Hide English-language films from the ranking and the top of the list stops looking like a video-store wall and starts looking like the rest of the world. Ten films, zero subtitles skipped:
- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly — #9 overall, GRM 87.0, Italian
- Seven Samurai — #13, 86.3, Japanese
- Spirited Away — #16, 85.6, Japanese
- Parasite — #19, 85.2, Korean
- Grave of the Fireflies — #21, 85.1, Japanese
- Harakiri — #22, 85.0, Japanese
- 777 Charlie — #44, 83.5, Kannada
- Once Upon a Time in the West — #46, 83.5, Italian
- City of God — #47, 83.5, Portuguese
- A Separation — #49, 83.3, Persian
Read that again: the best non-English film on the planet, by consensus, sits at #9 of every movie on the site, English included. Japanese cinema holds four of the first six slots — and 777 Charlie, a Kannada film with fewer than 50k votes, sits at #44 above nearly everything Hollywood released this century. Iran is on the board at #49 with A Separation.
None of these need rescuing. Their ratings already carry them — the only thing a popularity sort adds is a language barrier. Take the scores at face value, turn on the subtitles, and work down the list from #9.