The Top Foreign Film List is Go...

[charlie Jatinder]

No 3 Idiots in list. 

3 Idiots in Top 5.

Edited December 15, 2022 by charlie Jatinder

[SchumacherFTW]

1 minute ago, charlie Jatinder said:

No 3 Idiots till now. Huh.

So...

3 Idiots in Top 5. Woah.

[Jake Gittes]

1 hour ago, chasmmi said:

I know I am very blase about casually saying that most of them are the same samurai film just remixed slightly, but a part of me does suspect that Kurosawa is a bit like you Kubrick, Tarantino, Hitchcock and such in that they have a way of doing things that means that if you love one film, there is a good shot that you will love everything.

 

This isn't even a Kurosawa movie. 

[chasmmi]

1 hour ago, Jake Gittes said:

 

This isn't even a Kurosawa movie. 

 

See, this is how qualified I am to comment on this list  

[Tower]

3 hours ago, chasmmi said:

6th Seven Samurai (Japan) 9 Votes: 242 Points

2020 Position: 25th

 

 

But there are only four of them, and I don't think they are all samurai. 

 

Ah, the Bug's Life Premake. 

 

I think before this list even began, there were maybe 3 films that you would 100% be certain would make the top 10 and this is one of them. The most famous Japanese samurai film that spawned riffs and interpretations in multiple other nations and mediums. It is a classic and will likely never leave the top 10 of these votes.

 

Is anything not Japan going to appear?  

 

The real list we all care about:

 

29 - Japan

14 - India

13 - France

8 - South Korea

5 - Sweden 

 

5 - Hong Kong

4 - Germany

4 - Italy

2 - Mexico

2 - Russia (includes USSR)

 

1 - Poland 

1 - China

1 - Denmark

1 - Norway

1 - Indonesia

 

1 - Brazil

1 - Taiwan

I have a feeling Seven Samurai wasn't 25th last time.

[chasmmi]

On 12/15/2022 at 10:33 PM, Tower said:

I have a feeling Seven Samurai wasn't 25th last time.

 

It was probably lower agreed. Let me check...

[chasmmi]

 

5th Three Idiots (India) 7 Votes: 245 Points

2020 Position: 18th

 

 

Or two idiot...apparently

 

And finally some folks can be happy/disappointed.

 

This is officially the best Indian film ever made and I can confidently say that... I have no idea how true that is, but Let's Go Team Kal Ho Naa Ho!! Anyhow, this certainly has its fans and there was a brief period where it was threatening to cause an even bigger impact. Either way, this is a good performance. 

 

And that takes India to 15 films and most likely confirms its position at number two (I cannot see France having 2 of the top 4, can you?)

 

The real list we all care about:

 

29 - Japan

15 - India

13 - France

8 - South Korea

5 - Sweden 

 

5 - Hong Kong

4 - Germany

4 - Italy

2 - Mexico

2 - Russia (includes USSR)

 

1 - Poland 

1 - China

1 - Denmark

1 - Norway

1 - Indonesia

 

1 - Brazil

1 - Taiwan

[chasmmi]

4th Pan's Labyrinth (Mexico) 8 Votes: 251 Points

2020 Position: 4th

 

 

Looks like a lovely time.

 

From India's best film to European Language's best film. 

 

This film possibly would have won this vote if it had existed like 10 years ago when this film was fresher in the mind and another particular genre was quite as mainstream as it is now. It clearly has a lot of fans and is special for the fact that it is the highest rated film that I have not seen. 

 

I was going to give this to Spain but upon the rigorous fact-checking that I am famous for, I discovered it received the Oscar nomination in the name of Mexico, so that is where it goes. Which also allows Mexico to proudly declare itself clearly better than Russia. 

 

The real list we all care about:

 

29 - Japan

15 - India

13 - France

8 - South Korea

5 - Sweden 

 

5 - Hong Kong

4 - Germany

4 - Italy

3 - Mexico

2 - Russia (includes USSR)

 

1 - Poland 

1 - China

1 - Denmark

1 - Norway

1 - Indonesia

 

1 - Brazil

1 - Taiwan

[chasmmi]

3rd Princess Mononoke (Japan) 14 Votes: 395 Points

2020 Position: 11th

 

 

Well that is a rubbish attempt at a poster. 

 

Ghibli's 5th best film has done okay for itself here. 

 

Arguably the most epic Ghibli animation out there. Definitely one that has a strong case for being great and in my eyes, the one film that could potentially make a really cool live action remake if done with love. But it likely would be done with money so forget I said that. 

 

That brings up 30 for Japan and 13 for Studio Ghibli alone. Wow! 13 films for one studio is almost as impressive as the fact that I briefly questioned what percentage of the top 100 that would be. I am very clever. 

 

The real list we all care about:

 

30 - Japan

15 - India

13 - France

8 - South Korea

5 - Sweden 

 

5 - Hong Kong

4 - Germany

4 - Italy

3 - Mexico

2 - Russia (includes USSR)

 

1 - Poland 

1 - China

1 - Denmark

1 - Norway

1 - Indonesia

 

1 - Brazil

1 - Taiwan

[SchumacherFTW]

19 minutes ago, chasmmi said:

 

5th Three Idiots (India) 7 Votes: 245 Points

2020 Position: 18th

 

 

Or two idiot...apparently

 

And finally some folks can be happy/disappointed.

 

This is officially the best Indian film ever made and I can confidently say that... I have no idea how true that is, but Let's Go Team Kal Ho Naa Ho!! Anyhow, this certainly has its fans and there was a brief period where it was threatening to cause an even bigger impact. Either way, this is a good performance. 

 

And that takes India to 15 films and most likely confirms its position at number two (I cannot see France having 2 of the top 4, can you?)

 

The real list we all care about:

 

29 - Japan

15 - India

13 - France

8 - South Korea

5 - Sweden 

 

5 - Hong Kong

4 - Germany

4 - Italy

2 - Mexico

2 - Russia (includes USSR)

 

1 - Poland 

1 - China

1 - Denmark

1 - Norway

1 - Indonesia

 

1 - Brazil

1 - Taiwan

[chasmmi]

2nd Spirited Away (Japan) 15 Votes: 474 Points

2020 Position: 2nd

 

 

So this film took place in some quiet village. Okay. 

 

The first non-child targeted Japanese animation that many of possibly watched. 

 

Fun fact. Even though it ended up finishing 80 points clear. Both this, and number 1 both were trailing Mononoke for a far amount of the tally up and then the top 2 pulled clear in the last few votes sent in. 

 

I think there were two big questions heading into this list for me. One was whether the top 2 from last time out would face any competition for their spots this time around, and the other was whether Spirited Away could beat the film that pipped it to the post the first time around. Well, we have the answer now. 

 

So Japan hits 31 votes. Anime about 17 entries on its own meaning that India just about pipped Japan for the title of most live action placements (this is significant as it is much easier to watch a dubbed animation than a dubbed live action film for example). 

 

The real list we all care about:

 

31 - Japan

15 - India

13 - France

8 - South Korea

5 - Sweden 

 

5 - Hong Kong

4 - Germany

4 - Italy

3 - Mexico

2 - Russia (includes USSR)

 

1 - Poland 

1 - China

1 - Denmark

1 - Norway

1 - Indonesia

 

1 - Brazil

1 - Taiwan

[chasmmi]

1st Parasite (Japan) 16 Votes: 476 Points

2020 Position: 1st

 

 

Was hoping that this gimmick would end on a high... it didn't

 

Yet again the second best film of the second best Korean director is the best foreign film ever. 

 

And you have that right, the top 2 were separated by 2 points. 80 points clear of 3rd and 220 points clear of 4th, yet two points between them. I think this highlights the difference between films that are huge among a region's fans and the very rare times that a film truly breaks into every genre of film fan.

 

The top three on this list appeared on votes over and over and over again. So while Parasite only had 2 more top 10 votes than say Akira in 14th, it had more than double the number of votes rated from 11-100th and that adds up to a lot of points.  

 

So Korea almost made it to 10 films on this list. (although its 10th best rated film only managed 125th so it wasn't that close. 

 

The real list we all care about:

 

31 - Japan

15 - India

13 - France

9 - South Korea

5 - Sweden 

 

5 - Hong Kong

4 - Germany

4 - Italy

3 - Mexico

2 - Russia (includes USSR)

 

1 - Poland 

1 - China

1 - Denmark

1 - Norway

1 - Indonesia

 

1 - Brazil

1 - Taiwan

[chasmmi]

101st-200th just for the fun:

 

The Wages of Fear	France	97
RRR	India	97
The Raid 2	Indonesia	96
Breathless	France	96
Battle Royale	Japan	95
Good Morning	Japan	94
Tumbbad	India	94
Incendies	Canada	92
Nosferatu	Germany	92
pather Panchali	India	89
Downfall (Der Untergang)	Germany	88
Titane	France	86
IP Man	Hong Kong	85
Mughal e Azam	India	85
Lupin the Third: Castle of Cagliostro	Japan	84
Millenium Actress	Japan	83
Aguirre The Wrath of God	Germany	83
Autumn Sonata	Sweden	82
Beauty and the Beast	France	82
Only Yesterday	Japan	80
Infernal Affairs	Hong Kong	80
La Dolce Vita	Italy	79
Shoplifters	Japan	79
Spring Summer Fall Winter and Spring	Korea	79
Quo Vadis, Aida?	BCMS	78
The Vanishing	netherlands	78
The Rules of the Game	France	77
Come and See	Russia	76
Three Colours: Red	France	74
The Killer	Hong Kong	74
Woman of the Dunes	Japan	74
I lost my body	France	73
Cleo from 5 to 7	France	73
Thirst	Korea	73
Run Lola Run	Germany	72
Bacurau	Brazil	68
The Hidden Fortress	Japan	67
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown	Spain	66
Shaolin Soccer	Hong Kong	66
Ghost in the Shell	Japan	65
Toni Erdmann	Germany	65
Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara	India	64
Scenes from a marriage	France	64
The Hunt	Denmark	62
Rififi	France	62
House	Japan	62
Shoah	France	61
The End of Evangelion	Japan	60
Black Book	netherlands	58
Kuch Kuch Hota Hai	India	57
Persepolis	France	56
Tokyo Godfathers	Japan	55
Man with a Movie Camera	Russia	54
Through a Glass Darkly	Sweden	52
Chak De India	India	52
La Strada	Italy	52
The Bad Sleep Well	Japan	50
Audition	Japan	50
Napoleon	France	50
Article 15	India	49
Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior	Thailand	48
Minari	Korea	48
The Celebration	Denmark	46
The Devil's Backbone	mexico	46
The Man from Nowhere	Korea	46
Ivan's Childhood	Russia	45
Dragonball Z Broly	Japan	45
Rurouni Kenshin 3 The Legend Ends	Japan	45
Offside	Iran	45
Marriage Italian Style	Italy	45
A Woman is a Woman	France	45
Demon Slayer Infinity Train	Japan	44
Jujutsu Kaisen 0	Japan	44
The Act of killing	Denmark	43
Anand	India	42
The Conformist	Italy	41
Jab We Met	India	41
Andrei Rublev	Russia	41
La Femme Nikita	France	40
Mother India	India	40
A Prophet	France	40
Daisies	Czech	40
Ordet	Denmark	40
Peking Opera Blues	Hong Kong	40
The Green Ray	France	40
Petite Maman	France	39
Rurouni Kenshin 2 Kyoto Inferno	Japan	39
Rocco and his Brothers	Italy	38
blue is the warmest colour	France	38
Jeanne Dielman	France	37
Perfect Blue	Japan	36
The Cranes are flying	Russia	36
Queen	India	36
Red Beard	Japan	36
Eastern Condors	Hong Kong	36
Evangelion: 3.0	Japan	36
My Friend Ivan Lapshin	Russia	36
Vivre sa Vie	France	36
The Way He Looks	yes	36
Pain and Glory	Spain	35
Iron Monkey	Hong Kong	34

[ZeeSoh]

[ZeeSoh]

@chasmmi you missed your previous record by just 1 day! 66 days vs 65 days for this. You couldn't wait 2 more days huh?

[TalismanRing]

Thanks @chasmmi

 

Quick takeaways

 

Spain and Almodovar completely whiff the list first showing up about 35 places outside the top 100 with Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

 

Panther Pancheli (or any Ray film) and Mughal e Azam miss a top 100 list with 9 Indian films ranking and where 3 Idiots makes it to the top 5

 

Zang Yimou makes the list with The Hero and nothing else (superior) even makes the top 200

 

Italy really under performed

 

 

 

 

[grim22]

1 minute ago, TalismanRing said:

 

Panther Pancheli (or any Ray film) and Mughal e Azam miss a top 100 list with 9 Indian films ranking and where 3 Idiots makes it to the top 5

 

 

 

Ray movies are not exactly accessible to most Indians. They are in Bengali for the most part and are in the arthouse style rather than mainstream.

 

For a Ray movie to make it, it will have to do it completely on the basis of foreign users voting for it. Indian users will go for the more accessible Bollywood or other industries rather than the Bengali industry which is an island unto itself.

[TalismanRing]

Just now, grim22 said:

 

Ray movies are not exactly accessible to most Indians. They are in Bengali for the most part and are in the arthouse style rather than mainstream.

 

For a Ray movie to make it, it will have to do it completely on the basis of foreign users voting for it. Indian users will go for the more accessible Bollywood or other industries rather than the Bengali industry which is an island unto itself.

 

There's that but I think it might have more to do with age - no Raj Kapoor or Mukherjee etc  film ranked either.

[CaptNathanBrittles]

I don't want to generalize but all Bollywood movies are completely unwatchable and should be removed from the list.

[SchumacherFTW]

18 minutes ago, CaptNathanBrittles said:

I don't want to generalize but all Bollywood movies are completely unwatchable and should be removed from the list.

That's nice, now go peddle your hateful bullshit elsewhere while the rest of us enjoy watching Shah Rukh Khan