Great Foreign Films of the Last Three Decades
by mrenel | created - 23 Dec 2011 | updated - 03 Jan 2012 | PublicAn on-going list of foreign-language films that I have enjoyed from the last three decades.
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1. The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
R | 126 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
Ernesto Guevara de la Serna, popularly known as Che, along with his friend Alberto Granado, decides to take a road trip across South America. His experiences on the journey transform him.
Director: Walter Salles | Stars: Gael García Bernal, Rodrigo de la Serna, Mía Maestro, Mercedes Morán
Votes: 105,442 | Gross: $16.78M
(Spanish, Argentina)
2. 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: 798,464 | Gross: $33.23M
(France)
3. 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: 129,615 | Gross: $13.62M
(Spanish, Mexico)
4. 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: 805,020 | Gross: $7.56M
(Portuguese, Brazil)
5. Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
R | 118 min | Drama, Fantasy, War
In the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Ivana Baquero, Ariadna Gil, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú
Votes: 706,719 | Gross: $37.63M
(Spanish, Mexico/Spain)
6. Good Bye Lenin! (2003)
R | 121 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In 1990, to protect his fragile mother from a fatal shock after a long coma, a young man must keep her from learning that her beloved nation of East Germany as she knew it has disappeared.
Director: Wolfgang Becker | Stars: Daniel Brühl, Katrin Sass, Chulpan Khamatova, Florian Lukas
Votes: 153,499 | Gross: $4.06M
(Germany)
7. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)
R | 152 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A journalist is aided by a young female hacker in his search for the killer of a woman who has been dead for forty years.
Director: Niels Arden Oplev | Stars: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Ewa Fröling, Lena Endre
Votes: 224,661 | Gross: $10.10M
(Sweden)
8. A Prophet (2009)
R | 155 min | Crime, Drama
A delinquent Muslim man struggles to get by in prison until he is taken under the wing of a powerful mob boss. But his gradual rise through the mob's ranks brings him in conflict with his mentor.
Director: Jacques Audiard | Stars: Tahar Rahim, Niels Arestrup, Adel Bencherif, Reda Kateb
Votes: 102,805 | Gross: $2.08M
(French/Arabic/Corsican, France/Italy)
9. Antonia's Line (1995)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama
A Dutch matron establishes and, for several generations, oversees a close-knit, matriarchal community where feminism and liberalism thrive.
Director: Marleen Gorris | Stars: Willeke van Ammelrooy, Jan Decleir, Veerle van Overloop, Els Dottermans
Votes: 9,500 | Gross: $4.82M
(Dutch, Netherlands)
10. Maria Full of Grace (2004)
R | 101 min | Crime, Drama
A pregnant Colombian teenager becomes a drug mule to make some desperately-needed money for her family.
Director: Joshua Marston | Stars: Catalina Sandino Moreno, Guilied Lopez, Orlando Tobón, Virginia Cristina Ariza
Votes: 36,384 | Gross: $6.52M
(Spanish, Colombia/U.S.)
11. The Triplets of Belleville (2003)
PG-13 | 80 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy
When her grandson is kidnapped during the Tour de France, Madame Souza and her beloved pooch Bruno team up with the Belleville Sisters--an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire--to rescue him.
Director: Sylvain Chomet | Stars: Michèle Caucheteux, Jean-Claude Donda, Michel Robin, Monica Viegas
Votes: 57,437 | Gross: $7.00M
(France/Belgium/Canada/U.K.)
12. Volver (I) (2006)
R | 121 min | Comedy, Drama
After her death, a mother returns to her home town in order to fix the situations she couldn't resolve during her life.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Penélope Cruz, Carmen Maura, Lola Dueñas, Blanca Portillo
Votes: 108,127 | Gross: $12.90M
(Spain)
13. 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: 39,203 | Gross: $21.85M
(Italy)
14. Sin Nombre (2009)
R | 96 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
A young Honduran girl and a Mexican gangster are united in a journey across the U.S. border.
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga | Stars: Paulina Gaitan, Marco Antonio Aguirre, Leonardo Alonso, Karla Cecilia Alvarado
Votes: 34,243 | Gross: $2.53M
(Spanish, Mexico/U.S.)
15. The Last Kiss (2001)
R | 115 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Carlo's life is thrown into a tailspin when his longtime girlfriend Giulia announces she's pregnant. As Carlo faces up to his anxieties about adulthood, his buddies Paolo, Adriano and ... See full summary »
Director: Gabriele Muccino | Stars: Stefano Accorsi, Giovanna Mezzogiorno, Stefania Sandrelli, Claudio Santamaria
Votes: 8,825 | Gross: $1.05M
(Italy)
16. La Vie En Rose (2007)
PG-13 | 140 min | Biography, Drama, Music
Biopic of the iconic French singer Édith Piaf. Raised by her grandmother in a brothel, she was discovered while singing on a street corner at the age of 19. Despite her success, Piaf's life was filled with tragedy.
Director: Olivier Dahan | Stars: Marion Cotillard, Sylvie Testud, Pascal Greggory, Emmanuelle Seigner
Votes: 91,318 | Gross: $10.30M
(France)
17. The Crime of Padre Amaro (2002)
R | 118 min | Drama, Romance
Politics and sexual passions threaten to corrupt a young, newly-ordained priest in a small Mexican town.
Director: Carlos Carrera | Stars: Gael García Bernal, Ana Claudia Talancón, Sancho Gracia, Angélica Aragón
Votes: 14,519 | Gross: $5.71M
(Spanish, Mexico/Spain/Argentina)
18. The Apartment (1996)
R | 116 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A recently engaged man sees a former lover and becomes obsessed with meeting her again.
Director: Gilles Mimouni | Stars: Romane Bohringer, Vincent Cassel, Jean-Philippe Écoffey, Monica Bellucci
Votes: 16,004
(France)
19. 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: 49,484 | Gross: $5.70M
(Mongolian, Mongolia/Germany/Russia/Kazakhstan)
20. Le Dîner de Cons (1998)
PG-13 | 80 min | Comedy
A few friends have a weekly fools' dinner, where each brings a fool along. Pierre finds a champion fool for next dinner. Surprise.
Director: Francis Veber | Stars: Thierry Lhermitte, Jacques Villeret, Francis Huster, Daniel Prévost
Votes: 44,535 | Gross: $4.07M
(France)
21. 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: 284,386 | Gross: $11.99M
(Italy)
22. Coco Before Chanel (2009)
PG-13 | 105 min | Biography, Drama
The story of Coco Chanel's rise from obscure beginnings to the heights of the fashion world.
Director: Anne Fontaine | Stars: Audrey Tautou, Benoît Poelvoorde, Alessandro Nivola, Marie Gillain
Votes: 42,374 | Gross: $6.11M
(France)
23. Children of Heaven (1997)
PG | 89 min | Drama, Family, Sport
After a boy loses his sister's pair of shoes, he goes on a series of adventures in order to find them. When he can't, he tries a new way to "win" a new pair.
Director: Majid Majidi | Stars: Mohammad Amir Naji, Amir Farrokh Hashemian, Bahare Seddiqi, Nafise Jafar-Mohammadi
Votes: 81,167 | Gross: $0.93M
(Farsi, Iran)
24. Hero (2002)
PG-13 | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A defense officer, Nameless, was summoned by the King of Qin regarding his success of terminating three warriors.
Director: Yimou Zhang | Stars: Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung, Ziyi Zhang
Votes: 188,559 | Gross: $53.71M
(Mandarin, China/Hong Kong)
25. Ladrón que roba a ladrón (2007)
PG-13 | 98 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
Two former thieves reunite to rob the biggest thief they know -- Moctesuma Valdez, a TV infomercial guru who's made millions selling worthless health products to poor Latino immigrants. When none of their affiliates want to go undercover as day laborers to pull off the heist, the two men turn to the real thing for help.
Director: Joe Menendez | Stars: Fernando Colunga, Miguel Varoni, Julie Gonzalo, Saúl Lisazo
Votes: 1,987 | Gross: $4.00M
(Spanish)
26. 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: 746,941 | Gross: $57.60M
(Italy)
27. A Very Long Engagement (2004)
R | 133 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
Tells the story of a young woman's relentless search for her fiancé, who has disappeared from the trenches of the Somme during World War One.
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet | Stars: Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Jodie Foster, Dominique Pinon
Votes: 76,400 | Gross: $6.17M
(France)
28. Joyeux Noel (2005)
PG-13 | 116 min | Drama, History, Music
In December 1914, an unofficial Christmas truce on the Western Front allows soldiers from opposing sides of the First World War to gain insight into each other's way of life.
Director: Christian Carion | Stars: Diane Kruger, Benno Fürmann, Guillaume Canet, Natalie Dessay
Votes: 32,147 | Gross: $1.05M
(French, France/Germany/U.K./Belgium/Romania)
29. Secuestro express (II) (2004)
R | 86 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Young couple Carla (Maestro) and Martin (Leroux) are abducted by three men and spend a terrifying night in Caracas as they wait for Carla's father (Blades) to hand over the ransom.
Director: Jonathan Jakubowicz | Stars: Mía Maestro, Jean Paul Leroux, Rubén Blades, Carlos Julio Molina
Votes: 2,695 | Gross: $0.30M
(Spanish, Venezuela)
30. Biutiful (2010)
R | 148 min | Drama, Romance
A man dying of cancer tries his best to leave the world on his own terms.
Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu | Stars: Javier Bardem, Maricel Álvarez, Hanaa Bouchaib, Guillermo Estrella
Votes: 95,196 | Gross: $5.10M
(Spanish, Mexico/Spain)
31. Priceless (2006)
PG-13 | 106 min | Comedy, Romance
Jean, a shy waiter who works at a high-end hotel, is mistaken for a young millionaire by the beautiful and intriguing fortune hunter Irene.
Director: Pierre Salvadori | Stars: Audrey Tautou, Gad Elmaleh, Marie-Christine Adam, Vernon Dobtcheff
Votes: 33,401 | Gross: $1.50M
(France)
32. The Princess of Montpensier (2010)
Not Rated | 139 min | Action, Drama, History
Based on the classic didactic novel, the action centers on the noble lady who soon becomes exposed to the sexual and political intrigues of the French court of the religious wars era.
Director: Bertrand Tavernier | Stars: Mélanie Thierry, Lambert Wilson, Gaspard Ulliel, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet
Votes: 4,340 | Gross: $0.34M
(France)
33. Rudo y Cursi (2008)
R | 103 min | Comedy, Drama, Sport
Two siblings are rivals in the world of professional soccer.
Director: Carlos Cuarón | Stars: Gael García Bernal, Diego Luna, Guillermo Francella, Dolores Heredia
Votes: 9,386 | Gross: $1.83M
(Spanish, Mexico)
34. The Stoning of Soraya M. (2008)
R | 114 min | Drama
A story told by Zahra to a French journalist of her niece Soraya Manutchehri, a 35-year-old married woman, who received capital punishment and stoned to death because of false accusations in the remote village of Kuhpayeh, Iran, in 1986.
Director: Cyrus Nowrasteh | Stars: Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jim Caviezel, Mozhan Navabi, Navid Negahban
Votes: 21,920 | Gross: $0.66M
(Farsi, Iran)
35. Like Water for Chocolate (1992)
R | 105 min | Drama, Romance
When tradition prevents her from marrying the man she loves, a young woman discovers she has a unique talent for cooking.
Director: Alfonso Arau | Stars: Marco Leonardi, Lumi Cavazos, Regina Torné, Mario Iván Martínez
Votes: 18,974 | Gross: $21.67M
(Spanish, Mexico)
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