As Valentine's Day approaches, movie fans are prepping their romance movie marathons. With the advent of streaming in recent years, more love stories than ever before are available at audiences' fingertips, including hundreds of great international titles. With love being a universal language, after all, there are many great romantice-themed movies to be enjoyed from Mexico, Hong Kong, Sweden, France, and beyond.
Some of these titles had great success in the United States, while others only became widely available in America through streaming services like Amazon, Netflix, and HBO Max. Here are a few great foreign-language films worth seeking out this Valentine's Day.
Amelie
French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet is known for his unique visual style, and 2001's Amelie is a marvel of sight and sound, in addition to being a wonderfully whimsical romance film. Audrey Tautou stars in the title role, a waitress in Paris whose sheltered upbringing had starved her of human connection for much of her early years.
She devotes her time to discreetly helping those around her while waiting for her own dreams of romance to come true. Tautou is fantastic in the film, which was a massive global hit, grossing over $170 million worldwide.
Cold War
2018's Cold War is a historical drama by acclaimed Polish director Pawel Pawlikowski. It's a love story between a man and woman of vastly different backgrounds, inspired by the true story of Pawlikowski's own parents. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Cinematography.
It's shot in black and white and in a 4:3 aspect ratio, which allows for very creative and unconventional framing and composition. It's a unique film in every sense and at just 88 minutes in length, fits nicely into any romance movie marathon.
In The Mood For Love
Hong Kong filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai has amassed an extensive and impressive filmography over the past 40 years and has established himself as one of the most romantic filmmakers in the world. His filmography makes for a great V-Day marathon all by itself, the most notable entry being his 2000 film In the Mood For Love. It's the story of two neighbors living across the hall from each other, whose spouses are often away on business.
When each of them learns of their spouse's infidelity, they take solace in each other's companionship but commit to keeping it platonic so as not to stoop to the level of their partners.
Blue Is The Warmest Color
2013's Blue is the Warmest Color is a French film about the relationship between a teenager and an older art student she meets in a lesbian bar. The success of the movie, which grossed nearly $20 million worldwide, is a testament to its strength, given that it's three hours long and boasts an NC-17 rating due to its explicit sexual content.
Both of those qualities tend to be box-office poison, but Blue is the Warmest Color prevailed nonetheless and became one of the most notable international titles of the 2010s.
Let The Right One In
2008's Let the Right One In is a Swedish film about a tormented adolescent boy who falls in love with a young girl who turns out to be a vampire. They find comfort in each others' company, and in a fantastically photographed end scene, she avenges him by laying waste to his bullies.
The movie works on every level: as a mystery, a horror film, and as a love story. It boasts a near-perfect 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and its success spawned an American remake called Let Me In.
Lust, Caution
After the success of Brokeback Mountain, acclaimed director Ang Lee made Lust, Caution, a Mandarin language espionage thriller about a secret agent who finds herself falling in love with a Japanese government official she's tasked with seducing and then assassinating.
Lee reunited with Oscar-nominated cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto to create a visually stunning romantic thriller that's equal parts suspenseful and romantic. It's also a daring film, with violent and sexual content that earned it an NC-17 rating.
Show Me Love
Taking place in the small, uneventful town of Amal, Sweden, Show Me Love is the story of two high school girls who fall in love with each other after they kiss on a dare. The film is romantic, but also funny, and surprisingly astute in its depiction of teenage life. At times cruel, and at times tender, Show Me Love takes the audience on an emotional rollercoaster ride that invokes the tumult of being a teenager.
It's a genuine movie in which the audience is made to empathize with all of the characters involved, making it a stand out romance title 22 years after its initial release.
Life Is Beautiful
Roberto Benigni's breakout film Life is Beautiful is a bonafide masterpiece. It's mostly remembered for its second half, in which an Italian Jewish family is taken to a concentration camp, where Benigni's character pretends for his child's benefit that the whole thing is a role-playing game.
The first half of the film, though, is as charming, endearing, and funny a romantic comedy as you'll ever see. The fact that the film combines romance, comedy, and unspeakable tragedy without ever striking a false note is truly miraculous. Benigni won a much deserved Best Actor Oscar for his incredible lead performance and was nominated for both his screenplay and directing, as well.
Omar
Omar is a Palestinian drama that toured the global festival circuit in 2013. It's the story of a Palestinian baker who's arrested for the murder of an Israeli soldier and is allowed to remain free on the condition that he work as an informant.
In addition to being a crime thriller, Omar is also a romantic melodrama, as the title character's romance with Nadia, who he intended to marry before becoming caught up in the violent implications of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, is the heart and soul of the film.
Y Tu Mama Tambien
Nowadays, Alfonso Cuaron is one of the most acclaimed directors in the world. But back in 2001, he was unknown to most audiences. Y Tu Mama Tambien is his beautiful love story about two young men who hit the road with an older woman, who they later discover is harboring a tragic secret.
Gael Garcia Bernal, Diego Luna, and Maribel Verdu are all excellent in their roles. Alfonso Cuaron wrote the script with his brother, Carlos and his signature long takes allow the actors to naturally breathe life into the screenplay, making for a cinematic experience that feels uncannily like real life. This is the film that put Cuaron on the map, and for good reason.