Ip Man
Watched this years ago and it's stuck with me ever since. donnie yen plays ip man, the wing chun master who later taught bruce lee, and the whole thing is set in foshan while the japanese are occupying it. what makes it hit is that yen plays him completely calm. no ego, no showing off, he just doesn't want to fight. so when he finally does, it means something. and the fighting is unreal. wing chun isn't the flashy flying kick stuff, the feet basically never leave the ground, it's all short brutal chain punches straight down the middle. sammo hung choreographed it and it's some of the best fight work ever put on film. the scene where ip man asks to fight ten black belts at once is the one everyone remembers and it deserves it. it's fast, it's ugly, and it's over quick, which is exactly why it lands. it's only 107 minutes and it never wastes a second.
easily the best foreign film i've seen and honestly one of the best films i've seen full stop. one of those you don't forget.