World Film and Foreign-Language Movies on DVD and Video

I think foreign-language films can show us things about the world we will never see if we watch only movies where the dialogue is in English. Read more...

This is an emotionally engaging and often cinematically dazzling adaptation of Jean-Dominique Bauby's 1997 memoir.

Winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes, this Romanian-language film that combines elements of dystopian thriller, realist drama and character study.

This German-language drama won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.

Actress Marion Cotillard gives a powerful performance in this French-language biopic about iconic singer Édith Piaf.

This is a Mandarin-language film about a willful, passionate young woman grappling with her feelings toward a man she falls madly in love with. .

A visual delight, Diva was innovative when it was released in 1981 and is still fun to watch today.

Explore photos and images from the movie Fearless.

Audrey Tautou is the star of A Very Long Engagement, a French-language film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Read an in-depth profile of this movie on DVD.

Written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard, Pierrot le fou features eye-popping primary colors and a pair of charismatic, good-looking stars: Jean-Paul Belmondo and Anna Karina.

A capsule review of this foreign-language movie on DVD.

Find out more about this foreign-language movie.

Based on the novel by Sébastien Japrisot, A Very Long Engagement (2004) is a French-language drama about an incident involving soldiers at the front during World War I.

I know of no other collection of films that gives such an unforgettable portrayal of the sweep of life from childhood to adolescence to marriage. Read a review of the Apu Trilogy on DVD.

If you're interested in cinema as art, rather than as entertainment, then you'll certainly want to see Robert Bresson's French-language Au hasard Balthazar (1966). Read a review of this movie on DVD.

Find out more about this foreign-language movie on DVD.

Read a review of this foreign-language movie on DVD.

This is a crowd-pleasing screen adaptation of Georges Bizet's 1875 French-language opera. Read more...

About the foreign-language movie on DVD.

This a movie that uses a poetic, lyrical style to tell a story that is immediately accessible to almost any first-time viewer. Read a review of this foreign-language film on DVD.

The Portuguese-language drama City of Godderives its title from the name of the Rio de Janeiro slum in which the film is set.

Downfall was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category. Read a full-length review of this movie on DVD.

This German-language drama chronicles the final days of Hitler, so it takes place mostly in a Berlin bunker. Find out more about this movie on DVD.

"The Barbarian Invasions" won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. When I watched this emotionally engaging movie on DVD, it made me both laugh and cry.

I've heard Bergman films compared to musical compositions, and many of his movies are small and somewhat similar to chamber pieces. Find out more about this foreign-language movie on DVD.

A review of the Criterion Collection two-disc DVD set containing two movies by Ozu.

Explore the best of the French New Wave films. Read reviews of these movies on DVD.

This movie was one of the nominees for Best Foreign Language Film. Read more about Hero on DVD.

Alain Resnais' influential, innovative film is moving, compelling, and lyrical.

Read a capsule review of this foreign-language movie on DVD.

This is a film that hits deep enough that it makes me reexamine my own life and the lives of others around me.

L'Enfant (2005) is a French-language drama that won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. Find out more about this movie on DVD.

L'Enfant (2005) is a French-language drama that won the Palme d'Or at Cannes. Read a review of this movie on DVD.

This has long been one of my favorite movies, and now I'm thrilled to own The Criterion Collection two-disc DVD set containing this great French-language film. Back in April, 2002, Fox Lorber released a single-disc DVD version of Jules and Jim. However, the Criterion Collection version is far superior.

Of all the films I've ever seen, Jules and Jim is one of my favorites. I've watched it at least half a dozen times, both on videotape and on the big screen in art-house revival.

Find out more about the Criterion Collection DVD of "L'avventura," Michaelangelo Antonioni's great 1960 Italian-language masterpiece of world cinema.

Find out more about Fellini's La Dolce vita on DVD.

This is one of my favorite Fellini films.

Luchino Visconti's movie is a visually lyrical film that tells the tragic story of a poor Sicilian family. Find out more about this foreign-language movie.

This is one of cinema's greatest combinations of filmmaking and musical performance.

A capsule review of this foreign-language movie on DVD

This film is a curious mix of historical drama, sports movie, romance, and musical. Find out more about this foreign-language movie.

The 1960s saw quite a bit of experimentation in world cinema, and one of the most fascinating of those experiments was the French-language film Last Year at Marienbad (1961). Read my review of this movie on DVD.

Look at Me is a French drama that has found favor with the overwhelming majority of critics. Read more about this foreign-language movie on DVD.

L’Atalante is a cinepoem that is infused with an evocative mood of lyrical, bittersweet romance, and I think it is one of the greatest movies ever made.

A review of this foreign-language movie.

Some have typed this film as a food movie, but I consider it to be more of a character study. Find out more about this foreign-language film.

This Thai-language martial arts movie stars Tony Jaa, and the filmmakers claim no wires or computer-generated images were used. Read more about this foreign-language movie on DVD.

While this movie defies complete understanding, each time I see it, I find new nuances of meaning. Read a review of this foreign-language movie on DVD.

The Japanese-language Pulse is a psychological horror film, but it's very different from mainstream American horror movies.

I think this classic of world cinema is one of the greatest movies of all time. Read a review of this foreign-language movie on DVD.

Luchino Visconti's powerful 1960 Italian-language movie is a masterpiece of world cinema. Read a review of this movie on DVD.

A capsule review of this foreign-language movie on DVD.

A review of this foreign-language movie on DVD.

A review of this foreign-language movie on Criterion Collection DVD.

This movie won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Read a review of this movie on DVD.

Read a review of this foreign-language movie on DVD.

An Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Film, this heartwarming French-language drama tells the tale of an inspiring teacher. Read more about the movie The Chorus on DVD.

Nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category, this movie is a melodrama that stars Gael García Bernal. Read a review of this movie on DVD.

When I reflect on all the movies and television programs I've viewed at home over the years, the DVD version of The Decalogue (1989) ranks high among the very best. Read a review of Krzysztof Kieslowski's drama cycle on DVD.

Ivana Redwine reviews Luchino Visconti's masterpiece.

I love this complex film's style and wit, its vibrant use of Technicolor, and Roger Livesey's tour-de-force performance.

Although the Swedish director is famous for his melancholy movies, here he has created a cheerful one. Read a review of The Magic Flute on DVD.

Read a review of this foreign-language movie on DVD.

Read a review of this foreign-language movie on DVD.

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, this Spanish-language drama was directed by Alejandro Amenábar and stars Javier Bardem. Read more about the movie The Sea Inside on DVD.

I think Kieslowski’s Three Colors trilogy is an innovative masterpiece of world cinema that works both intellectually and humanistically.

This is one of the greatest masterpieces of world cinema. Read a review of this movie on DVD.

About the foreign-language movie Tsotsi, coming to DVD soon.

I remember seeing the title Ugetsu monogatari (1953) on various lists of great films for years. Now I am thrilled to own the Criterion Collection two-disc DVD set containing the movie under the shorter title Ugetsu.

In Wild Strawberries, Ingmar Bergman's vision and Victor Sjostrom's great performance combine to create a masterpiece. Read my DVD review/overview and find out more about this fascinating film.

I think this film is an imaginative masterwork of world cinema. Read a review of this foreign-language movie on DVD.

I loved this high-spirited, unusual, and fun art-house movie, which I found to be artistic, cinematic, and thought-provoking.

Here's my idiosyncratic list of the best foreign films released on DVD in 2002.