5 Movies That Prove Love Can Transcend a Language Barrier

Love, Actually. One of the best romantic comedies of all time, Richard Curtis's Love, Actually proves that a language barrier is not an obstacle for true love. Jamie (Colin Firth), a writer from England, meets Aurelia (Lúcia Moniz), a housekeeper from Portugal, while staying in France. They don't have a lingua franca, but fall in love anyway. In the end, Jamie learns Portuguese and proposes to Aurelia in her native language only to find out she's learned English.

The Fifth Element. Taxicab driver and former major in the special forces Korben Dallas (Bruce Willis) is tasked to protect Leeloo (Mila Jovovich), a humanoid woman destined to prevent the destruction of Earth with the help of four classical elements. They can't communicate with each other, but grow close during their adventures. Korben's love for Leeloo helps defeat the great evil and save the Earth, because love is the most powerful thing that can overcome anything.

Avatar. Not only is the relationship between Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) cross-cultural, it is an interspecies one. Jake is a human, and Neytiry is a na'vi, a blue-skinned humanoid from the planet Pandora. They learn to communicate with one another, fall in love, and save Pandora from humans who want to destroy its beautiful unique biosphere. By learning the Na'vi language Jake shows Neytiri that she can trust him.

The Sleeping Dictionary. John Truscott (Hugh Dancy) is a young Englishmen who is sent to the British colony on Borneo to join the colonial government. There he meets Selima (Jessica Alba), a local woman. Selima becomes John's “sleeping dictionary”: she teaches him the local language and sleeps with him. They fall in love and have to overcome a lot of obstacles to be together, and their language barrier is definitely not the most serious one.

The Terminal. Viktor (Tom Hanks), a traveler from Krakozhia (a fictional country in Eastern Europe), becomes trapped in New York's JFK International Airport terminal. He finds a job and tries to survive. He meets Amelia Warren (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a flight attendant, and tries to woo her despite barely speaking any English. Although they do not end up together, their relationship helps Viktor get through difficult times.