Are there any foreign-language films set in the United States?

December 29, 2004 2:40 AM

I'd be interested in seeing foreign-language films that are set in the United States. Are there any?

I feel like the immigrant/foreigner perspective of life within the USA is an undertreated topic in film. While I've heard of bollywood films set in LA, I'd be fascinated to see a movie about the language and culture gap experienced by immigrants (of any nationality) and their children.

posted by BuddhaInABucket to Media & Arts (25 answers total)

I think you're more likely to find films that are in English and another language rather than strictly the other language. I'm thinking in particular of Ang Lee's first two films, Pushing Hands and The Wedding Banquet. They're both in Madarin and English.
posted by You Should See the Other Guy at 2:54 AM on December 29, 2004

There's El Norte.
posted by vacapinta at 4:03 AM on December 29, 2004

One of my favorite films is Werner Herzog's Stroszek, which is about some oddball Germans coming to live in the rural paradise of Wisconsin. The dialog is mostly German.

I saw a really boring Thai movie called February (Khumphaphan) that's set mostly in New York. Skip it.
posted by goatdog at 4:07 AM on December 29, 2004

damn, i was gonna say "El Norte." that's how i learned the spanish swear words in 8th grade.
posted by rxrfrx at 4:38 AM on December 29, 2004

Brother with Takeshi Kitano takes place partially in the United States and is in Japanese.
posted by trey at 4:54 AM on December 29, 2004

Swades is playing in new release now; it's about a NASA dude who returns to India. People were excited because, as I recall vaguely and perhaps slightly inaccurately, it was the first time an Indian director had been allowed to shoot in U.S. NASA facilities. And stars Shah Rukh Khan! Rowr!
posted by RJ Reynolds at 5:20 AM on December 29, 2004

Jarmush's Stranger than Paradise and Mystery Train have an outsider-looking-at-quirky-America feel. So does one of the all time great movies, Bagdad Cafe, about a stolid German tourist stranded at a truck stop in the California desert.
All were filmed in English and yet have an outsider's feel.
posted by CunningLinguist at 5:24 AM on December 29, 2004

Well, if it is the "immigrant/foreigner perspective of life within the USA" you are looking for I'd suggest the english language films "Dancer in the Dark" and "Dogville."

Then there is the highest grossing Canadian film of all time (as of 2003). Which was set in the USA. But it was English also.

I'll ask my partner for some French suggestions.
posted by ?! at 5:53 AM on December 29, 2004

Schultze Gets the Blues, a German movie, comes to mind.
posted by ckemp at 6:29 AM on December 29, 2004

Also, try using IMDb Power Search and filling out Country of Origin ("France"), Language ("French") and Location ("USA"), or similar. This will probably produce quite a large list, with quite a few movies that don't fit your criteria, but there's some interesting matches.
posted by ckemp at 6:41 AM on December 29, 2004

Maria Full of Grace is out on DVD.
posted by coelecanth at 6:51 AM on December 29, 2004

Hindi movies set in the US or at least partially set in the US:

1. Aa Ab Laut Chalen (1999) 5.5/10 (65 votes)
   ...aka Lets Go Back (1999) (International: English title)
2. Awara Paagal Deewana (2002) 6.3/10 (35 votes)
3. Ayurveda: Art of Being (2001) 7.5/10 (41 votes)
4. Biwi No. 1 (1999) 4.6/10 (58 votes)
5. Car Thief (1986)
6. Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar (2000) 9.7/10 (6 votes)
7. Evening in Paris, An (1967) 8.4/10 (7 votes)
   ...aka Paris Ki Ek Shyam (1967) (India: Hindi title)
8. Family: Ties of Blood (2005)
9. Hero, The (2003/I) 6.3/10 (40 votes)
10. Jeans (1998) 4.4/10 (47 votes)
11. Judaai (1997) 6.9/10 (46 votes)
12. Kaante (2002) 4.5/10 (186 votes)
13. Kal Ho Naa Ho (2003) 7.4/10 (405 votes)
    ...aka Tomorrow May Never Come (2003) (USA: informal literal English title)
14. Love at Times Square (2003) 2.6/10 (10 votes)
15. Out of Control (2003) 3.2/10 (22 votes)
16. Pardes (1997) 6.8/10 (111 votes)
17. Sirf Tum (1999) 6.1/10 (7 votes)
18. Swades (2004) 7.6/10 (174 votes)
19. Taal (1999) 6.0/10 (178 votes)
    ...aka Thaalam (1999) (India: Tamil title)

posted by riffola at 7:01 AM on December 29, 2004

Not a film, but there's an episode of the anime Excel Saga that takes place in New York, intentionally full of American stereotypes and mocking American animation.
posted by squidlarkin at 7:04 AM on December 29, 2004

Les Triplettes de Belleville (Belleville Rendez-vous) is a Canada-Europe animation coproduction that gives a singular view of America.
posted by zadcat at 8:01 AM on December 29, 2004

Don't forget that Classic of Cinema, Rumble in the Bronx!
posted by alana at 9:44 AM on December 29, 2004

Important parts of The Milagro Beanfield War are in Spanish.

There's a set of movies about Scandinavian immigrants to the upper midwest frontier that's filmed in whatever the relevant Scandinavian language is.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 9:49 AM on December 29, 2004

riffola, is there a IMDB search feature I don't know about, or is that from memory?
posted by Gyan at 10:07 AM on December 29, 2004

I just want to put in another big recommendation for Werner Herzog's Stroszek. It will forever change how you look at chickens. It is hilarious and tragic. You will see it again and again.
posted by Voivod at 10:15 AM on December 29, 2004

If you want to watch a fun foreign movie set in America, may I suggest Killer Condom? It's set in New York, but all the dialogue's in German. As the title indicates, the movie may not be for the more squeamish in the audience.
posted by Captain_Tenille at 10:51 AM on December 29, 2004

Maria Full of Grace takes place partially in NY. A very tough movie to watch. About a young Columbian girl who decides to become a drug courrier, the kind that swallows condoms full of cocaine. Difficult movie to watch at times, but very well done. The scenes in NY give some insight into the immigrant experience.

It's in Spanish, of course.
posted by sic at 1:43 PM on December 29, 2004

Leningrad Cowboys Go America -- really bad Finnish band goes on a road trip through the US.
posted by joaquim at 3:57 PM on December 29, 2004

?!, I still cannot get over the fact that Bob Clark went from writing/directing Porky's 2 to writing/directing A Christmas Story, hard to think of a more unlikely sequence.

Looking back at my review of Brother, I don't think I can recommend it
posted by billsaysthis at 5:46 PM on December 29, 2004

Don't forget that Classic of Cinema, Rumble in the Bronx!

Rumble in the Bronx is so obviously filmed in Canada that it's almost ridiculous to claim that that movie takes place in the US.
posted by alidarbac at 7:40 PM on December 29, 2004

LOL, alidarbac, like Liberty Stands Still that I somehow watched yesterday.
posted by billsaysthis at 8:43 PM on December 29, 2004

is there a IMDB search feature I don't know about, or is that from memory?

Using the link ckemp provided, just plug Hindi for language and USA for location in IMDb Power Search.
posted by riffola at 10:23 PM on December 29, 2004