Who are some of the greatest foreign film directors?

Without looking it up, I can't name the guy who directed the recent German film "The Lives of Others," but that's one of the most extraordinary movies I've seen in recent years.

I can't believe so few Fritz Lang mentions.

John Woo in his early stuff, Hard Boiled, The Killer, and A Better Tomorrow. The long tracking shot in the hospital in Hard Boiled is one of the greatest ever.

I've also got to throw out some love for Peter Weir, specifically Picnic at Hanging Rock and the Truman Show. Jean-Claude Lauzon gets an honorable mention but only because I've only seen one of his movies, Leolo.

Random Idiot wrote:

Funny, I think "Wings of Desire" is one of the best films I've ever seen, and the ONLY film that is undeniably transcendently magical and mesmerizing. And I think "Paris, Texas" is one of the worst films I've ever seen. I guess lightning didn't strike twice.

As for Herzog's "Aguirre, Wrath of God"...if you haven't seen it, not only don't you know anything about film, you don't know anything life. I don't mean that as an insult to anyone, it's just a way of saying you can't NOT see it.

I've got "Paris, Texas" sitting on top of my DVD player right now (along with Ozu's "Tokyo Story"). I hope that I'll find it to be a more fulfilling experience than you did.

I'm glad to see that others feel as I do about "Aguirre." After I first saw it, I wanted to call everyone I knew to tell them about this mystical, mad, haunting film.

Kurosawa's Dreams is visually stunning. I also second Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire as one of the best films I have ever seen.

vilago iberia wrote:

I've also got to throw out some love for Peter Weir, specifically Picnic at Hanging Rock and the Truman Show.

When I mentioned the Australian films of the '70s and early '80s, I had in mind a number of Weir's films of that era, including "Picnic at Hanging Rock," "The Last Wave," and "The Year of Living Dangerously." (Although not exactly intellectual art-house fare, I was also thinking of the first two "Mad Max" films, especially "The Road Warrior.")

"Picnic at Hanging Rock" brings to mind Antonioni's "L'Avventura" and, to some extent, "Blow-Up." I like all of them, if only because they are so audacious in their refusal to provide easy answers to the audience's questions, but many people will find them maddening and unsatisfying.

For me, number one for sure is Jean-Luc Godard. Some of my absolute favorite movies:

- Breathless

- Pierrot le fou

- Le mépris (Contempt)

Other all-time favorites:

François Truffaut: The 400 Blows

Jean Renoir: La règle du jeu (The Rule of the Game)

I must have seen these movies at least 10 times each.

I like Eric Rohmer, but for me he doesn't come close to Godard or Truffaut.

From Denmark more recently, I was deeply moved by Thomas Vinterberg's Festen (The Celebration).

I wish I could add Wong Kar-Wai as his unaesthetic blows me away, but his stories don't stay with me after I leave the theater.

As for Terrence Malick, he is American but he feels foreign to me, the way he films and conveys meaning...so I'll add him to the list. He is one of the greats, an artist.

Yes! I can't remember the director's name, but what a magnificent movie. I thought about it for weeks.

Clowns of the Purple Sage wrote:

Without looking it up, I can't name the guy who directed the recent German film "The Lives of Others," but that's one of the most extraordinary movies I've seen in recent years.

Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" belongs on the list. It's not just a samurai flick.

I second the vote for Kieslowski (Poland) and his "Blue" and "White" and "Red."

From New Zealand, Roger Donaldson ("Smash Palace").

From Australia, Ken Cameron ("Monkey Grip").

From France, Claire Denis ("Beau Travail" and "The Intruder").

Sergei Eisenstein - The Battle Ship Potemkin

Edgar Reitz - Heimat

The Palme d'Or committee is not infallible, but very few of their awards have gone to the "worst" films. Critical consensus is strongly in favor of Paris, Texas as a great film. Me, I think Wings are Paris are both great.

Some great ones already mentioned...Hitchcock, Truffault, Goddard, Kurosawa, Bergman and Lang but I'm not sure anyone has mentioned Vittorio de Sica. Bicycle Thives is brilliant and Umberto D. is pretty good too. Maybe a bit cliche but I liked some of David Lean's work too...Lawrence of Arabia, Passage to India, Dr. Zhivago and Bridge on the River Kwai. Also Carol Reed, especially "The Third Man." Miyazaki has made some good animated films, such as Spirted Away, Howl's Moving Castle, Princess Mononoke and most recently Ponyo. Also maybe Terry Gilliam...Monty Python & Holy Grail, Brazil, Time Bandits, Twelve Monkeys.

Every western ever made, and, so, too,just about every action film pumped out by Hollywood in the last 50 years is an amalgam in some ratio of Seven Samurai and High Noon. And Seven Samurai may not be his most important film. That's how good he was.

I don't know if Kubrick gets counted as foreign - I suppose he's really not, although most of his life was lived abroad - but, if he were, he'd be near the top of the list, too.

Has Alfonso Cuarón, who directed "Y Tu Mama Tambien," been mentioned? If not, this is a mention.

We're probably stretching the concept of "foreign film director" much further than the original poster intended, but that's O.K. It gives us a chance to make a pitch for some of our favorite directors and films that aren't totally Hollywood.

That leads me to a film that has a special place in my heart. It's "My Dinner with Andre," which -- although directed by French director Louis Malle -- I think of as a great American film, since the screenwriters, stars, and setting are all American, and I think that Malle's direction takes a back seat to the screenplay and acting.

Although I don't really think of its director as one of the "greatest foreign film directors," I want to mention one of my favorite foreign-language films -- "My Life as a Dog," a Swedish film directed by Lasse Hallstrom. Although sometimes very funny, it's also achingly sad, and a reminder of how complicated childhood can be.

I'm a little surprised that Bunuel's "Belle de Jour" hasn't been mentioned. Also, considering the number of Asian films cited, I'm a little surprised that the South Korean film "Oldboy," directed by Park Chan-wook, hasn't been mentioned. They're not really among my favorites (despite Catherine Deneuve in "Belle de Jour"), but they have their ardent admirers.

Speaking of Catherine Deneuve, it's probably worth mentioning "Repulsion," starring Deneuve and directed by Roman Polanski. If Polanski's personal life hadn't gotten so out of hand, who knows what he might have accomplished? I think that Polanski's "Chinatown" is a great movie, although I consider it a very American film in the tradition of classic film noir.