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Embarking on writing this article, I have suddenly realised I am at risk of writing perhaps the most pretentious piece of tosh to ever grace the internet, and am in fear of a lifetime of abuse from all those who love me. To be fair, writing a film blog in itself is something reserved perhaps for those who read Wordsworth and shop at Whole Foods. And to show my commitment, I’ve even written the title in French. Come at me haters.

My reason for writing, however, being that this subjects is something quite close to my heart, what some might call a ‘pet peeve’, or a ‘raison d’etre’ if I wanted to be consistent with the title. Foreign Language Cinema is a fantastic thing, and is something which I believe doesn’t get as much credit as it deserves, nor do its fans get sufficient credibility. The multiplexes would lead us to believe that the only people who make films are those well versed in the English tongue, or indeed those who speak in the language of CGI. But some of the greatest films of all time have been accompanied by those glorious little sentences at the bottom of the screen, and of course a language to which we are not accustomed.

We begin in France, a country famous for its lovers and its cheese, but perhaps not so lauded for its sense of humour. Jean-Pierre Jeunet, a name maybe familiar to you, has produced some of the finest comedies in the past 20 odd years, including the GCSE-favourite ‘Amelie’, and the darker ‘Delicatessen’, a goofball black comedy about cannibals and an underground revolution. Advancing to the more serious, where else to look than to the world-famous ‘Jean de Florette’ and ‘Manon des Sources’, Claude Berri’s two-part series about the drama of provincial France, and the power of family, complete with a killer twist ending, and starring English-language convert Gerard Depardieu.

Moving further south, we find the likes of Pedro Almodovar, a stunningly inventive director with a more than eclectic back catalogue. His more famous offerings include ‘Todo Sobre Mi Madre’ (All About My Mother), a heart-wrenching tale about a woman dealing with loss, Volver, a surreal drama in which the central character’s mother comes back from the dead, and ‘I’m So Excited’, a screwball comedy set on a plane, a throwback to Almodovar’s earlier farces. A personal favourite is ‘The Skin I Live In’, an incredibly dark tale of loss and an attempt to reclaim life, including a star turn from Antonio Banderas, playing against type as an obsessive plastic surgeon.

One man from Austria, however, I believe to sit head and shoulders above the rest, a man called Michael Haneke. Having directed films in German, French, and even English, Haneke’s distinctive directorial style is instantly recognizable: the unflinching camera, the slow dialogue, the dark lighting. Building popularity with ‘Funny Games’ (in German) in 1997, and gaining international renown for ‘Hidden’ (in French), Haneke really hit the big time with his one-two punch of ‘The White Ribbon’ and ‘Amour’, both winning him the coveted Palme D’Or at Cannes, along with heaps of other awards.

And of course, there is so much more where that came from. Just looking out of Europe, we can find Park Chan Wook’s ‘Oldboy’ (South Korea), a mindblowing thriller with perhaps one of the greatest payoff endings of all time. We haven’t even touched on Kurosawa, the man behind ‘Rashomon’ and ‘The Seven Samurai’, and arguably the greatest influence on Hollywood Cinema since Lumiere. It would be absurd to attempt to sum up foreign language cinema in this measly 700 word article.

My real reason for writing, however, is some what a cry out: despite the magnificent offerings from World Cinema, briefly outlined in this article, Hollywood seems unable to cope with subtitles. The movement of remakes of foreign language films is considerable, particularly in the last five years. We have seen Swedish masterpiece ‘Let The Right One In’ remade into the shoddy ‘Let Me In’, the Scandi-noir best selling novel ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’ was given the Hollywood treatment by David Fincher, despite a fantastic Swedish language version coming out just two years earlier. A personal favourite, Oldboy, was brushed up by the bold directing talent of Spike Lee, taking a considerably different approach to the themes of the film, producing a project which has been critically slated. There is something somewhat unsettling about this movement: whether it is the assumption that the English speaking public don’t have time or the brain capacity to read the subtitles, or if its some sort of imperialist charge heralding English as the purest form of cinema language.

Perhaps we shouldn’t attack this so easily: it must be noted that Michael Haneke himself remade his own film Funny Games in the English language, in order for it to reach a wider audience. Perhaps by remaking these films, we are encouraging the wider release of a story which needs to be told, which may even in turn encourage the viewer to watch the original. Assumptions, assumptions, assumptions. But for the time being, I’m sticking by my foreign language films, holding onto those subtitles, and praying that someway, somehow, this article will not make me look like a prat. 

Quick Top 5: Best Foreign Language Films

5. El Secreto de Sus Ojos (The Secret in Their Eyes) - Argentina

A captivating crime thriller set during the so-called 'Dirty War' in Argetina, about the impact of murder on a number of individuals, and the pursuit of an unresolved crime.

4. La Piel que Habito (The Skin I Live In) - Spain

Not one to shy away from gritty detail, Almodovar here presents the ultimate tale of revenge, albeit somewhat fucked up, exploring how one individual learns to deal with the loss of someone dear to him.

3. Cache (Hidden) - France

A man's past comes back to haunt him after his ordinary middle class life is interrupted by the arrival of disturbing pictures, scrawled messages, and video tapes filming his everyday life. 

2. El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan's Labyrinth) - Spain

Embarrassingly omitted from the above article, Guillermo del Toro has never been better than in this fantasy horror set during the Spanish Civil War, viewing the horrors through the eyes of a young girl.

1. Oldboy - South Korea

Essentially a twisted tale of 'Why?' in this neo-noir set in the South Korean metropolis. Things get violent, bloody, and downright weird, after a man who has been imprisoned for 15 years in a room is released without explanation of his captor's motives. All is revealed in an almost scream-worthy twist at the very end.