Top 25 Movies

This list of the best foreign-language (i.e. non-English) films of all time was compiled by aggregating multiple best-of lists (see resources at bottom of page) along with films’ overall status in Dave’s Movie Database and movie ratings.

1. The Bicycle Thief (Ladri di Biciclette) (1947)
2. Breathless (A Bout de Souffle) (1959)
3. The 400 Blows (Les Quatre Cents Coups) (1959)
4. The Seven Samurai (Schichinin no Samurai) (1954)
5. Rashômon (1950)

6. Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes) (1972)
7. The Seventh Seal (Det Sjunde Inseglet) (1957)
8. The Sweet Life (La Dolce Vita) (1960)
9. 8 ½ (Otto e Mezzo) (1963)
10. Pan's Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno) (2006)

11. Tokyo Story (Tôkyô Monogatari) (1953)
12. The Adventure (L’Avventura) (1960)
13. In the Mood for Love (Dut Yeung Nin Wa) (2000)
14. Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi) (2001)
15. The Battle of Algiers (La Battaglia di Algeria) (1966)

16. Amélie (Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain) (2001)
17. M – Eine Stadt Sucht Einen Mörder (1931)
18. Cinema Paradiso (Nuovo Cinema Paradiso) (1988)
19. Persona (aka “Masks”) (1966)
20. The Rules of the Game (La Règle du Jeu) (1939)

21. The Apu Trilogy: Pather Panchali (1955)
22. City of God (Cidade de Deus) (2002)
23. Grand Illusion (La Grande Illusion) (1937)
24. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Wo Hu Cang Long) (2000)
25. Fanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander) (1982)

Resources:

Dave’s Movie Database: Genre Lists
BBC.com (10/30/2018). “The 100 greatest foreign-language films”
CinemaDailies.com “The Best Foreign Language Movies of All-Time”
Complex.com (12/21/2018). “56 Foreign Films to See Before You Die”
Empire magazine (June 2010). “100 Best Films of World Cinema”
Entertainment Weekly (2013). “The 10 Greatest Foreign Films”
TheGuardian.com (2007). “As chosen by you…the greatest foreign films of all time”
Lifehack.org “12 Best Foreign Movies Of All Time That Will Expand Your Worldview”
ListChallenges.com “101 Top Foreign-Language Films”
MagnoliaForever.wordpress.com (2011). “The 100 Essential Foreign Films”
Mic.com (7/20/2012). “10 Best Foreign Films of All-Time”
MovieBabbleReviews.com (5/6/2018). “Top 10 Best Foreign Films”
Movieline (July 1996). “100 Greatest Foreign Films”
Wikipedia.org (2019). “List of Academy Award winners and nominees for Best International Feature Film”
TasteOfCinema.com (11/16/2018). “The 25 Best Foreign Language Films of All Time”
Time Out (8/14/2019). “The 50 best foreign films of all time”
TownAndCountryMag.com (1/18/2019). “The 25 Best Foreign Films to Watch Right Now”

Originally posted 9/1/2019; last updated 5/25/2023.

Tuesday, November 24, 1998

50 years ago: Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di Biciclette) released

Bicycle Thieves (Ladri di Biciclette)

Released: November 24, 1948

Studio: Ente Nazionale Industrie Cinematografiche

Genre: foreign

Box Office (numbers in millions):

Domestic: 0.33 Worldwide: --

Adjusted for Inflation:

Domestic: -- Worldwide: --

Directing: Vittorio De Sica

Screenwriting: Oreste Biancoli, Suso D'Amico, Vittorio De Sica, Adolfo Franci, Gherardo Gherardi, Gerardo Guerrieri, Cesare Zavattini

Starring: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell

Review:

The Bicycle Thieves is a “timeless humanist gem of Italian Neorealism.” ^VY that “that deservedly earned a special Academy Award (before foreign films had a category of their own).” ^LM It is “an honest, beautiful film” ^LM and “one of the all-time classics.” ^LM

This is a “simple, realistic tale” ^LM “with urgent working-class concerns” ^VY during “unforgiving post-World War II Italy where the poor must own bikes for below-minimum-wage jobs.” ^VY

The focus is on the “dignified yet underprivileged Antonio” ^VY as he “desperately searches for his stolen pedals and tries to set an upstanding example for his impressionable young son.” ^VY