Kamal Haasan recommends

Virgin Spring (Jungfrukällan), Ingmar Bergman                                        Wages of fear (Le salaire de la peur), Henri-Georges Clouzot
Rashomon, Akira Kurosawa                                     
The Cranes are flying (Letyat Zhuravli), Mikhail Kalatozov
Das boot, Wolfgang Petersen
Amadeus, Milos Forman
Hair, Milos Forman
Duel, Steven Spielberg
The Tenant (Le locataire), Roman Polanski
Chinatown, Roman Polanski                                        
La strada, Federico  Fellini
Au hasard Balthazar, Robert Bresson
The Brutalisation of Franz Blum (Die Verrohung des Franz Blum), Reinhard Hauff
In a Year with 13 Moons (In einem Jahr mit 13 Monden), Rainer Werner Fassbinder
The 400 blows (Les quatre cents coups) Francois Truffaut
Code Unknown: Incomplete tales of several journeys (Code inconnu: Récit incomplet de divers voyages), Michael Haneke                                                                
Amelie (Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain), Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Cinema Paradiso, Giuseppe Tornatore
301, 302, Cheol-su Park
Three Colours: Blue/White/Red, Krzysztof Kieslowski
The Decalogue (Dekalog), Krzysztof Kieslowski
A short film about killing (Krótki film o zabijaniu) Krzysztof Kieslowski
Life of Brian, Terry Jones, written by Graham Chapman
Being there, Hal Ashby
The Party, Blake Edwards
&
Birth, Jonathan Blazer, written by Jean Claude Carriere

* * *

Note from Mr. Kamal Haasan: The Tamil films below are not to be compared with the above list of international films unless you like self flagellation.
These films dared to go against the pundits opinion of how films should be. They fought the market to create new trends. Some were made in a shoestring budget and some at great financial risk. Mumbai Express was made with a 3CCD camera and Pushpak with Rs.30 lakhs

Tamil                                                              
Ennadaan Mudivu W/D K.S. Gopalakrishnan                                                
Saadumirandaal W/D Thirumalai/Mahalingam
Kaaval Deivam W/D Jayakanthan/K.Vijayan                                                                    
Yaarukkaaga Azhuthaan W/D Jayakanthan
Avargal W/D  K.Balachander                                                                                                 
Manmatha Leelai  W/D K. Balachander                                         
Aval Appadiththaan   W/D Ananthu/Rudhraiah                                   
Nayagan W/D Mani Rathnam                                                    
Kallukkul Eeram W/D Selvaraj/ Bharathiraja
Thevar Magan W/D Kamal Haasan/ Bharathan
Mahanadhi W/D Kamal Haasan/ SanthanaBharathi
Alaipayudhe W/D Manirathnam
Hey Ram W/D Kamal Haasan
Anbe Sivam W/D Kamal Haasan/ C.Sunder
Mumbai Express W/D Kamal Haasan/ Singeetham
Virumaandi W/D Kamal Haasan
Paruththiveeran W/D Ameer

W: Written by
D: Directed by