 |  Ali: Fear Eats the Soul
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Fear Eats the Soul (Angst essen Seele auf) was loosely inspired on Sirk's All That Heaven Allows. It details the cruel response of family and community to a lonely aging white cleaning lady (Bridgitte Mira) who marries a much younger black Moroccan immigrant worker (El Hedi Ben Salem). The two are drawn to each other out of a shared loneliness. When their relationship becomes known, they experience various forms of hostility and public rejection as well as shunning within the family. Fassbinder first gained international success with Fear Eats the Soul. It won the International Critics Prize at Cannes and was acclaimed by critics as one of 1974's best films. |
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 | Into the Wild (2007)
Sean Penn
This film is based on the true story of Christopher McCandless who undertook a journey into the wilderness of Alaska. After graduating from college, Christopher decides that for his psychological wellbeing he must detach himself from civilization and materialism of everyday life, and seek solitude and simplicity in nature. He realizes too late, however, that in addition to its breathtaking beauty and purity, the wilderness can also be very dangerous. Directed by Sean Penn and adapted from Jon Krakauer's book of the same name, this film is an intense drama which raises many questions and gives some answers about life, love and God. This movie has an outstanding cast with Emile Hirsch in the title role, Marcia Gay Harden, William Hurt and Hal Holbrook. |
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 | Lilies of the Field (1963)
Ralph Nelson
This simple drama with its gentle humor about an itinerant handyman and a group of German nuns is truly heartwarming and inspirational. When Homer Smith stops at a farm in the Arizona desert to get some water, the nuns who run this poor farm see in Homer a strong man sent by God to help them build a chapel. Persuaded at first to do some minor repairs on the farm, Homer becomes more and more involved with the nuns. Directed by Ralph Nelson, this film is based on a 1962 book of the same name by Edmund Barrett. Sidney Poitier, as Homer Smith, won an Academy Award for Best Actor for this role. There is an unforgettable scene in this film when Homer, who is very hungry after his meager meals at the farm, orders his dream breakfast from the local store/cafeteria owner. |
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 | Raise the red lantern \ Da hong deng long gao gao gua
Zhang Yimou
This film is set in 1920s China during the warlord era, some years before the Chinese Civil War. Nineteen year old Songlian (Gong Li), whose father has recently died and left the family bankrupt, marries into the wealthy Chen family, becoming the fourth wife or rather the third concubine or, as she is referred to, the Fourth Mistress of the household. Arriving at her Master’s estate (Ma Jingwu), she is at first treated like a princess awaiting Master Chen’s arrival and attentions. What ensures is a receipt for disaster as Songlian realizes that she is competing with three other mistresses of the house and the palace becomes more like a prison rife with double-crosses and duplicity. There are strong parallels with Ibsen’s A Doll’s House for each of the mistresses. They are each trapped in a gilded cage with no other purpose in life than pleasing the Master and bearing children (preferably a son). The acting and cinematography of this drama are top notch. It won Best Foreign Language Film award at the 1992 New York Film Critics Circle. |
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 | Raisin in the Sun (1961)
Daniel Petrie
Based on the 1959 Broadway play by Lorraine Hansberry, who also wrote the screenplay, this film is a moving drama of a hardworking African American family in Chicago. Walter and Ruth Younger with their son Travis share a small apartment with Walter's mother Lena and sister Beneatha. They are about to receive a substantial insurance check and each family member wants to spend the money his or her way. Great is Walter's downfall when he is betrayed by his business partners, but even greater is the family's dignity when faced with racism. Directed by Daniel Petrie, this film is memorable for its vital issues of greed, racism, trust and love, and for its brilliant cast. Sidney Poitier is Walter, Ruby Dee is his wife Ruth, and Claudia McNeal plays the matriarch of the family. |
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 | The Crying Game
Neil Jordan
The Crying Game is part political thriller, part romance, part psychological suspense, and part action movie. It begins with the kidnapping of a British soldier by the Irish Republican Army named Jody (Forest Whitaker). He is taken hostage and unexpectedly bonds with IRA foot soldier Fergus (Stephen Rea). Jody pleads with Fergus to meet his girlfriend, Dil (Jaye Davidson), after he is killed and make sure she is all right after his anticipated execution. Thus sets into motion this taut thriller where nothing is quite as it appears on the surface and plot twists abound until the final confrontation and standoff. The soundtrack to the film was produced by Anne Dudley and the Pet Shop Boys, and the title track was sung memorably by Boy George.
The film received 6 Academy Award nominations, winning for Best Original Screenplay. |
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 | The Hurt Locker
Kathryn Bigelow
The Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war thriller directed by Kathryn Bigelow. The film follows a United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team during the Iraq War. It stars Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, and Brian Geraghty as members of a U.S. Army EOD unit in Iraq and follows their tour together as they contend with defusing bombs, the threat of insurgency, and the tension that develops among them. The story was written by Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was embedded with a bomb squad. The film was shot in the Middle East, specifically in Jordan, within miles of the Iraq border. The New York Times called The Hurt Locker "the year’s most critically acclaimed American film". |
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 | The Way We Live Now (2002)
David Yates
This beautiful period drama is an adaptation of the 1875 novel by Anthony Trollope. At the center of the story is Augustus Melmotte, a rich financier, his neglected and naive daughter Marie, and all the aristocrats interested in their money. There are decent characters in this story who show sincere love, but at the same time, underneath this Victorian splendor of beautiful houses, ballrooms and romance, there is corruption, greed and decadence. Directed by David Yates and produced by BBC, this film has many subplots as well as a large and talented cast. The principal actors are: David Suchet as Augustus Melmotte, Shirley Henderson as his daughter Marie and Matthew Macfadyen as the dissolute aristocrat with whom Marie falls in love. |
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 | What's Love Got to Do With It
Brian Gibson
What's Love Got to Do With It is the filmed biography of soul and rock legend Tina Turner (Angela Bassett), documenting her romance and eventual efforts to break away from her abusive husband and music partner Ike (Laurence Fishburne). It was based on the music legend’s 1986 autobiography entitled I, Tina. This feature shows Tina's life as a young singer and how she discovered by Ike Turner, an already established songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. Ike takes Tina under his wing and makes her a star, but her fame makes him jealous and abusive, and she has to struggle to break free of his domination. Both Fishburne and Bassett were nominated for an Academy Award, he for Best Actor in a Leading Role and she for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Angela Bassett won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical as well as an NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Motion Picture. |
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