MovieChat Forums > Abre los ojos (1997) Discussion > Other legendary foreign films !!

Other legendary foreign films !!


Maybe the best film i have ever seen in my life, and just so happens to be foreign, is, La Haine. A french film about 24 hours in the life of 3 young men, an arab, a jew, and a black-man, all living in the notorious Parisian suburbs.

Does anyone know any other great foreign films?





Jim

reply

lilya forever. all about my mother. life is beautfiful. amelie. to name a few.

reply

"Talk to her", "L'Appartement", "Lola Rennet", "Jalla Jalla", "Malena". Hmmm I can't think of anymore right now.....

reply

Try these foreign films. They are all available on DVD at amazon.com.

Shaun of the Dead (2004) (UK)
Good Bye Lenin! (2003) (Germany)
I'm Not Scared (2003) (Italy)
In July (2000) (Germany)
The Spanish Apartment (2002) (France/Spain)
Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001) (France)
Amelie (2001) (France)
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) (UK)
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) (UK)
Run Lola Run (1998) (Germany)
Trainspotting (1996) (UK)
Open Your Eyes (1997) (Spain)
The Devil's Backbone (2001) (Spain)
Nightwatch (1994) (Denmark)
The Experiment (2001) (Germany)
Godforsaken (2003) (Netherlands)
Secret Things (2002) (France)
Common Wealth (aka La Comunidad) (2000) (Spain)
River (aka Joki) (2001) (Finland)
Live Flesh (1997) (Spain)

reply

wow man thanks for that!

Jim

reply

I forgot to mention one other foreign movie that I liked. It is a dutch movie by the director Robert Jan Westdijk. It is called "Siberia". It is a fun comedy which takes place in Amsterdam. Also you can rent from Blockbuster most of these DVD movies that I mentioned but if your local video store is missing some of the movies for any reason, you can always buy any of these DVD's online at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, bestbuy.com, etc.

reply

My Favs: (in no particular order)

1. Shawshank Redemption
2. Mullholand Drive
3. ButterFly Effect
4. Big Fish
5. OldBoy
6. Seven
7. Pulp Fiction
8. Usual Suspects
9. Life is Beautiful
10. Fish Called Wanda
11. Fight Club
12. Memento
13. City Of God
14. Saw
15. Power of One

reply

Do not forget Amenabar's masterpiece "Tesis". "Lucia y el sexo" (maybe "Sex and Lucia" in English?) is another great move.

reply

Cinema Paradiso is one of my all time favorite foreign films. I also love Swept Away.... (the original) and The Story of Adele H.

reply

[deleted]

Europa Eurpoa (1991)
Amelie
The Experement,

and the best A clockwork orange!!

Wherever, whatever, have a nice day...

reply

City of God in case nobody mentioned it, although I may have missed someone say it earlier.

reply

Please!...Please---There were many great films made before the year 1980! OK--I'll calm down. Many of the greatest films of all time--a great number of which were not made in the United States--were made before 1980. Some of these are:

1. Grand Illusion (Renoir, France)
2. Wild Strawberries (Bergmann, Sweden)
3. The Seven Samurai (Kurosawa, Japan)
4. Cries and Whispers (Bergmann, Sweden)
5. Children of Paradise (Carne, France)

As long as I'm on the subject, let me humbly mention what is, in my opinion, the finest piece of cinema ever made--and it's American: Hitchcock's masterpiece, Vertigo.

Allen Roth
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.--Burke

reply

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly was an Italian movie.

I really liked Y Tu Mama Tambien
I just saw City of God last night and it blew me away

reply

Agree with City Of God and would also throw in DELICATESSEN (French surreal comedy) RAN (1980s Japanese Samurai drama/comedy/action - bit of everything really - very enjoyable)MAN BITES DOG (Belgian mock-doc about a serial killer being tagged by a film crew - distressing in parts, but oddly funny at times)and WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE THIS (Spanish - Almodovar's best in my humble opinion)

If anyone is prompted to hire them out, I hope you're not disappointed.

reply

Wow, no-one replied with some Kurosawa goodness?

T-Cribs

reply

I did; see my post a few ones before yours. Thanks for citing him.

Allen Roth
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.--Burke

reply

I had to reply, so I can have this thread as a crib sheet. Anyway, there are a lot of good suggestions here. These may not all be considered legendary, but I like 'em. Here's a list:

The City of Lost Children
Baxter
Cold Comfort Farm
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and most anything else by Pedro Almodovar(including All About My Mother & Live Flesh mentioned above)
Sin Noticias de Dios (Don't Tempt Me-in the U.S.)
Shoot the Piano Player
Black Orpheus
The Bicycle Thief
La Femme Nikita
The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover
How to Get Ahead in Advertising
Brazil(Dir. Terry Gilliam's American, but movie's made in U.K. It's a cool flick, anyway, so check it out.)
Raise the Red Lantern
Ju Dou
Red Sorghum
Farewell, My Concubine
Insomnia (the original 1997 version w/Stellan Skarsgard)
Junk Mail
Snatch
The Harder They Come
Zulu
Enter the Dragon
The Five Deadly Venoms
The Legend
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Hero
Drunken Master
The Legend of Drunken Master
The Return of Martin Guerre (warning: Gerard de Pardieu citing here!)
Chungking Express
In the Mood for Love
2046
Wings of Desire
Until the End of the World
Red/Blue/White trilogy
The Double Life of Veronique
The Hairdresser's Husband
Il Postino
The Man on the Train
The Man Without a Past
Proof
Whale Rider
Rabbit-Proof Fence
Mad Max
Trainspotting (did someone mention that?)
Spirited Away - anime
Audition (WARNING!!!-this movie's not for the faint of heart-gory in parts, particularly the last 20 minutes or so!)
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Fitzcarraldo
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser
Tampopo
Eat Drink Man Woman
The Adjuster
Exotica
The Sweet Hereafter
Ararat
The General (1998-w/Brendan Gleeson)
Intermission (2003-w/Colin Farrell)
Monsoon Wedding
Water Drops On Burning Rocks
Under the Sand
8 Women
Swimming Pool
Festen (The Celebration-in U.S.)
The Seventh Seal

That's plenty for now. I don't want to think of any more at the moment. And please, keep adding to this thread; there are so many movies that fly under American radar that I know I've missed something spectacular; plus I haven't had time to see all the good stuff out there. Happy movie watching!

reply

...Run Lola Run
The Triplets of Belleville
The Spy Who Came In from the Cold


to be continued...

reply

...Das Boot
The Madness of King George
My Life As A Dog...
Man Bites Dog
Wild Strawberries
Irreversible

reply

Clockwork Orange was directed be Stanley Kubrick !

My list:

City of God
TĂ©sis
La Dolce Vita
La'Strada
Rashomon
Seven Samurai
Cinema Paradiso
El espinazo del Diablo
Historias Minimas
Amores Perros
Y tu mama tambien
Hidden Fortress
Lo que le paso a Santiago
Mar Adentro
Heroes de otra Patria
La muerte de 6

reply

(lil briton voice) yeah i know, but if your american, it's a foreign film.

Wherever, whatever, have a nice day...

reply

The Edukators (German)

reply

yes i agree old school john woo films were great

also check out Ringo Lam's, "City on Fire" Quentin Tarantino borrwed heavily from this movie to make "Reservoir Dogs"

"Old Boy" was great

reply

Just to name a few off the top of my head (that I didn't see on other lists):

-La Stanza del Figlio ("The Son's Room," Italy)
-Fuori dal Mondo ("Not of This World," Italy)
-Amores Perros ("Love's a Bitch")

reply

if no one mentioned them, i would add some other superb movies:

Black cat, white cat - Emil Kisturica

Underground - Emil Kusturica

The Stalker - Andrei Tarkowski

Dom za Vesanje/ Time of the Gypsies (1989) - Emil Kusturica

A clockwork orange

Et Dieu Crea la Femme/ And God Created Woman (1957) - Roger Vadim

reply

Pure Fomality. Brilliant!

reply

The Sea Inside - filmed in Galicia/Spain, is one you'll enjoy!.

reply

Santa Sangre (Mexico, 1989, A.Jodorowsky)
The Scent of Green Papaye (Vietnam, 1993, Anh Hung Tran)
The Road Home (China, 1999, Yimou Zhang, creator of Hero. He has made many good movies. i.e: Happy Times Hotel and Not One Less)
A One And A Two (Yi Yi) (Taiwan, 2000, Edward Yang)
The Celebration (Festen) (Denmark, 1998, Vinterberg)
Whale Rider (New Zeland, 2002, Niki Caro)
Dogville (Denmark, 2003, Lars Von Trier - The older stuff is also great, such as Dancer In The Dark, Breaking The Waves, The Idiots)

I also have to mention The Kingdom I & II, aka Riget, by Lars Von Trier. It's a mini-series in 8 episodes. It reminds me a little bit of David Lynchs work, and it's briliant.

reply

Ummm...... BATTLE ROYALE!!!

reply

Some not mentioned:

The Edukators
Veronika Voss
Der Untergang
The Virgin Spring
The Idiots

"Without you, I'm nothing"

reply

Infernal affairs
Leon
Taegukgi

reply

Christiane F.(Germany 1981)
El Espiritu de la Colmena (Spain 1973)
A Bout de Souffle (France 1959)

reply

Wow, so many wonderful films! Unless I've missed it, I don't think anyone's mentioned the French genius Henri-Georges Clouzot yet. Check out his "The Wages Of Fear" (Le Salaire de la peur) from 1953 or 1954's "Les Diaboliques". Both are utterly terrific.

reply

Amores Perros
The Motorcycle Diaries
Y tu mama tambien
Bad Educucation
City of God
Amelie
La Haine
Irreversible

Sorry if they've been mentioned just favourites

reply

More people should have recommended AMORES PERROS. Also, theres a great Czech film called MUSIME SI POMAHAT (DIVIDED WE FALL). I can't wait to see DER UNTERGANG, it comes out in Australia in a week.

reply