I was born and brought up in Calcutta, the city of the Indian film-maestro
Satyajit Ray, whose movies offerred a realistic portrayal of the urban as well as rural Bengalee life from the 20's to the 80's. Watching his movies
inspired me to look beyond Indian cinema for quality and diversity. As a result, I have watched movies in most of the
major languages of the world, some of which are listed below, "grouped by" the language:
| Italian | La Vita e bella (Life is Beautiful), Ladri di biciclette (The Bicycle Thief), Cinema Paradiso, Il postino (The Postman), Ieri, oggi, domani (Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow), Matrimonio all'italiana (Marriage Italian Style), Pasqualino Settebellezze (Seven Beauties), Fellini's Roma, Fellini's I Vitelloni (The Young and the Passionate), Fellini's Amarcord (I Remember), Fellini's Le notti di Cabiria (Nights of Cabiria), Fellini's 8 1/2, Artemisia, Malena, Caterina va in citta (Caterina in the Big City), La siciliana ribelle (The Sicilian Girl), Io sono l'amore (I Am Love), Heaven |
| French | Truffaut's Les quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows), Truffaut's L' Histoire d'Adele H. (The Story of Adele H), Truffaut's La Femme da cote (The Woman Next Door), Louis Malle's trilogy: Au revoir les enfants (Goodbye, Children), Lacombe Lucien and Le souffle au coeur (Murmur of the Heart), Louis Malle's Ascenseur pour l'echafaud (Elevator to the Gallows), Jean-Pierre Melville's L'armee des ombres (Army in the Shadows), Le scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Battaglia di Algeri, La (The Battle of Algiers), Poupees russes, Les (The Russian Dolls), Poupoupidou (Nobody Else But You), Ridicule, Potiche, L'ennemi public n1 (Mesrine: Public Enemy #1), L'instinct de mort (Mesrine: Killer Instinct), Jesus de Montreal (Jesus of Montreal), Le nom des gens (The Names of Love), La faute à Fidel! (Blame it on Fidel), Un secret (A Secret), Le Violon Rouge (The Red Violin), Monsieur Ibrahim et les fleurs du Coran, La Pianiste (The Piano Teacher), Tous Les Matins Du Monde (All the Mornings of the World), Crime d'amour (Love Crime), La Femme Nikita (Nikita The Woman), Lundi Matin (Monday Morning), Indochine, Ivresse du pouvoir, L' (A Comedy of Power), Les Egares (Strayed), Declin de l'empire americain, Le (The Decline of the American Empire), Mademoiselle, Les anges exterminateurs (The Exterminating Angels) |
| Greek | Angelopoulos' Topio stin omichli (Landscape in the Mist), Angelopoulos' Mia aioniotita kai mia mera (Eternity and a Day), Angelopoulos' Trilogia: To livadi pou dakryzei (Trilogy: The Weeping Meadow), Pote tin Kyriaki (Never on Sunday) |
| Spanish | Diarios de motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries), El secreto de sus ojos (The Secret in Their Eyes), El clavel negro (The Black Pimpernel), Sin Nombre (Without Name), Che, Abre los ojos (Open Your Eyes), Volver (To Return), Seres queridos (Only Human), La Nina de tus ojos (The Girl of Your Dreams), Antes que anochezca (Before Night Falls), Princesas (Princesses), Los abrazos rotos (Broken Embraces), Soy Cuba (I Am Cuba), Nueve reinas (Nine Queens), Y Tu Mama Tambien, Kika, Sin dejar huella (Without a Trace), Como agua para chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate), Belle epoque (The Age of Beauty), El crimen del padre Amaro (The Crime of Padre Amaro), Voces inocentes (Innocent Voices), Pantaleón y las visitadoras (Captain Pantoja and the Special Services) |
| Polish-Romanian | Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Trois Couleurs: Bleu, Rouge, Baily (Three Colors: Blue, Red, White), Opowiesc katynska (Katyn) |
| Czech/Slovak | Obsluhoval jsem anglickeho krale (I Served the King of England), Ostre sledovane vlaky (Closely Watched Trains), Kolja (Kolya), Musime si pomahat (Divided We Fall), Obchod na korze (The Shop on Main Street) |
| Hungarian | Szomoru vasarnap (Gloomy Sunday), Sorstalansag (Fateless) |
| Dutch | Der sechste Mai (The Sixth of May), Karakter (Character), Zaak Alzheimer, De (The Memory of a Killer) |
| Portuguese | Carandiru, Caminho das Nuvens, O (The Middle of the World), O Testamento do Senhor Napumoceno (Napomuceno's Will), Quase Dois Irm�os (Almost Brothers) |
| Turkish | Mutluluk (Bliss), Duvara karsi (Head-On), Yasamin kiyisinda (The Edge of Heaven) |
| Russian | Vor (The Thief), 9 rota (9th Company), Bronenosets Potyomkin (Battleship Potemkin), Kavkazskiy plennik (Prisoner of the Mountains), Rusalka (The Mermaid), Everything Is Illuminated |
| German | Das Leben der Anderen (The Lives of Others), Untergang, Der (The Downfall), 79 qm DDR (Goodbye Lenin!), Die Falscher (The Counterfeiter), Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum), Die fetten Jahre sind vorbei (The Edukators), Der Baader Meinhof Komplex (The Baader Meinhof Complex), Der letzte Zug (The Last Train), Lola rennt (Run Lola Run), Hitlerjunge Salomon (Europa Europa), So weit die Fu�e tragen (As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me), Nordwand (North Face), John Rabe, Mein Führer - Die wirklich wahrste Wahrheit über Adolf Hitler (Mein Führer: The Truly Truest Truth About Adolf Hitler) |
| Japanese | Kurosawa's Umi wa miteita (The Sea is Watching), Kurosawa's Dersu Uzala, Kaosu (Chaos) |
| Zulu | Tsotsi |
| Hebrew | LaLehet Al HaMayim (Walk on Water), Ha'boged Hakatan (The Little Traitor), Bikur Ha-Tizmoret (The Band's Visit), Medurat Hashevet (Campfire), Kochavim Shel Shlomi Ha (Bonjour Monsieur Shlomi), Hatuna Meuheret (Late Marriage), Or (My Treasure), Aretz Hadasha (New Land), Yerusha, Ha (The Heritage), Ha-Hesder (Time of Favor) |
| Icelandic | Noi albinoi (Noi the albino) |
| Danish | Festen (The Celebration), Babettes g�stebud (Babette's Feast) |
| Swedish | Sa som i himmelen (As It Is in Heaven), Män som hatar kvinnor (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Luftslottet som sprängdes (The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest) |
| Norwegian | Max Manus, Hodejegerne (Headhunters), Vinterkyss |
| Mandarin/Cantonese/Shanghainese | Mang shan (Blind Mountain), Se, jie (Lust, Caution), Ba wang bie ji, Da hong deng long gao gao gua (Raise the Red Lantern), Ping guo (Lost in Beijing) |
| Korean | Fa yeung nin wa (In the Mood for Love) |
| Tibetan | Kekexili (Mountain Patrol) |
| Persian | Bacheha-Ye aseman (Children of Heaven), The Stoning of Soraya M., Safar e Ghandehar (Kandahar), Raye makhfi (Secret Ballot), Baran |
| Pashtu | Osama |
| Mayan | Apocalypto, El Norte (The North) |
| Serbo-Croatian/Bosnian | No Man's Land, Otac na sluzbenom putu (When Father Was Away on Business), Grbavica: The Land of My Dreams |
| Urdu | In Custody, Shatranj Ke Khilari |
| Arabic | Sukkar banat (Caramel), Amreeka, Paradise Now, Captain Abu Raed, Satin rouge, Rachida, Asfour Stah (Halfaouine: Child of the Terraces ), Le cerf-volant (The Kite) |
| English | Once Upon a Time in America, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Jakob the Liar, Crossing Over, Good Morning Vietnam, The Godfather (II and I), The Visitor, The Straight Story, The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, The Boys from Brazil, Margin Call, The Magic of Belle Isle, Arranged, Off the Map, The Devil's Double, Victory, The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel, Invictus, Return to Paradise, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Sword of Gideon, Conviction, The Color of Freedom (Goodbye Bafana), Nothing in Common, The Insider, Dark Matter, Julie & Julia, Fresh, Casino Jack, Limitless, Grumpy Old Men, Grumpier Old Men, Dumb & Dumber, Don Juan DeMarco, Men of Honor, The Reader, A Perfect World, Field of Dreams, The Color Purple, Amadeus, An Education, Triage, Freedom Writers, The Messenger, The Secret Life of Words, The Jane Austen Book Club, Possession, Stalag 17, On Golden Pond, Resurrecting the Champ, Days of Heaven, In the Loop, Frost/Nixon, Down by Law, Meet Joe Black, Full Metal Jacket, Grace Is Gone, Revolutionary Road, Music Within, Walkabout, Glory, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Client, Battle in Seattle, In Bruges, Adaptation, Deliverance, Born on the Fourth of July, 84 Charing Cross Road, Sunshine, Quiz Show, The Cider House Rules, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, Defiance, Taxi Driver, The World's Fastest Indian, The Emperor's Club, Changeling, Doctor Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia, The Remains of the Day, W., AmericanEast, Days of Wine and Roses, Valkyrie, Flash of Genius, The Great Debaters, Shattered Glass, Hearts in Atlantis, Seven Years in Tibet, A River Runs Through It, A Love Song for Bobby Long, An Unfinished Life, The Apostle, Kinsey, Not Without My Daughter, Havana, Beyond the Gates, In the Valley of Elah, Louis Malle's Atlantic City, The Lucky Ones, Veronica Guerin, The Paper Chase, Rabbit-Proof Fence, The Shoes of the Fisherman, House of Saddam (TV), Rescue Dawn, Paradise Road, Casablanca, Bella, Dog Day Afternoon, The Manchurian Candidate, Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, Judgment at Nuremberg, Paths of Glory, The Woodsman, Bertolucci's The Last Emperor, Twelve O'Clock High, Maryam, Dances with Wolves, The Road to Guantanamo, Laurel Canyon, The Untouchables, Casino, The Mosquito Coast, Pirates of Silicon Valley (TV), My House in Umbria, Infamous, The Savages, Ben Hur, Crash, Munich, Sunset Boulevard, Philadelphia, Good Night, and Good Luck, Changing Lanes, Crimson Tide, Network, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Shawshank Redemption, Hotel Rwanda, The Last King of Scotland, Traitor, Love in the Time of Cholera, Blood Diamond, The Name of the Rose, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, The Magdalene Sisters, A Streetcar Named Desire, One True Thing, United 93, The Good German, Mrs. Brown, Into The Wild, The Man from Elysian Fields, The Vernon Johns Story (TV), The Pianist, Schindler's List, American Beauty, Lions for Lambs, Me and You and Everyone We Know, The Life of David Gale, Primal Fear, Children of Men, All the President's Men, The Other Boleyn Girl, The Horse Whisperer, Lantana, Bobby, The Prince of Tides, John Q, Exodus, On the Waterfront, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The China Syndrome, Wonder Boys, Rain Man, Mr. and Mrs. Iyer, 15 Park Avenue, Coach Carter, To Sir With Love, Adventures of Young Indiana Jones, Far from Heaven, To Die For, The Negotiator, The Aviator, Black Swan, Sideways, The Nanny Diaries, In the Time of the Butterflies, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, Gran Torino, A Bridge Too Far, The Weather Man, Separate Lies, The Walker, Transsiberian, The Graduate, Touching the Void, Papillon, Hombre, Chicago, You've Got Mail, Monster, Slumdog Millionaire, Charlotte Gray, Anne Frank: The Whole Story (TV), Family of Spies (TV), Modern Times, The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans, Quo Vadis, Cold Mountain, Gangs of New York, The General's Daughter, Five Fingers, A Walk in the Clouds, Duel, Quills, Louis Malle's Damage, Places in the Heart, The Verdict, The Siege, A Civil Action, The Juror, Absence of Malice, The White Countess, The Good Shepherd, Fat Man and Little Boy, A Fish Called Wanda, Find Me Guilty, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Gone Baby Gone, Harry Brown, Gladiator, Cinderella Man, The E#nglish Patient, In America, Live from Baghdad (TV), Walk the Line, Boys Don't Cry, City Hall, Rosemary's Baby, Jaws, Ghost Town, Antonioni's Blowup, The Scent of a Woman, Head in the Clouds, Being John Malkovich, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Italian Job (1969), Starter for 10, Inglourious Basterds, The Blind Side, Frida, Proof, My Fair Lady, 10 Items or Less, Stepmom, The Agony and the Ecstasy, Imagining Argentina, A Beautiful Mind, Under Suspicion, The American President, Flawless, State of Play, Syriana, In the Line of Fire, The Departed, Disclosure, Erin Brockovich, The Pelican Brief, The Getaway, Notting Hill, My Best Friend's Wedding, Transamerica, Love Actually, Fitzcarraldo, Catch a Fire, Dirty Pretty Things, Roman Holiday, To Kill a Mocking Bird, Murder on the Orient Express, Hitchcock's Spellbound, Hitchcock's Frenzy, Cast Away, Forrest Gump, Road to Perdition, Apollo 13, Twister, In the Heat of the Night, Public Enemies, Nothing But the Truth, Reservation Road, Independence Day, Eat Pray Love, Seven Pounds, Regarding Henry, The Sand Pebbles, True Confessions, Jarhead, The Bourne Identity, The Constant Gardener, The French Connection, The Tailor of Panama, The Professionals, Fargo, The Ultimate Gift, 16 Blocks, Tristan + Isolde, Black Hawk Down, Waterworld, Dragonfly, Message in a Bottle, Sweet Home Alabama, Basic, Open Range, The Namesake, The Extra Man, ET, AI, Event Horizon, Broadway Danny Rose, Gattaca, The Island, Paycheck, The MacKintosh Man, Matchstick Men, The Sum of All Fears, The Handmaid's Tale, Children of a Lesser God, The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, Fracture, The Sixth Sense, 12 Angry men, 49th Parallel, Tea with Mussolini, Kubrick's The Shining, The Sentinel, The American, Ripley's Game, World Trade Center, Iron Jawed Angels, The Terminal, Notes on a Scandal, Diana: Last Days of a Princess (TV), Ladies in Lavender, The Prestige, The Formula, Memphis Belle, No Country for Old Men, Unfaithful, Unforgiven, Million Dollar Baby, In a Lonely Place, Shoot the Moon, Fireproof, The Bridges of Madison County, Blood Work, Angels & Demons, The Devil's Advocate, The Clearing, Scarface, K-19: The Widowmaker, High Crimes, Mystic River, The Interpreter, The Exorcist, The Grudge, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Enchanted April, Shutter Island, Lonely Hearts, Hitchcock' Vertigo, Shining Through, Dial M for Murder, Psycho, Rear Window, Rope, The Day of the Jackal, Clear and Present Danger, Match Point, Annie Hall, Lost in Translation, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, We Own the Night, We Were Soldiers, Taken, Derailed, The Bank Job, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, In Good Company, A Few Good Men, The Last Samurai, Donnie Brasco, City by the Sea, The Firm, Spartan, Collateral, Elegy, Klute, Minority Report, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, The Devil's Own, The Celestine Prophecy, Secret Window, Out of Time, People I Know, Solitary Man, Eyes Wide Shut, Courage Under Fire, Presumed Innocent, Rendition, Deception, Enemy of the State, Cape Fear, Memento, Murder by Numbers, Birth, The Notebook, SherryBaby, 1408, The Caller, Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen, Heat, Duplicity, Next, I Robot, Hitch, The Pursuit of Happyness, I Am Sam, What Just Happened, Casanova, Intolerable Cruelty, The Apartment, The Other Man, The Beach, The Letter, Single White Female, Vantage Point, The Towering Inferno, Street Kings, Auto Focus, One Fine Day, Spanglish, The Family Man, A Good Year, Last Chance Harvey, About a Boy, Roxanne, Cheaper by the Dozen, American Dreamz, The Devil Wears Prada, I.Q., Kate & Leopold, Roger Dodger, Legal Eagles, Prime, Dogma, Laws of Attraction, Anger Management, Definitely Maybe, Maid in Manhattan, Easy Virtue, Sabrina, My Fellow Americans, Postcards from the Edge, No Reservations, Green Card, Mr. Deeds, Bad Company, What Women Want, Big, Liar Liar, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, Because I Said So, The Mask, The Cable Guy, Troy |
| Hindi | Peepli Live, Udaan, Taare Zameen Par, No One Killed Jessica, Ankur, Salaam Bombay!, Mumbai Meri Jaan, Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, Khosla Ka Ghosla!, Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, Atithi Tum Kab Jaoge?, Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!, A Wednesday, Bheja Fry, Main Meri Patni...Aur Woh!, Manorama Six Feet Under, Wake Up Sid, Shootout at Lokhandwala, Gol Maal, Anand, Chhoti Si Baat, Chupke Chupke, Sarkar, Jab We Met, Company, Satya, Kaun, Page 3, Raincoat |
| Bengali | The Apu Trilogy, Nayak, Angshumaner Chhobi, Autograph, Meghe Dhaka Tara, Sonar Kella, Joi Baba Felunath, Agantuk, Chalo Let's Go, Ghare-Baire, Kapurush-Mohapurush, Heerak Rajar Deshe (I just love its dialogues!), Charulata, Seemabaddha, Chiriyakhana, Aranyer Din Ratri, Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne, Kanchenjungha, Jalsaghar, Golpo Holeo Sotyi, Unishe April, Abohomaan, Dahan, Utsab, Shubho Mahurat, Titli, Paromitar Ek Din, Dosar, Chhadmabeshi, Ekhane Pinjor, Baksho Bodol, Baksho Rohosyo, Tintorettor Jishu |
| Tamil | Kannathil Muthamittal (A Peck on the Cheek), Roja |