he use his phone(set before mobiles). He lets the guy in and leaves him for a moment to use the phone but when he comes back the guy is no where to be seen and he starts to get paranoid that he’s not left but is still in the house. If anyone knows the name let me know.

German films:
The educators
Downfall
Das Boot

Life is Beautiful (Italian)
Departures (Japanese)

Both cover dark subjects and tug on the heartstrings, but somehow make you laugh as well, despite the grim material.

Op have you watched any Bollywood movies?

@MimiDaisy11

La Cabina - it's one of my favourite films

Sorry MimiDaisy11 just re-read your description and I don't think it's the same film. How many Spanish films about phone boxes can there be?

@Grumpyoldpersonwithcats
Yeah a different film. Never seen La Cabina so might check it out 😊

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Some other films I’ve remembered OP:

Infernal Affairs (Hong Kong)- it’s the film The Departed was based on but it’s better as they made some changes which made the remake worse.

Also agree with others who mention The City of God.

I know you’re asking for films but if you’re interested in tv series then The Bridge (Danish/Swedish) is one of my favourites. It’s still on bbc iplayer.

Alone at my Wedding/Seule a mon Mariage. Belgian film, with the brilliant Alina Serban, a RADA trained Romanian Roma actor. Also Gypsy Queen.

Pauline at the Beach/Pauline a la Plage. Great French film about love, coming of age in the 1980s.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downfall_(2004_film)

Spirited away
Howls moving castle
Ponyo
My neighbour Totoro
Castle in the sky
Dark water

And not a film but a Korean series. My secret terrius on Netflix