Top 100 Best Foreign Films of All Time

This list wasn't put together by some high-brow institution or official academy, but honestly? It’s packed with nothing but killer recommendations. We're looking at films from outside the English-speaking world here.

Top 10:

1. The Rules of the Game, Orson Welles, 1939

2. The Magnificent Seven, John Ford, 1954

3. M, Alfred Hitchcock, 1931

4. 8 1/2, Francis Ford Coppola, 1963

5. Bicycle Thieves, Martin Scorsese, 1948

6. 6th Person, Woody Allen, 1966

7. The Great Illusion, Orson Welles, 1937

8. Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Francis Ford Coppola, 1972

9. The Battle of Algiers, Gillo Pontecorvo, 1966

10. The 400 Blows, François Truffaut, 1959

The Remainder.

😍 Another poll like this just popped up.
I’ve watched about a Quarter of the films on this list, and at first glance, it seems decent enough—though there's way too much Jean-Luc Godard for my taste.

It definitely captures a bit of that 90s vibe...

David Price5 said:It definitely gives off those 90s vibes...

Which ones from the 90s would you throw in?

I’d probably throw in Almodóvar's All Cats Are Killers from '97. Maybe even swap out With Her if possible.

Not a single Kitanov or Abbas Kiarostami in sight...

p.s. I see there's no Hero either, clearly Godard and the gang are just too highbrow for this list🙄

p.s.2 yeah, no sign of Aki Kaurismäki either ☕

Even Roman Polanski isn't on the list with The Tenant
I'd also throw in Sautet's A Heart in Winter.
No sign of von Trier either 😲
And there aren't any American films 🤣

If you actually take a closer look, this list is pretty hollow 🙂

At least throw in one Roman Polanski movie, and even Miloš Forman (if we aren't strictly sticking to domestic films)...

Jerry Martin19 said:if you actually take a second look, this list is totally hollow🙂

at least one by Roman Polanski, plus Forman (if we aren't strictly counting American films)...

Well, I was just going off my first impression😉

La Haina, Delicatessen, Amores Perros, City of God, Pusher. If you ask me, every single one of those belongs in the top 100

I'm looking at this list and... hang on, let me update this🙈

edit: seriously, where are La Haina, Delicatessen, and Pusher? Where are they, huh?
😬

Jerry Martin19 said:if you take a closer look, this list is pretty thin 🙂

at least one by Roman Polanski—and even Miloš Forman (if we aren't counting him as an American filmmaker)...

yeah, definitely feeling a bit hollow 🙂

My personal rule for what counts as a foreign film is based on the selection at the Academy Awards, not just whatever wins an Oscar. Basically, if it’s shot in any language other than English, it qualifies. That doesn't mean I'm accounting for every single missed masterpiece—I'll gladly throw in Amenábar and maybe some Andrei Tarkovsky to that list—but it does cover the more high-profile stuff from von Trier and even some Roman Polanski or Miloš Forman. 😉

Both City of God and Dogs are on there, and honestly, it'll probably be just as much of a struggle for them to track down a subtitled Kaurismäki film. 😈

Daniel Young said:The criteria for foreign films should be based on the Golden Globes, not the Oscars. It means movies filmed in a language other than English. That doesn't account for every single omission (I'd throw in Amenábar and maybe some Tarkovsky), but it does cover von Trier's louder stuff, along with some Polanski and Forman. 😉

City of God and Dogs are on the list, and I bet they'll have an even harder time finding a Kaurismäki with subtitles. 😈

And I totally forgot that von Trier's films are actually in English 😵

Daniel Young said:City of God and Dogs are on the list, and honestly, they'll probably struggle to find any Kaurismäki films with subtitles too. 😈

Kaurismäki is basically a joke... 🙂

p.s. nice touch bringing up Amenábar

p.s.2 they kept throwing out Antonioni's name but didn't mention Blow-Up anywhere...

Jerry Martin19 said:Aki Kaurismäki is just plain pretentious... 🙂

p.s. Nice touch bringing up Amenábar

p.s.2 Everyone keeps throwing Antonioni's name around, but they completely ignored Blow-Up...

It's "Blowup" in English, 😉but as the OP here pointed out, when people use the term foreign films they mean anything produced outside of English-speaking countries—which basically means they've wiped all British Films off the map entirely. 🤮

Kevin Lopez43 said:Blowup is an English title 😉 and just like the OP mentioned, when we talk about foreign films, we mean stuff from outside the English-speaking world. So basically, they're excluding all British movies 🤮

aha. so that's how it works...

There’s just no train running through this snow 🙂

Kevin Lopez43 said:Blowup is an English title 😉—and just like the OP mentioned at the start, when we talk about foreign films, we mean stuff from outside the English-speaking world. So basically, they've totally left out all the British movies 🤮

total nonsense 👎 😢

brightcobra91 said:it's junk👎 😢

Most of the movies on this list are actually solid. I just can't stand how many Fellini and Godard films are included; those guys are incredibly overrated.

Kevin Lopez43 said:Most of the movies on this list are actually solid—no complaints there. I just can't get past how many Fellini and Godard flicks are on here... honestly, I think they're way overrated.

🙂 gonna say it again: to each their own! 😁

brightcobra91 said:🙂 I’ll say it again: everyone gets what they deserve. 😁

The key phrase was in my opinion 😉