The Best Films of 2003

by rolandpopp | created - 03 Sep 2020 | updated - 4 months ago | Public

... according to release dates in Germany (if available)

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1. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)

PG-13 | 138 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

81 Metascore

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.

Director: Peter Weir | Stars: Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, Billy Boyd, James D'Arcy

Votes: 237,995 | Gross: $93.93M

2. City of God (2002)

R | 130 min | Crime, Drama

79 Metascore

In the slums of Rio, two kids' paths diverge as one struggles to become a photographer and the other a kingpin.

Directors: Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund | Stars: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Matheus Nachtergaele, Phellipe Haagensen

Votes: 801,314 | Gross: $7.56M

3. Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

R | 95 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

78 Metascore

Socially frustrated Barry Egan calls a phone-sex line to curb his loneliness. Little does he know it will land him in deep trouble and will jeopardize his burgeoning romance with the mysterious Lena.

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson | Stars: Adam Sandler, Emily Watson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jason Andrews

Votes: 177,519 | Gross: $17.84M

4. Russian Ark (2002)

Not Rated | 99 min | Drama, Fantasy, History

87 Metascore

A 19th century French aristocrat, notorious for his scathing memoirs about life in Russia, travels through the Russian State Hermitage Museum and encounters historical figures from the last 200+ years.

Director: Aleksandr Sokurov | Stars: Sergey Dreyden, Mariya Kuznetsova, Leonid Mozgovoy, Mikhail Piotrovsky

Votes: 21,826 | Gross: $0.04M

5. Far from Heaven (2002)

PG-13 | 107 min | Drama, Romance

84 Metascore

In 1950s Connecticut, a flustered housewife faces a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in the outside world.

Director: Todd Haynes | Stars: Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid, Dennis Haysbert, Patricia Clarkson

Votes: 49,321 | Gross: $15.85M

6. Adaptation. (2002)

R | 115 min | Comedy, Drama

83 Metascore

A lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the screen.

Director: Spike Jonze | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Tilda Swinton

Votes: 203,082 | Gross: $22.25M

7. Memories of Murder (2003)

Not Rated | 132 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

82 Metascore

In a small Korean province in 1986, two detectives struggle with the case of multiple young women being found raped and murdered by an unknown culprit.

Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Kim Sang-kyung, Kim Roe-ha, Song Jae-ho

Votes: 216,539 | Gross: $0.01M

8. Mystic River (2003)

R | 138 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

84 Metascore

The tragic murder of a 19-year-old girl reunites three childhood friends still living in Boston--the victim's gangster father, a detective, and the disturbed man they both suspect of killing her.

Director: Clint Eastwood | Stars: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Emmy Rossum

Votes: 485,947 | Gross: $90.14M

9. Yossi & Jagger (2002)

R | 65 min | Drama, History, Romance

70 Metascore

Romance blooms between two soldiers (Knoller, Levi) stationed in an Israeli outpost on the Lebanese border.

Director: Eytan Fox | Stars: Ohad Knoller, Yehuda Levi, Assi Cohen, Aya Steinovitz

Votes: 7,616

10. Gangs of New York (2002)

R | 167 min | Crime, Drama

72 Metascore

In 1862, Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points area of New York City seeking revenge against Bill the Butcher, his father's killer.

Director: Martin Scorsese | Stars: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Jim Broadbent

Votes: 473,055 | Gross: $77.81M

11. Secretary (2002)

R | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

63 Metascore

A young woman, recently released from a mental hospital, gets a job as a secretary to a demanding lawyer, where their employer-employee relationship turns into a sexual, sadomasochistic one.

Director: Steven Shainberg | Stars: James Spader, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jeremy Davies, Lesley Ann Warren

Votes: 98,628 | Gross: $4.06M

12. Good Bye Lenin! (2003)

R | 121 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

68 Metascore

In 1990, to protect his fragile mother from a fatal shock after a long coma, a young man must keep her from learning that her beloved nation of East Germany as she knew it has disappeared.

Director: Wolfgang Becker | Stars: Daniel Brühl, Katrin Sass, Chulpan Khamatova, Florian Lukas

Votes: 152,666 | Gross: $4.06M

13. The Barbarian Invasions (2003)

R | 99 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama

70 Metascore

During his final days, a dying man is reunited with old friends, former lovers, his ex-wife, and his estranged son.

Director: Denys Arcand | Stars: Rémy Girard, Dorothée Berryman, Stéphane Rousseau, Marie-Josée Croze

Votes: 30,037 | Gross: $3.43M

14. His Brother (2003)

92 min | Drama, Romance

78 Metascore

Two brothers with a problematic relationship in the past, find together again when the elder one gets a dangerous disease and asks his brother to accompany him to several doctors.

Director: Patrice Chéreau | Stars: Bruno Todeschini, Éric Caravaca, Nathalie Boutefeu, Maurice Garrel

Votes: 1,979

15. L.I.E. (2001)

R | 97 min | Crime, Drama

73 Metascore

A 15-year-old Long Island boy loses everything and everyone he knows, soon becoming involved in a relationship with a much older man.

Director: Michael Cuesta | Stars: Brian Cox, Paul Dano, Bruce Altman, Billy Kay

Votes: 10,448 | Gross: $1.14M

16. All or Nothing (2002)

R | 128 min | Drama

72 Metascore

In a poor working class London home, Penny's love for her partner, taxi driver Phil, has run dry. When an unexpected tragedy occurs, they and their local community are brought back together.

Director: Mike Leigh | Stars: Timothy Spall, Lesley Manville, Ruth Sheen, Alison Garland

Votes: 11,459 | Gross: $0.12M

17. Swimming Pool (2003)

R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

70 Metascore

A British mystery author visits her publisher's home in the South of France, where her interaction with his unusual daughter sets off some touchy dynamics.

Director: François Ozon | Stars: Charlotte Rampling, Charles Dance, Ludivine Sagnier, Jean-Marie Lamour

Votes: 48,357 | Gross: $10.11M

18. Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002)

R | 129 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller

59 Metascore

A recently laid off factory worker kidnaps his former boss' friend's daughter, hoping to use the ransom money to pay for his sister's kidney transplant.

Director: Park Chan-wook | Stars: Song Kang-ho, Shin Ha-kyun, Bae Doona, Lim Ji-eun

Votes: 75,156 | Gross: $0.05M

19. About Schmidt (2002)

R | 125 min | Drama

85 Metascore

A recently retired man embarks on a journey to his estranged daughter's wedding, only to discover more about himself and life than he ever expected.

Director: Alexander Payne | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, Kathy Bates

Votes: 133,595 | Gross: $65.02M

20. Berlin Blues (2003)

105 min | Comedy, Drama

Barkeeper Frank, semi-formally called "Herr Lehmann", is part of a lethargic West Berlin-microcosm. His lifestyle is disturbed when his parents show up for a visit, things go awry with his girlfriend and his best friend acts strange.

Director: Leander Haußmann | Stars: Christian Ulmen, Katja Danowski, Detlev Buck, Janek Rieke

Votes: 7,632

21. Whale Rider (2002)

PG-13 | 101 min | Drama, Family

80 Metascore

A contemporary story of love, rejection and triumph as a young Maori girl fights to fulfill a destiny her grandfather refuses to recognize.

Director: Niki Caro | Stars: Keisha Castle-Hughes, Rawiri Paratene, Vicky Haughton, Cliff Curtis

Votes: 44,038 | Gross: $20.78M

22. Dark Water (2002)

PG-13 | 101 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery

A mother and her 6-year-old daughter move into a creepy apartment whose every surface is permeated by water.

Director: Hideo Nakata | Stars: Hitomi Kuroki, Rio Kanno, Mirei Oguchi, Asami Mizukawa

Votes: 34,936

23. Dogville (2003)

R | 178 min | Crime, Drama

61 Metascore

A woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town she finds out that their support has a price.

Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, Lauren Bacall, Harriet Andersson

Votes: 158,695 | Gross: $1.53M



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