What is your favorite foreign (non-US) film?

[CrazyGirl17]

Pretty much anything made by Hayo Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli. Oh, and Monty Python & the Holy Grail.

 

[ConstantErasing]

Tough call but I am going to have to go with Spirited Away.

I have been surprised by the number of people who listed The Girl Who Leaped Through Time. While I liked it I didn't think it was THAT good.

 

[Blow_Pop]

Also I forgot Trainspotting....I don't know how I forgot that since I own it on blu ray, have the book, and a digital copy on my laptop but somehow I did....

And as an American, there are some good films in America that aren't blockbusters. Though your definition of blockbusters might differ from the actual definition of it. There are quite a bit of them around. I think you just aren't looking hard enough or you are dismissing too many films before giving them a chance. And some of the blockbusters aren't too bad either.

 

[Elonas]

Easy! The Girl who lept through time - Japanese
Spirited Away - Japanese
Myrinn - Icelandic
Pan's Labyrinth - Spanish.
And lots of English films like trainspotting, SHaun of the Dead/Hot Fuzz.

 

[KILRbuny]

i was mostly using the term "blockbuster" as a reference to all the myriad of films that seem to be overly advertised and shoddily made. I can't believe that they made another Mission: Impossible (the first one was boring enough) and with talk of another die hard (what is that like 8 now?) more and more sequels being announce and all the films i see ads for being nearly carbon copies of films i've seen or at least heard summaries of. this thread has turned into a list of movies that i'll be able to rely on for probably 6 months. thanks for all the reccomendations!!

 

[KILRbuny]

i absolutely LOVE the original and the remake of Funny Games. some of the few horror films i could get into based on the sheer believe-ability of the situation the characters were put in

 

[applesandoranges]

edit

 

[Marter]

It is definitely Three Colors: Red. A near-perfect film in my eyes.

 

[Bunnymarn]

Just gonna list them as I think of them:

Come and See
The Three Colours Trilogy
The Dekalog
M
Metropolis
Tokyo Story
Studio Ghibli films
Un Chien Andalou
L'Age d'Or
Seven Samurai
Amelie
Pan's Labyrinth
Satantango
The Pianist & Chinatown (Polanski's Polish... does that count?)
City of God
Cinema Paradiso
Life is Beautiful
Battleship Potemkin
8 and a Half
Leon: The Professional

That's all I can think of at the moment. This list has a lot of good ones: http://www.empireonline.com/features/100-greatest-world-cinema-films/

Also, here's a list of renowned directors I like. I'm slowly working my way through their films:
Vittorio De Sica
Federico Fellini
Andrei Tarkovsky
Ingmar Bergman
Krysztof Kieslowski
Charlie Chaplin
Luis Buñuel
Max Ophüls
Marco Ferreri
Bela Tarr
Yasujirô Ozu
Akira Kurosawa
David Lynch
Stanley Kubrick

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

If your really just asking for films not made in the usa id say the australian movie Red Dog. Even though im australian, I love this movie.

Its an australian movie that for one thing, doesnt wheel out sad old tropes about 'mateship' and its based around some awesome pub stories and urban legends surrounding a red heeler from Dampier in western australia.

Also the movie really moved me emotionally in a way no movie has really managed before.

Spoiler

when the red dogs master died and it went looking for him, I was in tears. Ive never cried because of a movie before! Maybe it was because my dog passed away last year though, and red dogs intelligent nature reminded me of him.

 

[Grey Day for Elcia]

What did you find so problematic with the remake? I found it serviceable, if slightly less daring.

In my eyes, they turned the story of a bullied, ostracized boy and a centuries old vampire who lives in endless immaturity and dependence on others (never before has a vampire been characterized so... humanly) into a quasi horror film with a misjudged, chaotic romance and drama.

It isn't about vampires. It isn't about love. It isn't about horror. It's about two boy misfits and their finding acceptance in one another--someone to fill the void they both have.

Just my opinion

 

[ImmortalDrifter]

If you live outside America... Wouldn't American films be foreign?...

 

[The Rainmaker]

Max Manus probably. Oldboy is really good as well.

 

[Dfskelleton]

If I were to think for a while, I could probably name a lot, but off the top of my head, most of the James Bond movies.

 

[Starke]

Leon The Professional, France

Does that one even count? I mean it was shot in New York, in English with American actors.

I mean, there are more action films with Jean Reno and Luc Besson, that are entirely foreign (Wasabi comes to mind), but, The Professional isn't really one of them is it?

Foreign means non-US now? That's pretty Americentric. But the thread seems to be positive so I won't try to create any problems.

Usually it refers to a film in a "foreign language," IE, not yours. Which is why foreign film lists on English speaking sites will rarely include things like Mad Max, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, or Aliens.

Anyway, for my own list:

La Grande Illusion, and The Battle of Algiers.

EDIT: on top of that, shame on you Escapist for making me the first person to mention those two.

 

[ten.to.ten]

Murels wedding..but thats hardly foregn to me since its Australain

Muriel's Wedding is my favourite movie too.

 

[viking97]

i really loved troll hunter

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Survive Style 5+ - weird and awesome.