A few of my favorite foreign films.

Once you overcome the 1-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.
-Bong Joon Ho



In honor of Bong Joon Ho's beautiful movie Parasite and his Golden Globe win, here is a list of some of my very favorite foreign films. Perhaps it will inspire you to see more if you have not seen them already. Enjoy!

Side note: I would advise against watching Hollywood remakes of foreign films or the Hollywood version of foreign directors. As they are typically at best mediocre and does not even come close to its original.

Old Boy. Park Chan-Wook.
Quite possibly one of the best revenge films I have ever seen. I also really enjoy his other movies as well.



In the Mood for Love. The Grandmaster. Wong Kar-Wai.
Wong Kar-Wai is on my list of favorite directors of all time. I would recommend In the Mood for Love and The Grandmaster.





Hero. Zhang Yimou.
Hero may be one of the most beautiful kung fu films ever made. But The Grandmaster is close behind...



Remember what I said above regarding Hollywood remakes? Pay attention to the next 3.

After the Wedding. Susanne Bier.
This may be my all time favorite movie. I love the way Susanne Bier tells these very emotional stories. I also enjoy the rest of her movies as they are all very powerful.



Secret in Their Eyes. Juan José Campanella.
I saw this shortly after After the Wedding and was blown away by both films.



Let the Right One In. Tomas Alfredson.
Such a beautiful film with perfect casting.



The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy. Niels Arden Oplev. Yes, David Fincher remade it and he had a much bigger budget. Doesn't make it better however. He had perhaps a better opening sequence and much more polished art direction.



Amélie. Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
While I own Amélie, I also enjoyed the rest of Jeunet's collection: Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children, etc.



Ran. Dreams. Akira Kurosawa.
I love how Kurosawa does these epic period Japanese dramas inspired by Shakespeare. I've seen most of his films and they are all very poetic, as you would imagine from a master such as himself.





Amores Perros. Alejandro González Iñárritu.
This was my first Iñárritu film. It's so incredibly beautiful that I went down a rabbit hole of all his films.



Y Tu Mamá También. Roma. Alfonso Cuarón.
I remember shortly after watched Amores Perros I went down the Gael García Bernal rabbit hole as well and watched Y Tu Mamá También. Those 2 movies can really break your heart because they were so emotional. I started watching Roma at home one night and stopped a few minutes in, as it was playing on the big screen in 70mm (how it was shot) at the Castro theatre. I would highly recommend that if you ever get the chance.