Summary

While many expectant movies about World War II are produced in the U.S. and the UK , some of the best films set during the struggle are external features with dialogue speak in languages other than English . France , Norway , Germany , Japan , and other countries have releasedWorld War II movies , most draw consequence more relevant to their experiences and position . Many nations were impacted by the Second World War and their stories are not only told in their various official languages but in manner that are distinctly different from the more unremarkably seen American and British portrayals .

International films report for many ofthe most accurate World War II moviesdue to their lack of sensory Hollywood storytelling . They draw a variety of world events , from specific battles to tragic tale of the Holocaust and even the impact the warfare had on civilian , including those on the losing side . While some of the best non - English speech World War II movies feature a bit of English , they mainly feature dialogue in French , German , Polish , Japanese , Italian , Hungarian , Norwegian , and/or Finnish , with many other dialects represented .

10The 12th Man (2017)

A Norwegian drama about resistance fighters

Withdialogue in the main spoken in Norse and German , with some English , The 12th Mandepicts the true story of Jan Baalsrud , a commando involved in the electrical resistance to the Nazi occupancy of Norway . After 12 Norse resistance fighters are discovered and capture by the Germans , Baalsrud is the only one to escape . He battles the freeze element to get away from Norway but is pursued by Nazi officer Kurt Stage , who will arrest at nothing to catch the last resistance attack aircraft , alive or dead .

The photographic film ’s two lead actors snuff it to great lengths to ready for their roles . Thomas Gullestad lost over 30 Egyptian pound to play Baalsrud , while Jonathan Rhys - Meyers had to learn to verbalize German in just two months for his part as Stage . The 12th Manisan epic dramatic event about the battle to stay alive against all the oddsand offers a startling insight into the Norwegian resistance during the warfare .

9The Winter War (1989)

A Finnish film about the titular conflict

While the Finnish - voice communication filmThe Winter Waris technically about a conflict outside the prescribed confines of the Second World War , its outcome were relevant enough to the outstanding global combat that it qualifies as a World War II motion picture . Set in 1939 during the titulary war between Finland and the Soviet Union , the film keep up two brothers , Martti and Paavo Hakala , who are wedge to give up their animation as James Leonard Farmer and link the Finnish army . After joining the twenty-third Regiment , they fight for their land as they seek to survive the Winter War .

Based on the novelTalvisotaby Antti Tuuri , The Winter Waris a gruesome yet brutally honest portrayal of the Finnish defence against the Soviet army in the Arctic cold as it providesan larger-than-life and naturalistic depiction of one of the most forgotten campaigns link up with World War II . The movie won six Jussi Awards , Finland ’s prime film honors , and it was submitted to the Oscars as the country ’s selection for Best Foreign Language Film but was not nominated .

8Son Of Saul (2015)

A Hungarian Holocaust drama about the horrors of working in the Nazi death camps

Featuringdialogue speak in Hungarian , German , Polish , Yiddish , Russian , Slovak , Czech , and Greek , but not English , Son of Saulis a tragical celluloid about Saul Ausländer , a Jewish - Magyar prisoner who is aSonderkommandoforced to salvage valuables from corpses at the Auschwitz assiduity camp . He is viewer to the horrors of the gas pedal chamber and how the Nazis incautiously cremate the remains . One daytime , he key the body of a young boy he believes to be his son and essay to happen a rabbi to give the child a right Jewish inhumation .

One of the best Magyar film ever made , Son of Saulis noteworthy for its torturing insight and exact depiction of the Nazi death campsand its tragical ending . Among its many award , Son of Saulwon both the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film .

7Life Is Beautiful (1997)

An Italian Holocaust movie about a father and son at a concentration camp

Written and directed by and star Roberto Benigni , the Italian - language drollery - dramaLife is Beautifulfollows the level of a bookstall owner name Guido , his wife Dora , and their young son , Giosuè , who are send off to a compactness camp . Throughout their time incarcerate in the refugee camp , Guido creates an detailed game for his son to protect him from its true horror . Benigni was root on to create the pic by his father , who survived two geezerhood in a Nazi labour encampment and similarly used humor to make out with his ordeal .

Despite the difficulty of making a comedy - oppressed Holocaust motion-picture show , Life is Beautifulisa deeply move write up of find hope in despairand one of the greatest Italian motion picture ever made . It was appoint for seven Academy Awards , including Best Picture , and it film win three , admit Best Foreign Language Film , Best Score , and Best Actor for Benigni .

6Au Revoir Les Enfants (1987)

A French biographical drama about Jewish students hid during the Holocaust

Written , directed , and produce by Louis Malle , Au Revoir Les Enfants , akaGoodbye , Children , is a play with dialog in Gallic and German correct at a Carmelite embarkment schoolhouse in 1943 . Young scholarly person Julien Quentin sees three fresh students come at his schooling , one of them a male child named Jean Bonnet . Initially , Julian shows enmity toward Jean , but after discovering the secret that he ’s Jewish and hiding from the Nazis , the boys develop a snug bond .

One ofthe good autobiographical movies of all time , Au Revoir Les Enfantsis based on material result from Malle ’s puerility , as he witnessed three Jewish students and their instructor being bear . It ’s a poignant yet heartbreaking photographic film about friendship and betrayal that also reminds audiences that even children were not safe from the horror of World War II and the Holocaust .

5Children Of Hiroshima (1952)

A Japanese drama depicting the aftermath of the bombing of Hiroshima

The Nipponese - oral communication dramaChildren of Hiroshimashows a school instructor who returns to her hometown after losing her family in the bombing of the titular metropolis at the end of World War II . As she revisit her past , she reunites with old friends and colleagues and sees how they were all impacted by the devastating effect . This wasone of the first films to picture the aftermath of the nuclear bombs being drop on Japanand offer a heart - breaking sentiment into the realities of how citizens were affected . Often command due to its geezerhood , child of Hiroshimais a poignant reminder of the result of war .

4Sophie Scholl - The Final Days (2005)

A German drama about a courageous resistance fighter

The German - speech communication movieSophie Scholl - The Final Daysdepicts the last daylight of the titulary Munich university educatee , who was a extremity of the anti - Nazi resistance chemical group the White Rose . Alongside her brother Hans and her champion Christoph Probst , she was arrest and try by the High Court for treason . They were all found guilty and executed by guillotine on February 22 , 1943 .

This is one ofthe ripe flick about crucial women in chronicle . Despite the obstacles against her , Sophie Scholl wasacourageous woman who remained honest to her beliefs , even when faced with death . A startling and inspiring storey of bravery and courageousness , Sophie Scholl - The Final Dayswon two prize at the Berlin International Film Festival .

3Kanał (1957)

A Polish drama that explores the Warsaw Uprising of 1944

One of the first movies that looked at the realities of World War II , Andrzej Wajda’sKanałis a Polish - language drama about the net sidereal day of the 1944 Warsaw Uprising . As 43 men continue to combat among the ruins against the German soldier , the situation becomes more and more heroic , and they are forced to retreat into the sewers . The motion-picture show ’s author , Jerzy Stefan Stawiński , based the history on his experience of the Warsaw Uprising . A watershed of Polish movie house , Kanal is a gripping and horrendous portrayal of the events and deservedly won the Special Jury Award at the 1957 Cannes Film Festival .

2Downfall (2004)

A German drama depicting the last days of Adolf Hitler

Featuring German and Russian dialogue , Downfallis a historical drama pore around Traudl Junge , a young womanhood appointed Adolf Hitler ’s secretarial assistant in 1942 . Three years later , with Germany in ruins and on the brink of losing the warfare , she is among a few loyal followers veil with the Nazi loss leader in an underground bunker . Hitler is forced to contend with the realism that his government is in shred and his days are numbered .

Downfallproved controversial upon release for its depicting of Hitler having emotions despite his horrific action and the portrait of the Third Reich . Nevertheless , the motion picture is stillnotable for its exact depiction of Germany at the terminal of the warfare and the distressing portrait of Hitler ’s mental state and how the Nazis lost everything . Downfallis one of the most impressive German historical movies ever made .

1Shoah (1985)

A French documentary about the Holocaust

Claude Lanzmann’sShoahis a nine - hour documentary film with material in French , German , Hebrew , Polish , and Yiddish , with some English . The epic film permit audiences to amply see the true horror of World War II and the abrasive realness of the extermination bivouac . Lanzmann interviews multiple eyewitnesses , including survivor of the camps and former soldiers , about their experience during the Holocaust . He jaunt across 14 different nation to verbalize with these participants and also film in the altogether footage at the sites of the former parturiency camps , ultimately using more than 350 hours of footage . The ruined undertaking took 11 years to make .

Shoahisamongthe best docudrama ever made and an authoritative small-arm of historical book for audiences who want to find out about the Holocaust . A cinematic masterpiece , Shoahis far and away the best non - English language film ever made about World War II .

How Live-Action Snow White Used Dropped Storylines Explained By Director in New Featurette

Ben-Stiller’s-$128M-Dark-Comedy-Lands-On-Netflix’s-Global-Charts-18-Years-Later

Josh Hartnett looking shocked in Fight or Flight

Non-English World War 2 movie collage of images from The 12th Man, Shoah, and Children of Hiroshima

Jonathan Rhys-Meyers lighting a cigarette with another soldier near a car in The 12th Man

Soldiers in a winter battle scene in the 1989 film The Winter War

Géza Röhrig as Saul Ausländer in Son of Saul

Two children and a woman in a still from Children of Hiroshima 1952

Still from the 1957 Polish film Kanal

Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler in Downfall

A man sticks his head out of a train car in front of the Treblinka sign in Shoah-1985