Drama
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Lost in Translation
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Lost in Translation

2003
Two lost souls visiting Tokyo -- the young, neglected wife of a photographer and a washed-up movie star shooting a TV commercial -- find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other's company, away from their lives in America.

Directed by:

  • Sofia Coppola
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    The Vanished Empire
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    The Vanished Empire

    2008
    Noted Russian director Karen Shakhnazarov offers this lyrical drama that follows rebellious 1970s-era Soviet university student Sergei (Aleksandr Lyapin), who literally trades his family's intellectual and ideological heritage for black-market loot from the West. But as Sergei loses himself in American clothes, music and ideas, he may also lose his beautiful lover, Lyuda (Lidiya Milyuzina), to his best comrade, Stepan (Yegor Baranovsky).

    Directed by:

  • Karen Shakhnazarov
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    The Women of Brewster Place
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    The Women of Brewster Place

    1989
    A single mother moves to a tumbledown housing project on Brewster Place, where she meets a group of strong-minded women facing similar woes. During the course of three decades, the ladies do battle against abject poverty, bigotry and unreliable men.

    Directed by:

  • Donna Deitch
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    The Man Who Cried
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    The Man Who Cried

    2000
    Christina Ricci stars as Suzie, a Russian Jew adrift in the world after her father leaves the family to make a fresh start in America in 1927. After emigrating to England, Suzie flowers into a no-nonsense showgirl who eventually ends up in Paris. There, she becomes involved with Cesar (Johnny Depp), the head of a band of gypsies, but their happiness -- and Suzie's quest to track down her father -- is challenged by the rising Nazi influence in Europe.

    Directed by:

  • Sally Potter
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    Copying Beethoven
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    Copying Beethoven

    2006
    Serving as a copyist to Ludwig van Beethoven gives young conservatory student Anna Holtz unprecedented access to the volatile composer's musical genius -- but also subjects her to his cruel tirades in this absorbing period drama.

    Directed by:

  • Agnieszka Holland
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    Home Before Dark
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    Home Before Dark

    1997
    With a severely depressed mother and a father struggling to keep the family afloat and intact, 12-year-old Nora James (Stephanie Castellarin) has a heavy load to bear. And her lot only worsens when her mother is institutionalized and Nora is sent to live with a controlling aunt (Katharine Ross). There, she's thrust into the adult world, suddenly forced to put aside childhood ways. Maureen Foley directs this sensitive drama of a youth denied.

    Directed by:

  • Maureen Foley
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    Sylvia
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    Sylvia

    2003
    A whirlwind courtship kick-starts the tempestuous marriage between American poet and novelist Sylvia Plath and English poet Ted Hughes, an intense and stormy union that quickly dissolves due to Hughes's philandering and Plath's insecurity.

    Directed by:

  • Christine Jeffs
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    Toe to Toe
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    Toe to Toe

    2009
    Out on the lacrosse pitch, wealthy but troubled Jesse (Louisa Krause) and poor but driven Tosha (Sonequa Martin) form an easy and deep bond, but their relationship is threatened once they enter the hallways of an elite prep school they attend in Washington, D.C. There, they must work to overcome racial and other tensions in their classmates, and in themselves, if they hope to keep their friendship alive. Emily Abt directs.

    Directed by:

  • Emily Abt
    • rating:3.2.png 3.2 Average Rating


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    Map of the Sounds of Tokyo
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    Map of the Sounds of Tokyo

    2009
    When the daughter of prominent Tokyo businessman Mr. Nagara (Takeo Nakahara) commits suicide, Nagara's heartbroken employee Ishida (Hideo Sakaki) hires part-time hit woman Ryu (Rinko Kikuchi) to kill the man (Sergi López) perceived as responsible for the daughter's death. Meanwhile, a curious sound engineer becomes obsessed with Ryu and her life in this lyrical and mysterious drama from acclaimed Spanish director Isabel Coixet.

    Directed by:

  • Isabel Coixet
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    Lady Chatterley
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    Lady Chatterley

    2006
    When her husband is paralyzed in World War I, frustration drives Lady Chatterley into an affair with a gamekeeper. She finds in her new lover not only physical passion but also an inner kindness, both of which her husband can no longer provide.

    Directed by:

  • Pascale Ferran
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    Madeinusa
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    Madeinusa

    2006
    As her Peruvian village prepares to celebrate the Holy Day festival of Sin -- a raucous fiesta just days before Easter Sunday -- Madeinusa (Magaly Solier) finds an unlikely suitor in a traveling laborer (Carlos J. de la Torre) who's been arrested by her mayor father (Juan Ubaldo Huamàn). Meanwhile, amid the bubbling chaos, young Madeinusa struggles to find a sense of identity under a cloud of abuse in this Spanish-language drama.

    Directed by:

  • Claudia Llosa
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    The Unloved
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    The Unloved

    2009
    Abused by her father, Lucy is removed by social services and placed in a group children's home. While intended to help Lucy, the move inflicts a new brand of torture on the young girl: bullies, capricious rules and loneliness.

    Directed by:

  • Samantha Morton
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    Of Love and Shadows
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    Of Love and Shadows

    1994
    Irene (Jennifer Connelly), a magazine editor who's lived a sheltered existence under the shadow of the Pinochet dictatorship in 1973 Chile, gradually awakens to the political tumult when handsome photographer Francisco (Antonio Banderas) enters her life and opens her eyes to the brutal atrocities being committed by the state. Betty Kaplan directs this romantic drama based on a novel by Isabel Allende.

    Directed by:

  • Betty Kaplan
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    A French Gigolo
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    A French Gigolo

    2008
    Josiane Balasko's part farce, part drama centers on Judith (Nathalie Baye), an entrepreneur in her 50s who gets caught in a tangle of emotions with sensitive, money-strapped prostitute Patrick (Eric Caravaca) and his cute wife, Fanny (Isabelle Carré). While financially supporting relatives in the Paris projects, Patrick begins to despair until Fanny, who has learned of her husband's secret profession, drives him back to Judith's arms and money.

    Directed by:

  • Josiane Balasko
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    The Ballad of Jack and Rose
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    The Ballad of Jack and Rose

    2005
    Writer-director Rebecca Miller elicits an astounding performance from husband Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays Jack, a father intent on raising his daughter (Camilla Belle) as an environmentally responsible adult. His complete devotion to the cause moves him to the remotest of islands, where he feels he'll be able to lead a more compassionate, "green" life. No matter how he tries, however, he can't seem to run from the demands of human interaction.

    Directed by:

  • Rebecca Miller
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    High Tide
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    High Tide

    1987
    Judy Davis stars as Lillie, a boozy backup singer for an Elvis impersonator, who wanders away from her job and makes a connection with a teen girl (Claudia Karvan) in a trailer park. But when she meets the girl's grandmother, Lillie realizes the girl is her daughter. Ashamed of the fact that she abandoned her daughter years earlier after her husband died, Lillie vows to make up for lost time. Gillian Armstrong (Little Women) directs.

    Directed by:

  • Gillian Armstrong
    • rating:3.1.png 3.1 Average Rating


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    Now and Then
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    Now and Then

    1995
    Waxing nostalgic about the bittersweet passage from childhood to puberty in this tender coming-of-age tale, four childhood girlfriends -- Teeny, Chrissy, Samantha and Roberta -- recall the magical summer of 1970. During their walk down memory lane, they reconcile experiences with boys, secrets, bullies and more. Lesli Linka Glatter directs; Gaby Hoffmann, Ashleigh Aston Moore, Cloris Leachman, Thora Birch and Christina Ricci co-star.

    Directed by:

  • Lesli Linka Glatter
    • rating:3.8.png 3.8 Average Rating


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    Now and Then (1995)
    A heartwarming movie about four childhood girlfriends who, in adulthood reunion, relive their experience of the life-changing summer of 1970, including a mystery death, divorce, standing up to the boys, first kiss, and the meaning of true friendship. Each explores her unique identity amidst family and friends. Beautifully directed by Lesli Linka Glatter.
    - Frances   
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