Ever since the versatile Ang Lee's "intelligent karate film", Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, coaxed melodies from the multiplexes' cash registers, and verged on becoming the most successful foreign language film ever shown in the UK, it's become conceivable that the lifespan of subtitles might be extended, and that "arthouse" flicks could yet have a future.

This brave new world didn't begin, and clearly won't end, with Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh, though. Step just slightly back in time and European, non-English films were the hippest and hottest. Directors such as Godard, Fellini and Bertolucci might not mean much to Chicken Run devotees, but they ruled the roost during the rock'n'roll years, and brought new techniques and fresh rhythms to the medium. France has conjured up many of the most sublime and romantic scenes in history, while the Spanish are unbeatable at primary-coloured, sexy fun and the Italians are quirky mavericks.

Prior to the ascendancy of Crouching Tiger, the most successful subtitled film ever to woo these shores was Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful, the gurning Italian's tragi-comedy, which won him a Best Actor Oscar in 1999. Audiences inexplicably fell for the movie's rather tasteless juxtaposition of farce and holocaust, but Benigni's gushing, over-the-top acceptance speech at the Academy Awards was ludicrous enough to earn him forgiveness. Before that, Cyrano De Bergerac, starring Gerard Depardieu, had held the honour - remarkably, given that its strengths lay in playing on words and elaborate punning.

But these are the box office winners. As we all like to pretend we know, class doesn't always equal cash. Some of the finest, foxiest foreign films haven't hit paydirt here. Brilliant works such as Lars Von Trier's madcap musical Dancer In The Dark (starring Bjork and Catherine Deneuve), the German techno-riot Run Lola Run, Kitano's Hana-Bi and Julio Medem's globetrotting romance Lovers Of The Arctic Circle have languished in relative obscurity. Then there are the foreign gems that Hollywood decides to remake and remodel, usually managing, in targeting a bigger audience, to downsize the indefinable magic of the original to clunking cliche. The Vanishing, for example. Or Jim McBride's overcooked take on Breathless with Richard Gere. Or The Ring. The spooky Spanish smash Open Your Eyes (which starred Penelope Cruz) was remade by Cameron Crowe as Vanilla Sky.

To do justice to the beauty, power and glory of even European cinema, let alone that from further east, would require ten fat, erudite volumes. But here's an (admittedly subjective) list of ten must-see classics, from the old to the new, which may give you a sense of the spark if you're a bit wary of or unfamiliar with foreign films. Check these out, be blown away, and then tell me you're resistant to the idea of a united Europe. (Actually, do tell me that - why would we want to ruin these nice people's aesthetics with our mockney gangsters and contrived working-class Northerners?) Expand your horizons. Try another flavour.

The Battle Of Algiers

This 1965 masterpiece from Gillo Pontecorvo (an Italian/Algerian) was a battle cry for Marxist revolutionaries, detailing Algeria's struggle for independence from France. That might sound dull and worthy, but the amazing black-and-white photography and very human edge ensure timeless emotional resonance.

La Belle Et La Bete

Jean Cocteau. 1946. Myth and melancholy. Beauty (Josette Day) faints with fright when she first sees Beast (Jean Marais), but soon finds his soul. White horses. Candelabras made of arms. Fairytale captured on film. Your inner dream life started here.

La Dolce Vita

Fellini's enigmatic, moody flourishes made cinema swing. His 1960 portrayal of the "decadent" Rome jet-set seems tamer now, but kick-started a radical worldview. Marcello Mastroianni at his wryest. Anita Ekberg hugging a white kitten in the Trevi Fountain. Iconic moments.

That Obscure Object Of Desire

Luis Bunuel's last film (1977), but it catches the surreal, psychosexual, former Dali collaborator at his best. Love, lust, and society's hypocrisy. Also essential, and still startling, are his early landmarks like Un Chien Andalou and L'Age D'Or.

Breathless/Pierre Le Fou

Or pretty much anything from the Sixties by arrogant French Nouvelle Vague guru Jean-Luc Godard. He deconstructed the medium, jump-cutting, freeze-framing and remixing, allowing his cool casts (Jean-Paul Belmondo, Jean Seberg, his wife Anna Karina) to act like men and women rather than actors. Forever modern, smart and sassy.