Hello my dear friends!
Summer is all about watching movies. Whether at home alone or outside with friends and the view of the night sky above.
If you are looking for something a little bit different to watch this summer then look no more!
So without further ado here are 7 non-English movies to add to your watch list…
1. Jodhaa Akbar (2008)
An epic historical romantic musical based on the 16th-century marriage of Emperor Akbar of the Mughal Empire and Princess Jodhaa Bai of the Hindu Kingdom of Amber. Despite their religious and cultural differences as well as the political nature of their marriage, Akbar and Jodhaa fell in love and their romance is a wonderful tribute to one of the most prosperous eras in India’s history.
Language: Hindi
2. A Touch of Spice (2003)
After a three-decade absence, Fanis, an astrophysics professor, returns to his childhood home in Istanbul to care for his ailing spice merchant grandfather and mentor. As Fanis reminisces about his first love and the passion for food that his grandfather instilled in him, flashbacks also shed light into his family’s forced immigation to Greece during persecution of the Greek-Orthodox population of Constantinople in 1964-1965 and how that event shaped his teenage and adult life.
Language: Greek/Turkish
3. La Vita è Bella (1997)
During the 1930s, Guido, a carefree and optimistic Jewish waiter falls in love and marries the beautiful upper-class teacher Dora. The happy couple have a son, Joshua and live peacefully until the forced deportation of the town’s Jewish population in cattle cars. Dora, who is non-Jewish, volunteers to leave with her family and they are all forced to live in a concentration camp.
In an attempt to hold his family together and help his son survive the horrors taking place around him, Guido imagines that the Holocaust is a game and that the grand prize for winning is a tank.
Language: Italian
4. The Intouchables (2011)
Philippe is a wealthy quadriplegic Parisian whose condition requires a live-in caregiver. While interviewing individuals for the job he comes across Driss, a young black man of poor origins who unconventionally manages to get the job. The two of them form a close friendship and Philippe’s zest for life is rekindled through Driss’ humor and perspective.
Language: French
5. Cinema Paradiso (1988)
Salvatore Di Vita, a famous film director, returns to his native Sicilian village after learning of an old friend’s passing. Salvatore reminiscences about his childhood and his relationship with Alfredo, a projectionist at Cinema Paradiso.
Under the fatherly influence of Alfredo, Salvatore fell in love with film making, with the duo spending many hours discussing about films and Alfredo painstakingly teaching Salvatore the skills that became a stepping stone for the young boy into the world of film making.
Language: Italian
6. House of the Flying Daggers (2004)
During the reign of the Tang dynasty in China, a secret organization called “The House of the Flying Daggers” rises and opposes the government. A police officer called Leo sends officer Jin to investigate a young dancer named Mei, claiming that she has ties to the “Flying Daggers”. Leo arrests Mei, only to have Jin breaking her free in a plot to gain her trust and lead the police to the new leader of the secret organization.
Language: Mandarin
7. Babette’s Feast (1987)
In a remote 19th-century Danish village on the western coast of Jutland, sisters Martine and Filippa lead a rigid life centered around their father, the local minister, and their church. Both had opportunities to leave the village: one could have married a young army officer and the other, a French opera singer. Their father objected in each case and they spent their lives caring for him. Many years later – their father is now deceased – they take in French refugee, Babette Hersant, who agrees to work as their servant.
After winning the lottery, Babette wants to repay the sisters for their kindness and offers to cook a French meal for them and their friends on the 100th anniversary of their father’s birth. It proves to be an eye-opening experience for everyone.
Language: Danish
