My Favorite Foreign Films (So Far)
by khawk858 | created - 29 Apr 2011 | updated - 10 Sep 2016 | PublicHaving rated over 3000 films and having regularly watched movies for 44 of my 58 years, I decided to put my top 48 from my 9 and 10 ratings. My favorite foreign directors are Akira Kurosawa and Pedro Almodovar, but my list extends far beyond them.
- Instant Watch Options
- Genres
- Movies or TV
- IMDb Rating
- In Theaters
- Release Year
- Keywords
1. 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: 366,664 | Gross: $0.27M
2. 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: 175,086 | Gross: $0.33M
3. Farewell My Concubine (1993)
R | 171 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Two boys meet at an opera training school in Peking in 1924. Their resulting friendship will span nearly 70 years and endure some of the most troublesome times in China's history.
Director: Kaige Chen | Stars: Leslie Cheung, Fengyi Zhang, Gong Li, You Ge
Votes: 33,112 | Gross: $5.22M
4. Fitzcarraldo (1982)
PG | 158 min | Adventure, Drama
The story of Brian Sweeney Fitzgerald, an extremely determined man who intends to build an opera house in the middle of a jungle.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Klaus Kinski, Claudia Cardinale, José Lewgoy, Miguel Ángel Fuentes
Votes: 38,562
5. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)
Passed | 114 min | Biography, Drama, History
In 1431, Jeanne d'Arc is placed on trial on charges of heresy. The ecclesiastical jurists attempt to force Jeanne to recant her claims of holy visions.
Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer | Stars: Maria Falconetti, Eugene Silvain, André Berley, Maurice Schutz
Votes: 60,628 | Gross: $0.02M
6. City of God (2002)
R | 130 min | Crime, Drama
In the slums of Rio, two kids' paths diverge as one struggles to become a photographer and the other a kingpin.
Directors: Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund | Stars: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Matheus Nachtergaele, Phellipe Haagensen
Votes: 800,643 | Gross: $7.56M
7. The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993)
183 min | Documentary, Biography, History
A documentary about the life and work of Leni Riefenstahl, a German film director most notorious for making the most effective propaganda films for the Nazis.
Director: Ray Müller | Stars: Leni Riefenstahl, Marlene Dietrich, Arnold Fanck, Walter Frentz
Votes: 3,052 | Gross: $0.45M
8. Life Is Beautiful (1997)
PG-13 | 116 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
When an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.
Director: Roberto Benigni | Stars: Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, Giorgio Cantarini, Giustino Durano
Votes: 742,872 | Gross: $57.60M
9. Umberto D. (1952)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama
An elderly man and his dog struggle to survive on his government pension in Rome.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Carlo Battisti, Maria Pia Casilio, Lina Gennari, Ileana Simova
Votes: 28,166 | Gross: $0.07M
10. March of the Penguins (2005)
G | 80 min | Documentary, Family
In the Antarctic, every March since the beginning of time, the quest begins to find the perfect mate and start a family.
Director: Luc Jacquet | Stars: Morgan Freeman, Romane Bohringer, Charles Berling, Jules Sitruk
Votes: 59,940 | Gross: $77.44M
11. Princess Mononoke (1997)
PG-13 | 134 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
On a journey to find the cure for a Tatarigami's curse, Ashitaka finds himself in the middle of a war between the forest gods and Tatara, a mining colony. In this quest he also meets San, the Mononoke Hime.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Yôji Matsuda, Yuriko Ishida, Yûko Tanaka, Billy Crudup
Votes: 433,465 | Gross: $2.38M
12. Das Boot (1981)
R | 149 min | Drama, War
A German U-boat stalks the frigid waters of the North Atlantic as its young crew experience the sheer terror and claustrophobic life of a submariner in World War II.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann, Hubertus Bengsch
Votes: 264,245 | Gross: $11.49M
13. 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: 282,761 | Gross: $11.99M
14. Ran (1985)
R | 160 min | Action, Drama, War
In Medieval Japan, an elderly warlord retires, handing over his empire to his three sons. However, he vastly underestimates how the new-found power will corrupt them and cause them to turn on each other...and him.
Director: Akira Kurosawa | Stars: Tatsuya Nakadai, Akira Terao, Jinpachi Nezu, Daisuke Ryû
Votes: 136,115 | Gross: $4.14M
15. Open Your Eyes (1997)
R | 119 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A very handsome man finds the love of his life, but he suffers an accident and needs to have his face rebuilt by surgery after it is severely disfigured.
Director: Alejandro Amenábar | Stars: Eduardo Noriega, Penélope Cruz, Chete Lera, Fele Martínez
Votes: 73,214 | Gross: $0.37M
16. The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988)
R | 171 min | Drama, Romance
Central Europe, 1968: A Czech doctor with an active sex life meets a woman who wants monogamy, and then the Soviet invasion further disrupts their lives.
Director: Philip Kaufman | Stars: Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche, Lena Olin, Derek de Lint
Votes: 38,630 | Gross: $10.01M
17. The Star Maker (1995)
R | 113 min | Drama, Romance
A photographer and the types of people he encounters.
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore | Stars: Sergio Castellitto, Tiziana Lodato, Franco Scaldati, Leopoldo Trieste
Votes: 5,477 | Gross: $0.12M
18. Murmur of the Heart (1971)
R | 118 min | Comedy, Drama
As France is nearing the end of the first Indochina War, an open-minded teenage boy finds himself torn between a rebellious urge to discover love, and the ever-present, almost dominating affection of his beloved mother.
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Lea Massari, Benoît Ferreux, Daniel Gélin, Michael Lonsdale
Votes: 10,843 | Gross: $0.35M
19. Belle de Jour (1967)
R | 100 min | Drama, Romance
A frigid young housewife decides to spend her midweek afternoons as a prostitute.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Jean Sorel, Michel Piccoli, Geneviève Page
Votes: 49,031 | Gross: $0.03M
20. The Postman (1994)
PG | 108 min | Biography, Comedy, Drama
A simple Italian postman learns to love poetry while delivering mail to a famous poet, and then uses this to woo local beauty Beatrice.
Directors: Michael Radford, Massimo Troisi | Stars: Massimo Troisi, Philippe Noiret, Maria Grazia Cucinotta, Renato Scarpa
Votes: 38,996 | Gross: $21.85M
21. Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
PG | 125 min | Drama, Romance
China in the 1920s. After her father's death, Songlian is forced to marry the wealthy Master Chen. With three wives already, each living in a separate house, there is fierce competition for his attention and the privileges that are gained.
Director: Yimou Zhang | Stars: Gong Li, Jingwu Ma, Saifei He, Cuifen Cao
Votes: 35,329 | Gross: $2.60M
22. Depuis qu'Otar est parti... (2003)
Unrated | 103 min | Drama
The one joy in the lives of a mother and daughter comes from the regular letters sent to them from Paris from the family's adored son, Otar. When the daughter finds out that Otar has died ... See full summary »
Director: Julie Bertuccelli | Stars: Esther Gorintin, Nino Khomasuridze, Dinara Drukarova, Temur Kalandadze
Votes: 2,640 | Gross: $0.34M
23. Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998)
R | 99 min | Drama
Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year ... See full summary »
Director: Joan Chen | Stars: Xiaolu Li, Lopsang, Zheng Qian, Jie Gao
Votes: 3,675 | Gross: $1.00M
24. Cries & Whispers (1972)
R | 91 min | Drama
When a woman dying of cancer in early twentieth-century Sweden is visited by her two sisters, long-repressed feelings between the siblings rise to the surface.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Harriet Andersson, Liv Ullmann, Kari Sylwan, Ingrid Thulin
Votes: 36,969 | Gross: $1.74M
25. La Cage aux Folles (1978)
R | 97 min | Comedy
The manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and his star attraction, are a gay couple. Madness ensues when his straight son brings home a fiancée and her ultra-conservative parents to meet them.
Director: Édouard Molinaro | Stars: Ugo Tognazzi, Michel Serrault, Claire Maurier, Rémi Laurent
Votes: 11,905 | Gross: $20.42M
26. Two Women (1960)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, War
In WWII Italy, a widow and her lonely daughter seek distance between themselves and the horrors of war.
Director: Vittorio De Sica | Stars: Sophia Loren, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Raf Vallone, Eleonora Brown
Votes: 12,421
27. Roma (2004)
Not Rated | 155 min | Drama
Joaquín Góñez, a novelist in his sixties recalls his emotions, his wild years in Buenos Aires, the memories of old friends, the meaning of loyalty and the intimate relationship with his mother, Roma.
Director: Adolfo Aristarain | Stars: Juan Diego Botto, Susú Pecoraro, José Sacristán, Vando Villamil
Votes: 1,343
28. Bad Education (2004)
NC-17 | 106 min | Crime, Drama
An examination on the effect of Franco-era religious schooling and sexual abuse on the lives of two longtime friends.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Gael García Bernal, Fele Martínez, Javier Cámara, Daniel Giménez Cacho
Votes: 63,404 | Gross: $5.21M
29. The Other Side of the Bed (2002)
R | 114 min | Comedy, Drama, Musical
Two couples entwine on their search for love.
Director: Emilio Martínez Lázaro | Stars: Ernesto Alterio, Paz Vega, Guillermo Toledo, Natalia Verbeke
Votes: 5,843
30. A Dama do Lotação (1978)
R | 90 min | Drama
Carlos and Solange, childhood sweethearts, marry after a chaste courtship. On their wedding night, Solange refuses to make love to him. First he pleads, then in anger he rapes her. She says... See full summary »
Director: Neville de Almeida | Stars: Sonia Braga, Nuno Leal Maia, Jorge Dória, Paulo César Peréio
Votes: 823
31. Kundun (1997)
PG-13 | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
From childhood to adulthood, Tibet's fourteenth Dalai Lama deals with Chinese oppression and other problems.
Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong, Gyurme Tethong, Tulku Jamyang Kunga Tenzin, Tenzin Yeshi Paichang
Votes: 30,493 | Gross: $5.53M
32. The Tin Drum (1979)
R | 142 min | Drama, War
In 1924, Oskar Matzerath is born in the Free City of Danzig. At age three, he falls down a flight of stairs and stops growing. In 1939, World War II breaks out.
Director: Volker Schlöndorff | Stars: David Bennent, Mario Adorf, Angela Winkler, Katharina Thalbach
Votes: 25,747
33. Monsoon Wedding (2001)
R | 114 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A stressed father, a bride-to-be with a secret, a smitten event planner, and relatives from around the world create much ado about the preparations for an arranged marriage in India.
Director: Mira Nair | Stars: Naseeruddin Shah, Lillete Dubey, Shefali Shah, Vijay Raaz
Votes: 26,676 | Gross: $13.88M
34. Mediterraneo (1991)
R | 96 min | Comedy, Drama, War
In WW2, an Italian Army unit of misfits occupies an isolated non-strategic Greek island for the duration of the war.
Director: Gabriele Salvatores | Stars: Diego Abatantuono, Claudio Bigagli, Giuseppe Cederna, Claudio Bisio
Votes: 16,416 | Gross: $4.53M
35. That Obscure Object of Desire (1977)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Recounted in flashback are the romantic perils of Mathieu, a middle-aged French sophisticate as he falls for his nineteen-year-old former chambermaid Conchita.
Director: Luis Buñuel | Stars: Fernando Rey, Carole Bouquet, Ángela Molina, Julien Bertheau
Votes: 24,804 | Gross: $0.06M
36. Belle Epoque (1992)
R | 109 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A 1931 Spanish military deserter finds himself on a lonely farm until the farmer's four daughters pay a visit and he falls for all of them.
Director: Fernando Trueba | Stars: Fernando Fernán Gómez, Jorge Sanz, Penélope Cruz, Miriam Díaz-Aroca
Votes: 11,392 | Gross: $5.97M
37. The Lives of Others (2006)
R | 137 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | Stars: Ulrich Mühe, Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur
Votes: 410,331 | Gross: $11.29M
38. Amores Perros (2000)
R | 154 min | Drama, Thriller
An amateur dog fighter, a supermodel, and a derelict assassin, all separately struggling to find love, find their lives transformed by a devastating car wreck in Mexico City.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Emilio Echevarría, Gael García Bernal, Goya Toledo, Álvaro Guerrero
Votes: 252,822 | Gross: $5.38M
39. Metropolis (1927)
Not Rated | 153 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
Director: Fritz Lang | Stars: Brigitte Helm, Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Rudolf Klein-Rogge
Votes: 185,447 | Gross: $1.24M
40. Sex and Lucía (2001)
R | 128 min | Drama, Romance
Various lives converge on an isolated island, all connected by an author whose novel has become inextricably entwined with his own life.
Director: Julio Medem | Stars: Paz Vega, Tristán Ulloa, Najwa Nimri, Elena Anaya
Votes: 38,707 | Gross: $1.49M
41. And Your Mother Too (2001)
R | 106 min | Drama
In Mexico, two teenage boys and an older woman embark on a road trip and learn a thing or two about life and each other.
Director: Alfonso Cuarón | Stars: Maribel Verdú, Gael García Bernal, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Ana López Mercado
Votes: 128,859 | Gross: $13.62M
42. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
PG-13 | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A young Chinese warrior steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Chow Yun-Fat, Michelle Yeoh, Ziyi Zhang, Chang Chen
Votes: 281,558 | Gross: $128.08M
43. Talk to Her (2002)
R | 112 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
Two men share an odd friendship while they care for two women who are both in deep comas.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Rosario Flores, Javier Cámara, Darío Grandinetti, Leonor Watling
Votes: 117,468 | Gross: $9.36M
44. Mongol: The Rise of Genghis Khan (2007)
R | 126 min | Action, Biography, Drama
The story recounts the early life of Genghis Khan who was a slave before going on to conquer half the world in 1206.
Director: Sergei Bodrov | Stars: Tadanobu Asano, Amadu Mamadakov, Khulan Chuluun, Honglei Sun
Votes: 49,167 | Gross: $5.70M
45. The Piano Teacher (2001)
R | 131 min | Drama, Music
A young man romantically pursues his masochistic piano teacher.
Director: Michael Haneke | Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Annie Girardot, Benoît Magimel, Susanne Lothar
Votes: 71,740 | Gross: $1.90M
46. The Lover (1992)
R | 115 min | Biography, Drama, Romance
In 1929 French Indochina, a French teenage girl embarks on a reckless and forbidden romance with a wealthy, older Chinese man, each knowing that knowledge of their affair will bring drastic consequences to each other.
Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud | Stars: Jane March, Tony Ka Fai Leung, Jeanne Moreau, Frédérique Meininger
Votes: 23,486 | Gross: $4.90M
47. Fanny and Alexander (1982)
R | 188 min | Drama
Two young Swedish children in the 1900s experience the many comedies and tragedies of their lively and affectionate theatrical family, the Ekdahls.
Director: Ingmar Bergman | Stars: Bertil Guve, Pernilla Allwin, Kristina Adolphson, Börje Ahlstedt
Votes: 67,471 | Gross: $4.97M
48. Jean de Florette (1986)
PG | 120 min | Comedy, Drama
A greedy landowner and his backward nephew conspire to block the only water source for an adjoining property in order to bankrupt the owner and force him to sell.
Director: Claude Berri | Stars: Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Elisabeth Depardieu
Votes: 27,538 | Gross: $4.94M
Tell Your Friends