Leitmotiv

7.8

The Color Purple

December 1985 •English

An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing 'Mister' Albert Johnson, things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa.

5.7

Feathers

June 2021 •Arabic

A passive mother who dedicates her life to her husband and children. Stuck in daily, repetitive, mundane chores, she has made herself as little as she possibly could. When a magic trick goes wrong at her 4-year-old son's birthday party, an avalanche of coincidental absurdities befalls the family. The magician turns her husband, the authoritarian father, into a chicken. The mother is now forced to come to the fore and take care of the family while moving heaven and earth to bring her husband back. As she tries to survive, she goes through a rough and absurd transformation.

8.1

8½

February 1963 •Italian

Guido Anselmi, a film director, finds himself creatively barren at the peak of his career. Urged by his doctors to rest, Anselmi heads for a luxurious resort, but a sorry group gathers—his producer, staff, actors, wife, mistress, and relatives—each one begging him to get on with the show. In retreat from their dependency, he fantasizes about past women and dreams of his childhood.

8.4

The Pianist

September 2002 •English

The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.

6.5

The Idiots

April 1998 •Danish

A mix of home-video and documentary styles about a group of young people who have decided to get to know their “inner-idiots” and thus not only facing and breaking their outer appearance but also their inner.

6.8

Romeo + Juliet

November 1996 •English

In director Baz Luhrmann's contemporary take on William Shakespeare's classic tragedy, the Montagues and Capulets have moved their ongoing feud to the sweltering suburb of Verona Beach, where Romeo and Juliet fall in love and secretly wed. Though the film is visually modern, the bard's dialogue remains.

7.1

Pi

July 1998 •English

A mathematical genius discovers a link between numbers and reality, and thus believes he can predict the future.

7.4

The Experiment

March 2001 •German

20 volunteers agree to take part in a seemingly well-paid experiment advertised by the university. It is supposed to be about aggressive behavior in an artificial prison situation. A journalist senses a story behind the ad and smuggles himself in among the test subjects. They are randomly divided into prisoners and guards. What seems like a game at the beginning soon turns into bloody seriousness.

6.5

Trust

March 2021 •English

Set in the glamour of the New York and Paris art scenes, gallery owner Brooke Gatwick and her newscaster husband Owen Shore, face temptation, jealousy, twists and mystery when two seductive newcomers enter their lives.

8.2

The Prestige

October 2006 •English

A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.

7.2

The Talented Mr. Ripley

December 1999 •English

Tom Ripley is a calculating young man who believes it's better to be a fake somebody than a real nobody. Opportunity knocks in the form of a wealthy U.S. shipbuilder who hires Tom to travel to Italy to bring back his playboy son, Dickie. Ripley worms his way into the idyllic lives of Dickie and his girlfriend, plunging into a daring scheme of duplicity, lies and murder.

7.8

Rocky

November 1976 •English

An uneducated collector for a Philadelphia loan shark is given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to fight against the world heavyweight boxing champion.

4.5

Supesharu ressun: Hentai sei-kyôiku

September 1990 •Japanese

Lesbian-themed tale of a schoolgirl who entices her gullible (not to mention slightly warped) female teacher by positing that they are predestined to dance together on the day the world ends.

7.5

I Stand Alone

May 1998 •French

After completing jail time for beating up a man who tried to seduce his mentally-handicapped teenage daughter, The Butcher wants to start life anew. He institutionalizes his daughter and moves to the Lille suburbs with his mistress, who promises him a new butcher shop. Learning that she lied, The Butcher returns to Paris to find his daughter.

7.3

The Piano Teacher

September 2001 •French

Erika Kohut, a sexually repressed piano teacher living with her domineering mother, meets a young man who starts romantically pursuing her.

6.5

Haunted Mansion

July 2023 •English

A woman and her son enlist a motley crew of so-called spiritual experts to help rid their home of supernatural squatters.

6.7

Breaking Surface

February 2020 •Swedish

Two Swedish/Norwegian half sisters go on a winter diving trip in Northern Norway, when they get trapped after a rockslide.

6.5

I'm Not There

October 2007 •English

Six actors portray six personas of music legend Bob Dylan in scenes depicting various stages of his life, chronicling his rise from unknown folksinger to international icon and revealing how Dylan constantly reinvented himself.

7.4

Last Year at Marienbad

May 1961 •French

In a strange and isolated chateau, a man becomes acquainted with a woman and insists that they have met before.

8.5

Saints & Sinners: Judgment Day

February 2021 •English

Some say blood is thicker than water, but in our fictional small town of Cypress, vengeance is bigger than family loyalty when Mayor Ella Johnson is arrested for killing Malik Thompson, whose body is found in her empty pool. Things get worse when her mother Leona sweeps in for a power grab and undermines her daughter's chance at freedom as she plots to take over the city of Cypress and New Hope church.