Highest Grossing Foreign Language Films of All Time
Exploring the global impact of cinema, foreign language films have not only gained critical acclaim but have also achieved remarkable success at the international box office. Here, we delve into the highest grossing foreign language films of all time, celebrating their cultural significance and commercial triumphs, from Kung Fu Hustle to Pan’s Labyrinth.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Gross: $128.08M
Director: Ang Lee
Language: Mandarin
About the Film: The film that brought Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh to the mainstage, this 4-time Academy Award winning film tells the story of a young Chinese warrior who steals a sword from a famed swordsman and then escapes into a world of romantic adventure with a mysterious man in the frontier of the nation.
Life Is Beautiful (1997)
Gross: $57.60M
Director: Roberto Benigni
Language: Italian
About the Film: A gentle Jewish-Italian waiter, Guido Orefice (Roberto Benigni), meets Dora (Nicoletta Braschi), a pretty schoolteacher, and wins her over with his charm and humor. Eventually they marry and have a son, Giosue (Giorgio Cantarini). Their happiness is abruptly halted, however, when Guido and Giosue are separated from Dora and taken to a concentration camp. Determined to shelter his son from the horrors of his surroundings, Guido convinces Giosue that their time in the camp is merely a game.
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Hero (2002)
Gross: $53.71M
Director: Yimou Zhang
Language: Mandarin
About the Film: Rated a near-perfect 94% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. In this visually arresting martial arts epic set in ancient China, an unnamed fighter (Jet Li) is being honored for defeating three of the king’s most dangerous enemies. When Nameless recounts his battles with the assassins — Broken Sword (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), Flying Snow (Maggie Cheung Man-yuk) and Moon (Zhang Ziyi) — the king begins to question some of the details. As Nameless goes on, the king challenges the tales, interjecting his own take on these perhaps suspect version of events.
Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)
Gross: $37.63M
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Language: Spanish
About the Film: In 1944 Spain young Ofelia (Ivana Baquero) and her ailing mother (Ariadna Gil) arrive at the post of her mother’s new husband (Sergi López), a sadistic army officer who is trying to quell a guerrilla uprising. While exploring an ancient maze, Ofelia encounters the faun Pan, who tells her that she is a legendary lost princess and must complete three dangerous tasks in order to claim immortality. This 3-time Academy Award winner for Original Screenplay, Cinematography, and Art Direction, is rated a stunning 95% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Amélie (2001)
Gross: $33.23M
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Language: French
About the Film: 5-time Academy Award nominee “Amélie” is a fanciful comedy about a young woman who discretely orchestrates the lives of the people around her, creating a world exclusively of her own making. Shot in over 80 Parisian locations, acclaimed director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (“Delicatessen”; “The City of Lost Children”) invokes his incomparable visionary style to capture the exquisite charm and mystery of modern-day Paris through the eyes of a beautiful ingenue.
Fearless (2006)
Gross: $24.63M
Director: Ronny Yu
Language: Mandarin
About the Film: After a terrible tragedy, a martial artist (Jet Li) retreats to a remote village to gain a new appreciation for the important things in life, but when he returns to the city to reconcile his past with the present, he gets caught up in a duel to the death defending China’s honor.
The Postman (Il Postino) (1994)
Gross: $21.85M
Director: Michael Radford, Massimo Troisi
Language: Italian
About the Film: Mario Ruoppolo, the mailman on an Italian island, pines from afar for a beautiful waitress. But when exiled Chilean poet Pablo Neruda comes to live on the island, Ruoppolo delivers Neruda’s mail and picks up lessons on love, life and poetry. Nominated for 5 Oscars, THE POSTMAN took home the Academy Award for Best Music – Original Dramatic Score.
Like Water for Chocolate (1992)
Gross: $21.67M
Director: Alfonso Arau
Language: Spanish
About the Film: The youngest daughter in her family, the beautiful Tita (Lumi Cavazos) is forbidden to marry her true love, Pedro (Marco Leonardi). Since tradition dictates that Tita must care for her mother, Pedro weds her older sister, Rosaura (Yareli Arizmendi), though he still loves Tita. The situation creates much tension in the family, and Tita’s powerful emotions begin to surface in fantastical ways through her cooking. As the years pass, unusual circumstances test the enduring love of Pedro and Tita.
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La Cage Aux Folles (1978)
Gross: $20.42M
Director: Édouard Molinaro
Language: French
About the Film: Rated 96% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, this 3-time Oscar nominee tells the story of Renato (Ugo Tognazzi) and Albin (Michel Serrault), who are happy that their son, Laurent (Rémi Laurent), is getting married. Unfortunately, the bride’s father (Michel Galabru) is a die-hard conservative — and Renato and Albin are rather conspicuously gay. To ensure that the marriage goes off without a hitch, Albin uses his skills as a drag performer to play mom for a meeting with the in-laws. But, before long, both men learn that playing it straight isn’t as easy as it seems!
Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
Gross: $17.11M
Director: Stephen Chow
Language: Cantonese, Mandarin
About the Film: When the hapless Sing and his dim-witted pal Bone try to scam the residents of Pig Sty Alley into thinking they’re members of the dreaded Axe Gang, the real gangsters descend on this Shanghai slum to restore their fearsome reputation. What gang leader Brother Sum doesn’t know is that three legendary retired kung fu masters live anonymously in this decrepit neighborhood and don’t take kindly to interlopers.
The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)
Gross: $16.78M
Director: Walter Salles
Language: Spanish
About the Film: On a break before his last semester of medical school, Ernesto “Che” Guevara (Gael García Bernal) travels with his friend Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna) from Brazil to Peru by motorcycle. The two men soon witness the great disparities in South America, encountering poor peasants and observing the exploitation of labor by wealthy industrialists. When they reach a leper colony in Peru, Ernesto’s values have changed so much that he sides with the sufferers, forgetting his own comfort.
Iron Monkey (1993)
Gross: $14.68M
Director: Woo-Ping Yuen
Language: Cantonese
About the Film: In a desperate and unjust land, where government corruption rules the day, only one man has the courage to challenge the system and fight back. They call him “Iron Monkey.” Under the shadow of night, in the silence before dawn, he fights to give hope to the poor and the oppressed. Although no one knows his name and no one knows where he comes from, his heroism has made him a living legend to the people and a wanted man to the powers that be.
Monsoon Wedding (2001)
Gross: $13.88M
Director: Mira Nair
Language: Hindi
About the Film: The exuberant ensemble comedy unites a Punjabi family for the wedding of a family member. Relatives from all over the world descend on Delhi for the wedding ceremony. Universal in theme, the film explores the bonds that unite families in touching, dramatic, and comedic ways.
Y Tu Mamá También (2001)
Gross: $13.62M
Director: Alfonso Cuarón
Language: Spanish
About the Film: Directed by 4-time Academy Award winner Alfonso Cuarón. The lives of Julio and Tenoch, like those of 17-year old boys everywhere, are ruled by raging hormones, intense friendships, and a headlong rush into adulthood. Over the course of a summer, the two best friends, while living out a carefree cross-country escapade with a gorgeous older woman, also find connection with each other, themselves and the world around them.
Volver (2006)
Gross: $12.90M
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Language: Spanish
About the Film: Featuring an Academy Award nominated Best Actress performance from Penélope Cruz alongside stunning direction from Academy Award winner Pedro Almodóvar. Raimunda (Penélope Cruz) works and lives in Madrid with her husband Paco and daughter Paula. Her sister Sole (Lola Dueñas) lives nearby and they both miss their mother Irene (Carmen Maura), who died several years ago in a house fire along with their father. A former neighbor from their hometown reports that she has seen the ghost of Irene and both daughters do not believe her. After a murder and a family tragedy, Irene’s spirit materializes around her daughters to help comfort them.
Under the Same Moon (2007)
Gross: $12.59M
Director: Patricia Riggen
Language: Spanish
About the Film: Single mother Rosario (Kate del Castillo) leaves her young son Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) in the care of his grandmother and illegally crosses the border into the U.S. Though she hopes to eventually make a better life for herself and her son, she toils in a dead-end job as a cleaning lady in Los Angeles. When Carlitos’ grandmother passes away some years later, the boy begins a difficult and dangerous journey to join her.
Cinema Paradiso (1988)
Gross: $11.99M
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Language: Italian
About the Film: Ranked within the Top 50 Movies of All Time on IMDb, CINEMA PARADISO won the 1990 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Young Salvatore Di Vita (Salvatore Cascio) discovers the perfect escape from life in his war-torn Sicilian village: the Cinema Paradiso movie house, where projectionist Alfredo (Philippe Noiret) instills in the boy a deep love of films. When Salvatore grows up, falls in love with a beautiful local girl (Agnese Nano) and takes over as the Paradiso’s projectionist, Alfredo must convince Salvatore to leave his small town and pursue his passion for filmmaking.
The Protector (2005)
Gross: $11.91M
Director: Prachya Pinkaew
Language: Thai
About the Film: A young fighter (Tony Jaa) travels to Australia to retrieve stolen elephants that were promised originally to the king of Thailand. Once there, he enlists the aid of a Thai-born Aussie detective to help him achieve his goal, and he uses his fierce Muay Thai moves to battle an evil woman’s gang of deadly bodyguards.
Das Boot (1981)
Gross: $11.49M
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Language: German
About the Film: Rated a near-perfect 98% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, DAS BOOT was nominated for 6 Academy Awards in 1983. A German submarine patrols the Atlantic Ocean during World War II, manned by a crew that must contend with tense conflicts and long stretches of confined boredom. While war correspondent Werner (Herbert Grönemeyer) observes day-to-day life aboard the U-boat, the grizzled captain (Jürgen Prochnow) struggles to maintain his own motivation as he attempts to keep the ship’s morale up in the face of fierce battles, intense storms and dwindling supplies.
The Lives of Others (2006)
Gross: $11.29M
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Language: German
About the Film: In 1983 East Berlin, dedicated Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler (Ulrich Mühe), doubting that a famous playwright (Sebastian Koch) is loyal to the Communist Party, receives approval to spy on the man and his actress-lover Christa-Maria (Martina Gedeck). Wiesler becomes unexpectedly sympathetic to the couple, then faces conflicting loyalties when his superior takes a liking to Christa-Maria and orders Wiesler to get the playwright out of the way.
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These brilliant foreign films performed stunningly well at the box office, both in their domestic box office and internationally, making millions of dollars in their gross. Whether their original language is Italian, Mandarin, German, or Spanish, many of these stunning films have available captions in numerous languages, so that film lovers across the globe can experience their universal storytelling.
