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15 Great Foreign Language Movies You Shouldnt Miss

The case has been made that foreign films are essential to increasing a persons
ability to empathize, and therefore everyone, not just lovers of cinema should watch
them. Seeing somebody completely different from you experiencing something
completely human is important, since understanding is what brings the people of the
world together.
This sentiment though can only be true if films do their job by being well-made and
telling important stories. In a way, it is also the job of movie lovers to spread these
movies to others, so that there is a better understanding of the world around them.
This list hopes to get started on that and continue what other cinephiles have done so
well. Enjoy.

15. Before The Rain (Pred dodot) Macedonia, France (1994)


There have been countless war films, but there are very few like Before The Rain.
Rather than sending its audience to the war itself, it shows the effect of a conflict in
the local area and throughout the world.
A daunting task, Before The Rain evokes a haunting image of war through clever use
of circular plot structure. The film is separated into three parts, each following the
other in a horrible cycle. Racism, division, and terrorism are not only the effects of war
according to Before The Rain, but also its cause.

14. Mommy Canada (2014)


With an unusual aspect ratio of 1:1, Mommy is a completely unique film right from the
get-go. The audience is boxed in with these sometimes explosive characters and it
makes for an intense viewing experience.
The material is intense as it is following the relationship between a violent son with
ADHD and a mother who cant help but love him. The way the film is presented makes
all the crazy moments that much more explosive.
The aspect ratio does an excellent job bringing everything in for close moments
between the mother and son, and the audience can get a better sense of the bond
that is there as strange as it is. Beyond the aspect ratio, however, this film is well-
written and performed very well by its actors including Antoine-Olivier Pilon and Anne
Dorval.

13. The Syrian Bride ( ) Israel, France, Germany (2004)


Foreign films are important to not only entertain, but to spread ideas and awareness
of problems around the world. A great example of a film that does this is The Syrian
Bride. This political drama follows a Druze woman who is to be married to a Syrian
actor, but in order to be married, she must cross the border between Israel and Syria
and when she does, she can never go back to see her family again.
This film has a number of moving parts to the plot mixing political tension with familial
tension, and it all works really well. The performances are great, and the movie sheds
light on a difficult situation that many Americans never have and never will have to
face in their lifetime.

12. Head On (Gegen die Wand) Germany, Turkey (2004)


Gegen die Wand is a painful 2004 German-Turkish drama about a man whos given up
on life and agrees to marry an unstable girl to please her Turkish parents. This makes
for a painful relationship that many will relate to, and as the title suggests, Gegen die
Wand, or Head-On, is extremely blunt with its material.
The flaws in its characters and the problems that are manifested through their
relationship are laid bare, but the director and the actors performances successfully
express the sentiment that love often comes from a painful place.

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Its themes are dark, and its portrayal of romance can be bitter, but it feels real to its
audience and thats what is admirable about this film. Also, its easy to wonder what
happens at the end of the movie as the main characters are often unpredictable as a
result of their instability. Many cinephiles nowadays dont focus on that as much as
regular moviegoers do, but this movie has everyone wondering where their
relationship will go next.

11. Yossi And Jagger Israel (2002)


Films with LGBT themes have been increasing in number internationally in the past
two decades, but one of the first international LGBT films to be successful is Yossi and
Jagger.
What gives this movie its charm, like many of the other films on this list with
extremely low budgets, is its honesty. The actors give such powerful performances
that carry the story and give it the human aspect that is vital to the film. The movie
follows two soldiers that have fallen in love while in fear of persecution and war-like
danger.
This movie has no catch; its just a good story with good performances and good
directing. The dangers that come with a situation like that are highlighted, but the fun
and happiness is represented just as much which makes for a genuinely good time
watching Yossi and Jagger.

10. Gomorrah Italy (2008)


Since films focused on organized crime such as The Godfather and The Departed have
been a staple of American cinema for a long time, there tends to be certain
expectations with these types of films. Though Gomorrah satisfies many of these
expectations, it goes an entirely different direction with the style. Rather than a
Scorsese-style clean-cut look, Gomorrah is messy and dirty and plays similarly to an
artistic documentary like this years Oscar-contender Fire At Sea.
In Gomorrah, there are five stories following the effects that organized crime have on
the nearby people and their surroundings. Each story is brutal in its own way, and
rather than split it up into chapters, the director Matteo Garrone and his other writers
interwove these stories into each other to represent how fast far-reaching the dangers
of organized crime are.
It affects the innocent, guilty, families, workers, the young, the old, everyone and its
all in this movie. Gomorrah is brutal and tough, but it enlightens its audience to the
problem that is organized crime, rather than making it cool.

9. The Tribe (Plemya) Ukraine, Netherlands (2014)


Performed in Ukrainian Sign Language with absolutely no subtitles, The Tribe boldly
challenges its viewers to get sucked into a story without hearing or understanding
what is being said. This makes for one of the most unique film-viewing experiences a
fan of cinema will ever have. Its difficult at first, but once the viewer is hooked within
the first fifteen minutes, its hard to stop watching.
Extreme focus is needed for The Tribe, as the story isnt simplified at all. Its a
complicated tale of a new student at a school for the deaf who gets caught up with
the school gang, eventually becoming a member and doing some of the dirty work for
the higher-ups such as pimping.
As certain events complicate his job, he must adapt to the new dangers that stand in
the way of the life hes gotten used to. Its a tough story told in a tough way, but it
makes for a fantastic viewing experience that should be had by lovers of foreign film.

8. Holy Motors France, Germany (2012)


Definitely the weirdest film on this list, Holy Motors is not only a wonderful hidden
gem from France, its also a quintessential surrealist film. During most of the film, the

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audience is trying to figure out what is going on but the film definitely keeps the
audiences interest throughout its entirety.
Holy Motors has a wonderful look with great cinematography and a wonderful use of
costumes and makeup design to turn its star into a variety of colorful characters.
These characters are all unique and appear to have different missions throughout the
world whether it is to perform a motion-capture sequence or to have a romantic walk
with a woman played by Kylie Minogue. Holy Motors is weird and very proud of it,
which is all it needs to be an excellent film.

7. Ao Bisiesto (Leap Year) Mexico (2010)


While sexually explicit films such as Nymphomaniac and Gaspar Noes Love have been
on the rise lately, Ao Bisiesto makes a meaningful addition to this artistic trend. A
worry that many have with these types of film is that the focus can get ignored for
shock value. This film does an excellent job of using shock value to maintain its focus.
About a lonely woman that enters into a sexually violent relationship with a quiet,
reserved man, Ao Bisiesto knows how to use sexually explicit scenes to reveal
important information about a character. The whole movie takes place in her
apartment, which helps the audience get to know her character even more, and to
show a steady progression of the emotional state of the two main characters.
The apartment becomes a supporting character in the way that she interacts with it
throughout the movie; it supports her and even shames her at parts of the film, and
this interaction drives many of the emotional parts of the film home.

6. Manly Times (Mazhki Vremena) Bulgaria (1977)


Manly Times is one of the finest examples of Bulgarian film there is. Bulgaria,
however, is completely off the radar for most cinephiles. Taking a look through the
collection of Bulgarian cinema is quite interesting though as most of it is extremely
representative of their culture. They are very proud of their film, and in this movie it
shows in an endearing way. There is something about this type of filmmaking that is
so honest that its hard not to like it.
It tells the story of a rich man who hires a group of men to kidnap the women he
wants to marry from a nearby village. However, this movie puts a twist on that
tradition when this particular woman is much more stubborn than the others.
In many scenes, the shadow of the cameraman can be seen, and while it reminds the
audience that they are watching a movie, it only adds to the biggest strength this film
has honesty. All of the actors and those working on the movie very obviously fully
believe in what they are doing,and it makes for better performances both on-screen
and off.
In a time when the majority of the film industry is criticized for being dishonest, it is
refreshing to go back to these old films like Manly Times that represent an exciting
culture and tell an ancient story that is rarely heard here in America.

5. The Assassin Taiwan (2015)


Like some other films on this list, The Assassin requires focused attention while
viewing, but masterful director Hou Hsiao-Hsien made it easy to be stuck to the
screen by including some of the best cinematography the wuxia genre has ever seen.
For those who dont know, the wuxia genre is a traditional martial arts film that takes
place in ancient China.These are films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero.
The Assassin is much different than these two films though, or really any other film in
the genre.
Instead of being led by the action, the film is led by intense dialogue and
cinematography. In fact, much of the action and integral parts of the story happen off-
screen, not to discredit the hypnotic fight scenes by the main character. Shes
portrayed in the film as a matchless opponent, but when shes forced to take on a job
that she has personal connection with from her past life, her job becomes not a test of
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her physical abilities, but her emotional and moral abilities. The Assassin is entirely
thought-provoking and mesmerizing despite its intentionally elusive story and brief,
yet hypnotic action sequences.

4. Dogtooth Greece (2009)


Its no surprise Yorgos Lanthimos was praised this awards season for his latest film,
The Lobster, but his other 2011 Oscar nominee, Dogtooth, has been largely
overshadowed since its initial nomination. If you know anything about Lanthimos
style though, youd know not to miss this psychological comedy.
The material is shocking and thought-provoking, but the writer-director contrasts it
with a very innocent, childlike style of filmmaking. Due to its matter-of-fact tone,
Lanthimos makes his audience comfortable enough to watch even the most grotesque
scenes, but its this nonchalance in the face of such moral corruption that gives the
audience an overall sense of uneasiness during the film. Lanthimos achieved the
same in The Lobster but with a focus on society rather than family. Fans of The Lobster
definitely should not miss Dogtooth.

3. Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance (Boksuneun Naui Geot) South Korea


(2002)
South Korean director Park Chan-Wook, primarily known for his masterpiece, Oldboy,
challenges his audience with Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance, capturing his original style
that gave birth to his more familiar works. As the first installation of his spiritual
trilogy, this is a complex revenge story about Ryu, a deaf mute, who tries to take care
of his deathly ill sister. Like Oldboy, this movie, while excellently made, brings its
characters to their lowest point in Park Chan-Wooks distinctive style.
Perhaps the most intriguing detail of Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance is its relationship to
the viewer. Rather than adding something, it feels as if its taking something away
from its viewer by consistently making each circumstance the characters find
themselves in worse and worse. The audience is taken along for the ride in this major
fall from grace.
It all works to the films benefit though as its this difficult relationship with film that is
helpful to society. Park Chan-Wook creates polarizing film that challenges its audience
head-on and forces people to better shape their understanding of the world.
Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance shines as a lesser-known example of this phenomenon.

2. Son Of Saul (Saul Fia) Hungary (2015)


Saul Fia is a Holocaust film like no other. Its achievements are many in both what it
did do and what it did not do. Its easy for Holocaust films to become very Hollywood
or to make beauty out of human suffering, but Saul Fias director, Lszl Nemes
intentionally stayed away from the traditional Hollywood tropes associated with films
portrayal of the Jewish Holocaust.
The intention rather was to put its audience on the ground of a concentration camp in
the shoes of a man in the Sonderkommando, forced to facilitate the mass murder of
Jews from all over Europe.
The confusion and terror these individuals faced are always portrayed very
realistically in the film, and Nemes did many interesting things to accomplish that.
First, he made sure the main character Saul always had something to do, always had a
mission of some sort.
This puts the focus on the character and how his surroundings affect him, rather than
a focus on the immense suffering around him. He furthered this approach visually by
keeping the camera eye-level with Saul, and often blurring much of what was going on
around him.
This makes the terror he encountered seem much more real than many of the other
still-amazing holocaust films were familiar with. Saul Fia is not an easy watch, but its
essential viewing for smaller Holocaust films and entirely respectful of the material.
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1. Embrace Of The Serpent Colombia, Venezuela, Argentina (2015)
Its not often that a movie gets everything perfect, but Embrace Of The Serpent does.
From the beautiful monochrome cinematography, to the intense character acting, to
the incredible world-building sounds of nature, everything is stellar.
The beautiful thing about foreign films is that they transport the viewer to a world
different than their own, and this film does just that. Its easy to get so sucked into
this totally new world that you dont always notice it is in black and white.
The films two stories intertwine seamlessly despite the forty year gap between them,
never losing the viewer. None of the camerawork is distracting or over-ambitious, but
instead follows carefully the action onscreen with cleverly-placed shots that put the
Amazonian landscape of the story on display. Director Ciro Guerra does a masterful
job of pacing this film, neither going too fast or too slow, and never distracting the
viewer from the beautifully told stories of myth and legend.

Author Bio: Elliott Bennett spends his days watching and studying any film he can,
and is one of those friends who will actually watch the movie you recommend.
He proudly watches all the Oscar-nominated films before the ceremony every year,
including Best Documentary Short Subject.
Read more: http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2017/15-great-foreign-language-movies-
you-shouldnt-miss/2/#ixzz4c9tiDOOD

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