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.

3.1 Average Rating

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.

3.1 Average Rating

Everybody's Famous

2000

Factory worker Jean Vereecken (Josse De Pauw) dreams that his chubby daughter, Marva (Eva van der Gucht), will become a star, even after she performs disastrously in a local singing competition. One day, Jean seizes a golden opportunity, kidnapping pop diva Debbie (Thekla Reuten) and demanding that her manager give Marva a shot at stardom. Dominique Deruddere directs this upbeat comedy, which received an Oscar nod for Best Foreign Language Film.

3.1 Average Rating

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.

3.1 Average Rating

The Taste of Others

2000

Agnes Jaoui directs this ensemble romance that earned an Oscar nod for Best Foreign Language Film. Castella (Jean-Pierre Bacri) falls for English language tutor Clara (Anne Alvaro), and instigates a chain of turbulent relationships in the process. This poignant debut from Jaoui illustrates that sometimes, great actresses don't get the breaks, hash-dealing barmaids can find love and the desire to become culturally enlightened just isn't enough.

3.1 Average Rating

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.

3.1 Average Rating

Don't Look Back

2009

After Jeanne -- a married mother of two -- starts to notice strange changes in her body, she finds a photograph that leads her on a journey to Italy. There, the rapidly transforming woman begins to learn more about her true identity. Sophie Marceau and Monica Bellucci star in this beguiling psychological drama from director and co-writer Marina de Van, which screened as an official selection at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.

3.1 Average Rating

When the Sea Rises

2004

Middle-aged performance artist Irène (Yolande Moreau) -- who has her own one-woman road show -- falls into an unlikely affair after unwittingly sparking the romantic interest of a lanky young drifter (Wim Willaert) who befriends her when her car breaks down. Also starring Olivier Gourmet, this charmingly offbeat tale is based on Moreau's real-life experiences as a traveling comedian during the 1980s.

3.0 Average Rating

No Turning Back

2001

After losing his pregnant wife and home during a catastrophic hurricane, Pablo (Jesus Nebot), a hard-working English professor from Honduras, immigrates with his 5-year-old daughter to California, where he begins working in the fields. But sometimes trouble follows a man, and after another tragic accident, Pablo hits the road again with daughter in tow -- this time to Mexico, and with a documentary filmmaker as their driver.

3.0 Average Rating

I, the Worst of All

1990

The life of brilliant and beautiful 17th-century Mexican poet Sister Juana Ines de la Cruz (Assumpta Serna) gets erotic treatment in this telling drama. To pursue her love of writing, Juana enters a convent and gains international renown. But when the Inquisition comes, the local Vicereine (Dominique Sanda) becomes Juana's protectress and erotic muse, sending the poetess down a romantic road of startling passion and intensity.

3.0 Average Rating

Father of My Children

2009

When a man who seemingly has everything takes his own life, the question on everyone's mind is, why? This drama penned and helmed by Mia Hansen-Løve explores that quandary by recounting the weeks before and after a film producer's suicide. With an adoring family, a job that fulfills him completely and a charismatic bearing that masks all woes, producer Grégoire Canvel appears at the top of his game. But underneath the surface, trouble is brewing.

3.0 Average Rating

L'iceberg

2005

After getting locked overnight in a walk-in freezer, frigid fast-food restaurant manager Fiona (Fiona Gordon) makes a chilling discovery: Her husband and two kids didn't even realize she was missing. She soon becomes obsessed with all things cold and icy, eventually deciding to take a surprise journey to a real iceberg. Gordon won the Audience Award for Best Actress at the Seattle Film Festival in this quirky, deadpan Belgian comedy.

3.0 Average Rating

Angela

2002

Set in Palermo, this film tells the true story of Angela (Donatella Finocchiaro), the Sicilian "trophy wife" of a powerful -- and much older -- member of the mafia (Mario Pupella). Angela becomes involved in her husband's drug-dealing business, which operates under the cover of a fashionable shoe store. Ultimately, Angela falls in love with one of her husband's underlings (Andrea Di Stefano), creating a dangerous love triangle.

3.0 Average Rating

Lourdes

2009

Confined to a wheelchair for most of her life, lonely Christine (Sylvie Testud) devises a plan to change her circumstances by journeying to Lourdes, the small town in the foothills of the Pyrenees, where many flock to be healed. The journey yields startling results for our isolated hero in director Jessica Hausner's Austrian drama, an official selection at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Venice Film Festival.

2.9 Average Rating

2 Days in Paris

2007

On their way home from an ill-fated Venice vacation, Marion (Julie Delpy, who also directs) and Jack (Adam Goldberg) stop in Paris to visit Marion's parents. But their sojourn in the City of Lights turns out to be just as disastrous as their "romantic" trip to Italy. Culture shock, run-ins with Marion's myriad ex-lovers and uncomfortable encounters with her belligerent parents conspire to make Jack feel even more estranged from his worldly paramour.

2.9 Average Rating

Cinévardaphoto

2004

How potent is the power of a picture? Filmmaker Agnès Varda asks this question and attempts to answer it in three separate vignettes. In the first, a female artist, Ydessa, collects photographs of teddy bears. But why? Next, the director examines her snapshots from the 1950s, taking a step back in time. The final short captures Cuba after the revolution, full of possibilities and on the brink of otherness.

2.9 Average Rating