Nominees for Best Foreign Language Oscar that are higher rated than the winners.
by demented_peruvian | created - 27 Mar 2019 | updated - 1 month ago | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
Not Rated | 91 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
A young woman separated from her lover by war faces a life-altering decision.
Director: Jacques Demy | Stars: Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo, Anne Vernon, Marc Michel
Votes: 31,368 | Gross: $0.03M
Higher rating (and more famous) than DeSica's entertaining "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow".
2. The Battle of Algiers (1966)
Not Rated | 121 min | Drama, War
In the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.
Director: Gillo Pontecorvo | Stars: Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Samia Kerbash
Votes: 65,700 | Gross: $0.06M
Higher rating than "A Man and a Woman".
3. The Emigrants (1971)
PG | 151 min | Drama, History
Småland, Sweden, mid-19th century. A farming family struggle with their rocky, unyielding land, and decide to embark on the arduous journey to new hope in America.
Director: Jan Troell | Stars: Max von Sydow, Liv Ullmann, Eddie Axberg, Sven-Olof Bern
Votes: 7,470 | Gross: $1.16M
Higher rated than the slow "Garden of the Fitzi-Cotiinis" and nominated for Best Picture the next day.
4. Goodbye, Children (1987)
PG | 104 min | Drama, War
A French boarding school run by priests seems to be a haven from World War II until a new student arrives. Occupying the next bed in the dormitory to the top student in his class, the two young boys begin to form a bond.
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Gaspard Manesse, Raphael Fejtö, Francine Racette, Stanislas Carré de Malberg
Votes: 36,131 | Gross: $4.54M
Higher rating than "Babette's Feast".
5. Farewell My Concubine (1993)
R | 171 min | Drama, Music, Romance
Two boys meet at an opera training school in Peking in 1924. Their resulting friendship will span nearly 70 years and endure some of the most troublesome times in China's history.
Director: Kaige Chen | Stars: Leslie Cheung, Fengyi Zhang, Gong Li, You Ge
Votes: 33,182 | Gross: $5.22M
Higher rated than "Belle Epoque".
6. Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India (2001)
PG | 224 min | Drama, Musical, Sport
The people of a small village in Victorian India stake their future on a game of cricket against their ruthless British rulers.
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker | Stars: Aamir Khan, Raghubir Yadav, Gracy Singh, Rachel Shelley
Votes: 120,714 | Gross: $0.91M
7. Evil (2003)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama
A teenage boy expelled from school for fighting arrives at a boarding school where the systematic bullying of younger students is encouraged as a means to maintain discipline, and decides to fight back.
Director: Mikael Håfström | Stars: Andreas Wilson, Henrik Lundström, Gustaf Skarsgård, Linda Zilliacus
Votes: 42,095 | Gross: $0.02M
8. Salaam Bombay! (1988)
Not Rated | 113 min | Crime, Drama
Young Krishna struggles to survive among the drug dealers, pimps, and prostitutes in the back alleys and gutters of India.
Director: Mira Nair | Stars: Shafiq Syed, Anjaan, Amrit Patel, Murari Sharma
Votes: 10,096 | Gross: $2.08M
9. Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
PG | 125 min | Drama, Romance
China in the 1920s. After her father's death, Songlian is forced to marry the wealthy Master Chen. With three wives already, each living in a separate house, there is fierce competition for his attention and the privileges that are gained.
Director: Yimou Zhang | Stars: Gong Li, Jingwu Ma, Saifei He, Cuifen Cao
Votes: 35,366 | Gross: $2.60M
10. Betty Blue (1986)
Unrated | 119 min | Drama, Romance
A lackadaisical handyman and aspiring novelist tries to support his younger girlfriend as she slowly succumbs to madness.
Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix | Stars: Jean-Hugues Anglade, Béatrice Dalle, Gérard Darmon, Consuelo De Haviland
Votes: 23,354 | Gross: $2.00M
11. Hero (2002)
PG-13 | 120 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A defense officer, Nameless, was summoned by the King of Qin regarding his success of terminating three warriors.
Director: Yimou Zhang | Stars: Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Maggie Cheung, Ziyi Zhang
Votes: 187,684 | Gross: $53.71M
12. Downfall (2004)
R | 156 min | Biography, Drama, History
Traudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII.
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel | Stars: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler
Votes: 375,389 | Gross: $5.51M
13. Paradise Now (2005)
PG-13 | 91 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Two childhood friends are recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv.
Director: Hany Abu-Assad | Stars: Kais Nashif, Ali Suliman, Lubna Azabal, Hamza Abu-Aiaash
Votes: 24,079 | Gross: $1.45M
14. Joyeux Noel (2005)
PG-13 | 116 min | Drama, History, Music
In December 1914, an unofficial Christmas truce on the Western Front allows soldiers from opposing sides of the First World War to gain insight into each other's way of life.
Director: Christian Carion | Stars: Diane Kruger, Benno Fürmann, Guillaume Canet, Natalie Dessay
Votes: 32,000 | Gross: $1.05M
15. Incendies (2010)
R | 131 min | Drama, Mystery, War
Twins journey to the Middle East to discover their family history and fulfill their mother's last wishes.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Mustafa Kamel
Votes: 200,521 | Gross: $6.86M
16. The Hunt (2012)
R | 115 min | Drama
A teacher lives a lonely life, all the while struggling over his son's custody. His life slowly gets better as he finds love and receives good news from his son, but his new luck is about to be brutally shattered by an innocent little lie.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Stars: Mads Mikkelsen, Thomas Bo Larsen, Annika Wedderkopp, Lasse Fogelstrøm
Votes: 364,606 | Gross: $0.69M
17. Tangerines (2013)
Not Rated | 87 min | Drama, War
In 1992, war rages in Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia. An Estonian man, Ivo, has decided to stay behind and harvest his crops of tangerines. In a bloody conflict at his door, a wounded man is left behind, and Ivo takes him in.
Director: Zaza Urushadze | Stars: Lembit Ulfsak, Elmo Nüganen, Giorgi Nakashidze, Misha Meskhi
Votes: 49,010 | Gross: $0.14M
18. Wild Tales (2014)
R | 122 min | Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Six short stories that explore the extremities of human behavior involving people in distress.
Director: Damián Szifron | Stars: Darío Grandinetti, María Marull, Mónica Villa, Diego Starosta
Votes: 216,447 | Gross: $3.11M
19. Leviathan (2014)
R | 140 min | Crime, Drama
In a Russian coastal town, Kolya is forced to fight the corrupt mayor when he is told that his house will be demolished. He recruits a lawyer friend to help, but the man's arrival brings further misfortune for Kolya and his family.
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev | Stars: Aleksey Serebryakov, Elena Lyadova, Roman Madyanov, Vladimir Vdovichenkov
Votes: 56,928 | Gross: $1.09M
20. Mustang (2015)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama
When five orphan girls are seen innocently playing with boys on a beach, their scandalized conservative guardians confine them while forced marriages are arranged.
Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven | Stars: Günes Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Tugba Sunguroglu, Elit Iscan
Votes: 40,916 | Gross: $0.85M
21. Embrace of the Serpent (2015)
Not Rated | 125 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The story of the relationship between Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and last survivor of his people, and two scientists who work together over the course of forty years to search the Amazon for a sacred healing plant.
Director: Ciro Guerra | Stars: Nilbio Torres, Jan Bijvoet, Antonio Bolívar, Brionne Davis
Votes: 24,480 | Gross: $1.33M
22. The Insult (2017)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
After an emotional exchange between a Lebanese Christian and a Palestinian refugee escalates, the men end up in a court case that gets national attention.
Director: Ziad Doueiri | Stars: Adel Karam, Kamel El Basha, Camille Salameh, Diamand Abou Abboud
Votes: 18,103 | Gross: $1.00M
23. Capernaum (2018)
R | 126 min | Drama
While serving a five-year sentence for a violent crime, a 12-year-old boy sues his parents for neglect.
Director: Nadine Labaki | Stars: Zain Al Rafeea, Yordanos Shiferaw, Boluwatife Treasure Bankole, Kawsar Al Haddad
Votes: 105,495 | Gross: $1.66M
24. The Twilight Samurai (2002)
129 min | Drama, Romance
As the feudal Japan era draws to a close, a widower samurai experiences difficulty balancing clan loyalties, 2 young daughters, an aged mother, and the sudden reappearance of his childhood sweetheart.
Director: Yôji Yamada | Stars: Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa, Nenji Kobayashi, Ren Ôsugi
Votes: 25,524
25. Amélie (2001)
R | 122 min | Comedy, Romance
Despite being caught in her imaginative world, Amelie, a young waitress, decides to help people find happiness. Her quest to spread joy leads her on a journey where she finds true love.
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet | Stars: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Lorella Cravotta
Votes: 794,491 | Gross: $33.23M
26. Society of the Snow (2023)
R | 144 min | Adventure, Biography, Drama
The flight of a rugby team crashes on a glacier in the Andes. The few passengers who survive the crash find themselves in one of the world's toughest environments to survive.
Director: J.A. Bayona | Stars: Enzo Vogrincic, Agustín Pardella, Matías Recalt, Esteban Bigliardi
Votes: 132,099
27. Perfect Days (2023)
PG | 124 min | Drama
Hirayama cleans public toilets in Tokyo, lives his life in simplicity and daily tranquility. Some encounters also lead him to reflect on himself.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: Koji Yakusho, Tokio Emoto, Arisa Nakano, Miyako Tanaka
Votes: 37,659
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