Our number one choice is, appropriately, a film of firsts: the first serial-killer movie, the celebrated director Fritz Lang's first sound production—and the movie he personally prized above all his others. It marries the fanciful expressionist techniques of the filmmaker's epic silents like Metropolis to a frighteningly realistic tale of a child-murdering psychopath, and its influence can be felt all the way up to our own Sevens and Saws. But the monstrous Hans Beckert (Peter Lorre) is no cheer-'em-on villain like Jigsaw: First shown abstractly as a threatening shadow on the wall, the character is brought slowly and precisely into focus, until he himself becomes a victim, hunted down and dragged before a kangaroo court, where the moral divide all but evaporates. This politically charged classic reflected the German audiences' adoration of the dawning Nazi party back on itself, and its enduring lessons (for both cinema and society) are as much global as local.
In cultural shorthand, enjoying foreign films has long been a euphemism for snootiness. It’s a hacky stereotype that’s acted as a barrier between American audiences and some of the greatest movies ever made. It’s also wholly inaccurate. Sure, plenty of movies from non-English-speaking countries explore complex themes and big ideas, sometimes using methods far different from what viewers are accustomed to. But you’ll find just as many over-the-top action flicks, ridiculous comedies, heart-swelling musicals and stomach-knotting thrillers.
Obviously, the world of international film is broad. So, In compiling this list of the best foreign movies of all-time, we had to set some parameters. We omitted silent films and determined that the movies had to be in a language that wasn’t English: so goodbye Britain and Australia. Other than those caveats, consider this your cinematic passport.
Written by David Fear, Keith Uhlich, Andy Kryza, Joshua Rothkopf & Matthew Singer
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