Metalluk's Top-Fifteen Non-English Language Comedies
Jul 09 '04 (Updated Nov 10 '05)
The Bottom Line Want to find out what makes people laugh in other cultures? Here's my suggestions for 15 great non-English language comedies as well as some also-rans. Enjoy!
Comedy is the toughest category of films to rate because tastes in comedy differ so much from one person to another. Non-English language comedies pose the added difficulty of cultural differences in sense of humor. Other than America and Britain, the two countries most known for sense of humor are Italy and France. Gallic humor tends more toward farce while Italian humor is often slapstick. The order in which I’ve placed these films is based exclusively on their comedic element, which is not always the same as the overall quality of the film. For example, Life is Beautiful, 8 ½, The Rules of the Game, and Amelie might all move up on the list if I took into account the non-comedic qualities of the films. Here’s my suggestions for funniest non-English language films as well as some also-rans.
Five-star Comedies:
#1. The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe (1972). French.
My all-time favorite comedy features a tight and hilarious script by Francis Veber, direction by Yves Robert, and the incomparable physical humor of Pierre Richard. This is a spoof on the spy-thriller genre with gags of miraculous perfection.
#2. La Chevre (1981). French.
La Chevre was the first of two films (Les Compères was the other) sporting a Laurel-and-Hardy-like interaction between Pierre Richard and Gérard Depardieu. This is a film about bad luck and superstition as Richard and Depardieu team up to track down the missing daughter of a wealthy businessman. Francis Veber wrote and directed this film. There’s some delicious monkey-business!
#3. The King of Hearts (1966). French.
This is an even better film, overall, than the two I’ve listed above it because it combines satire, romance, marvelous music, and a powerful antiwar message with its comedic element. This is a World War I vintage spoof on the absurdity of war in which the inmates of an insane asylum are contrasted with the insanity of those who wage war.
#4. La Cage aux Folles (1978). French.
Edouard Molinaro directed and Francis Veber wrote this delicious comedy about a transvestite night club, gays, and ever-so-straight straights. When a straight young lad wants his gay parents to fake conventionality for his rightwing future in-laws, the table is set for hilarious disaster. Way better than its American remake The Birdcage with Robin Williams.
#5. Amarcord (1974). Italian.
This is Fellini’s gift to the viewing public based on his memories of childhood, as transformed by the rosy tint of nostalgia. He has filled his memories with a rich assortment of marvelous characters and absurd incidents.
#6. À Nous la Liberté (1931). French.
This film was so reminiscent of Chaplin’s 1936 sentimental and satirical silent feature Modern Times that the production studio for À Nous La Liberté sued Chaplin for plagiarism. À Nous La Liberté is an early sound film. Some segments have dialog and sound; some are silent. It blends slapstick with biting social satire.
#7. Amélie (2001). French.
It’s hard to believe that director Jean-Pierre Jeunet who earlier gave us the tasteless but magnificent Delicatessen also spearheaded this sweet, whimsical modern fairytale. This sweet-natured feel-good movie is sure to provide joy and satisfaction for most viewers.
#8. The Rules of the Game (1939) French.
Jean Renoir fashioned this remarkable combination of burlesque and tragedy in order to demonstrate how Europe was standing on the brink of disaster. This bedroom farce skewers the decadence and deceits of the aristocracy, with husbands, wives, lovers and mistresses, maids and servants all mixing it up in lively adulterous fashion. Widely considered among the greatest films ever made, The Rules of the Game features Renoir’s extraordinary film composition and cinematography.
#9. Life is Beautiful (1997). Italian.
Roberto Benigni wrote and directed this film, so it’s perhaps not surprising that it also provided him with the role of a lifetime – the one he was born to play. Combining romantic comedy and poignant drama, this film accomplishes the seemingly impossible: treating the issue of the Holocaust it a manner that is entertaining but without demeaning its horror.
#10. 8 ½ (1963). Italian
The comedic aspect of this film is reason enough to watch it, but it is also so much more, including introspection, social satire, and illumination of the creative process and self-doubts. This is Fellini at his best. The scene in which the protagonist, Guido (Marcello Mastroianni), whips his harem into proper subservience is priceless – at least for male viewers!
#11. Diva (1981). French.
Part mystery, part action film, part romantic comedy, part suspense story, part high culture and part punk -- Diva is something of a genre collage. It delivers laughs while being relentlessly stylish, intelligent, and original. Set in Paris, it is about a moped courier who is an adoring fan of a talented black American opera star.
#12. Ma Vie en Rose (1997). French.
Imagine that you had a son – a seven-year-old – who routinely plays with dolls, wears dresses and lipstick to a neighborhood get-together, and organizes a mock wedding with himself as bride and the boss’ seven-year-old son as groom! Suppose, further, that this boy states in full sincerity of conviction, “I’m a boy now, but one day I’ll be a girl.” That’s the premise for this brilliantly original Franco-Belgium film by Alain Berliner. How this little boy shakes up the lives and composure of his parents and the neighbors provides the comedy in this gender-bender spoof.
#13. Babette’s Feast (1987). Danish.
This film certainly ranks as one of the top examples of films using food as a significant motif. The film is mainly a set-up for one climatic and cathartic event – Babette’s feast. The comedy derives from an intense incongruity between the feasters and the feast – a philosophy of self-denial versus the hedonistic pleasures of an exquisite French feast!
#14. Eat Drink Man Woman (1994). Chinese.
Director Ang Lee also explores the food motif along with cross-cultural and intergenerational conflicts. The film centers on a widowed man, Mr. Chu (Sihung Lung) and his three grown daughters as they struggle with new relationships all around.
#15. Strawberry and Chocolate (1994). Cuban.
A young, straight student named David, from a poor background, strikes up an acquaintance with Diego, a mature and educated gay artist. Diego becomes something of a mentor to the younger man, forcing David to rethink his anti-gay assumptions. The two of them also befriend a neighbor who is a suicidal older woman and David becomes sexually involved with her. The three make up a veritable “odd trio,” providing many laughs while also demonstrating that caring relationships sometimes occur outside of conventional match-ups.
Four-star Comedies: [Also-rans without further comment.]
Delicatessen (1991). French.
The Visitors (1993). French.
Belle Epoque (1992). Spanish.
All About My Mother (1999). Spanish.
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988). Spanish.
Les Compères. (1984). French.
Tie Me Up! Time Me Down! (1990). Spanish.
Like Water For Chocolate (1992). Mexican.
Closely Watched Trains (1966). Czechoslovakian.
Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears (1979). Russian.
Chungking Express (1994). Chinese (Hong Kong).
The Barbarian Invasions (2003). French/Canadian.
Trois Couleurs: Blanc (1994). French. See Three Colors.
Peppermint Soda (1977). French.
Antonia’s Line (1995). Netherlands.
Mediterraneo (1991). Italian.
Alphaville (1965). French.
Three-star Comedies:
Johnny Stecchino (1991). Italian.
Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (1978). French.
The Return of the Tall Blond (1974). French.
Black and White in Color (1976). Ivory Coast.
Underground (1995). Yugoslavian.
Mon Oncle (1958). French.
The Young Girls of Rochefort (1967). French.
Zero for Conduct (1933). French.
Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow (1963). Italian.
Well, there you have it. Laughs from all over the world. Hope you find something you like!
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You may also enjoy my other genre lists for non-English language films:
Ten Excellent Spanish-Language Films
Ten More Excellent Spanish-Language Films
Coming-of-age – Outside the USA!
Top Ten Foreign Language Psychodramas
Top Ten Non-English Language Political Movies
My Top Ten Non-English Language Tragedies
Top-Ten Non-English Language Film Biographies
Top-Ten Non-English Language Action/Adventure Films
Top-Ten Non-English Language Mystery Films
Top-Ten Non-English Language ~Horror~ Films
Top-Ten English-Language ~Horror~ Films from Outside the USA
Ten Excellent Films Featuring Royalty
Ten Excellent Non-English Language Thrillers
Ten Non-English Language High-Yield Tearjerkers
Ten Best Non-English Language War Movies!!
Ten Excellent Non-English Language Senior Films
Top-Ten Non-English Language Films Featuring Classical Music
The Top Non-English Language Epics
The 10 Best Foreign Language Romance Movies!!
The Ten Best Non-English Language Love Story Movies!!
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