With some, of course, this can be put to the test, if they get remade (usually by big US studios), and more importantly if the structure or ending of the film isn't tinkered with. An awful instance (though a good example here) was the remake of the Dutch film Spoorloss as The Vanishing. The original was great - full of (to me) unknown actors with an ending as bleak as any I've seen (though with no gore), but obviously too bleak for US audiences, which had a much happier ending.
Nikita was also far better in its Luc Bresson original.
It's the other films - the less mainstream ones, that don't get remade - which I watch thinking I'm being very worthy, but possibly in their native tongue are pretty average.
This could apply to Etre et Avoir, but I doubt it. It's a touching film showing life in a school in a small, pretty idyllic actually, French town. It's the (only) teacher's last year before retirement, and it follows him with a group of first year pupils, and shows how they mature over the year, and the genuine warmth he feels for them (and they to him).
I've holidayed in France for the last few years (and am again this year), but after this we'll probably venture further afield. So, I expect I'll be needing a new credit card to fund it all!
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