Reading the Screen #1: Choosing the Best Non-English Language Films

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I was asked by Eddie on Film to participate in putting together a list of my favorite foreign language films so that we could create a definitive online list. In another incarnation, I blogged about film, which is how Eddie knows me, and cinema is definitely a big passion of mine.

Voting is open until Sunday, September 16th. You can find the list & how to vote here. Below is my selection from the list of the best of the bunch, and I’ve posted the 25 films I nominated here.

Superfast Reader’s Votes for Best Non-English Language Films:

1. Raise the Red Lantern directed by Zhang Yimou
2. Ali: Fear Eats the Soul directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
3. Rocco and His Brothers directed by Luchino Visconti
4. Grand Illusion directed by Jean Renoir
5. Nights of Cabiria directed by Federico Fellini
6. The Marriage of Maria Braun directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder
7. Aguirre, the Wrath of God directed by Werner Herzog
8. Andrei Rublev directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
9. Wild Strawberries directed by Ingmar Bergman
10. M directed by Fritz Lang
11. The Rules of the Game directed by Jean Renoir
12. Contempt directed by Jean-Luc Godard
13. Hiroshima Mon Amour directed by Alain Resnais
14. Rashomon directed by Akira Kurosawa
15. Fanny and Alexander directed by Ingmar Bergman
16. The Blue Angel directed by Josef von Sternberg
17. Persona directed by Ingmar Bergman
18. Three Colors: Blue directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski
19. Umberto D directed by Vittorio de Sica
20. Ugetsu monogatari directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
21. High and Low directed by Akira Kurosawa
22. City of God directed by Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund
23. The Decalogue directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski
24. Y Tu Mama Tambien directed by Alfonso Cuaron
25. Eyes Without a Face directed by Georges Franju

3 thoughts on “Reading the Screen #1: Choosing the Best Non-English Language Films”

  1. Pingback: 100 Best Foreign Films as Chosen by People Like Me

  2. Nice list. Funny, I’ve seen them all with a new found embracement of all things classic and foreign. It’s been years in a few titles though. Some real jewels – Andrei Rublev, and Hiroshima Mon Amour. Could use a few more French titles and maybe some German. No gripes from this end though.

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