Top 25 Foreign Language Films of the last 20 years
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- DirectorPatrice LeconteStarsJean RochefortAnna GalienaRoland BertinAntoine has always been fascinated by a hairdresser's delicate touch, the beguiling perfume and the enticing figure of a woman with an opulent bosom. After all, he always knew he would marry one, completing his idealised love fantasy.
- DirectorJaco Van DormaelStarsMichel BouquetMireille PerrierJo De BackerThomas believed he was switched at birth with Alfred. Feeling cheated, Thomas spent his life plotting revenge against Alfred, his perceived lifelong adversary who he felt stole the privileged life that should have been his.
- DirectorClaude SautetStarsDaniel AuteuilEmmanuelle BéartAndré DussollierStéphane is an emotionally distant but professionally dedicated violin restorer whose cold heart is tested when his employer's new girlfriend, a beautiful violinist, falls for him.
- DirectorClaude ChabrolStarsIsabelle HuppertSandrine BonnaireJacqueline BissetA newly hired maid for a rich countryside family befriends a post-office clerk who encourages her to rebel against her employers.
- DirectorFrédéric FonteyneStarsNathalie BayeSergi LópezJacques VialaA woman puts an ad in a magazine looking for a man to fulfill her fantasy of a stringless, anonymous pornographic affair.
- DirectorFabián BielinskyStarsRicardo DarínManuel RodalDolores FonziA deluded taxidermist plans the perfect crime.
- DirectorPedro OleaStarsOmero AntonuttiAssumpta SernaJoaquim de AlmeidaA fencing master in pre-revolution Spain is hired to teach fencing to a beautiful young woman. Although he has never taught a woman before, he is fascinated by her and agrees. She wishes to learn a particular thrust which he is famous for. When a local nobleman becomes involved with her the intrigue begins.
- DirectorKar-Wai WongStarsTony Leung Chiu-waiMaggie CheungSiu Ping-LamTwo neighbors form a strong bond after both suspect extramarital activities of their spouses. However, they agree to keep their bond platonic so as not to commit similar wrongs.
- DirectorGiuseppe TornatoreStarsGérard DepardieuRoman PolanskiSergio RubiniOnoff is a famous writer who hasn't published any new books for quite some time and has become a recluse. When he is picked up by the police one stormy night, without any identification, out of breath and running madly, without clear memory of recent events, the Inspector is suspicious. Through interrogatory dialectic, the head of this lonely, isolated, broken-down police station tries to establish what has happened, by delving into the mind of his writer-hero, and clearing up a mysterious killing.
- DirectorIgor ZaritzkyStarsAnnett RennebergSimon BöerTomek PiotrowskiIn total despair, Anja is about to throw herself from a bridge. At that very moment, Henry drives past in his car. Thinking she's a prostitute, he invites her home with him. She pretends to be what he initially thought. She refuses to explain the reasons for her apparent attempt at suicide. They begin to play strange games, engage in unusual sex, leading her to try fleeing the apartment, but he catches her. Forced by him, she tells him about Lilly who was raped and then killed by someone, leaving Henry with the impression that Lilly and Anja are one, the same person. They play more mind games, make love, and after Anja going back and forth trying to leave, he finally lets her go. She goes, but is back again soon after. And with a vengeance, she causes a series of strange events which will change the course of both of their lives.
- DirectorJean-Paul RappeneauStarsGérard DepardieuAnne BrochetVincent PerezFamed swordsman and poet Cyrano de Bergerac is in love with his cousin Roxane. He has never expressed his love for her as he his large nose undermines his self-confidence. Then he finds a way to express his love to her, indirectly.
- DirectorAndré TéchinéStarsCatherine DeneuveDaniel AuteuilMarthe VillalongaOld woman Berthe leaves her house to live in her daugter Emilie's one. Emilie and her brother Antoine have fallen out three years ago and have not seen each other since, but Emilie invites him for Christmas. Memories will come up, and will be depicted both Berthe's destiny and the strange relationship between Emilie and Antoine.
- DirectorRaúl RuizStarsMarcello MastroianniAnna GalienaMarisa ParedesTake a walk into the dreamlike world of filmmaker Raul Ruiz as he takes us to Paris for a twisting ride. Four strangely symmetrical stories unfold involving love, lust, crime, and time.
- DirectorAlain CorneauStarsGérard DepardieuJean-Pierre MarielleAnne BrochetThe story of Monsieur de Sainte Colombe, fierce and somber man, grand master of the viola da gamba and professor of Marin Marais, prestigious musician in the court of Louis XIV.
- DirectorRaúl RuizStarsMelvil PoupaudElsa ZylbersteinLambert WilsonComing to you as if from a dream half-remembered, two oneiric fantasies by the great Chilean fabulist Raúl Ruiz. First, a great guide - with pages torn out - for beginners, this picture has stories-within-stories covering nearly the whole range of Ruiz's diverse passions, from pulp to intellectual.
- DirectorPatrice LeconteStarsPhilippe NoiretRichard BohringerThierry LhermitteVincent, a stunt pilot, is acquitted of murdering his wife and her lover. However, a few years later, L'Elegant, the Judge in the case, comes to blackmail him. The Judge's nephew, Paul, is having trouble with his wife and they demand that Vincent kill her. The Judge, a confirmed bachelor, takes Paul and Vincent on the road to search for Paul's wife Marie. The three men get on well together, and spend their time discussing their relationship with women.
- DirectorArturo RipsteinStarsRegina OrozcoDaniel Giménez CachoSherlynThe life of a man who preys on unsuspecting women for a living is changed when he finds an accomplice in the woman who loves and controls him.
- DirectorPierre SalvadoriStarsJean RochefortMarie TrintignantGuillaume DepardieuInto the solitary life of middle-aged hitman Victor Meynard come two people: Antoine, a youth who becomes Victor's apprentice; and Renée, a bold thief Victor's been hired to kill because she cheated a mobster. When circumstances prevent Victor from killing her, the gangster sends two more teams to do it and to dispatch Victor and Antoine. Victor decides to help Renée, and the unlikely trio ends up at his house with his temperamental mother; as they hide out there, Victor's attraction to Renée grows, she discovers his vocation and fears he will kill her, and an ultimate showdown with their hunters is inevitable.
- DirectorClaude SautetStarsEmmanuelle BéartMichel SerraultJean-Hugues AngladeWhen Nelly, a woman being just divorced, meets by chance M. Arnaud, a mature salesman just retired, begins a strange and special relationship between the two personalities.
- DirectorJean-Paul RappeneauStarsOlivier MartinezJuliette BinochePierre ArditiIn a time of war and disease, a young officer gallantly tries to help a young woman find her husband.
- DirectorPatrice LeconteStarsVanessa ParadisDaniel AuteuilFrédéric PflugerOne night, a fading entertainer intervenes when a woman contemplates suicide, beginning a strange, unpredictable relationship.
- DirectorÉric RohmerStarsClara BellarAntoine BaslerMathias MégardThree stories of love and coincidence around the theme of dates in Paris.
- DirectorFabián BielinskyStarsRicardo DarínGastón PaulsGraciela TenenbaumTwo con artists try to swindle a stamp collector by selling him a sheet of counterfeit rare stamps (the "nine queens").
- DirectorJacques AudiardStarsMathieu KassovitzAnouk GrinbergSandrine KiberlainSet in France at the end of World War II Albert Dehousse finds out his father wasn't a war hero and his mother is a collaborator. He leaves his wife and goes to Paris. Gradually he inveigles himself with the resistance movement. They trust him and he helps them trace collaborators.
- DirectorBertrand TavernierStarsDirk BogardeJane BirkinOdette LaureA retired English businessman has just been through heart surgery but it has, apparently, done little to relieve his constant pain or improve his long-term survival prospects.