James DiCaudo's Top 100 Foreign Films List
Rank | Title | Director | Year | Notes |
1 | Diary of a Country Priest | Bresson | 1950 | The supreme example of the art of cinema, the one miracle even non-believers can acknowledge. |
2 | Umbrellas of Cherbourg | Demy | 1964 | More power to enthrall across repeated viewings than any film in history. |
3 | Pickpocket | Bresson | 1959 | Not a single wasted frame across it's full 75 minutes, Pickpocket presents the best argument for Bresson's controlled style. The chilling moments where Marika Green, half in profile, eyes lowered, glances back at Martin LaSalle present an emotion no "actress" could possibly have conveyed. |
4 | Jules and Jim | Truffaut | 1961 | Best example of Truffaut's unmatched lyricism. |
5 | Andrei Rublev | Tarkovsky | 1969 | Jaw-dropping, awe inspiring self-portrait of the "Artist." |
6 | Contempt | Godard | 1963 | Not, as some would suggest, a failed dabbling in big-budget Cinemascope; nor, as one critic claimed, "the greatest work of art produced in post-war Europe"; but rather, Godard, at the height of his powers, churning out the best example of his reflexive nature. |
7 | Time Regained | Ruiz | 1999 | Best collective performance by an ensemble cast, and one of the finest displays of sound engineering in history. Absolutely sumptuous. |
8 | Double Life of Veronique | Kieslowski | 1991 | An overlooked, flawed diamond. |
9 | In the Mood for Love | Wong Kar-Wai | 2000 | Wong's supposed weaknesses become great strengths (lack of a script, musical bridges, frequent speed changes), while his strengths (gorgeous cinematography, firm control of mood & tone) have never been more evident. |
10 | Nights of Cabiria | Fellini | 1957 | |
11 | Days of Being Wild | Wong Kar-Wai | 1991 | |
12 | Fire Within | Malle | 1963 | Neglected due to it's dour tone, Malle's excellent musical taste (Satie's Gymnopedies and Gnossienes) once again combines with a fine Ronet performance to leave an "indelible stain" on the viewer's conscience. |
13 | My Night at Maud's | Rohmer | 1969 | Intellectual, in the best sense of the word. |
14 | Shoot the Piano Player | Truffaut | 1960 | One of the 20th century's most famous cineastes makes the sum of the parts at least equal to the whole, so that the occasional self-indulgence becomes a guilty pleasure, forcing us to stop and replay the film's first half hour 2-3 times before settling back to drink in the remainder. |
15 | L'Appartement | Mimouni | 1996 | One of the best photographed films of the Nineties. |
16 | Decalogue | Kieslowski | 1987 | |
17 | Solaris | Tarkovsky | 1972 | Typical Tarkovsky: challenges you to stay awake, then refuse to let you sleep. |
18 | Elevator to the Gallows | Malle | 1957 | |
19 | Winter Light | Bergman | 1963 | Bergman hits the viewer over the head with a padded hammer, a deceptively understated attack of light, shade, sound and framing that masquerades as a glancing blow yet leaves the viewer reeling for days. |
20 | Les Choses de la Vie | Sautet | 1969 | A bit too bourgeau for some film buffs, Sautet was nonetheless one of the finest craftsmen ever to sit in a director's chair, and was particularly good at using music to evoke a mood. |
21 | La Collectionneuse | Rohmer | 1967 | Perhaps unfairly regarded among Rohmer-ites given the lack likeable characters, the brilliant use of interior monologues and tight focus makes this the supreme statement of Rohmer's most common theme -- ironic self-deception. |
22 | Muriel | Resnais | 1963 | Even when flying at levels beyond the average viewer's radar, Resnais fascinates and demands repeat viewings. |
23 | M | Lang | 1931 | |
24 | Mirror | Tarkovsky | 1975 | |
25 | Cold Water | Assayas | 1994 | Certainly the most underrated filmmaker of the late 20th century, the searing honesty of this nostalgic (and perhaps autobiographical) film places it at the summit of Assayas' art. The bonfire scene, with its deft combination of music and camera movement, is perhaps the best single example of his unique talent. |
26 | Eclipse | Antonioni | 1961 | |
27 | Ossessione | Visconti | 1942 | Viewed today, the utter lack of "camp" in this near 60-yr-old feature only magnifies its continuing importance. |
28 | Un Couer en Hiver | Sautet | 1993 | |
29 | Jean de Florette | Berri | 1986 | |
30 | This Man Must Die | Chabrol | 1969 | |
31 | Ridicule | Leconte | 1996 | |
32 | Chloe in the Afternoon | Rohmer | 1970 | |
33 | L'Atalante | Vigo | 1926 | |
34 | Magician | Bergman | 1958 | |
35 | Late August, Early September | Assayas | 1998 | Great Jeanne Balibar performance coupled with Assayas' swirling camera work. |
36 | Return of Martin Guerre | Vigne | 1983 | |
37 | Alphaville | Godard | 1965 | |
38 | World of Apu | Ray | 1959 | |
39 | Claire's Knee | Rohmer | 1972 | |
40 | Destinées sentimentales, Les | Assayas | 2000 | One can sense Assayas fighting hard in the first third of this epic to rein in his trademark "nervous camera" and, while he successfully does so in the last two hours, it's arguable whether this adds or detracts from the presentation. It's as if he was saying to himself and the studios "see, I can make a popular epic if I want to." So, though points must be deducted (for the restraint is far too evident), one wonders what this might have been ... |
41 | Big Deal on Madonna St | Monicelli | 1956 | |
42 | La guerre est finie | Resnais | 1966 | |
43 | Cesar & Rosalie | Sautet | 1972 | |
44 | Ashes of Time | Wong Kar-Wai | 1994 | |
45 | Bicycle Thief | de Sica | 1948 | |
46 | La Dolce Vita | Fellini | 1960 | |
47 | Red | Kieslowski | 1994 | |
48 | Spider's Stratagem | Bertolucci | 1970 | |
49 | Two English Girls | Truffaut | 1971 | |
50 | A Man Escaped | Bresson | 1956 | |
51 | Summer with Monika | Bergman | 1952 | |
52 | Chung King Express | Wong Kar-Wai | 1994 | |
53 | Loves of a Blond | Forman | 1965 | |
54 | Puppetmaster | Hou Hsiao-Hsien | 1993 | |
55 | Le Boucher | Chabrol | 1969 | |
56 | Monsieur Hire | Leconte | 1994 | |
57 | Wild Reeds | Techine | 1994 | |
58 | 8 1/2 | Fellini | 1963 | |
59 | La Notte | Antonioni | 1960 | |
60 | 400 Blows | Truffaut | 1959 | |
61 | Peking Opera Blues | Hark | 1986 | If Man were meant to fly, he'd … make movies in Hong Kong. |
62 | Pierrot le Fou | Godard | 1965 | |
63 | Senso | Visconti | 1954 | |
64 | My Life to Live | Godard | 1962 | |
65 | Manon de Sources | Berri | 1987 | |
66 | Girl on a Bridge | Leconte | 1999 | Yes, Leconte shamelessly plays to the gallery (as he freely admits), casting his nets in rather shallow waters, yet only the snobbiest cineaste would consider "popular" and "artistic" to be absolute antonyms. |
67 | L'Argent | Bresson | 1983 | |
68 | Lovers, The | Malle | 1959 | |
69 | Maborosi | Koreeda | 1996 | |
70 | Man who loved Women | Truffaut | 1977 | |
71 | Masculine-Feminine | Godard | 1966 | |
72 | Mouchette | Bresson | 1967 | |
73 | Red Desert | Antonioni | 1964 | |
74 | Pauline at the Beach | Rohmer | 1983 | |
75 | Scent of Green Papaya | Tran Anh Hung | 1993 | |
76 | School of Flesh | Jacquot | 1998 | |
77 | Stalker | Tarkovsky | 1979 | |
78 | Bande à part | Godard | 1964 | |
79 | Summer Interlude | Bergman | 1951 | |
80 | Knife in the Water | Polanski | 1960 | |
81 | Le Beau Mariage | Rohmer | 1981 | |
82 | My Girlfriend's Boyfriend | Rohmer | 1987 | |
83 | Through a Glass Darkly | Bergman | 1962 | |
84 | A Woman is a Woman | Godard | 1961 | |
85 | Loulou | Pialat | 1980 | |
86 | All the Mornings of the World | Corneau | 1991 | |
87 | Seventh Seal | Bergman | 1957 | |
88 | L'avventura | Antonioni | 1960 | |
89 | Cinema Paradiso | Tornatore | 1989 | |
90 | Au Revoir en Enfants | Malle | 1987 | |
91 | Bride Wore Black | Truffaut | 1967 | |
92 | Roundevous | Techine | 1985 | |
93 | Un femme douce | Bresson | 1969 | |
94 | I Can't Sleep | Denis | 1994 | |
95 | Roundevous in paris | Rohmer | 1995 | |
96 | Beautiful Troublemaker | Rivette | 1994 | |
97 | Swindle, the | Fellini | 1955 | |
98 | Sacrifice | Tarkovsky | 1985 | |
99 | Suzhou River | Ye Lou | 2000 | |
100 | Vertical Ray of the Sun | Tran Anh Hung | 2000 |