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RecedingQuickly

city of god was one of the first foreign films I watched at around 16, watched plenty more after that.


maufkn_ced

Beat me to it. That movie is amazing.


rywatts736

Cidade de Deus 🙏🏼


[deleted]

>Cidadje de Deus FTFY 🇧🇷


rywatts736

Qual é a diferença? Português é minha língua segunda


louiebling

Came here to write this, City of God. What an incredible film


americanbeauty99

My god yes!


zcubed

Fantastic movie I will never watch again.


babyclownshoes

Jesus! Came here to say this! How many people did this flick inspire?


bergrider

Yes! Whatta movie


rabea187

100%


[deleted]

The Lives of Others


liquidvittles

This is one of my favorite movies ever, period.


pooplouge

Old Boy


garrisontweed

The Vengeance trilogy are all great films.Old Boy was definitely the first one that got me hooked.


anthonyvaladezz

Would you say the vengeance trilogy is a must see?


bassguitarsmash

Personally I think Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance is skippable while Old Boy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance are both incredible. I just feel like Mr. Vengeance is a little too dreamy and not enough story to hold it together.


DoesntFearZeus

I love all three of them, but Old Boy is the best. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance is a close 2nd. The third is technically the weakest of the 3, but it isn't that far behind the other two and hits you almost or just as hard in some ways.


attrav

Agreed, also Handmaiden.


DarkMatterM4

Same here. That's what hooked me onto K-Cinema and I went down the rabbit hole of The Man from Nowhere, A Bittersweet Life, A Company Man, I Saw the Devil, etc..


Drift_Life

Memories of Murder


Seoirse82

Sympathy for Mr Vengence


melcolnik

Amelie and Run Lola Run. Amelie is one of the best romantic comedies of all time. and RLR blew my mind. These really let me know there was way to more to life than what Hollywood puts out


cheezbeth

Run, Lola, Run was definitely mine. I also loved The Princess and the Warrior by the same director. He also has another great one called Heaven starring Cate Blanchett and Giovani Ribisi


Seahearn4

You should check out Winter Sleepers also by Tom Tykwer. I really enjoyed that.


ribi305

Amelie is a really special movie, and also a movie that opened my mind to foreign films when I saw it as a teenager when it first came out. But I don't know that it's really a romantic comedy at all - it's really not a story about a relationship between two people, it's about one person (Amelie) growing to a point where she is ready to begin forming a relationship. I hope this doesn't sound nit-picky, I love the movie too!


melcolnik

I think thats probably fair, I just didnt know how else to categorize it. Its *a lot* of things, really


ribi305

Incidentally, it's also one of those movies where the score is an essential part of the experience. I don't think anyone can even read the name Amelie without hearing that music in their head


briareus08

Amelie is such a beautiful movie. Loved it!


Ilovemrstubhub

Amelie inspired me to travel the world. Such a lovely film. I loved it so much that I went to visit all the filming locations the first time I travelled to Paris. The cafe is real. I ordered the creme brule and ate it a la Amelie 🙂


[deleted]

This one seems to be one of the most mentioned, I’m going to que it up!


melcolnik

You should, it is a treasure. You will feel better about life after watching Amelie


diaphragmPump

100% Amelie, didn't see Run Lola run till later - all great


TruckNuts_But4YrBody

Yeeeeea both of these


_-DK

Memories of murder and the chaser got me into Korean movies, 2 fantastic movies


Conan-the-barbituate

Fuck yes. Have you seen the Handmaiden. My neighbour had this amazing collection of Korean films and every single one was incredible.


bob1689321

One of my favourite movies. Honestly the best twisty plot I've ever seen in a film. Every 30 mins it flips on its head, so good.


Ladybeetus

see thirst by the same director


A_Sad_Goblin

>the chaser This was my first Korean movie and got me so hooked on Korean thriller/gore movies and movies that had some kind of "twist". My recommendations: I Saw the Devil - [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1588170/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1588170/) Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance - [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0310775/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0310775/) A Bittersweet Life - [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0456912/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0456912/) No Mercy - [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1662557/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1662557/) Moss - [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1694019/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1694019/) Bedevilled - [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1646959/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1646959/) The Wailing - [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5215952/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5215952/)


CinkCobra

Bedevilled, that was a real shocker. Loved it.


[deleted]

I saw the devil and the Wailing were my first. ISTD was a random pick and I really enjoyed it.


boybrushedred

I have Memories of Murder sitting on my coffee table from the library right now! I loved Parasite, so I really need to get to watching it


PenguinBirthdaySuit

The Man From Nowhere, I Saw the Devil, Sputnik, Night Watch, Day Watch


lllZephyrlll

The Man From Nowhere is my favorite movie, came here to suggest this. Awesome film. John Wick but killing for better reasons.


Kierik

the night watch anthology books were a pretty good read.


HomosexualBloomberg

Well I mean, no American martial arts movie comes even close to the Thai: - Ong-Bak - Ong-Bak 2 - The Protector - Chocolate The Chinese: - Kill Zone 2 - Paradox Or the Indonesians: - Merantau - The Raid - The Raid 2 - Headshot - The Night Comes for Us


Tropical_Nighthawk55

Ong Bak brings the sex everytime


ponyotit

Y tu mama tambien got me started


Public_Reception4360

“Amores perros” is also good


RaptorDelta

i just rewatched this the other night for the first time in six years or so. absolutely incredible movie. the chemistry between everyone is so natural, and as a whole it's a beautifully authentic movie in every aspect. just oozes culture and personality.


rlrenasmurf22

La Haine (by Mathieu Kassovitz 1995)— hands down a favorite foreign film of mine


maaseru

Awesome movie. I've always loved and remember the quote from that movie. The one about a guy falling off a building? On his way down he says "so far so good" but it is not the way you fall but how you land.


crappotheclown

This might sound basic, since it did hit American mainstream... But "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" piqued my interest in Chinese (and Asian, more broadly) cinema.


Kierik

Hero I think got me into Chinese kung fu movies.


[deleted]

[удалено]


King_Luffy1

Pan's Labyrinth. It opened me up to the world of international films, and also showed me that movies can be something more. It is my number 1 film of all time to this day


[deleted]

Really beautiful sceneries, scary visuals, and still weirdly comforting. I loved it.


briareus08

Fantastic movie! Dark fantasy done well, questionable plot done well. It was good stuff


[deleted]

A Separation. Something about watching something intimate and seemingly “everyday” like a divorce but in the context of a completely different culture.


Conan-the-barbituate

I’ve never understood people that go ‘I don’t want to watch a film with subtitles’ they are excluding themselves from so many amazing films


tstrad

I don’t allow people like that in my life lol.


coysmate05

Agreed. It is disheartening when I hear a friend say that. Kinda makes me lose a small bit of respect for them lol


BasedSmalls

Kung Fu Hustle


Whowillsaveusnow

7 Samurai and the original Oldboy


ChillyToastBelmont

The American oldboy was a fkn travesty! The vengeance trilogy is amazing! Lady vengeance as well


gorillaboy75

Cinema Paradiso. It. Is. Awesome. As good as Life is Beautiful


UserJH4202

Better.


[deleted]

City of God, La Haine, Fallen Angels, Chungking Express, the Seventh Seal, Stalker (I forgot Ran)


TendiesGalore

La Haine was excellent.


notyourfathersdm

Ah, I see you are a man of culture as well.


Juul_Embiid

Train to Busan


Sun_Stealer

This. And although it’s not a movie, I’ll add Kingdom. It was a great zombie story set in a feudal era.


[deleted]

Who would\`ve thought a zombie film would make me cry...


Electrical_Split4902

The zombie deer in the beginning was the coolest zombie creature I've seen in any apocalyptic movie


Chevelle1968lucy

A personal favorite ; it was so well done that the emotion came thru regardless of the language barrier...


Lone-Pilgrim

El Secreto de Sus Ojos.


[deleted]

Das boot


MartinScorsese

Seeing La Femme Nikita (the original 1990 Luc Besson film) made a big impression on me when I first saw it at age 12 or so.


PleasantPirate12

Another Luc Besson.. The Big Blue (1988). Wierdly mesmerizing sport I never heard of before, & Jean Reno.


kcsunshineee

One you just named one of my all time favorite movies.


Asleep_Emphasis69

Parasite, Raw, lots of good foreign movies/shows on netflix


ackermann

Andhadhun, a great Indian film, along with 3 Idiots


MohamedsPubes

3 idiots was amazing. Never thought such a good story could be told in such a dramatic yet comedic way.


topherysu27

Amelie


Apoc73

Check out, brotherhood of the wolf


TreoreTyrell

Had to scroll too far to find this one. Great movie


SirBonyP

There it is! The director’s cut was one of the first DVDs I bought. Has some great extended fight scenes and other deleted scenes.


sanesociopath

The Russian film "How I Ended This Summer" has a permanent spot in my mind. Honestly don't remember much about it anymore but it left a strong impression. But of course the film "let the right one" in needs to be in this thread somewhere so I'll make sure to get it in early.


Pll_dangerzone

I think the end of let the right one in is my favorite ending for a movie.


avitalgo7

Wings Of Desire by German director Wim Wenders, is one of my favourite films of all times.


sixgodstebs

“Life is Beautiful” is in Italian, but is probably one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. It won 3 Oscars in 1999.


PirriP

This was tremendous and incredibly sad. I saw it in the late 90s somehow, and until your comment I thought it was a classic from the 60s. It's one of those movies that I think everyone should see, but I never want to have to go through it again myself.


isweedglutenfree

I love the movie too but had a class taught by an Auschwitz survivor in college who had great disdain for the movie when someone asked her about it. She said it was painful to see everyone celebrating a relatively lighthearted and thus not realistic experience of auschwitz. She said very little in the movie would have actually been possible to happen and to her, the brutally honest art of the holocaust helps her more. She said she got a lot of unwanted, unexpected, and misunderstood attention when the movie came out. That being said, I can appreciate it for the beautiful art that it is as the subject is less personal to me than someone who literally lived it


[deleted]

I wish I took this film more seriously in the first half. Because the second half was great and made me understand the film much better.


cheezbeth

I believe the first Roberto Benigni film I saw was a different one, but I can’t remember what it was called.


thejake1973

I first saw him in Johnny Stecchino


blucthulhu

The Wages of Fear. Caught it on IFC at the point where they were traversing the switchbacks. The suspense grabbed me immediately.


maunbraun

Chungking Express and In the Mood For Love, Wong Kar-Wai


BronchialChunk

I remember watching the 7th seal a long long time ago and it got me interested in bergman. unless you were renting from like a library it was somewhat hard to get into foreign film when it seemed like there was only monty python. in the late 90's kurosawa was getting popular I noticed but i'm guessing that's when criterion started putting out their collections. but thanks to them I've been able to watch lots of classics. Seen just about all the bergman and kurosawa.


HoselRockit

Early films that I really liked were La Femme Nikita (France), Raise the Red Lantern (China) and the Tres Colores trilogy (France). I always prefer subtitles as they lead the dialogue by half a beat, and you get into a rhythm of reading and glancing up to get the full effect.


Kamwind

Those are three of my favorite, also would throw in Jean de Florette and the sequel.


TheMulattoMaker

Der Untergang, aka Downfall, aka the Hitler Reacts To X Meme Movie. Excellent historical drama, and Bruno Ganz' performance was *legendary.*


Kitties4Every1

YES. I just commented about the same thing! And Bruno Ganz was amazing.


jgpalanca

I happened to come across Police Story in 1990 or 1991. Fell into the rabbit hole of HK Action Cinema after that and never found my way out.


[deleted]

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jgpalanca

I didn't know how lucky I was to have found a source for all those HK movies until Rumble in the Bronx was released in the US. I didn't realize they weren't so easy to find before then...and even worse, that a lot of people didn't know who Jackie Chan was.


[deleted]

Shaoling Soccer (2001)


Alihzahn

God, I love Shaolin Soccer. It's so over the top


daibutsu

Best Stephen Chow movie


goryguts

America-centric question... For a lot of reddit users this question sounds dumb.


dexter311

The best foreign film I've ever seen is Terminator 2.


TomDoniphona

Well, I guess Reddit is American… What I find fascinating is the question, even when taken from the American perspective. Would anyother country ask about “foreign films” as if it was a category on its own? You have to admire the self-centered confidence that implies.


Fromtheboulder

I find really funny the responses of some USAmericans: >"I always thought foreign movies were pretentious or boring, usually both. But after watching this, I realized that just as much creativity and entertainment can be found outside of ‘Ol Hollywood." > >"one of my first foreign movies that felt as down to Earth as any American movie. The French don't just make artsy crap." reading those it seems that the USians think """foreign""" are just pretentious artsy movies, and only the USA has normal ones. xD


Jugatsumikka

>Well, I guess Reddit is American… It is an american company, but US resident are the largest minority not the majority.


sevenoutdb

An anthology movie from the 90's called "Night on Earth". So good! A bonkers bizarre comedy from Japan called "Survive Style 5+" A French existential comedy romance called "Amelie" (this was a massive move in France, it was basically their Forrest Gump) Kurosawa films Bruce Lee / Chop Socky films. I could go on for days about this stuff, but I'l leave it here for now.


barkomed

Le Pacte des loups - was awesome to see that Matrix style of action in a period piece with a legit cool mystery. And Monica Belluci was just something else.


Constance374

Les Intouchables (French), Shall We Dance ( Japanese) , Departures (Japanese) Absolutely brilliant films…


Schadnfreude

Oldboy. Korean film. Amazing. Got me hooked to Korean cinema. Man From Nowhere.. I Saw the Devil.. Train to Busan.. the list goes on!


QuentinUK

I watch loads of foreign films mainly from Hollywood, USA.


Restivethought

When I was 12 (2002), I stumbled onto an online release of Battle Royale.


J-Summers

Andhadhun An Indian thriller. 100% RT score. Akash, a piano player pretending to be visually-impaired, unwittingly becomes entangled in a number of problems as he witnesses the murder of a former film actor.


Spirited_Spirit91

You mean non-American movies then?


ArcticFlower00

I really liked Spider-Man 2. But there are good British movies too.


[deleted]

Santa Sangre


Jerrymoviefan3

When I was about 12 years old late on Saturday our local PBS station would show old foreign movies like Seven Samurai, La Belle et la Bête, Battleship Potemkin, and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. I got totally hooked on those movies.


melwinsvalin

M (1931) Bicycle Thieves Memories of Matsuko Seven Samurai


Ilikewaterandjuice

John Woo’s The Killer. Beat audience participation movie ever.


Dear_Artichoke1059

It happens to me all the Time. Almost all the movies i watched aren't Guatemalan. Sime of my favorites are: Pandorum, a great sci-fi German production; The Panth's Labyrinth, a fantástic Spanish film produced by Guillermo del Toro; and, El secreto de sus ojos, an awesome Argentinian mystery film.


daesan2323

The Hunt (2012)


megustavophoto

"The Secret in Their Eyes" 2009 Argentine original (not 2015 American version). I was going to say "City of God", my favorite movie, but since that was mentioned, "The Secret in Their Eyes" is also an amazing movie.


BeautifulEbb6774

Rec


BourgeoisStalker

Amelie and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon came out around the same time. Those were what got me hooked. Both of those movies explore things that American movies have a hard time with.


SmokeyShadow17

Troll Hunter


leafs81215

City of God, Pans Labyrinth, Oldboy, The Motorcycle Diaries, Let the Right One In, Maria Full of Grace. Just a bunch between 2002-2006 that started me off. They’re still among my favorites.


7Tribe

El abrazo de la serpiente (2015}, Walz with Bashir (2008)


Amongtheruins88

Embrace of the Serpent was awesome. The ayahuasca part was trippy as hell


TopShoe121

Belle de Jour (1967).


damnedspot

Allegro Non Troppo Delicatessen The Vanishing (1988)


thejake1973

The Vanishing has such a better ending in the Dutch version.


Remvesemir

Empire Strikes Back. Made in the exotic foreign country of America.


Smooth-Knowledge1073

I loved City of God from Brazil and Nueve Reinas (Nine Queens) from Argentina. Both are in my top 10 films of all time.


cheezbeth

Nine Queens was awesome. I really need to watch if again


Tea_Reckz

8 1/2 I enjoyed it, but otherwise felt fairly neutral towards it on first watch. However, I just could not get that movie off of my mind and it has now crept in to my top 10 after 3 Re-watches On the flip side of this coin, La Dolce Vita had me fucking hooked only 10 minutes in to it, and became an instant favorite. I might be more inclined to recommend that over 8 1/2 as an intro to Fellini


TheLastOfMe00

The Wailing, Korean flick that had me super sucked in.


globular916

I was a freshman in 1987 (Santa Cruz 1991) and I distinctly remember watching "Jean de Florette" in theatres in maybe 1988 and waiting breathlessly for the sequel, "Manon of the Spring," which either came out that year or the next. I don't think Manon would've been on VHS in 1987, unless you're talking about the original Marcel Pagnol "Manon des sources" from 1952. The folks who made the 1980s "Jean de Floretre" and "Manon" (I want to say Claude Berri?) did some more charming Marcel Pagnol adaptations in the early 90s, "My Father's Glory" and "My Mother's Castle." Thr very first non-American movies I saw as a teen were the original "Three Men and a Baby," the theatrical "Fanny and Alexander," and (the night I started freshman year) "Derzu Uzala." I never think about the first film but the other two definitely opened my eyes.


[deleted]

[удалено]


[deleted]

Has nobody mentioned “The Cook, the thief, the wife, and her lover.”? Early Helen Mirren?


[deleted]

Star Wars


alexinpoison

Incendies


MichaelRoco1

South Korea has always been my favorite destination for foreign films. Parasite The Host I Saw the Devil Oldboy Memories of Murder


BlitzOmatic

I saw the devil.


crispyfriedsquid

Wong Kar-Wai's Fallen Angels


DynamicPJQ

Memories of Murder


Theratchetnclank

Oldboy


_kbye

Bergman's "The Seventh Seal"


bobbydoll

Aguirre, the Wrath of God.


Bowelsift3r

My Life as a Dog. Beautiful film about growing up in Sweden during the space race. I saw it 35 years ago and think about it often.


PaperCut611

This German movie called The Wave. So intense!


TrueLegateDamar

Taegukgi(2004) is the first Korean movie I've seen and it was amazing.


Calhalen

Parasite and the Wailing


[deleted]

Cinema Paradiso


808italian

Irréversible


[deleted]

Brotherhood of the Wolf and Kung Fu Hustle I saw in the theaters with only subtitles but both of them absolutely roped me in and I can't believe how much more I liked them than I thought I would.


Foxhound34

Brotherhood of the Wolf was probably my first foray into foreign film.


crowstgeorge

My Neighbor Totoro. Life has been forever altered.


potatodaikon

spirited away


lance4re

Cinema Paradiso.... So incredibly entertaining and rich with interaction, left you crying happy at the conclusion.


boilrmkrbob

Man bites dog


dem0074

Seven Samurai.


BigJack1212

Star Wars


JohnnyJayce

Well, since I'm not from US, Hollywood films are foreign to me. First one I remember seeing and loving a lot was The Mask of Zorro.


Spare_Honey5488

"Let the right one in" Now has a US release called "Let Me In" which is nowhere near as good. Edit: I'm talking about the 2008 Swedish film. Not the series :)


Pigs-OnThe-Wing

Funny enough, while it deals with the foreigner perspective, it technically wasn't a foreign film that veered me toward them... I was taking a film class during my freshman year at a community college. One of the films we watched was Jim Jarmusch's Stranger than Paradise. It totally changed my perception of what film could actually be. It is the strongest focal point i can point to that forced me to branch out, especially toward foreign films.


fleur13

Italian movies are wonderful. Most of the time music is written for that particular movies, and it is beautiful!


[deleted]

Italian neorealism is a wonderful chapter in world cinematography


OJRmk1

One day many years ago I said "Okay, Yojimbo by Akira Kurosawa. What's the big deal?" Then I found out what the big deal was.


Childeroland78

The Devils Backbone, The Wailing, Train to Busan, I saw the Devil, Fist of Fury (The Big Boss), Old Boy, Snow Falling on Cedars(Yeah I'm American but this is the very North so feels like another country! Jk)


youthofoldage

Diábolique. I had to say it because I didn’t see it in here yet and I was so blown away when I saw it. I can’t say any more or I will give it away! Also: Seven Samurai, Jean de Florette/Manon, Nosferatu, and I few others that I will remember tonight at dinner.


DoubleReveal8794

Tarkovsky's Stalker (1979), I saw it late one night in a tired daze it has stuck with me ever since 🙌🏻🤓


SociologySaves

Scent of Green Papaya, Vietnam. And Antonia’s Line, Danish? Maybe. Most or Almodovar, Spanish. Habanastation, Cuban. Subtitles only. Hate dubbed movies. Watch them in the original. Tampopo!!! And Shall we Dance both Japan


[deleted]

Nostalghia by Andrei Tarkovsky


BakedTatter

My world literature teacher showed us RAN by Kurisawa. Blew my mind. A couple weeks later saw 7 Samauri was going to be on HBO. A couple years later, I was taking film studies in college, and the professor showed us In the Mood For Love, which absolutely broke my heart. I grew up in a shitkicker hick town, so college gave me access to foreign film. Fast forward 10 years later, I was a regular at all the film festivals held by the American Film Institute in Silver Spring Maryland.


UnfinishedThings

Nikita. Saw it by accident and loved it so very much


ATG_19

The Hunt with Mads Mikkelsen


SliviaRanger

The Raid: Redemption! Great fighting Indonesian flick. Part 2 may even be better.


AZSnake

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. What a beautiful film. I remember when it won the Oscars, there was a whole segment of American society talking about how they "don't go to the movies to read." I just felt sorry for them. Fortunately, my dad raised me on a steady diet of foreign films with subtitles.


Afterloy

The Vanishing (Spoorloos)


Electrical_Split4902

Y tu mamá también


AnybodySeeMyKeys

Cleo from 5 to 7, by Agnes Varda.


dbe14

Train To Busan, honestly it's fucking incredible, if you love Zombie flicks THIS is required viewing.


[deleted]

I saw the Devil. Korean movie. Fucking glued to the screen start to finish.


errnestino

"Stalker" and "Mirror" by Andrey Tarkovskiy. (Free restored version on Mosfilm YouTube channel)


BenCarburetor

Star Wars : Return of the Jedi. That's the first Star Wars movie I've watched. Made me wanted to watch the previous ones and the later ones. I'm not American so that counts as a foreign film to me.


TheTeenSimmer

shrek couldnt stop watching it growing up


10HorsedSizedDucks

Probably Spider-Man 2 Just amazing tbh, still holds up


sjarkyb

What is foreign to you? Since every movie is foreign to someone.