All Recommendations
Shame
In the midst of a civil war, a pair of former violinists in a tempestuous marriage oversee a farm on a rural island. In spite of their best efforts to escape their homeland, the war impinges on every aspect of their lives.
Early Summer
A 28-year-old single woman is pressured to marry.
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum
In late 19th century Tokyo, Kikunosuke Onoue, the adopted son of a legendary actor, himself an actor specializing in female roles, discovers that he is only praised for his acting due to his status as his father's heir. Devastated by this, he turns to Otoku, a servant of his family, for comfort, and they fall in love. Kikunosuke becomes determined to leave home and develop as an actor on his own merits, and Otoku faithfully follows him.
The Burmese Harp
In Burma during the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier separated from his unit disguises himself as a Buddhist monk to escape imprisonment as a POW.
Sisters of the Gion
Umekichi, a geisha in the Gion district of Kyoto, feels obliged to help her lover Furusawa when he asks to stay with her after becoming bankrupt and leaving his wife. However her younger sister Omocha tells her she is wasting her time and money on a loser. She thinks that they should both find wealthy patrons to support them. Omocha therefore tries various schemes to get rid of Furusawa, and set themselves up with better patrons.
A Geisha
Fleeing a distressing family situation, Eiko, a very young girl, becomes an apprentice to Miyoharu, a veteran geisha. Both, determined to preserve their professional integrity, must face the selfishness and ambition of several petty people.
The Town That Dreaded Sundown
When two young lovers are savagely beaten and tortured on a back country road in Texarkana, local police are baffled and must find "the Phantom Killer" before he can kill again.
Big Shot's Funeral
Don Tyler, a famous film-maker, falls ill on the sets of his movie. Fascinated by the funereal traditions of China, he requests a cameraman named Yoyo to arrange a grand, comedic funeral for him.
Decision at Sundown
A man and his partner arrive at a small Western town to kill its most powerful man because the former blames him for his wife's death.
Adriana's Pact
Lissette's favorite aunt Adriana, who lives in Australia, is arrested in 2007 while visiting her family in Chile and accused of having worked for dictator Pinochet's notorious secret police, the DINA, and of having participated in the commission of state crimes. When Adriana denies these accusations, Lissette begins to investigate her story in order to film a documentary about her.
We Shall not be Moved
Socorro is a lawyer obsessed with finding the soldier who killed her brother during the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre. When she receives a crucial clue about the soldier’s whereabouts fifty years after her brother’s death, Socorro embarks on a reckless mission for revenge.
Girlfriends and Girlfriends
They are in their thirties but live just as they did in their twenties. They are in love with love but, in their search, they tear each other apart, wandering from ex-girlfriend to ex-girlfriend, from relationship to relationship.
Derecho
As a slow building terror envelopes a lonely park ranger outpost, three rangers are forced to test the limits of their humanity.
Kiss Me Deadly
One evening, Hammer gives a ride to Christina, an attractive hitchhiker on a lonely country road, who has escaped from the nearby lunatic asylum. Thugs waylay them and force his car to crash. When Hammer returns to semi-consciousness, he hears Christina being tortured until she dies. Hammer, both for vengeance and in hopes that "something big" is behind it all, decides to pursue the case.
L'Argent
A forged 500-franc note is passed from person to person and shop to shop, until it falls into the hands of a genuine innocent who doesn't see it for what it is—which will have devastating consequences on his life.
Sansho the Bailiff
In medieval Japan, a woman and her children journey to find the family's patriarch, who was exiled years earlier.
Certified Copy
In Tuscany to promote his latest book, a middle-aged English writer meets a French woman who leads him to the village of Lucignano.
Nimic
A professional cellist has an encounter with a stranger on the subway which has unexpected and far-reaching ramifications on his life.
Belladonna of Sadness
An evil feudal lord rapes a village girl on her wedding night and proceeds to ruin her and her husband's lives. After she's eventually banished from her village, the girl makes a pact with the devil to gain magical ability and take revenge.
The Stepford Wives
What does it take to become a Stepford wife, a woman perfect beyond belief? Ask the Stepford husbands, who've created this high-tech, terrifying little town.