Favorite films (4)

[soleiltropiques]

Quite a bit of time ago, I created a list of my favorite films. Summaries are (mostly) from IMDB.

This first post lists my favorite historical films, in alphabetical order.

NB: Please note that when no nationality(ies) is specified, the film is from the U.S.

Some comments/warnings regarding problematic content are in bold. (In other words, there may be additional such content which I have not marked, but I focused on warning about things the film and its description did not deal with well. An example of this would be 'Gone with the Wind', which is horribly racist as a film and which IMO requires a warning.)

Please note that some of these films are in my list because they were influential, not because I objectively think they were great. In some other cases, they are still in my lists (with warnings) to remind myself that I need to rethink some of my earlier opinions. :)

Drama (historical -films dealing with more recent historical topics have been placed in the regular drama section)

• Adventures of Robin Hood, The (1938): with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. When Prince John and the Norman Lords begin oppressing the Saxon masses in King Richard's absence, a Saxon lord fights back as the outlaw leader of a rebel guerrilla army. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Affaire de femmes, Une (1988, France): with Isabelle Huppert. During World War II, in occupied France, a woman of limited schooling raises two children in a ratty flat. She is Marie Latour. In 1941, her husband Paul returns from the front, too weak to hold a job. Marie discovers she can make money performing abortions, using a soapy water douche. Many of her clients are knocked up by occupying Germans. She buys better food and clothes, looks for a new flat, and, through an acquaintance who is a prostitute, rents out her bedrooms to hookers during the day. She's indifferent to Paul; his humiliations grow as does her income. She hopes to be a singer. Male Vichy umbrage and moral hypocrisy may upend her. What is she thinking? (NB: I would rate this PG-13/R)
• Age of Innocence, The (1993): with Michelle Pfeiffer, Daniel Day-Lewis, Winona Ryder. Tale of 19th century New York high society in which a young lawyer falls in love with a woman separated from her husband, while he is engaged to the woman's cousin. (NB: Rated PG)
• All This, and Heaven Too (1940): with Bette Davis, Charles Boyer. When lovely and virtuous governess Henriette Deluzy comes to educate the children of the debonair Duc de Praslin, a royal subject to King Louis-Philippe and the husband of the volatile and obsessive Duchesse de Praslin, she instantly incurs the wrath of her mistress, who is insanely jealous of anyone who comes near her estranged husband. Though she saves the duchess's little son from a near-death illness and warms herself to all the children, she is nevertheless dismissed by the vengeful duchess. Meanwhile, the attraction between the duke and Henriette continues to grow, eventually leading to tragedy. (NB: I would rate this PG)
• Amazing Grace (2006): with Ioan Gruffud, Romola Garai. The idealist William Wilberforce maneuvers his way through Parliament, endeavoring to end the British transatlantic slave trade. (NB: Rated PG) (Comment: This is based on actual historical events, yet don't films like this help perpetuate the 'white savior' trope?)
• Amen (2002, France, Germany, Romania, by famous left-wing director Costa-Gavras): During WWII SS officer Kurt Gerstein tries to inform Pope Pius XII about Jews being sent to concentration camps. Young Jesuit priest Riccardo Fontana gives him a hand. (NB: I would rate this R)
• Angel (2007, UK, Belgium, France): with Romola Garai. Angel Deverell comes of age in Edwardian Cheshire knowing she will be a great writer. Rising above her class (her widowed mother has a grocery shop), Angel finds a publisher and a wide audience for her frothy romances. With royalties, she buys an estate, then she's smitten by Esme, a rake from local aristocracy and an artist of dark temperament. She hires Esme's sister Nora, who dotes on her, as a personal assistant, and pursues Esme. Angel is grandly self-centered, coloring her world as if it were one of her novels. When the Great War breaks out and reality begins to trump her will, can Angel hold on to her man and her public? (Rated PG)
• Anna Karenina (1935): with Greta Garbo, Fredric March. The married Anna Karenina falls in love with Count Vronsky despite her husband's refusal to grant a divorce, and both must contend with the social repercussions. (Based on Tolstoy’s novel.) (NB: I would rate this PG/PG-13)
• Anna Karenina (1948): with Vivien Leigh. Another version of Tolstoy’s novel. (NB: I would rate this PG/PG-13)
• Anne of Green Gables (1985, Canada): with Megan Follows. This was a miniseries. An orphan girl, sent to an elderly brother and sister by mistake, charms her new home and community with her fiery spirit and imagination. (Based on the novels by Lucy Maud Montgomery.) I also recommend the first sequel, Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel (1987). (NB: I would rate this G)
• Anne of the Thousand Days (1969, UK): with Geneviève Bujold, Richard Burton. Henry VIII of England discards one wife, Katharine of Aragon, who has failed to produce a male heir, in favor of the young and beautiful Anne Boleyn. (NB: Rated PG)
• Ask the Dust (2006): with Colin Farrell and Salma Hayek. Set in the 1930s, Mexican beauty Camilla hopes to rise above her station by marrying a wealthy American. That is complicated by meeting Arturo Bandini, a first-generation Italian hoping to land a writing career and a blue-eyed blonde on his arm. (NB: Rated R)
• Atonement (2007): with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. Fledgling writer Briony Tallis, as a 13-year-old, irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit. Based on the British romance novel by Ian McEwan. (NB: Rated R)
• Australia (UK, Australia, USA, 2008): with Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman. Set in northern Australia before World War II, an English aristocrat who inherits a sprawling ranch reluctantly pacts with a stock-man in order to protect her new property from a takeover plot. As the pair drive 2,000 head of cattle over unforgiving landscape, they experience the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by Japanese forces firsthand. (Again, not the greatest film ever made, but enjoyable and interesting for the historical aspect.) (NB: Rated PG-13) (Beware of the 'white savior' trope in this film.)
• Becoming Jane (2007): with Anne Hathaway, James McAvoy. A biographical portrait of a pre-fame Jane Austen and her romance with a young Irishman. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Beguiled, The (1971): with Clint Eastwood. While imprisoned in a Confederate girls boarding school, a Union soldier cons his way into each of the lonely women's hearts. (Another which is quite odd but works quite well too…) (NB: Rated R)
• Behind the Sun (2001, Brazil, France, Switzerland co-production): The Brazilian badlands, April 1910. Tonho is ordered by his father to avenge the death of his older brother. The young man knows that if he commits this crime, his life will be divided in two: the 20 years he has already lived and the few days he has left to live, before the other family avenges their son's death. He is torn between fulfilling his ancestral duty and rebelling against it, urged by his younger brother Pacu. That's when a tiny traveling circus passes through the vast badlands where Tonho's family lives. (NB: I would rate this R)
• Belle (2013, UK): Film inspired by the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the illegitimate mixed race daughter of a Royal Navy Captain. Raised by her aristocratic great-uncle Lord Mansfield (Tom Wilkinson) and his wife (Emily Watson), Belle's lineage affords her certain privileges, yet the color of her skin prevents her from fully participating in the traditions of her social standing. Left to wonder if she will ever find love, Belle falls for an idealistic young vicar's son bent on change who, with her help, shapes Lord Mansfield's role as Lord Chief Justice to end slavery in England. (NB: Rated PG)
• Ben Hur (1959, by another great director, William Wyler): with Charlton Heston. When a Jewish prince is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend, he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge. (NB: I would rate this PG-13/R)
• Best Years of our Lives, The (1946, by another great director, William Wyler): with Fredric March, Dana Andrews, Myrna Loy. Three WWII veterans return home to small-town America to discover that they and their families have been irreparably changed. (I would rate this PG)
• Braveheart (1995): with Mel Gibson, Sophie Marceau. William Wallace, a commoner, unites the 13th Century Scots in their battle to overthrow English rule. (This is NOT historically accurate by any means. This an enjoyable watch however, as long as one keeps this in mind.) (NB: Rated R) (Warning: This film is massively homophobic.)
• Bride of the Wind (2001, UK, Germany, Austria co-production): with Sarah Wynter, Jonathan Pryce, Vicent Perez. This movie is a biopic of Alma Mahler, the wife of composer Gustav Mahler (as well as Walter Gropius and Franz Werfel), and the mistress of Oskar Kokoschka. (Not bad but also not a complete success as a film, but the personages involved make this worth a watch.) (NB: Rated R)
• Bright Star (2009, The Netherlands): The drama based on the three-year romance between 19th century poet John Keats and Fanny Brawne, which was cut short by Keats' untimely death at age 25. (NB: I would rate this PG.)
• Brothers Karamazov, The (1959, based on the novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky): with Yul Brinner, Maria Schell, Claire Bloom, William Shatner. Ryevsk, Russia, 1870. Tensions abound in the Karamazov family. Fyodor is a wealthy libertine who holds his purse strings tightly. His four grown sons include Dmitri, the eldest, an elegant officer, always broke and at odds with his father, betrothed to Katya, herself lovely and rich. The other brothers include a sterile aesthete, a factotum who is a bastard, and a monk. Family tensions erupt when Dmitri falls in love with one of his father's mistresses, the coquette Grushenka. Two brothers see Dmitri's jealousy of their father as an opportunity to inherit sooner. Acts of violence lead to the story's conclusion: trials of honor, conscience, forgiveness, and redemption. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951, directed by another great director named Raoul Walsh): this stars Gregory Peck, also based on the Horatio Hornblower novels. During the Napoleonic wars, a British naval captain has adventures in Central American waters. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Captain Blood (1935): with Errol Flynn, Olivia deHavilland. Directed by Michael Curtiz. An enslaved doctor and his comrades in chains escape and become pirates of the Robin Hood variety. (NB: Rated PG) (My comment/racism alert: Please note that this film is problematic in that all the slaves are WHITE. This is also problematic given some of Errol Flynn's and Olivia deHaviland's other films (i.e. particularly 'Santa Fe Trail', but I'll also throw in 'They died with their boots on' as well, which actually transforms George Armstrong Custer into a defender of indigenous peoples (!!!).)
• Catherine the Great (1996): with Catherine Zeta-Jones. Trapped in a loveless arranged marriage to the immature future Czar, a young German Princess proves a skillful political infighter and rises to become Catherine the Great.
• Changeling (2008): with Angelina Jolie. (Set in the 1920s.) A grief-stricken mother takes on the LAPD to her own detriment when it stubbornly tries to pass off an obvious impostor as her missing child, while also refusing to give up hope that she will find him one day. (NB: Rated R)
• Chaplin (1992): with Robert Downey Jr. A film about the troubled and controversial life of the master comedy filmmaker. (This film really downplays Chaplin’s misogyny which I find unfortunate as it is not easy for me to ignore it after seeing his film ‘Monsieur Verdoux’. I also hate that this film downplayed what was, IMO, Chaplin's pedophilic and abusive history.) (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Count of Monte-Cristo, The (2002): with Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce. A young man, falsely imprisoned by his jealous "friends," escapes and uses a hidden treasure to exact his revenge. (Based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas.) (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, The (2009): with Anna Paquin. The story of Irena Sendler, a social worker who was part of the Polish underground during World War II and was arrested by the Nazis for saving the lives of nearly 2,500 Jewish children by smuggling them out of the Warsaw ghetto. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Cyrano de Bergerac (1990, France): with Gérard Depardieu. Embarrassed by his large nose, a romantic poet/soldier romances his cousin by proxy. (NB: Rated PG)
• Dances with Wolves (1990): with Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell. Lt. John Dunbar, exiled to a remote western Civil War outpost, befriends wolves and Indians, making him an intolerable aberration in the military. (Not the greatest film ever made, but enjoyable. This is yet another film which shows a white viewpoint when dealing with a non white issue/subject, yet I supposed it is at least a white viewpoint which is more sympathetic to indigenous peoples in North America. Still, beware of the 'white savior' trope.) (NB: Rated PG-13/R)
• Dangerous Beauty (1998): with Catherine McCormack and Rufus Sewell. A Venetian courtesan in the 16th century becomes a hero to her city, but later becomes the target of an inquisition by the Church for witchcraft. (Again, this is only very loosely based on this woman’s life and is therefore NOT historically accurate. It is very interesting from a feminist point of view however, for some of the questions it poses. IMHO) (NB: Rated R)
• David Copperfield (1935, by famous director George Cukor): with Freddie Bartholomew, Frank Lawton, Edna May Oliver. (Based on the novel by Charles Dickers.) When David's father dies, his mother remarries. His new stepfather Murdstone has a mean and cruel view on how to raise a child. When David's mother dies from grief, Murdstone sends David to London to work for a living. When David escapes to his aunt Betsey his life starts to get better. (NB: I would rate this G)
• Days of Glory (Indigènes was the title in French, 2006, Algerian, Morrocan, French, Belgian co-production): During WWII, four North African men enlist in the French army to liberate that country from Nazi oppression, and to fight French discrimination. (NB: Rated R)
• Defiance (2008): with Daniel Craig, Liev Schreiber. Jewish brothers in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe escape into the Belarussian forests, where they join Russian resistance fighters and endeavor to build a village in order to protect themselves and about 1,000 Jewish non-combatants. (NB: Rated R)
• Desperate Journey (1942): with Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan. When the crew of a downed British bomber escape from their Nazi captors with Top Secret intelligence, they make a desperate journey to get out of Germany alive. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Devil's Bride (2016, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Latvia co-production): Anna is a 16-year old in a village where women are accused of witchcraft. It's based on the witch hunts on Åland, Finland in the 1600s. (NB: Rated R)
• Devotion (1946): with Ida Lupino, Olivia de Havilland. In Victorian England, literary siblings Emily and Charlotte Brontë vie for the affection of the Reverend Arthur Nichols. Along with their sister Anne, Emily and Charlotte also try to help their tormented brother Branwell, a gifted artist whose life is being destroyed by alcohol. (NB: Rated PG)
• Dodge City (1939): with Errol Flynn and Olivia de Haviland. Another great western, where Errol Flynn is hired to ‘clean up’ the town of Dodge City, which has become entirely lawless. (Online summary: A Texas cattle agent witnesses first hand, the brutal lawlessness of Dodge City and takes the job of sheriff to clean the town up.) (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Downfall (2004, Germany, Austria, Italy): Traudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, tells of the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII. (NB: Rated R) (Note that this film has spawned countless online parodies.)
• Duchess, The (2008): with Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes. A chronicle of the life of 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was reviled for her extravagant political and personal life. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Elizabeth (1998, UK): with Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Joseph Fiennes. A film of the early years of the reign of Elizabeth I of England and her difficult task of learning what is necessary to be a monarch. (NB: Rated R)
• Emma (1996): with Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeremy Northam. (Based on the novel by Jane Austen.) Emma Woodhouse is a congenial young lady who delights in meddling in other people's affairs. She is perpetually trying to unite men and women who are utterly wrong for each other. Despite her interest in romance, Emma is clueless about her own feelings, and her relationship with gentle Mr. Knightley.
• Emperor and the Assassin, The (1999, China): with Gong Li, Zhang Fengyi. In pre-unified China, the King of Qin sends his concubine to a rival kingdom to produce an assassin for a political plot, but as the king's cruelty mounts she finds her loyalty faltering. (NB: Rated R)
• Enemy at the Gates (2001): with Jude Law and Rachel Weisz. A Russian sniper and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad. (NB: Rated R)
• Even Chance, The (1998, UK): This is the first film, and there are 8 in all. Horatio Hornblower was a character in a series of books written by CS Forrester, who was based on Horatio Nelson among other figures. The story is set during the Napoleonic era in Europe. (Online summary for this film: Horatio Hornblower begins his naval career, but a deadly feud with a despicable mate is causing complications.) The other films are: Hornblower: The Examination for Lieutenant, The Duchess and the Devil, The Frogs and the Lobsters, Mutiny, Retribution, Loyalty, Duty. (NB: I would rate this R) (Note that these movies are very, very, very white and very male.)
• Ever After (1998): with Drew Barrymore. The "real" story of Cinderella. A refreshing new take on the classic fairy tale. (A lovely retelling of this fairytale.) (NB: Rated PG-13)
• femmes de l’ombre, Ces (English title: ‘Female Agents’, 2008, France): with Sophie Marceau, Julie Depardieu. In May 1944, a group of French servicewomen and resistance fighters are enlisted into the British Special Operations Executive commando group under the command of Louise Desfontaines and her brother Pierre. Their mission, to rescue a British army geologist caught reconnoitering the beaches at Normandy, and to kill a German SS colonel who is close to figuring out the imminent secret of D-Day, proves to be emotional and brutal. The story is inspired by the accomplishments of decorated SOE agent Lisé de Baissac. (NB: Rated R)
• Fiddler on the Roof (1971): In pre-revolutionary Russia, a poor Jewish peasant must contend with marrying off his three daughters while antisemitic sentiment threatens his home. (NB: Rated PG)
• fille de d’Artagnan, La (1994, France): with Sophie Marceau, Philippe Noiret. The story begins on the autumn of 1654 in South France. Eloise lives in a cloister. Her famous father left her there. The young lady is enthusiastic about honour, faithfulness, affection to the poor people, and life of course. She seems powerless when the leader of the nuns is executed because she tried to save an unlucky servant who escaped from odious Crassac and his evil Muse, the Red Lady. Eloise is seized with a fit of temper. (This is loosely based on the novels regarding the three musketeers, written by Alexandre Dumas.) (NB: Rated R)
• Finding Neverland (2004): with Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet. The story of J.M. Barrie's friendship with a family who inspired him to create Peter Pan. (NB: Rated PG)
• First Knight (1995): with Richard Gere, Sean Connery, Julia Ormond. Lancelot falls in love with Guinevere, who is due to be married to King Arthur. Meanwhile, a violent warlord tries to seize power from Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. (Not the greatest film ever made, but still enjoyable. This is a non fantastic version of the Arthurian legends.) (NB: Rated PG-13)
• French Cancan (1954, France, by another amazing director, Jean Renoir): with Jean Gabin, Françoise Arnoul. This comedy drama from Jean Renoir chronicles the revival of Paris' most notorious dance as it tells the story of a theater producer who turns a humble washerwoman into a star at the Moulin Rouge. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Gaslight (1944, by another great director, George Cukor): with Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman. Years after her aunt was murdered in her home, a young woman moves back into the house with her new husband. However, he has a secret which he will do anything to protect, even if that means driving his wife insane. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Gone With the Wind (1939): with Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, Olivia DeHaviland. American classic in which a manipulative woman and a roguish man carry on a turbulent love affair in the American south during the Civil War and Reconstruction. (My comments: This film is really really really problematic and honestly awful, but it has been a really influential film which is why it is on this list. Of particular note is the scene referring to a lynching, where it took me a while to understand, growing up, that this was what had happened, as it was treated so euphemistically. I feel this film also MUST be considered in the context of, and even take pride of place in, the myth of the 'lost cause'.) (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Girl with a Pearl Earring (2003, UK, Luxembourg): with Scarlett Johansson, Colin Firth. A young peasant maid working in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer becomes his talented assistant and the model for one of his most famous works. (NB: Rated PG)
• Gladiator (2000): with Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. When a Roman general is betrayed and his family murdered by an emperor's corrupt son, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge. (NB: Rated R)
• Gosford Park (2001): Multiple storylined drama set in 1932, showing the lives of upstairs guest and downstairs servants at a party in a country house in England. (NB: Rated R)
• Grande Illusion, La (1937, France, by another great director, Jean Renoir): with Jean Gabin, Eric von Stroheim, Pierre Fresnay. During the First World War, two French soldiers are captured and imprisoned in a German POW camp. Several escape attempts follow until they are sent to a seemingly impenetrable fortress which seems impossible to escape from. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Great Debaters, The (2007): with Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker. A drama based on the true story of Melvin B. Tolson, a professor at Wiley College Texas. In 1935, he inspired students to form the school's first debate team, which went on to challenge Harvard in the national championship. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Great Escape, The (1963): with Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough. Allied POWs plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.
• Hart’s War (2002): with Bruce Willis, Colin Farrell. A law student becomes a lieutenant during World War II, is captured and asked to defend a black prisoner of war falsely accused of murder. (NB: Rated R)
• Hawaii (1966): with Julie Andrews, Max von Sydow. Abner Hale, a rigid and humorless New England missionary, marries the beautiful Jerusha Bromley and takes her to the exotic island kingdom of Hawaii, intent on converting the natives. But the clash between the two cultures is too great and instead of understanding there comes tragedy. (NB: I would rate this PG-13) (I am not very familiar with indigenous Hawaian culture, but this film seems to me to be really, really racist, particularly in its depiction of indigenous women as 'easy'. Be warned.)
• House of Mirth, The (2000, UK, France, Germany, US): with Gillian Anderson, Dan Aykroyd. (Based on a novel by Edith Wharton.) A woman risks losing her chance of happiness with the only man she has ever loved. (NB: Rated PG)
• How Green Was My Valley (1941, by another great director, John Ford): Life is hard in a Welsh mining town and no less so for the Morgan family. Seen through the eyes of the family's youngest, Huw, we learn of the family's trials and tribulations. Family patriarch Gwyllim and his older sons work in the mines, dangerous and unhealthy as it is. Times are hard and good men find themselves out of work and exploited by unseen mine owners. (NB: I would rate this PG)
• Hussard sur le toit, Le (1995, France) : with Juliette Binoche, Olivier Martinez. In a time of war and disease, a young officer gallantly tries to help a young woman find her husband. (My comments: Very romantic. The depictions of cholera deaths make this not for the squeamish however.) (NB: I would rate this R)
• Ideal Husband, An (1999): with Rupert Everett, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, Jeremy Northam, Minnie Driver. (Based on a play by Oscar Wilde.) Sir Robert Chiltern is a successful Government minister, well-off and with a loving wife. All this is threatened when Mrs Cheveley appears in London with damning evidence of a past misdeed. Sir Robert turns for help to his friend Lord Goring, an apparently idle philanderer and the despair of his father. Goring knows the lady of old, and, for him, takes the whole thing pretty seriously. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Illusionist, The (2006): with Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Rufus Sewell. In turn-of-the-century Vienna, a magician uses his abilities to secure the love of a woman far above his social standing. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Importance of Being Earnest, The (2002): Colin Firth, Rupert Everett, Reese Witherspoon, Frances O’Connor. In 1890s London, two friends use the same pseudonym ("Ernest") for their on-the-sly activities. Hilarity ensues. (This is based on a play by Oscar Wilde.) (NB: Rated PG)
• In Darkness (2011, Poland, Germany, Canada co-production): The film tells the true story of Leopold Socha who risks his own life to save a dozen people from certain death. Initially only interested in his own good, the thief and burglar hides Jewish refugees for 14 months in the sewers of the German-occupied town of Lvov (former Poland). (NB: Rated R)
• Iron Jawed Angels (2004): with Hilary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, Anjelica Huston. Defiant young activists take the women's suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote. (This is set during the women’s suffrage movement in the United States, at the turn of the 20th century.) (NB: I would rate this PG-13/R) (Note that there is only a very, very brief mention of the major role black women played in suffrage (this is the only mention of non straight cis white women) in this film, which seems to imply that female suffrage was almost exclusively obtained by white women. Which is really, really unfortunate and not true at all.)
• Jakob the Liar (1999): with Robin Williams, Liev Schreiber. In 1944 Poland, a Jewish shop keeper named Jakob is summoned to ghetto headquarters after being caught out near curfew. While waiting for the German Kommondant, Jakob overhears a German radio broadcast about Russian troop movements. Returned to the ghetto, the shopkeeper shares his information with a friend and then rumors fly that there is a secret radio within the ghetto. Jakob uses the chance to spread hope throughout the ghetto by continuing to tell favorable tales of information from "his secret radio." (This doesn’t completely work but is still interesting.) (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Jane Eyre (1970): with George C. Scott, Susannah York. Jane Eyre is an orphan, sent to Lowood school, and eventually becomes a governess at Thornfield hall to a girl named Adele. While she is there, many strange things happen and eventually she and Edward Rochester, owner of Thornfeild and Adele's guardian, fall in love. Suddenly, when Jane is about to win the happiness she deserves, a dark secret comes to light, and it will take all of her courage, love and understanding to triumph. (Based on the novel by Charlotte Bronte) (NB: Rated PG)
• Jane Eyre (1996, France, Italy, UK, USA): with Charlotte Gainsbourg, William Hurt. Jane Eyre is an orphan cast out as a young girl by her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and sent to be raised in a harsh charity school for girls. There she learns to be come a teacher and eventually seeks employment outside the school. Her advertisement is answered by the housekeeper of Thornfield Hall, Mrs. Fairfax. (Another version of the novel by Charlotte Bronte.) (NB: Rated PG)
• Jezebel (1938, another film by William Wyler): with Bette Davis, Henry Fonda, George Brent. A haughty headstrong Southern Belle in Antebellum Louisiana loses her fiance due to her stubborn vanity and pride and vows to get him back. (NB: I would rate this PG) (Note that the people in this film never really consider the condition of slaves, despite being surrouded by slavery...)
• King and I, The (1956): with Yul Brynner, Deborah Kerr. Musical about a widow who accepts a job as a live-in governess of the King of Siam's children. (NB: Rated G/PG) (Note that this film is really racist in its depiction of 'primitive' Asian peoples.)
• Kingdom of Heaven (2005): with Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Liam Neeson. Balian of Ibelin travels to Jerusalem during the crusades of the 12th century, and there he finds himself as the defender of the city and its people. (Again, not the greatest film ever made, but fun.) (NB: Rated R)
• Knight’s Tale, A (2001): with Heath Ledger, Rufus Sewell, Shannyn Sossamon, Paul Bettany. After his master dies, a peasant squire, fueled by his desire for food and glory, creates a new identity for himself as a knight. (Not the greatest film ever made, but still enjoyable.) (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Last Emperor, The (1987, China, Italy, UK, France co-production): A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic. (Not the best or greatest film ever made by any means (some bits were boring), but it is interesting to watch for the historical aspect.) (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Last Samurai, The (2003): with Tom Cruise. An American military advisor embraces the Samurai culture he was hired to destroy after he is captured in battle. (NB: Rated R)
• Life is Beautiful (1997, Italy): with Roberto Benigni. A Jewish man has a wonderful romance with the help of his humour, but must use that same quality to protect his son in a Nazi death camp. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Little Chaos, A (2014, UK): Two talented landscape artists become romantically entangled while building a garden in King Louis XIV's palace at Versailles. (NB: Rated R.)
• Little Women (1994): with Winona Ryder, Susan Sarandon, Kirsten Dunst, Gabriel Byrne. The March sisters live and grow in post-Civil War America. (NB: Rated G)
• Little Women (1933): with Katharine Hepburn, Joan Bennett, Paul Lucas. This is another version of Louisa May Alcott’s novel which was very well done. There is another version with Elizabeth Taylor (as Amy) and June Allyson (as Jo) which I did not like so much. (NB: Rated G)
• Love Comes Softly (2003): with Katherine Heigl. A young woman on her way to a new life in the 1800's suddenly finds herself a widow. Now she must live with a recently widowed young man and his daughter. Can any of them find love again? (NB: Rated PG)
• Madame Bovary (1949, by another great director, Vicente Minelli): with Jennifer Jones, James Mason. (Based on the classic novel by Gustave Flaubert, which is set during the 19th century, in France.) A provincial doctor's wife's romantic illusions about life and social status lead her to betray her naive husband, take on lovers and run up ruinous debts. (NB: I would rate this PG/PG-13)
• Man in the Iron Mask, The (1939): with Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett, Warren William. In this story loosely based on the novel by Alexandre Dumas, Louis XIV of France has a identical twin brother. Louis is selfish, cruel, and incompetent, and Philippe the kind-hearted brother who is raised by d'Artagnan and the musketeers and does not even know that he has an identical twin. When the truth is discovered, Louis XIV has Philippe imprisoned with an iron mask placed on his head. (There are many many other filmed versions of this tale. The most recent is the 1998 version starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Henry/Philippe. I have not seen that one, but I have seen another version starring Richard Chamberlain as Louis XIV/Philippe, which I do NOT recommend.) (NB: I would rate this PG)
• Mansfield Park (1999, UK): with Frances O’Connor. Based on the novel by Jane Austen. At 10, Fanny Price, a poor relation, goes to live at Mansfield Park, the estate of her aunt's husband, Sir Thomas. Clever, studious, and a writer with an ironic imagination and fine moral compass, she becomes especially close to Edmund, Thomas's younger son. Fanny is soon possessed of beauty as well as a keen mind and comes to the attention of a neighbor, Henry Crawford. Thomas promotes this match, but to his displeasure, Fanny has a mind of her own, asking Henry to prove himself worthy. As Edmund courts Henry's sister and as light shines on the link between Thomas's fortunes and New World slavery, Fanny must assess Henry's character and assert her heart as well as her wit. (NB: I would rate this G/PG) (Note that 'Mansfield Park' was the only Austen novel which even considered the prevalent institution that was slavery, at the time. I'm really not sure this film deals with it very well, either, as it is almost just a passing mention in the film.)
• Mark of Zorro, The (1940): with Tyrone Power and Lynda Darnell. Again, great swashbuckling. A young aristocrat must masquerade as a fop in order to maintain his secret identity of Zorro as he restores justice to early California. (NB: I would rate this PG)
• Marshall (2017): The story of Thurgood Marshall, the crusading lawyer who would become the first African-American Supreme Court Justice, as he battles through one of his career-defining cases. (PG-13)
• Mask of Zorro, The (1998): with Antonio Banderas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Anthony Hopkins). A great ‘swashbuckling’ type film. (Online summary: The elder Zorro trains his replacement to fight the enemy Montero.) (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003): with Russell Crowe. During the Napoleonic Wars, a brash British captain pushes his ship and crew to their limits in pursuit of a formidable French war vessel around South America. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Maverick (1994): with Jodie Foster, Mel Gibson, James Garner. (This is a western.) Bret Maverick, needing money for a poker tournament, faces various comic mishaps and challenges, including a charming woman thief. (Not the best film ever made, but fun.) (NB: Rated PG)
• Middlemarch (1994, UK): with Juliet Aubrey, Douglas Hodge, Rufus Sewell. This Masterpiece Theatre production, set at the cusp of the Industrial Revolution, chronicles the life, loves, foibles and politics of the fictional English town of Middlemarch. Adapted from the George Eliot classic of the same name, the plot centers on the socially conscious but naive Dorothea Brooke, whose disastrous match to the pedantic Rev. Edward Casaubon sets in motion a chain of events that will change the face of Middlemarch forever. The efforts of the dashing young physician, Tertius Lydgate, to modernize the medical practices at the new hospital causes quite a stir, both in the political power structure, headed by the evil Mr. Nicholas Bulstrode, and the heart of sweet Rosamund Vincey, the town beauty. Smaller plots interweave the action and lead to reconciliation, resignation, remuneration and resolution. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Montana (1950): with Errol Flynn. An Australian sheepman comes to Montana looking for grazing space, is opposed by local ranchers and a wealthy cattle-woman.
• Mrs. Miniver (1942, by famous director William Wyler): with Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon. The Minivers, an English "middle-class" family experience life in the first months of World War II. While dodging bombs, the Miniver's son courts Lady Beldon's granddaughter. A rose is named after Mrs. Miniver and entered in the competition against Lady Beldon's rose. (NB: I would rate this PG)
• Mulan (1998): (This film is animation.) To save her father from death in the army, a Chinese maiden secretly goes in his place and becomes one of China's greatest heroes in the process. (Not the greatest film ever made, but quite enjoyable.) (NB: Rated G/PG)
• Nicholas Nickleby (2002, UK): with Romola Garai, Anne Hathaway, Christopher Plummer. (Based on the book by Charles Dickens.) A young compassionate man struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his coldheartedly grasping uncle. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Notebook, The (2004): with Gena Rowlands, James Garner, Rachel McAdams. During the 1940s, a poor and passionate young man falls in love with a rich young woman and gives her a sense of freedom. They soon are separated by their social differences. (Doesn’t entirely work IMHO, but still quite enjoyable.) (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Old Yeller (1957): A boy brings a yellow dog home. The dog loves the family as much as they love him, but can the love last? (NB: Rated G)
• Other Boleyn Girl, The (2008): with Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana. Two sisters contend for the affection of King Henry VIII. (Although this is an enjoyable story, it is not historically accurate. A more accurate depiction is provided in the film ‘Anne of the Thousand Days’ -see above.) (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Others, The (2001): with Nicole Kidman. A woman who lives in a darkened old house with her two photosensitive children becomes convinced that her family home is haunted. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Passchendaele (2008, Canada): with Paul Gross, Caroline Dhavernas. The lives of a troubled veteran, his nurse girlfriend and a naive boy intersect first in Alberta and then in Belgium during the bloody World War I battle of Passchendaele. (This again doesn’t entirely work, IMHO, but is still interesting.) (NB: Rated R)
• Patriot, The (1997): with Mel Gibson, Heath Ledger. Peaceful farmer Benjamin Martin is driven to lead the Colonial Militia during the American Revolution when a sadistic British officer murders his son. (Again, not exactly the greatest film ever made, but enjoyable.) (NB: Rated R)
• Persuasion (2007, UK): with Sally Hawkins, Alice Krige, Rupert Penry-Jones. (Based on the novel by Jane Austen.) Royal Navy captain Wentworth was haughtily turned down eight years ago as suitor of pompous baronet Sir Walter Elliot's daughter Anne, despite true love. Now he visits their former seaside country estate, rented by his brother-in-law, admiral Croft, so the financially stressed baronet can afford a fashionable, cheaper residence in trendy Bath. First the former lovers meet again on the estate, where they feel vibes again, but neither dares admit them until it seems too late. Yet the truth becomes clear, both have moved, but meet again in Bath. (NB: Rated PG)
• Persuasion (1995, UK): with Amanda Root, Ciarán Hinds, Susan Fleetwood. Eight years earlier, Anne Elliot, the daughter of a financially troubled aristocratic family, was persuaded to break off her engagement to Frederick Wentworth, a young seaman, who, though promising, had poor family connections. When her father rents out the family estate to Admiral Croft, Anne is thrown into company with Frederick, because his sister is Mrs. Croft. Frederick is now a rich and successful Captain, and a highly eligible bachelor. Whom will he marry? One of Anne's sister's husband's sisters? Or will he and Anne rekindle the old flame? (Another version of the Austen novel.) (NB: Rated PG)
• petite Aurore l’enfant martyre, La (1952, Quebec, Canada): Based on a real case which made headlines in Quebec in the 1920s, this film deals with the abuse and death of a little girl at the hands of her stepmother. (This is not an easy film to watch, as it deals with extreme child abuse. It is also not entirely successful as a film IMO. It is a very well known work in terms of French Quebec cinema, however.) (NB: I would rate this R)
• Places in the Heart (1984): with Sally Field, Danny Glover, John Malkovich, Ed Harris. In 1930's Southern US, a widow and her family try to run their cotton farm with the help of a disparate group of friends. (NB: Rated PG)
• Pride and Prejudice (1995, UK): with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. Jane Austen's classic novel about the prejudice that occurred between the 19th century classes and the pride which would keep lovers apart. (NB: Rated G/PG)
• Pride and Prejudice (2005, France, UK, USA): with Keira Knightley. This version isn’t bad, but I did prefer the version with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. (NB: Rated G/PG)
• Pride and Prejudice (1940, USA): with Greer Garson, Laurence Olivier. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have five unmarried daughters, and Mrs. Bennet is especially eager to find suitable husbands for them. When the rich single gentlemen Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy come to live nearby, the Bennets have high hopes. But pride, prejudice, and misunderstandings all combine to complicate their relationships and to make happiness difficult. (NB: Rated G/PG)
• Prisoner of Zenda, The (there are two good versions of this, the first in 1937, the second in 1952): An Englishman on a Ruritarian holiday must impersonate the king when the rightful monarch, a distant cousin, is drugged and kidnapped. (NB: Rated PG)
• Quills (2000): with Kate Winslet, Geoffrey Rush, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Caine. In a Napoleonic era insane asylum, an inmate, the irrepressible Marquis De Sade, fights a battle of wills against a tyrannically prudish doctor. (This one doesn’t completely work, but it is interesting.) (NB: Rated R.) (Note that this deals with the Marquis de Sade, who was NOT a good person, being a pedophile and probably a psychopath. However this films for some reason feels the need to make him a defender of freedom of speech? Was that really necessary?)
• Rafle (La) (2010, France, Germany, Hungary co-production): A faithful retelling of the 1942 "Vel' d'Hiv Roundup" and the events surrounding it. (NB: I would rate this approximately PG-13/R?)
• Raise the Red Lantern (1991, China): China in the 1920's. After her father's death, nineteen year old Songlian is forced to marry Chen Zuoqian, the lord of a powerful family. Fifty year old Chen has already three wives, each of them living in separate houses within the great castle. The competition between the wives is tough, as their master's attention carries power, status and privilege. Each night Chen must decide with which wife to spend the night and a red lantern is lit in front of the house of his choice. And each wife schemes and plots to make sure it's hers. However, things get out of hand... (NB: I would rate this R.)
• Reader, The (2008): with Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes. Post-WWII Germany: Nearly a decade after his affair with an older woman came to a mysterious end, law student Michael Berg re-encounters his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial. (NB: Rated R) (Note that this film is also super problematic because it features a 'relationship' between an adolescent boy and a significantly older, adult woman. Yet this film doesn't seem to even consider the fact that such a 'relationship' could be abusive. Ugh. I had originally thought that the thought on German guilt were interesting, but yeah.)
• Reine Margot, La (1994, France, Italy, Germany): with Isabelle Adjani, Daniel Auteuil, Vincent Perez. Young Queen Margot finds herself trapped in an arranged marriage amidst a religious war between Catholics and Protestants. She hopes to escape with a new lover, but finds herself imprisoned by her powerful and ruthless family. (NB: Rated R/NC-17. Be aware this film has not only graphic sexual content but also extreme violence.)
• Rob Roy (1995, US, UK): with Liam Neeson, Jessica Lange. In the highlands of Scotland in the 1700s, Rob Roy tries to lead his small town to a better future, by borrowing money from the local nobility to buy cattle to herd to market. When the money is stolen, Rob is forced into a Robin Hood lifestyle to defend his family and honour. (NB: Rated R) (Note that this film has the dubious honor of being yet another film in which the rape of a woman exists mainly as a plot device in relation to a male character. Yay for more misogyny!)
• Rob Roy: The Highland Rogue (1953, US, UK): with Richard Todd, Glynis Johns. After the 1715 defeat of the clans, one of the highland leaders, Rob Roy MacGregor escapes, has lots of adventures, gets married, and eventually becomes enough of a nuisance to George I to be outlawed, and hunted by the English. (NB: I would rate this PG-13/PG)
• Robin Hood (2010, directed by Ridley Scott): with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett. In 13th century England, Robin and his band of marauders confront corruption in a local village and lead an uprising against the crown that will forever alter the balance of world power. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Room with A View, A (1985, UK): with Maggie Smith, Helena Bonham-Carter, Denholm Elliot. (Set at the turn of the 20th century.) When Lucy Honeychurch and chaperone Charlotte Bartlett find themselves in Florence with rooms without views, fellow guests Mr Emerson and son George step in to remedy the situation. Meeting the Emersons could change Lucy's life forever but, once back in England, how will her experiences in Tuscany affect her marriage plans? (NB: Rated PG)
• Royal Affair, A (2012, Denmark, Sweden, Czech Republic, Germany co-production): A young queen, who is married to an insane king, falls secretly in love with her physician - and together they start a revolution that changes a nation forever. (NB: Rated R)
• Sang des autres, Le (1984, France): with Jodie Foster. WWII. In the German-occupied Paris, Helene is torn between the love for her boyfriend Jean, working for the resistance and the German administrator Bergmann, who will do anything to gain her affection. (NB: I would rate this PG-13?)
• Secret Garden, The (1993): A young British girl born and raised in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's castle... (NB: Rated G)
• Sergeant York (1941, by director Howard Hawks): with Gary Cooper. True story of a hillbilly sharpshooter drafted in WW1 despite his claim to be a pacifist, who ends up becoming a war hero. (NB: I would rate this PG/PG-13)
• Seventh Cross, The (1944): with Spencer Tracy. In Nazi Germany in 1936 seven men escape from a concentration camp. The camp commander puts up seven crosses and, as the Gestapo returns each escapee he is put to death on a cross. The seventh cross is still empty as George Heisler seeks freedom in Holland. (I really loved this one.) (NB: I would rate this PG)
• Shakespeare in Love (1998): with Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes. A young Shakespeare, out of ideas and short of cash, meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays. (Again, not the greatest film ever made, but fun.) (NB: Rated R)
• Silk (2007, Canada, UK, France, Italy, Japan co-production): with Keira Knightley, Michael Pitt. The story of a married silkworm merchant-turned-smuggler in 19th century France traveling to Japan for his town's supply of silkworms after a disease wipes out their African supply. During his stay in Japan, he becomes obsessed with the concubine of a local baron. (NB: Rated R)
• Sissi (1955, West Germany), and the sequels Sissi: The Young Empress (1956), and Sissi: The Fateful Years of an Empress (1957): with Romy Schneider, Karlheinz Bohm, Magda Schneider. In the first of a trilogy of movies about Elisabeth "Sissi" of Austria, the young vibrant princess catches the eye of her sister's fiancé, Emperor Franz Josef. (These are a bit syrupy sweet but are still classics.) (NB: Rated G) (Note also that these films are really not historically accurate!)
• Sleeping Dictionary, The (2003, USA, Malaysia, Germany): with Jessica Alba, Hugh Dancy, Brenda Blethyn. An eager young Englishman is dispatched to Sarawak to become part of the British colonial government, encounters some unorthodox local traditions, and finds himself faced with tough decisions of the heart involving the beautiful young Selima, the unwitting object of his affections. (NB: Rated R) (This film is really, really problematic. Here is a good discussion of why this whole movie is racist. I also keep films like this up here to illustrate the fact that I need to rethink some of my opinions... I actually mostly liked this film when I first saw it (yes, I suck and am ashamed!).)
• Sommersby (1993): with Jodie Foster and Richard Gere. Set in the south of the United States just after the Civil War, Laurel Sommersby is just managing to work the farm without her husband Jack... (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005, Germany): A dramatization of the final days of Sophie Scholl, one of the most famous members of the German World War II anti-Nazi resistance movement, The White Rose. (NB: I would rate this R)
• Suite Française (2014, UK, France, Canada, Belgium, USA co-production): During the early years of Nazi occupation of France in World War II, romance blooms between Lucile Angellier, a French villager, and Bruno von Falk, a German soldier. (NB: Rated PG-13/R?)
• Swept from the Sea (1997): with Rachel Weisz, Vincent Perez, Kathy Bates, Ian McKellen. Based on a short story by Joseph Conrad. The film tells the story of Russian emigree and the only survivor from ship crash Yanko Goorall and servant Amy Foster in the end of 19th century. When Yanko enters a farm sick and hungry after the shipwreck, everyone is afraid of him, except for Amy, who is very kind and helps him. Soon he becomes like a son for Dr. James Kennedy and romance between Yanko and Amy follows. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Testament of Youth (2014, UK, Denmark co-production): A British woman recalls coming of age during World War I - a story of young love, the futility of war, and how to make sense of the darkest times. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• That Forsyte Woman (1949): with Greer Garson, Errol Flynn, Walter Pidgeon. Love among the Forsytes is strange, full of tradition, melancholy and gold digging in this film treatise on Victorian-age rigidity and vestiges of a flawed society. (NB: I would rate this PG)
• That Hamilton Woman (1941, UK): with Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Alan Mowbray. Sir William Hamilton, a widower of mature years, is British ambassador to the Court of Naples. Emma who comes for a visit with her mother wouldn't cut the grade with London society but she gets along well with the Queen of Naples. Emma likes being Lady Hamilton and life goes smoothly until Lord Nelson pays a visit. (NB: I would rate this PG)
• Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005): with Halle Berry. A drama set in the 1920s, where free-spirited Janie Crawford's search for happiness leads her through several different marriages, challenging the morals of her small town. Based on the novel by Zora Neale Hurston. (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Thorn Birds, The (1983): (This is a TV miniseries.) with Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward, Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Simmons, Christopher Plummer. This mini series covers 60 years in the lives of the Cleary family, brought from New Zealand to Australia to run their aunt Mary Carson's ranch. The story centers on their daughter, Meggie, and her love for the family's priest, Father Ralph de Bricassart. Meggie tries to forget Ralph by marrying dashing stockman Luke O'Neill, but she and Ralph are soon reunited, with tragic consequences for them both. (My warning: I will heartily and openly admit that this is complete trash. My brother still does an absolutely ROTFLMAO funny imitation of the priest in this, BTW. It can be fun to watch though, as long as you don’t expect too much!) (NB: I would rate this PG) (I would point to the following discussion of why the book this film/miniseries is based on, as well as the series itself, is racist.)
• Tuck Everlasting (2002): with Alexis Bledel, Jonathan Jackson, Sissy Spacek, William Hurt. A young woman meets and falls in love with a young man who is part of a family of immortals. (NB: Rated PG)
• United Kingdom, A (2016, Czech Republic, UK, USA, France, Botswana co-production): with David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike. The story of King Seretse Khama of Botswana and how his loving but controversial marriage to a British white woman, Ruth Williams, put his kingdom into political and diplomatic turmoil. (Rated PG-13)
• Varian’s War (2001, U.S., Canada, UK co-production): with William Hurt, Julia Ormond, Matt Craven. Varian Fry rescues more than 2,000 artists from Nazi persecution during World War II. (This doesn’t entirely work as a film, but is very interesting, partly because of the subject matter.) (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Virginia City (1940): this is with Errol Flynn, Miriam Hopkins, and Humphrey Bogart. This is a western, and is set during the American Civil War. Union officer Kerry Bradford escapes from Confederate Prison and is set to Virginia City in Nevada. Once there he finds that the former commander of his prison Vance Irby is planning to send $5 million in gold to save the Confederacy. (NB: I would rate this PG-13/PG)
• Valley of Decision (1945): with Gregory Peck and Greer Garson. Mary Rafferty comes from a poor family of steel mill workers in 19th Century Pittsburgh. Her family objects when she goes to work as a maid for the wealthy Scott family which controls the mill. Mary catches the attention of handsome scion Paul Scott, but their romance is complicated by Paul's engagement to someone else and a bitter strike among the mill workers. (NB: I would rate this PG)
• Valmont (1989): with Colin Firth, Annette Bening, Meg Tilly. Set in Baroque France, a scheming widow and her lover make a bet regarding the corruption of a recently married woman. The lover, Valmont, bets that he can seduce her, even though she is an honorable woman. If he wins, he can have his lover to do as he will. However, in the process of seducing the married woman, Valmont falls in love. Based on the same novel as "Dangerous Liaisons." (NB: Rated R)
• Vanity Fair (2004): with Reese Witherspoon, Romola Garai. Growing up poor in London, Becky Sharp (Witherspoon) defies her poverty-stricken background and ascends the social ladder alongside her best friend, Amelia. (This film is based on the novel by William Makepeace Thackeray, and is set in England during the early 19th century.) (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Vénus Noire (2010, France, Belgium): with Yahima Torres, directed by Abdellatif Kechiche. The story of Saartjes Baartman, a black woman who in 1808 left Southern Africa, then ruled by Dutch settlers, for Europe. Once in London her master turned manager exhibited her as a freak in a phony and humiliating carnival show. After a series of troubles caused by their act, Caesar, Saartje and their new friend, bear-tamer Réaux, head for Paris where once again, and against her will, she has to mimic savagery and expose her body, first in carnivals, then in the aristocratic salons of Paris, later on among the libertines and finally in brothels where she ends up being a prostitute. In the meantime, French anatomists will have taken an interest in her unusual anatomy (enormous buttocks and labia) only to declare her the missing link from ape to man. In 1815, aged only 27, she dies alone, of a combination of pneumonia and venereal disease. (I would rate this R and say that this is a really difficult film to watch but something every white person should watch. IMO.)
• Very Long Engagement, A (2004, France): with Audrey Tautou. Tells the story of a young woman's relentless search for her fiancé, who has disappeared from the trenches of the Somme during World War One. (NB: Rated R)
• Walk in the Clouds, A (1995): with Keanu Reeves. After returning from the WWII, Paul and a young woman meet on a bus as she's headed home from college to help with the grape harvest and face her Old World domineering dad. The woman has not married but is pregnant and she thinks her father is going to kill her. Paul proposes to pose as her husband to help her face her father. When their passion for each other is finally ignited and explodes, they realize they must overcome all odds to be together. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Waterloo Bridge (1940): with Vivien Leigh, Robert Taylor. On the eve of World War II, a British officer revisits Waterloo Bridge and recalls the young man he was at the beginning of World War I and the young ballerina he met just before he left for the front. Myra stayed with him past curfew and is thrown out of the corps de ballet. She survives on the streets of London, falling even lower after she hears her true love has been killed in action. But he wasn't killed. Those terrible years were nothing more than a bad dream is Myra's hope after Roy finds her and takes her to his family's country estate. (Very very romantic. A very fine film. I always loved this one.) (NB: I would rate this one PG-13)
• White Countess, The (2005, UK, USA, Germany, China co-production): with Ralph Fiennes and Natasha Richardson. Set in 1930s Shanghai, where a blind American diplomat develops a curious relationship with a young Russian refugee who works odd -- and sometimes illicit -- jobs to support members of her dead husband's aristocratic family. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• Wind that Shakes the Barley, The (2006, Ireland): with Cilian Murphy. A sympathetic look at Republicans in early 20th century Ireland, and two brothers who are torn apart by anti-Brit rebellion. (Describes some of the events leading up to Irish independence.) (NB: I would rate this R for violence.)
• Winter People (1989): with Kurt Russell, Kelly McGillis. A young widower moves with his daughter into a North Carolina mountain town in 1934. He quickly takes up with a young woman with an illegitimate baby. First he must prove himself to her father and her three brothers. He does so first by joining them on a bear hunt and then by designing a clock tower for the small community. Trouble comes when it is revealed that the baby's father is the demented son of a mean clan across the river and they mean to take the child back. (NB: Rated PG-13)
• World in his Arms, The (1952, directed by another great director, Raoul Walsh): with Gregory Peck, Ann Blyth. A great adventure film. (Online summary: Roistering sea captain Jonathan Clark, who poaches seal pelts from Russian Alaska, meets and woos Russian countess Marina in 1850 San Francisco. Events separate them, but after an exciting sea race to the Pribilof Islands they meet again; now, both are in danger from the schemes of villainous Prince Semyon.) (NB: I would rate this G/PG)
• Young Catherine (1991): with Julia Ormond, Christopher Plummer, Vanessa Redgrave. A German princess is chosen to marry the heir to the Russian Throne, but faces plots and intrigues against her. (This is a dramatization of the life of Catherine the Great of Russia. The film is enjoyable but once again not the greatest ever made!) (NB: I would rate this PG-13)
• Young Victoria, The (2009, UK, USA co-production): with Emily Blunt. A dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert. (NB: Rated PG)