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[Imp the Dimp]

Battle Royale is fucking terrible after 15 mins.

 

[RangerX]

The Iranian film A Separation is quite literally one of the greatest films I've ever seen and a fantastic illustration of Iranian society. A true masterpiece if ever there was one.

 

[Skellig Gra]

City of God
Amelie
Blue is the warmest color
Life is Beautiful

The original girl with the dragon tattoo movies are pretty cool too but not exactly cinematic masterpieces.

 

[venom473]

The Hunt (Danish, 2012)
Life is Beautiful (Italian, 1997)
Amélie (French, 2001)
Funny Games (German, 1997)
The Secret in Their Eyes (Spanish, 2009)
The Man From Nowhere (Korean, 2010)

 

[shnurgleton]

My all time favorite film:

 

[Shanks D Zoro]

IMO the greatest film ever made. Absolute perfection

 

[Laieon]

I Saw the Devil

Oldboy

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance

My Sassy Girl

The Host

A Moment to Remember

A Tale of Two Sisters

The Man From Nowhere

 

[Bishop89]

 

[smuf]

English title is 'Man bites dog'. It's a mockumentary about a serial killer with some very very dark humor.

edit: seems it was posted a couple of times before. Still an excuse to post the movie's poster.

 

[WaveLightGames]

I would say:

Japanese - The Seven Samurai

Hindi - Haider (a retelling of Hamlet set in the Kashmir region and in modern day. Stays remarkably close to the original story despite the difference in language, time and setting. Fantastic acting, excellent direction and the only version of Hamlet that makes Ophelia a more prominent and more developed character)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haider_(film)

 

[lightskintwin]

start here:

The Story of Film: An Odyssey is an incredible 15 hours long documentary about the history of movies, from the brothers lumiere to the digital age. It's split up in 15 episodes, so it's less intimidating but it's an outstanding, enriching experience. It may serve your purposes well because it focuses not only on hollywood cinema and european authors, but also on less known cinema, like movies from south america, africa, middle east and asia. It mentions thousands of movies and directors, you could use it to discover interesting movies to watch!

Thank you so much for this recommendation, I'm already on Episode 3 and learning a lot about World Cinema.

 

[the_batman]

City of God
Amelie
Kurosawa's joints

 

[Moonkid]

Some essential anime for ya OP:

Perfect Blue
Whisper of the Heart
Spirited Away
Akira

 

[Moose Biscuits]

Essential? Boy. Well, there's:

Godzilla (1954)
Godzilla Raids Again (1955)
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)
Mothra vs. Godzilla (1964)
Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster (1964)
Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)
Ebirah, Horror of the Deep (1966)
Destroy All Monsters (1968)
Godzilla vs. Hedorah (1971)
Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
Godzilla vs. Megalon (1973)
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla (1974)
Terror of MechaGodzilla (1975)
The Return of Godzilla (1984)
Godzilla vs. Biollante (1989)
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (1991)
Godzilla vs. Mothra (1992)
Godzilla vs. MechaGodzilla 2 (1993)
Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)
Godzilla vs. Destoroyah (1995)
Godzilla 2000: Millennium (1999)
Godzilla vs. Megaguirus (2000)
Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack (2001)
Godzilla Against MechaGodzilla (2002)
Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S. (2003)
Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
Godzilla: Resurgence (2016)

 

[capitalCORN]

Il Mare
Failan
Amores Perros
Waltz with Bashir
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and the Spring
City of Lost Children
Tokyo Godfathers

 

[depths20XX]

The Bicycle Thief

 

[Daingurse]

Gojira (1954)

 

[StrangeRoboMemory]

Harakiri
The Decalogue
Seven Samurai
Pierrot le Fou
Late Spring
Ikiru
The Young Girls of Rochefort
Memories of Murder
Monsieur Hulot's Holiday
Rashomon
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters
The Legend of Drunken Master
Werckmeister Harmonies
Sword of Doom
The Double Life of Veronique
A Man Escaped
Stalker
Hiroshima Mon Amour
High and Low
A Separation
Playtime
Love Exposure
Kung Fu Hustle
Police Story
Mustang

Fantastic list right here, though a few things like Playtime, Stalker, Werckmeister Harmonies, and Pierrot le Fou might be a little cryptic for someone just jumping in for the first time. That's some Advanced Techniques type stuff for sure. Otherwise, great list for a range of experiences and styles.

 

[Mister_Bubbles]

Caché (2005)

Watch this film preferably alone and not before you plan on doing anything else that evening.

Just want to second that this is an incredible piece of cinema.

 

[somecrazymember]

One i dont think i saw mentioned yet.

And this one is my favorite movie (and favorite Soundtrack by Hisaishi

 

[HitchcockInTheZiplock]

French - Mesrine Part 1: Killer Instinct (2008)

Italian - Don't Torture a Duckling (1972)

Japanese - Hausu (1977)

Korean - Bedevilled (2010)

Cantonese - Infernal Affairs (2002)

Spanish - Timecrimes (2007)

German - Possession (1981)

 

[Pachimari]

The Handmaiden, Incendies, Mustang and A Tale of Two Sisters are all strong movies.

 

[SodiumBenzoate]

This Swedish movie was hilarious, charming, and clever. Definitely worth a watch.

 

[Patrick Bateman]

The White Ribbon.

Amazing movie by Michael Haneke.

 

[shadowkat]

I'm not sure how essential these are but here are a few I really liked:

House of Flying Daggars (Chinese)
Hero (Chinese)
Internal Affairs (Hong Kong - The Departed is adapted from this movie and I preferred it to The Departed)
Train to Busan (Korean)

 

[yamaneko]

i like it

 

[TheOnlyOneHeEverFeared]

 

[Rhoc]

New World (2013) Korea
The Man from Nowhere (2010) Korea
City of God (2002) Brazil
A Prophet (2009) France
Blue is the Warmest Colour (2013) France

 

[Valhelm]

Lostsa people already said City of God, which is one of the coolest films ever. I'd also recommend The Motorcycle Diaries, a really wonderful movie about the early adventures of Che Guevara.

If you want more Latin America, Black Orpheus is a cool look at Afro-Brazilian life in the '50s. It was made by Europeans and feels a lil exploitative sometimes, but it's a cool fantasy story with a really interesting setting.

The Carlos miniseries isn't super accessible, but it's about a very famous Venezuelan dude and happens to be one of the biggest cinematic accomplishments of the past decade. It's a study of a really complicated human being and really gives you a lot to think about.

Asian cinema is a real blind spot for me, but a couple days ago I saw Yasujiro Ozu's Late Spring and really enjoyed it. It's not a particularly eventful movie, but it offers an intimate glance at Japanese society during the throes of postwar transformation. It's bittersweet and minimalist, has been regarded as the best picture to ever come out of Japan.

France, Italy, and Germany each have a remarkably impressive repertoire considering their small populations, but some must-see movies from these places are M, The Rules of the Game, Grand Illusion, Rome: Open City, The 400 Blows, Breathless, La Dolce Vita, La Chinoise, and Aguirre: the Wrath of God.

Continental European films have always been a lot more abstract and ponderous than most of what we see in the Americas or Japan, but every one of those movies is a must-see.

 

[Regginator]

Top of my head (most of them French)

- Amelie
- La Haine
- Un Prophete

 

[Skiptastic]

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

 

[Stinkles]

[img]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMTQ0MzQxODQ0MV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNTQ0NzY4NDE@._V1_UY1200_CR90,0,630,1200_AL_.jpg[/img]
[img]https://filmwonk.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/a-separation-insert-3.jpg[/img]
[img]http://cdn-media.festival-cannes.com/film_poster/0001/06/thumb_5722_film_poster_big.jpeg[/img]

Y'all got a headscarf fetish

 

[Stinkles]

And this one is my favorite movie (and favorite Soundtrack by Hisaishi

Dude. Did we just become best friends?

My favorite aspect is the end where you realize

Spoiler

he basically learned nothing.

 

[Ether_Snake]

La Haine. Can't believe no one mentioned it.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXnDH2rd_kQ
No description needed, you have to see it. The acting is top notch.

Harakiri (the original, not the remake).
NO TRAILER, do not watch anything in advance nor read anything else than what I write below, it's easily spoiled.
A destruction of the noble samurai myth. It's slow, it's great, the broad strokes are reminiscent of a fable, but the story is far more factual in its depiction of the politics of samurais than what we usually see in cinema.

Black Robe
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS6bmm921G8
Came out at around the same time as Dances with Wolves, low budget, but more credible and less romantic in its depiction of native american life. Acting from the lead is bad (he doesn't only look like Keanu Reeves), but it's more about seeing the well realized depiction of native american life. Movie is short, and available on youtube in bad quality. The music and especially the main theme is AWESOME, composed by Georges Delerue, you can hear it in the trailer slightly, sadly I can't find the theme on youtube.

Aguirre, Wratch of God
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJDuicFyJPg
By Warner Herzog, faily depressing but again very interesting since you know this stuff definitely happened pretty much as is anyway one way or another. A doomed expedition in the amazon.

I just realized all of these movies are somewhat depressing in a way, but they're really worth watching.

 

[GalacticToast]

I don't understand how this hasn't been mentioned yet

 

[Xe4]

Not enough animation in this thread.

[IMG]https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91%2BDT5KfUAL._SL1500_.jpg[/IMG]

Fantastic Planet (France)

The Films of Yuri Norstein (Russia)

My Beautiful Girl Mari (Korea)

Felidae (Germany)

Allegro non Troppo (Italy)

Waltz with Bashir (Israel)

Night on the Galactic Railroad (Japan)

 

[TwoDurans]

I watch this every Christmas. It's a better Holiday movie than any of the rest combined.

 

[Moppeh]

Kurosawa
Ozu
Mizoguchi
Bergman
Kiarostsmi
Tarkovsky
Eisenstein
Fellini
Antonioni
De Sica
Rosselini
Godard
Truffaut
Resnais
Renoir
Melville
Bresson
Fassbinder
Lang
Herzog
Dreyer

This a good list of must see foreign directors.

 

[Regginator]

La Haine. Can't believe no one mentioned it.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXnDH2rd_kQ
No description needed, you have to see it. The acting is top notch.

Literally three posts above you

 

[HotHamBoy]

OP, just subscribe to Filmstruck, they have the entire Criterion Collection.

Most of the movies in this thread are streaming on there and many, many more that are also fantastic.

First month is free.

 

[shnurgleton]

My Sassy Girl

I have seen this more times than I am willing to admin.

Edit:

And to whoever said Hausu... YES.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VLu6tySol7Q

 

[Lord_Balkan]

I can recommend you some horror titles. I'm sure the original non-English language options are available on the disc for some of these.

Argento:
Tenebre
Suspiria
Deep Red
Cat O'Nine Tails
Four Flies on Grey Velvet
Sleepless
Demons

Bava
Blood and Black Lace
Black Sunday
Black Sabbath
Bay of Blood
Whip and the Body


Fulci:
Don't Torture A Duckling
Zombie

Other Titles:
Les Diaboliques
Spoorloos (The Vanishing)
Santa Sangre
Cronos
The Devil's Backbone
Frontier(s)
Rec
Rec 2
High Tension
Them
Let The Right One In
Inside
A Tale of Two Sisters
Audition
The Orphange
Pulse
Eyes Without A Face
Martyrs
Funny Games
Train To Busan

I second this post.

 

[Roge_NES]

Can't go wrong with Iñárritu

 

[sans_pants]

some I haven't seen mentioned