What's Your Favorite Non-Anglophone Films?

Das Boot. Even though there is an English version, it has to be watched in German with subtitles

Downfall; mesmerising performance by Bruno.
 
Vince W said:
Tampopo
Astérix et Obélix contre César
Astérix et Obélix: Mission Cléopâtre
Amélie
Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez series.
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Tampopo is pretty much the perfect film in my book. Has everything: humour, manners, pathos, tragedy, silly bits, a quest, a mysterious hero in a cowboy hat, a clever and zingy script, and a great ending. A serious film that does not take itself seriously. Probably my favourite film of all time.
 
Das Boot! I totally forgot about that. Superb movie.

Any foreign language science fiction recommendations?
 
Amelie
Wages Of Fear (not to be confused with Fear of Wages)
Nightwatch and Daywatch
The Devil's Backbone

Plus loads of others already mentioned
 
Eat Drink Man Woman (1994) Mandarin
Taiwan's greatest chef has lost his senses of taste and smell. Sooo, now what? Food, family, romance, responsibility, repression, secrets, and rebirth.

La Belle et le Bete (1946) French
Grace, compassion, acceptance, forgiveness, and rebirth. Released a year after WW2, it's a deep well of analogies. It's worth a view just for the special effects and lighting. Yes, it is worth a view just for the special effects and lighting in a black and white film.

The General (1926) Silent film with english title cards
There's music, so it's not quite silent. We are sometimes so used to the overacting of Kurt Russell, Jim Carrey, William Shatner, et al. (and I love those guys) that Keaton's performance could be shrugged off. If you pay attention to his subtle facial movements and how his breathing can affect his demeanor, then you'll find a phenomenal performance.

Bang Bang! (2014) Hindi
I think it's Hindi... I cannot be more specific regarding Indian dialects. Bang Bang! is an official Bollywood remake of Hollywood's Knight and Day (Cruise and Diaz). So K&D was bad... and BB does not really improve the plot and it's two and a half hours long, BUT it is a fun fantasy/romcom that keeps jumping the shark. Plus... singing and dancing!

Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) Hindi
The story is reminiscent of Les Miserables... just replace the Paris Uprising of 1832 with Hindu-Muslim tensions and replace Jean Valjean with Forrest Gump. Self worth, mercy, and humanity are the themes. It blatantly tugs at your heartstrings, but so what? Also, the reporter at the train station is absolutely hilarious.

Life is Beautiful (1997) Italian
Tragedy in comic form. Hope, commitment, and legacy.

The Killer (1989) Cantonese
Like the previous two films in this list, this movie also asks the question "How far will you go to save someone?" When it was released, Americans really had never seen gun fu before. This film highly influenced Luc Besson's Leon.

Hard Boiled (1992) Cantonese
Chow Yun Fat (Dirty Harry) squares off against Tony Leung (a combination of Billy Costigan in The Departed and Mr. Orange in Resevoir Dogs). I can imagine that the Wachowskis loved this film. But unlike The Matrix, all the action is live. We all know that multiple cuts allow for live action bullet ballet whereas CG allows for impossibly long extended actions... and yet there is a two and a half minute take in Hard Boiled that is fantastic. Imagine the hallway scene in Old Boy done in the style of the opening scene of A Touch of Evil and you'll know what I'm talking about. One of the problems with a foreign language action film is that there's always that temptation to stop reading and listen in English in order to see the action.

The Seven Samurai (1954) Japanese
Loss. Enduring the unendurable. What is man? What is society? Where is justice?

Fist of Fury aka The Chinese Connection (1972) Cantonese
I can sum up this movie in two words... Bruce Lee. But you knew I'd keep typing anyway.... Pride, patriotism, duty.

The Flowers of War (2011) Mandarin, Japanese, English
This movie is not for the faint of heart... and like Platoon, American Beauty, and The Wrestler, I may never watch it again because it is so depressing. It's Leaving Las Vegas meets 300 sans beefcake.

My Way (2011) Korean, Japanese, Mandarin, Russian, German, English
The epic, enthralling, improbable (and unconfirmed) story of how U.S. soldiers captured a Korean soldier on D-Day.
 
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I tried to watch The Wandering Earth, but I found it too silly to be believable.

Nightwatch and Daywatch are on my list as I did enjoy the books. Was the original Solaris Russian, too?
 
Rodders said:
Das Boot! I totally forgot about that. Superb movie.

Any foreign language science fiction recommendations?
Click to expand...
You seem to have seen those I'd mention. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, though it probably would be classed as more of a fantasy, is a great film.

Have you seen Alphaville, the 1960s film? I could be wrong but think it might be getting a remake. I haven't seen the original yet.

I watched The Wandering Earth to the end. It was interesting in the sense of what Chinese filmmakers could achieve if they manage to pull everything off, but ultimately boring because the characters weren't engaging and I failed to suspend my disbelief.
 
What are your thoughts on dubbing vs. subtitles?

Paranoid, I haven't seen Downfall yet, but I am led to believe that it's very good.

I didn't think too much of Host (a Korean monster movie).
 
Rodders said:
What are your thoughts on dubbing vs. subtitles?

Paranoid, I haven't seen Downfall yet, but I am led to believe that it's very good.

I didn't think too much of Host (a Korean monster movie).
Click to expand...
Given the option, I always choose subtitles. I've seen Spirited Away both dubbed and subtitled, and that feels much better subtitled. I don't think the Americans did a great job of the dub, especially with Chihiro, who they seemed to turn into a bratty kid. Infernal Affairs is another I've seen both. I don't remember the dub being too bad, but I watched it subtitled first.
 
Millennium Series (extended edition).
Nine hours of Noomi Rapace as Lisbet Salander.
Subtitled in English.
 
With Das Boot forget the movie, the original series is on blue ray.
others include
Yojimbo
Hard Boiled
God of Gamblers
A Better Tomorrow
The Seventh Seal
Cyrano de Bergerac.
 
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