Recommend This: FOREIGN films

[SinisterGehe]

I'm having easy pick seeing anything in English is Foreign for me.

But I need to recommend all of you to watch, Tuntematon Sotilas (The Unknown Soldier) (1955 vers).
It is classic and shows annual on TV during Finlands Independence Day.

It talks about the front line heroes and soldier of the continuation war of Finland. I'm sure it is pain in the ass to find with English Sub's, like the Book is ( The Unknown Soldier by Väinö Linna ). But if you can get hold either of these you are in for a treat.

 

[WhiteShadow2401]

"Amores Perros" and "Y tu mamá también" are great, great movies. "Let the Right One In" and "Pan's Labyrinth" are also very good. "REC" if you like horror movies. ("REC 2", on the other hand, while also very scary wasn't as good as REC in my opinion.)

 

[TimeLord]

All my votes go to 'Battle Royal'

Or 'Hero'. I love that film!

 

[lukenhiumur]

My Name Is Khan

it's bollywood, and one of the most beautiful films i have ever seen

 

[Aptspire]

the recent 'The girl' Swedish series of movies
hardcore stuff going around...very dark and bleak

 

[CK76]

These!

Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (also known as just Amélie)

A beautiful and quirky film about an introverted girl learning how to deal with other people. Part of it's greatness (beyond the extreme charm of Audrey Tautou) is that it really feels explicitly and unapologetically French in the best way possible.

Goodbye Lenin

A film about the fall of communism in the most important way possible: how it affected the people living under it. Set in Berlin during the fall of the Wall it gives a genuine depiction of the changes in society and how confused it left many of the East Germans. The mother (an enthusiastic communist) in the family it's about falls into a coma just before the wall falls and when she wakes up her family needs to hide the changes from her.

Lilja 4 Ever

Taking place in a nondescript post-soviet country it's about Lilja who is abandoned by her mother and ends up in Sweden doing forced prostitution. The movie is probably the most emotionally shattering experiences I have had with any piece of art.

Well done sir, I'll add.

Dekalog

Not for the faint of heart in terms of patience, but if you love film this is a brilliant Polish series about morality in an apartment complex. Runs about 9 hours over 10 different stories. Some are better than others, but much of that is subjective.

 

[Klumpfot]

Lilja 4 Ever

Taking place in a nondescript post-soviet country it's about Lilja who is abandoned by her mother and ends up in Sweden doing forced prostitution. The movie is probably the most emotionally shattering experiences I have had with any piece of art.

We had to see that movie in school. I think I was about 13-14. Kind of weird, at that age...

Anyways, American movies would technically be 'foreign' for a good chunk of people here. If you mean movies in a language other than English, I would recommend:

The Orphanage, by a certain Guillermo del Toro, who also directed a lot of the other movies recommended here.

Taxidermia. A very, very strange Hungarian movie about three generations of men with strange fixations, and a look into their lives. The three stories are meant to parallel Hungary's history during the 20th century. A very intelligent movie. Also very, very disgusting. Watch at your own risk.

Tetsuo: The Iron Man and Tetsuo II: Body Hammer. Japanese 'body horror' movies about a person who starts to grow metallic tumours and mechanical growths all over, turning him into some sort of a human/engine/weapon hybrid. Very surrealistic cinema, recommended if you like strange movies.

Also, for a laugh, watch Pulgasari. North Korea's Godzilla. I believe it can be watched legally on Google Video.

 

[Funkiest Monkey]

Honestly? No-one has mentioned District 13 or Ong-Bak yet?

District 13 is a French action movie with lots of parkour, and it kicks ass! It's awesome!


And Ong-Bak is a muay-thai martial arts film from Thailand. This is one of the best martial arts films I have seen in ages.


These aren't just my favourite foreign films, but two of my favourite films. Watch these both in subs and you won't be dissapointed. (Although Ong-Bak's dub is hilariously bad)

EDIT: Good to see people recommending [REC], good film. I have yet to see the new [REC]2, which apparently takes place immediately after the first. Empire Magazine said watching the two back to back would be a seemless (and great) experience.

 

[Zani]

Flickering Lights, Adam's Apples and The Green Butchers all of them are Danish (and awesome), but I'm sure you could find them with subtitles on some less than legal sites.

 

[wolf92]

In Bruges. Greatest movie I've seen in quite some time

 

[Funkiest Monkey]

My Name Is Khan

KHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!

 

[Gardenia]

I was going to say Oldboy, but since that has been said about a million times, I'll go with the Millennium trilogy.

 

[Thedayrecker]

Y Tu Mama Tambien (can't put the accents...)

Great movie from Mexico, about two best friends "coming-of-age".

Plus it has a gratuitous amount of nudity I can watch without subtitles and it makes me feel closer to my cultural heritage (although I'm Ecuadorian, not Mexican....)

EDIT: Damn ninja'd

 

[Not-here-anymore]

Let the Right One in by Thomas Alfredson. Swedish, and one of my favourite films ever, never mind solely foreign films.

I believe an American remake is coming out very soon? Hopefully it can live up to its Swedish predecessor.

OT: um... Let me look at my film drawer...

Nope, without cheating and claiming American films are foreign (they are to me), I'm done. I suppose I could probably come up with some obscure French comedies, but I can't remember the names of any of them. 'Jean de Florette' is quite good (although not a comedy, by any stretch of the imagination)

 

[randomsix]

Run Lola Run: Girl has 20mins to figure out a way to come up with $30,000 or her boyfriend dies

Lola Rennt is definitely my favorite foreign film (though I will admit that my experience is limited) and I would reccommend it to people new to foreign films, as it isn't dialogue heavy.

 

[Blue_vision]

I'm way too lazy to read all the other comments, but here are some of my favourites:

My Name is Khan, Paint it Saffron and Kites being some of my favorite "modern" Bollywood films, probably with Asoka taking 2nd place. The first 3 were just amazing emotional experiences, while Asoka for some reason makes me think of it as a Hindi version of Gladiator.

Another foreign film that was AMAZING was Bus 174, a Brazilian documentary about a bus hijacking. Amazing cinematography combined with a really moving topic made it astounding, and possibly the best part for your average joe is that I don't think subtitles would get in the way of it's meaning or good-ness at all (only guessing because I speak portuguese.)

Oldboy too, duh.

 

[Con Carne]

Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, Perfume (an acquired taste), Run Lola Run

 

[More Fun To Compute]

El Topo. Brilliantly odd film about a gunfighter searching for enemies and enlightenment. Essential viewing.

The Seventh Seal. That black and film about a knight who plays chess with death that everyone really should watch at some point or another.

Delicatessen. Black comedy about an unemployed clown trying to avoid being eaten by cannibals.

XXY. Saw this was on the BBC the other week. Impressive film about a young intersex person.

 

[m.zajac]

Red Cliff

 

[octafish]

Ok, some good suggestions there...
I'll add some that haven't been mentioned as far as I can see.

Hana Bi (It's Beat Takeshi's best, that makes it one of the best films ever made.)

Delicatessen (Forget Amelie or even City of Lost Children this is the one to see.) **OK ninja'ed on this one, but still worth mentioning**

Cyclo (The very very mean streets of Saigon.)

The White Ribbon (This is just, wow, timeless.)

Rififi (This is the heist movie)

Le Samurai, À bout de souffle (Breathless), and Alphaville (See it is cool to be French)

Branded to Kill (I love this film, I love Jo Shishido, I love his chipmunk cheek implants, I love the strangeness of the editing, mostly I love the smell of cooking rice)