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Welcome to our foreign films page, featuring foreign movies in video and DVD format in languages from a host of countries. Note: unless stated otherwise, all videocassettes are in VHS and NTSC format, and all DVDs are for players that support Region 1 encoding (United States and Canada) and are in NTSC format. Check our DVD Compatibility FAQ for more information about region encoding, television formats, and other specifications. If you can't find what you need, please email us.
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Three Times Hou Hsiao-hsien Hou Hsiao-hsien's majestic tripartite drama received near-universal acclaim from critics. Set in 1966, 1911, and 2005, the three tales unfold at a pool hall, a brothel, and in modern Tapei, and explore themes of romantic desire and nostalgia for youth. Languidly paced, dramatically understated, and communicated with very litle dialogue, Hou's film is "Wise and heartbreaking. One of the great films of the year" (Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times). With Qi Shu, Chen Chang, Fang Mei, Su-jen Liao, and Mei Di. In Mandarin and Taiwanese with English subtitles. Taiwan/France, 2005, 135 mins. DVD $44.95
Cafe Lumiere Hou Hsiao-hsien Part of a tribute to the Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu to commemorate the 100th anniversary of his birth, this luminous work marks the first time that Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien shot a film entirely in a foreign location and in a foreign language. Yoko, a freelance writer, becomes friends with Hajime, the proprietor of a bookstore, and the two spend a great deal of time together in coffee shops. One day Yoko tells her parents that she is pregnant and that the father of the child is Taiwanese. Her parents worry about her future and her choice to become an unmarried mother. Although he cannot articulate his feelings, Hajime is filled with love for Yoko. In Japanese with English subtitles. Japan/Taiwan, 2004, 103 mins. DVD $44.95
Flowers of Shanghai Hou Hsiao-hsien The elegant brothels of 19th century Shanghai provide the setting for Hou Hsiao-hsien's mesmerizing examination of a time and place where rituals shaped the destinies of the beautiful "flower girls" as they tried to find security with their wealthy callers. "Elaborate rituals of opium pipes, feasts and gambling underpin the carnal intimacies and duplicities. Hou takes the conventions of geisha melodrama--the cruelty of sexual commerce, the women's debts, the madam's bossiness, the self-protective, two-faced nature of a courtesan's attachments--and strips down the genre to its essence" (Phillip Lopate, New York Times). In Mandarin with English subtitles. Taiwan, 1998, 125 mins. Videocassette $37.95
Good Men, Good Women Hou Hsiao-hsien In this brilliant, deeply human portrayal of important chapters in Taiwan's history, an actress looks back upon her past relationship with a gangster while simultaneously immersing herself in the role of a Japanese resistance fighter. "Hou's formal control in this film is stunning, and his vision of history through the lens of a spiritually depressed present is deeply moving" (Kent Jones, Film Society of Lincoln Center). Mandarin with English subtitles. Taiwan, 1995, 108 mins. Videocassette $37.95
Goodbye South, Goodbye Hou Hsiao-hsien Hou Hsiao-hsien turns his eye on Taiwan's sprawling suburbs in the story of would-be entrepreneurs and their desperate attempts to keep up with an ever-changing economy while living within an increasingly aimless society. Stylistically, this is quite different from most of the director's films, departing from stationary camera work and opting for a more mobile, restless visual approach. "An altogether beautiful film. A sad poem of motion, a lament for souls in the process of getting lost" (Kent Jones, Film Society of Lincoln Center). In Taiwanese with English subtitles. Taiwan, 1996, 119 mins. Videocassette $37.95
Millennium Mambo Hou Hsiao-hsien Free-spirited party girl Vicky lives with lazy, unemployed and pathologically jealous Hao-hao and supports them both by working in a bar. At work, Vicky meets Jack (Jack Kao), a businessman with links to the mafia, who is kind and nurturing to her. They soon begin an ambiguous affair and Vicky decides to end her dysfunctional relationship with Hao-hao as soon as her savings of $500,000 is spent. With Shu Qi, Tuan Chun-hao, Jack Kao, and Niu Cheng-tse. In Mandarin with English subtitles. Taiwan, 2001, 106 mins. DVD $44.95
Play While You Play Hou Hsiao-hsien Kenny Bee stars as a blind musician who declares his love for a young girl in front of his family in this early feature from Hou Hsiao-hsien, whose later films (Flowers of Shanghai, The Puppetmaster, A Time to Live and a Time to Die) would earn him recognition as one of the contemporary masters of international cinema. With Anthony Chan and Fung Fei Fei. Also known as Cheerful Wind. Dubbed in Cantonese with English subtitles. Taiwan, 1981. Videocassette $37.95
The Puppetmaster Hou Hsiao-hsien Based on the memoirs of celebrated Taiwanese puppeteer Li Tien-lu, this poignant, multi-layered narrative combines first-person recollections with dramatic reenactments of his childhood and early career. "Pure cinema. Taiwan genius Hou Hsiao-hsien gives a wholly original and magisterially orchestrated combination of scripted scenes, staged performances, and filmed reminiscences. The camera placement is as precise as the images are beautiful...Hou's greatest film" (J. Hoberman, The Village Voice). In Mandarin and Taiwanese with English subtitles. Taiwan, 1993, 142 mins. DVD $44.95