heart-breaking beautiful
by Blue-Grotto | created - 17 Aug 2018 | updated - 08 Jan 2020 | PublicFilms that opened my eyes to suffering and cruelty, yet also resilience and beauty. From around the world.
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1. Incendies (2010)
R | 131 min | Drama, Mystery, War
Twins journey to the Middle East to discover their family history and fulfill their mother's last wishes.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Lubna Azabal, Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin, Maxim Gaudette, Mustafa Kamel
Votes: 200,544 | Gross: $6.86M
2. A Woman in Berlin (2008)
Unrated | 131 min | Biography, Drama, History
A woman tries to survive the invasion of Berlin by the Soviet troops during the last days of World War II.
Director: Max Färberböck | Stars: Nina Hoss, Evgeniy Sidikhin, Irm Hermann, Rüdiger Vogler
Votes: 7,047 | Gross: $0.29M
3. In the Crosswind (2014)
90 min | Drama, History
"Risttuules" is a very emotional, tragic movie about mass deportation to Siberia based on the memories of Erna. It all started on June 14, 1941, when trucks came for the innocent families ... See full summary »
Director: Martti Helde | Stars: Laura Peterson-Aardam, Tarmo Song, Mirt Preegel, Ingrid Isotamm
Votes: 1,705
4. The Pearl Button (2015)
Not Rated | 82 min | Documentary
Delving into the nearly-religious significance of water, this profound rumination on memory and loss bridges the gap between its mystical origins, Pinochet's coup d'état, and the secret of a mother-of-pearl button at the bottom of the sea.
Director: Patricio Guzmán | Stars: Martín Calderón, Cristina, Patricio Guzmán, Ema Malig
Votes: 2,902
5. The Wind Rises (2013)
PG-13 | 126 min | Animation, Biography, Drama
Jiro Horikoshi studies assiduously to fulfill his aim of becoming an aeronautical engineer. As WWII begins, fighter aircraft designed by him end up getting used by the Japanese Empire against its foes.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki | Stars: Hideaki Anno, Hidetoshi Nishijima, Miori Takimoto, Masahiko Nishimura
Votes: 98,875 | Gross: $5.21M
6. Lust, Caution (2007)
NC-17 | 157 min | Drama, History, Romance
During World War II era, a young woman, Wang Jiazhi, gets swept up in a dangerous game of emotional intrigue with a powerful political figure, Mr. Yee.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Tang Wei, Joan Chen, Leehom Wang
Votes: 45,543 | Gross: $4.60M
7. Nostalgia for the Light (2010)
Not Rated | 90 min | Documentary
A documentary about two different searches conducted in the Chilean Atacama Desert: one by astronomers looking for answers about the history of the cosmos, and one by women looking for the remains of loved ones killed by Pinochet's regime.
Director: Patricio Guzmán | Stars: Gaspar Galaz, Lautaro Núñez, Luís Henríquez, Miguel Lawner
Votes: 6,117
8. Melancholia (2011)
R | 135 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgård
Votes: 196,018 | Gross: $3.03M
9. La Llorona (2019)
Not Rated | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Horror
An aging paranoid war criminal, protected by his faithful wife, faces death while being haunted by the ghosts of his past.
Director: Jayro Bustamante | Stars: María Mercedes Coroy, Sabrina De La Hoz, Margarita Kenéfic, Julio Diaz
Votes: 7,754
10. Timbuktu (2014)
PG-13 | 96 min | Drama, War
A cattle herder and his family who reside in the dunes of Timbuktu find their quiet lives -- which are typically free of the Jihadists determined to control their faith -- abruptly disturbed.
Director: Abderrahmane Sissako | Stars: Ibrahim Ahmed, Abel Jafri, Toulou Kiki, Layla Walet Mohamed
Votes: 18,288 | Gross: $1.08M
11. Only God Forgives (2013)
R | 90 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Julian, a drug-smuggler thriving in Bangkok's criminal underworld, sees his life get even more complicated when his mother compels him to find and kill whoever is responsible for his brother's recent death.
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm, Gordon Brown
Votes: 118,151 | Gross: $0.78M
12. In the Fog (2012)
Not Rated | 127 min | Drama, History, War
Western frontiers of the USSR, 1942. The region is under German occupation. A man is wrongly accused of collaboration. Desperate to save his dignity, he faces impossible moral choice.
Director: Sergey Loznitsa | Stars: Vladimir Svirskiy, Vladislav Abashin, Sergey Kolesov, Nikita Peremotov
Votes: 3,336 | Gross: $0.01M
13. Rose (2011)
90 min | Drama, War
Rose, a German widow, hides from Russian soldiers who like to rape women and fights off Polish refugees who will steal everything she has. She gets help when Tadeusz, a former Polish officer, arrives looking to hide from his past.
Director: Wojciech Smarzowski | Stars: Marcin Dorocinski, Agata Kulesza, Malwina Buss, Kinga Preis
Votes: 3,993
14. Sicario (2015)
R | 121 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Jon Bernthal
Votes: 477,117 | Gross: $46.89M
15. Twilight Portrait (2011)
105 min | Drama
Marina, an upper-class social worker with a doting husband and an enviable downtown apartment, is suddenly transformed into a bizarre twilight version of herself after having been raped by three policemen.
Director: Angelina Nikonova | Stars: Olga Dykhovichnaya, Roman Merinov, Sergey Golyudov, Sergey Borisov
Votes: 902
16. Grave of the Fireflies (1988)
Not Rated | 89 min | Animation, Drama, War
A young boy and his little sister struggle to survive in Japan during World War II.
Director: Isao Takahata | Stars: Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi, Akemi Yamaguchi, Yoshiko Shinohara
Votes: 310,712
17. Norwegian Wood (2010)
Not Rated | 133 min | Drama, Romance
Toru recalls his life in the 1960s, when his friend Kizuki killed himself and he grew close to Naoko, Kizuki's girlfriend, and another woman, the outgoing, lively Midori.
Director: Anh Hung Tran | Stars: Ken'ichi Matsuyama, Rinko Kikuchi, Kiko Mizuhara, Kengo Kôra
Votes: 12,466 | Gross: $0.01M
18. The Piano (1993)
R | 121 min | Drama, Music, Romance
In the mid-19th century a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.
Director: Jane Campion | Stars: Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, Anna Paquin
Votes: 95,211 | Gross: $40.16M
19. The Breadwinner (2017)
PG-13 | 94 min | Animation, Drama, Family
In 2001, Afghanistan is under the control of the Taliban. When her father is captured, a determined young girl disguises herself as a boy in order to provide for her family.
Director: Nora Twomey | Stars: Saara Chaudry, Soma Chhaya, Noorin Gulamgaus, Laara Sadiq
Votes: 28,244 | Gross: $0.31M
20. The Salt of the Earth (2014)
PG-13 | 110 min | Documentary, Biography, History
The life and work of photographer Sebastião Salgado, who has spent forty years documenting societies in hidden corners of the world.
Directors: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, Wim Wenders | Stars: Sebastião Salgado, Wim Wenders, Lélia Wanick Salgado, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
Votes: 23,476 | Gross: $1.34M
21. Phoenix (II) (2014)
PG-13 | 98 min | Drama, History, Music
After surviving Auschwitz, a former cabaret singer has her disfigured face reconstructed and returns to her war-ravaged hometown to seek out her gentile husband, who may or may not have betrayed her to the Nazis.
Director: Christian Petzold | Stars: Nina Hoss, Ronald Zehrfeld, Nina Kunzendorf, Trystan Pütter
Votes: 20,674
22. Lars and the Real Girl (2007)
PG-13 | 106 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A delusional young man strikes up an unconventional relationship with a doll he finds on the Internet.
Director: Craig Gillespie | Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer, Paul Schneider, R.D. Reid
Votes: 155,478 | Gross: $5.97M
23. The Secret in Their Eyes (2009)
R | 129 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A retired legal counselor writes a novel hoping to find closure for one of his past unresolved homicide cases and for his unreciprocated love with his superior - both of which still haunt him decades later.
Director: Juan José Campanella | Stars: Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Pablo Rago, Carla Quevedo
Votes: 222,501 | Gross: $6.39M
24. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007)
Not Rated | 113 min | Drama
A woman assists her friend in arranging an illegal abortion in 1980s Romania.
Director: Cristian Mungiu | Stars: Anamaria Marinca, Laura Vasiliu, Vlad Ivanov, Alexandru Potocean
Votes: 63,309 | Gross: $1.19M
25. In This Corner (and Other Corners) of the World (2016)
PG-13 | 129 min | Animation, Drama, Family
A spirited 18-year-old woman is married off to a man she barely knows as she combats the daily struggles of living in Hiroshima during World War II.
Director: Sunao Katabuchi | Stars: Non, Ava Pickard, Kenna Pickard, Karen Strassman
Votes: 12,459 | Gross: $0.17M
26. The Missing Picture (2013)
Not Rated | 92 min | Documentary
Rithy Panh uses clay figures, archival footage, and his narration to recreate the atrocities Cambodia's Khmer Rouge committed between 1975 and 1979.
Director: Rithy Panh | Stars: Randal Douc, Jean-Baptiste Phou
Votes: 3,528 | Gross: $0.05M
27. Clair Obscur (2016)
105 min | Drama
Two Turkish women, one oppressed by sexist traditions and one liberated by modern mores, have more in common than it would seem.
Director: Yesim Ustaoglu | Stars: Funda Eryigit, Ecem Uzun, Mehmet Kurtulus, Okan Yalabik
Votes: 2,905
28. The Captive (I) (2014)
R | 112 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Eight years after the disappearance of Cassandra, some disturbing incidents seem to indicate that she's still alive. Police, parents and Cassandra herself, will try to unravel the mystery of her disappearance.
Director: Atom Egoyan | Stars: Ryan Reynolds, Scott Speedman, Rosario Dawson, Mireille Enos
Votes: 35,796
29. The Act of Killing (2012)
Not Rated | 117 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.
Directors: Joshua Oppenheimer, Anonymous, Christine Cynn | Stars: Anwar Congo, Herman Koto, Syamsul Arifin, Ibrahim Sinik
Votes: 40,823 | Gross: $0.49M
30. The Endless River (2015)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
Gilles and Tiny are both mourning recent deaths. Their grief unites them but hiding beneath the grief are darker shadows that connect their losses.
Director: Oliver Hermanus | Stars: Nicolas Duvauchelle, Crystal-Donna Roberts, Clayton Evertson, Darren Kelfkens
Votes: 269
31. Son of Saul (2015)
R | 107 min | Drama, War
A Jewish-Hungarian concentration camp prisoner sets out to give a child he mistook for his son a proper burial.
Director: László Nemes | Stars: Géza Röhrig, Levente Molnár, Urs Rechn, Todd Charmont
Votes: 51,971 | Gross: $1.78M
32. Frenzy (2015)
119 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Amid the intense political violence of Istanbul, Kadir is released on parole two years early on the condition that he become an informant for the police gathering terrorist informations, activities, and searching for bombs on trash cans.
Director: Emin Alper | Stars: Mehmet Özgür, Berkay Ates, Tülin Özen, Müfit Kayacan
Votes: 4,395
33. Tully (2018)
R | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Mystery
A struggling mother of three forms an unexpected bond with the night nanny hired to help with her newborn baby.
Director: Jason Reitman | Stars: Charlize Theron, Mackenzie Davis, Ron Livingston, Asher Miles Fallica
Votes: 63,101 | Gross: $9.23M
34. Bullhead (2011)
R | 129 min | Crime, Drama
Sint-Truiden, Belgium. Jacky, a young cattle farmer who is constantly pumped on steroids and hormones, is approached by a veterinarian to make a deal with a notorious beef trader.
Director: Michaël R. Roskam | Stars: Matthias Schoenaerts, Jeroen Perceval, Jeanne Dandoy, Barbara Sarafian
Votes: 24,309 | Gross: $0.15M
35. What Will People Say (2017)
106 min | Drama
The story of Nisha, daughter of a Pakistani-Norwegian family, who is kidnapped to Pakistan by her parents when her father finds her in bed with a man.
Director: Iram Haq | Stars: Maria Mozhdah, Adil Hussain, Ekavali Khanna, Rohit Saraf
Votes: 5,945 | Gross: $0.04M
36. Das Boot (2018– )
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, War
An inexperienced U-boat crew has to survive a secret mission and a young German woman is torn between loyalty for her home country and the French resistance in this WWII drama.
Stars: Franz Dinda, Tom Wlaschiha, Rick Okon, Rainer Bock
Votes: 9,916
37. The Road to Mandalay (2016)
108 min | Drama
Two Burmese immigrants fleeing their country's civil war in search of a new life in Thailand.
Director: Midi Z | Stars: Kai Ko, Ke-Xi Wu, Shin-Hong Wang
Votes: 746
38. Dheepan (2015)
R | 115 min | Crime, Drama
Dheepan is a Sri Lankan Tamil warrior who flees to France and ends up working as a caretaker outside Paris.
Director: Jacques Audiard | Stars: Jesuthasan Antonythasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan, Claudine Vinasithamby, Vincent Rottiers
Votes: 16,823 | Gross: $0.25M
39. Girls of the Sun (2018)
Not Rated | 115 min | Drama, War
A Kurdish female battalion prepares to take back their town from extremists.
Director: Eva Husson | Stars: Golshifteh Farahani, Emmanuelle Bercot, Zübeyde Bulut, Sinama Alievi
Votes: 2,824 | Gross: $0.02M
40. Schindler's List (1993)
R | 195 min | Biography, Drama, History
In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Caroline Goodall
Votes: 1,451,687 | Gross: $96.90M
41. Les Misérables (2012)
PG-13 | 158 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless policeman Javert after breaking parole, agrees to care for a factory worker's daughter. The decision changes their lives forever.
Director: Tom Hooper | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried
Votes: 346,140 | Gross: $148.81M
42. Miller's Crossing (1990)
R | 115 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Tom Reagan, an advisor to a Prohibition-era crime boss, tries to keep the peace between warring mobs but gets caught in divided loyalties.
Directors: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen | Stars: Gabriel Byrne, Albert Finney, John Turturro, Marcia Gay Harden
Votes: 142,192 | Gross: $5.08M
43. Wish You Were Here (I) (2012)
R | 89 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Two Australian couples, two sisters, are on vacation in Southern Cambodia. Jeremy goes missing. What happened? Were drugs involved? Secrets are slowly revealed after the 3 return to Sydney.
Director: Kieran Darcy-Smith | Stars: Joel Edgerton, Teresa Palmer, Felicity Price, Antony Starr
Votes: 6,153 | Gross: $0.05M
44. Killing Jesus (2015 TV Movie)
Unrated | 132 min | Biography, Drama, History
A TV Movie chronicling the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
Director: Christopher Menaul | Stars: Kelsey Grammer, Vernon Dobtcheff, Eoin Macken, Rufus Sewell
Votes: 2,107
45. Ride with the Devil (I) (1999)
R | 138 min | Drama, Romance, War
During the American Civil War, two friends join the Bushwhackers, a militant group loyal to the Confederacy.
Director: Ang Lee | Stars: Tobey Maguire, Skeet Ulrich, Jewel, Jeremy W. Auman
Votes: 14,562 | Gross: $0.63M
46. Miss Bala (2019)
PG-13 | 104 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Gloria finds a power she never knew she had when she is drawn into a dangerous world of cross-border crime. Surviving will require all of her cunning, inventiveness, and strength.
Director: Catherine Hardwicke | Stars: Gina Rodriguez, Thomas Dekker, Vivian Chan, Barbarella Pardo
Votes: 12,745 | Gross: $15.01M
47. Our Loved Ones (2015)
102 min | Drama
After the death of his father, an artisan does his best to raise and nurture his dynamic daughter.
Director: Anne Émond | Stars: Maxim Gaudette, Karelle Tremblay, Valerie Cadieux, Mickaël Gouin
Votes: 370
48. Sin Nombre (2009)
R | 96 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
A young Honduran girl and a Mexican gangster are united in a journey across the U.S. border.
Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga | Stars: Paulina Gaitan, Marco Antonio Aguirre, Leonardo Alonso, Karla Cecilia Alvarado
Votes: 34,058 | Gross: $2.53M
49. Ema (2019)
R | 107 min | Drama, Music, Romance
A couple deals with the aftermath of an adoption that goes awry as their household falls apart.
Director: Pablo Larraín | Stars: Mariana Di Girólamo, Gael García Bernal, Santiago Cabrera, Paola Giannini
Votes: 9,267
50. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009)
R | 152 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A journalist is aided by a young female hacker in his search for the killer of a woman who has been dead for forty years.
Director: Niels Arden Oplev | Stars: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Ewa Fröling, Lena Endre
Votes: 223,384 | Gross: $10.10M
51. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
R | 158 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Journalist Mikael Blomkvist is aided in his search for a woman who has been missing for 40 years by young computer hacker Lisbeth Salander.
Director: David Fincher | Stars: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård
Votes: 495,042 | Gross: $102.52M
52. The Lives of Others (2006)
R | 137 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck | Stars: Ulrich Mühe, Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur
Votes: 410,677 | Gross: $11.29M
53. Magallanes (2015)
TV-MA | 109 min | Drama
Magallanes, a former army soldier (Damian Alcazar) drives a taxi and eventually a driver of a retired colonel (Federico Luppi), who was in command of his troops in times of struggle against... See full summary »
Director: Salvador del Solar | Stars: Damián Alcázar, Tatiana Astengo, Jairo Camargo, Tatiana Espinoza
Votes: 1,093
54. Gone with the Wind (1939)
Passed | 238 min | Drama, Romance, War
A sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.
Directors: Victor Fleming, George Cukor, Sam Wood | Stars: Clark Gable, Vivien Leigh, Thomas Mitchell, Barbara O'Neil
Votes: 334,451 | Gross: $198.68M
55. 12 Years a Slave (2013)
R | 134 min | Biography, Drama, History
In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup, a free Black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery.
Director: Steve McQueen | Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Kenneth Williams, Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt
Votes: 741,585 | Gross: $56.67M
56. Bastards (2013)
Unrated | 100 min | Drama, Romance
Marco returns to Paris after his brother-in-law's suicide, where he targets the man his sister believes caused the tragedy - though he is ill-prepared for her secrets as they quickly muddy the waters.
Director: Claire Denis | Stars: Vincent Lindon, Chiara Mastroianni, Julie Bataille, Michel Subor
Votes: 3,747 | Gross: $0.01M
57. Devil's Knot (2013)
Not Rated | 114 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The savage murders of three young children sparks a controversial trial of three teenagers accused of killing the kids as part of a Satanic ritual.
Director: Atom Egoyan | Stars: Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon, Alessandro Nivola, James Hamrick
Votes: 23,861
58. Waltz with Bashir (2008)
R | 90 min | Documentary, Animation, Biography
An Israeli film director interviews fellow veterans of the 1982 invasion of Lebanon to reconstruct his own memories of his term of service in that conflict.
Director: Ari Folman | Stars: Ari Folman, Ron Ben-Yishai, Ronny Dayag, Ori Sivan
Votes: 60,421 | Gross: $2.28M
59. Heli (2013)
Not Rated | 105 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Heli must try and protect his young family when his 12-year-old sister inadvertently involves them in the brutal drug world. He must battle against the drug cartel that have been angered as well as the corrupt police force.
Director: Amat Escalante | Stars: Armando Espitia, Andrea Vergara, Linda González, Juan Eduardo Palacios
Votes: 5,388
60. The Daughter (2015)
96 min | Drama
The story follows a man who returns home to discover a long-buried family secret, and whose attempts to put things right threaten the lives of those he left home years before.
Director: Simon Stone | Stars: Geoffrey Rush, Nicholas Hope, Sam Neill, Ewen Leslie
Votes: 5,506 | Gross: $0.03M
61. Angels Wear White (2017)
TV-14 | 107 min | Drama
In a small seaside town, two schoolgirls are sexually assaulted by a middle-aged man in a motel. Mia, a teenager who was working on reception that night, is the only witness. For fear of losing her job, she chooses to keep silence.
Director: Vivian Qu | Stars: Vicky Chen, Meijun Zhou, Ke Shi, Le Geng
Votes: 2,492
62. The River (III) (2018)
TV-MA | 95 min | Drama
An introvert city teenager is sent to his father's timber ranch. While trying to figure out his place as the son of the boss he finds himself in a world packed with naturalized violence.
Director: Juan Pablo Richter | Stars: Santiago Rozo, Valentina Villalpando, Fernando Arze Echalar, Julia Hernandez
Votes: 96
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