I take back my statement about the next list being a top 10 of most messed up movies because I meant top 10 messed up movies that are actually good in quality not just shocking garbage.

Another foreign movie that's good is Malena also starring Monica Bellucci (from irreversible).

It's about a woman in WW II Italy who's husband goes off to war and she is the recipient of criticism of the women and the lustful stares of the men in town and about an adolescent boy with a crush on her.

I haven't seen Audition or Irreversible so will definately look into checking them out. As others have said, The Orphanage is great. Others I would recommend are Amelie, The Lives of Others, Ran, Y Tu Mama Tambien, Let the Right One In and most things by Lukas Moodysson.

omg. i definetly agree with you on pans labyrinth. that movie has been one of the best movies i have seen all my life. you guys need to see it. is an amazing movie.

i thought city of god was absolutely awful.

Theres a lot more then 5 "foreign" movies Americans should watch.

Dont know if they didnt have to do with the US, but Ill post them:
-La Vita e Bella
-Old Boy
- Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...and spring
- Queen Margot
- Machuca(this one is chilean, but maybe you could find it in english version for some awards it may have tried to win, its about 2 boys, 1 rich and another one poor in the time right before the dictatorship in 1973, very good)
-Das Experiment(the experiment)
.The war of the buttons
Those ones were good.

I agree with Pan's Labyrinth and especially with the brilliant City of God, one of the best and most shocking movies of the decade in my opinion.

Trainspotting still needs recommendations? I always thought it's already a classic.

I saw another Miike movie, didn't really like it, not interested in other Miike's movies (with the exception of The Bird People in China, which sounds very interesting.

I disagree with Irréversible. It was the first DVD which I threw away after having watched the movie. My English isn't good enough to describe what I exactly hated about the movie, so I'll try to summarize it in two words: Pretentious crap.

chuffed that Trainspotting's on that list :D

audition and pan's labyrinth are ace.

and since you're looking for recommendations, how about

Jeux d'enfant.(Love me If You Dare)

its amazing.

I haven't been in off topic for a while. I'm running off to work... just posting to bookmark this thread.

Seen 4/5 of the OP. Loved them all. Haven't seen Irreversible yet though.

But if I could ONLY recommend 5 foreign films, I doubt I'd pick any from the last 10 years, except maybe Happiness of the Katakuris. Same director as Audition. But it's a musical. With claymation. And zombies. And the greatest character ever. It's perfect.