Best Foreign Films
by jsacco-932-15120 | created - 25 Dec 2010 | updated - 30 Dec 2010 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
R | 174 min | Drama, Romance
A filmmaker recalls his childhood when falling in love with the pictures at the cinema of his home village and forms a deep friendship with the cinema's projectionist.
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore | Stars: Philippe Noiret, Enzo Cannavale, Antonella Attili, Isa Danieli
Votes: 283,147 | Gross: $11.99M
It's going to be hard to top this! It's love and romance on many levels. Always breaks your heart. One of the reasons you go to the movies. And it's the quintessential movie ABOUT movies!
2. La Femme Nikita (1990)
R | 117 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Convicted felon Nikita isn't going to jail; she's given a new identity and trained, stylishly, as a top secret spy/assassin.
Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Anne Parillaud, Marc Duret, Patrick Fontana, Alain Lathière
Votes: 76,465 | Gross: $5.02M
Every time I watch this I say, 'wow!" It's exciting, tragic, dangerous. Reminds you of being young. And that's a good thing.
3. Seven Samurai (1954)
Not Rated | 207 min | Action, Drama
Farmers from a village exploited by bandits hire a veteran samurai for protection, who gathers six other samurai to join him.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Toshirô Mifune, Takashi Shimura, Keiko Tsushima, Yukiko Shimazaki
Votes: 367,064 | Gross: $0.27M
Perhaps one of the best examples of film craftsmanship -- in any language.
4. Amélie (2001)
R | 122 min | Comedy, Romance
Despite being caught in her imaginative world, Amelie, a young waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey where she finds true love.
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet | Stars: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Lorella Cravotta
Votes: 794,647 | Gross: $33.23M
Fun, bright, uplifting. I love this film.
5. La Dolce Vita (1960)
Not Rated | 174 min | Comedy, Drama
A series of stories following a week in the life of a philandering tabloid journalist living in Rome.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Anita Ekberg, Anouk Aimée, Yvonne Furneaux
Votes: 78,248 | Gross: $19.52M
Makes you feel like a grown-up. And that's a good thing.
6. Bicycle Thieves (1948)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama
In post-war Italy, a working-class man's bicycle is stolen, endangering his efforts to find work. He and his son set out to find it.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell, Elena Altieri
Votes: 175,275 | Gross: $0.33M
Again, I love the craftsmanship of this film. Post-war Italy in all it's horrid, cinematic glory. Visually poetic. When my grandparents would come back from Italy, they would say, "how can people live like that!?" This is what I think of when I remember their comments.
7. Children of Paradise (1945)
Not Rated | 189 min | Drama, Romance
The theatrical life of a beautiful courtesan in 1830s Paris and the four men who love her.
Director: Marcel Carné | Stars: Arletty, Jean-Louis Barrault, Pierre Brasseur, Pierre Renoir
Votes: 21,178
Art meets life. This is sometimes called the French "Gone with the Wind."
8. 8½ (1963)
Not Rated | 138 min | Drama
A harried movie director retreats into his memories and fantasies.
Director: Federico Fellini | Stars: Marcello Mastroianni, Anouk Aimée, Claudia Cardinale, Sandra Milo
Votes: 125,273 | Gross: $0.05M
Fellini's last black and white film. Twists and turns. This is great movie making.
9. The 400 Blows (1959)
Not Rated | 99 min | Crime, Drama
A young boy, left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.
Director: François Truffaut | Stars: Jean-Pierre Léaud, Albert Rémy, Claire Maurier, Guy Decomble
Votes: 128,140
Truffault at his best. Moving. Comic. They called this film French New Wave. A gritty picture of youth not unlike On the Waterfront or Rebel Without a Cause.
10. The Butcher (1970)
Unrated | 93 min | Drama, Thriller
An unlikely friendship between a dour, working class butcher and a repressed schoolteacher coincides with a grisly series of Ripper-type murders in a provincial French town.
Director: Claude Chabrol | Stars: Stéphane Audran, Jean Yanne, Antonio Passalia, Pascal Ferone
Votes: 9,393 | Gross: $0.47M
11. M (1931)
Passed | 99 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
When the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann, Inge Landgut, Otto Wernicke
Votes: 168,556 | Gross: $0.03M
Peter Lorre. Wow! The first serial killer thriller.
12. All About My Mother (1999)
R | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A comedy-drama about a bereaved mother, and overwrought actress, her jealous lover, and a pregnant nun.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Cecilia Roth, Marisa Paredes, Candela Peña, Antonia San Juan
Votes: 102,948 | Gross: $8.26M
Can be melodramatic. In all the right ways. Almodovar's perfect Mother's Day card!
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