There's something right about checking out a different take on things. When it comes to film, the North American audience often sees film based on the same tired formulas, and sequels based on sequels based on former originals. It can get tiresome and predictable.

While there are great, artistic films made in North America there are also a host of others produced in other countries. One's appreciation of film as art and not merely as throw-a-way entertainment can increase greatly by checking out some of these foreign offerings. The best place to start is with foreign film classics. Some of America's great directors hold the makers of these foreign language gems in high esteem. Many were the inspiration for their own film careers.

With many foreign films you have to adjust to the fact that you will have written subtitles to deal with. Once you get past this and get used to it you'll wonder why you worried about it in the first place. The reading as you watch becomes matter-of-fact and part of the foreign film experience.

If you want to explore the creative work and emotional depth of many of foreign films, these five by two masterful directors are great places to start. While opinions vary on to what are the best foreign films of all time, these would have to be among the top picks for any top 100 list. Two are by the great Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. Three are by the renowned Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski (two from his Red, White, and Blue trilogy). These are worth checking out in the foreign film section of your local DVD store or DVD rental club.

Wild Strawberries Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)

This is a tale of a professor who travels to a university by car across the Swedish landscape to receive an honorary degree for his lifetime achievements. He looks back on his life as he does, and contemplates his dealings with those who love him. The dream sequence and its stark black and white imagery at the beginning of the film continue to enthrall film students to this day.

Persona: (Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)

Experimental, daring, riveting, alluring, and challenging all at once, this 1967 film stirred debate in film circles when it came out. Today, the questions it generated remain because of the multiple layers of meanings inherent in the story. The film concerns a nurse charged to take care of an actor who has stopped speaking. This actor froze on stage during a performance and now placed under the nurses care must try to deal with the issues that brought her to this point in her life.

Three Colors: Blue (France-Poland-Switzerland, Krzysztof Kieslowski)

A young woman must deal with the hand that life deals her and in so doing learns some hidden secrets about the husband she dearly loved. It's a story of refashioning oneself according to new life circumstances. The music and imagery of this film are as captivating as the story itself.

Three Colors: Red (France-Poland-Switzerland, Krzysztof Kieslowski)

A model has a chance meeting with an older man and walks down a path of her choosing, one full of intrigue and secrecy. The color red is the focal point of the entire film and gives the film its powerful aura. It's a story about coincidences in life and friendship and unattainable love.

The Double Life of Veronique (France-Poland, Krzysztof Kieslowski)

This film leaves you thinking about it long after you watch it. It concerns two women, who, unrelated to one another, look the same and have many of the same personality traits. They have and will never meet, but somehow their lives seem linked to one another. One lives in France and the other lives in Poland. The film is a study of fate, and decisions we make and do not make in life, and how that determines whom and what we become. Again, the music is mesmerizing along with the photography in this film.

The above examples are a minute sample from the huge library of foreign film available today. They represent the views of only two great directors but these five films speak volumes about the power of 'art films' in helping us understand this mystery we call life.

Posted by Mike.