Justine Smith's 100 Films To Watch To Expand Your Horizons
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- DirectorErich von StroheimStarsSam De GrasseFrancelia BillingtonErich von StroheimAn Austrian officer sets out to seduce a neglected young wife.
- DirectorVsevolod PudovkinStarsVera BaranovskayaNikolay BatalovAleksandr ChistyakovA story about a family torn apart by a worker's strike. At first, the mother wants to protect her family from the troublemakers, but eventually she realizes that her son is right and the workers should strike.
- DirectorAbram RoomStarsVladimir FogelNikolay BatalovLyudmila SemyonovaA married couple have a small apartment in Moscow. When an old friend of the husband's arrives in the city, he is unable to find lodgings. Kolia, the husband, invites his friend to move in with them.
- DirectorTeinosuke KinugasaStarsAkiko ChihayaJunosuke BandôYukiko OgawaAfter falling in love with a courtesan, Rikiya is blinded by ash during a fight in a brothel. Believing the blindness permanent and his opponent dead, Rikiya goes back home to his sister. Okiku, desperate to protect her brother who thinks himself a murderer, wants to sacrifice herself for him and become a prostitute to pay for Rikiya's treatment.
- DirectorKing VidorStarsDaniel L. HaynesNina Mae McKinneyWilliam FountaineA sharecropper decides to become a preacher after falling for a vamp from the city.
- DirectorMario PeixotoStarsOlga BrenoTatiana ReyRaul SchnoorThree people (Raul Schnoor, Olga Breno and Tatiana Rey) sail aimlessly while remembering their past.
- DirectorSadao YamanakaStarsChôjûrô KawarasakiKan'emon NakamuraTsuruzô NakamuraThe lives of two slum neighbors, one of a happy-go-lucky gambler and the other of a poor ronin, converge when the two get involved with the affairs of a powerful samurai official and his gangsters.
- DirectorEmilio FernándezStarsDolores Del RíoPedro ArmendárizAlberto GalánIn Xochimilco 1909, María Candelaria and Lorenzo Rafael long for getting married but the odds are against them. María Candelaria is segregated for being a prostitute's child and the couple faces the greed of Mr. Damian, the town's shop owner who secretly desires María. When María falls sick with Malaria, Lorenzo Rafael steals a quinine bottle from Damian's shop, unleashing tragedy for the lovers.
- DirectorMu FeiStarsChaoming CuiWei LiYu ShiA lonely housewife finds her monotonous life altered when her childhood sweetheart returns to town.
- DirectorBimal RoyStarsBalraj SahniNirupa RoyRatan KumarIn the hope of earning enough money to pay off his debts and save his land, a poor farmer becomes a rickshaw puller in Calcutta and faces many difficulties.
- DirectorMichael CacoyannisStarsMelina MercouriGiorgos FoundasAlekos AlexandrakisProud, independent Stella, an unconventional Rebetico singer who cherishes her freedom, finds herself in an intense whirlwind romance. Everything points to a tragic ending, and in the aftermath of passion, there can be no winners.
- DirectorZivorad 'Zika' MitrovicStarsJovan MilicevicMarijan LovricOlivera MarkovicA group of railroad workers decide to make extra money by smuggling forbidden goods and engaging in other criminal activities.
- DirectorMehboob KhanStarsNargisSunil DuttRajendra Kumar TuliIn this melodrama, a poverty-stricken woman raises her sons through many trials and tribulations. But no matter the struggles, she always sticks to her own moral code.
- DirectorYasuzô MasumuraStarsAyako WakaoKeizô KawasakiKenji SugawaraYuko is sent to the coastal regions to be raised away from the rest of her sophisticated family where she finds out from her ill grandmother that she is actually the love child of her wealthy businessman father and his ex-secretary.
- DirectorMario SofficiStarsJuan VerdaguerSusana CamposMaría Luisa RobledoOut of the blue, a meek, old painter begins receiving love letters from Rosaura. This intrigues his fellow boarding house tenants, so they involve themselves into his relationship until one day the mysterious Rosaura appears.
- DirectorYoussef ChahineStarsFarid ShawqiHind RustumYoussef ChahineA newspaper salesman at the train station in Cairo develops an unhealthy obsession with a woman who sells refreshments.
- DirectorGuru DuttStarsWaheeda RehmanGuru DuttKumari NaazSuresh Sinha, a famous director, discovers star potential in Shanti, a woman he stumbled into one rainy evening, and casts her as the lead in a film. In a twist of fate, Shanti becomes a superstar and Suresh faces a decline in his career.
- DirectorMargot BenacerrafStarsJosé Ignacio CabrujasLaurent Terzieff"Araya" is an old natural salt mine located in a peninsula in northeastern Venezuela which was still, by 1959, being exploited manually five hundred years after its discovery by the Spanish. Margot Benacerraf captures in images, the life of the "salineros" and their archaic methods of work before their definite disappearance with the arrival of the industrial exploitation.
- DirectorHenry BarakatStarsFaten HamamahAhmad MazharAminah RizqThis compelling tale of love and betrayal, set in the upper Egyptian countryside, follows the story of Amna as she plots her revenge on the engineer who destroyed her family's honor.
- DirectorRitwik GhatakStarsSupriya ChoudhuryAnil ChatterjeeGyanesh MukherjeeA selfless young woman (Supriya Choudhury) sacrifices her own happiness for her unappreciative family.
- DirectorK. AsifStarsPrithviraj KapoorMadhubalaDilip KumarA 16th century prince falls in love with a court dancer and battles with his emperor father.
- DirectorAnselmo DuarteStarsLeonardo VillarGlória MenezesDionísio AzevedoA simple yet devout Christian makes a vow to Saint Barbara after she saves his donkey, but everyone he meets seems determined to misunderstand his intentions. Will he be able to keep his promise in the end?
- DirectorForugh FarrokhzadStarsForugh FarrokhzadEbrahim GolestanHossein MansouriSet in a leper colony in the north of Iran, The House is Black juxtaposes "ugliness", of which there is much in the world as stated in the opening scenes, with religion and gratitude.
- DirectorNelson Pereira dos SantosStarsÁtila IórioMaria RibeiroOrlando MacedoA poor family in the Northeast of Brazil (Fabiano, the father; Sinhá Vitória, the mother; their 2 children and a dog called Baleia) wander about the barren land searching for a better place to live, with food and work. But the drought and misery destroy their hopes.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsAnil ChatterjeeMadhavi MukherjeeJaya BachchanLife at home changes when a house-wife from a middle-class, conservative family in Calcutta gets a job as a saleswoman.
- DirectorGlauber RochaStarsGeraldo Del ReyYoná MagalhãesOthon BastosAfter killing his employer when he tries to cheat him out of his payment, a man becomes an outlaw and starts following a self-proclaimed saint.
- DirectorWalter Hugo KhouriStarsNorma BengellOdete LaraMário BenvenuttiTwo friends take two prostitutes for a night of pleasure. But the night turns out to be frustrating for all involved, as much bitterness is revealed in their conversation and attitudes, uncovering their anguish and deeper feelings, and the emptiness of their lives.
- DirectorLamberto V. AvellanaStarsDaisy H. AvellanaNaty Crame-RogersConrad ParhamA story that explores family conflict between 2 sisters and their painter father before the World War 2, in Intramuros, Old Manila.
- DirectorLeon HirszmanStarsFernanda MontenegroPaulo GracindoIvan CândidoWoman who is obsessed with death wants a first-class burial for herself, and even buys a luxury coffin beforehand.
- DirectorOtar IosselianiStarsRamaz GiorgobianiGogi KharabadzeMarina KartsivadzeA young idealist takes a job at a local state run winery only to discover and become disillusioned by the corruption of the Soviet State.
- DirectorDomingos de OliveiraStarsLeila DinizPaulo JoséFlávio MigliaccioA womanizer suddenly finds a woman who makes him change the way he looks at women. He falls in love and believes she is, in fact, all women in one. Because of that, he faces an important decision: go on with his old life, or embrace this special relationship and become a monogamous man.
- DirectorShirley ClarkeStarsJason HollidayShirley ClarkeCarl LeeBlack gay prostitute Jason Holliday is rigorously interviewed on his story and character, revealing nuanced truths about life and art.
- DirectorTomás Gutiérrez AleaStarsSergio CorrieriDaisy GranadosEslinda NúñezA Cuban man cycles through his opinions and memories as the threat of foreign invasion intensifies and the rest of his family moves to Miami.
- DirectorChadi Abdel SalamStarsAhmed MareiAhmad HegaziNadia LutfiAn Upper-Egyptian clan robs a cache of mummies and sells the artifacts on the illicit antiquities black market. After a conflict within the clan, one of its members goes to the police, helping the Antiquities Service find the cache.
- DirectorMiguel LittinStarsNelson VillagraShenda RománMarcelo RomoThe real story about an illiterate murderer, educated in prison, where he reflects on his actions days before he died.