Chasing the feel of watching The Diving Bell and the Butterfly ? Here are the movies we recommend you watch right after.
Directed by celebrated artist-turned-filmmaker Julian Schnabel, who won an award in Cannes for it, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is the true story of the Parisian journalist and fashion editor Jean-Dominique Bauby (Mathieu Amalric), who suffered a devastating stroke at the age of 43. Paralyzed almost completely by what is termed locked-in syndrome, his left eye was the only part of his body that he was still able to move. In a Herculean effort, Bauby learned to blink in an alphabet code that eventually enabled him to communicate. The film alternates between Bauby's interaction with his visitors and caretakers (including painstakingly dictating his memoir, the titular Le Scaphandre et le Papillon) and dream-like fantasies and memories of his life prior to paralysis. The title alludes to this juxtaposition: the diving bell representing his final state of isolation, akin to a deep-sea diver under a bell, and the butterfly as a symbol for his blinking eye and the freedom he has in his mind, dreams, and imagination. Shot from Bauby's perspective, we see what he sees. Be it his divorced but loyal wife and his family visiting him, or his old father, played by Max von Sydow, which is probably the scene in this fascinating movie that will make you lose it and weep like the rest of us.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Adolfo Obregón, Alberto Amarilla, Alberto Jiménez, Alberto Jiménez, Andrea Occhipinti, Belén Rueda, Belén Rueda, Celso Bugallo, César Cambeiro, Clara Segura, Federico Pérez Rey, Francesc Garrido, Javier Bardem, Joan Dalmau, Jordi Ballester, José Luis Rodríguez, Josep Maria Pou, Julio Jordán, Lola Dueñas, Lola Dueñas, Mabel Rivera, Marta Larralde, Tamar Novas, Xosé Manuel Olveira
Director: Alejandro Amenábar
Based on Fredrick Backman's 2012 best-selling book of the same name, this Swedish hit comedy-drama introduces us to Ove, an elderly man who feels like his life is over. After losing his wife, the short-fused retiree spends his days grumpily enforcing block association rules in his neighborhood. He is your typical unhappy, old neighbor, somebody you would try to avoid. One new family does not give up and befriends Ove, played by an impeccable Rolf Lassgård, despite his best intentions to put them off. As the plot unfolds, however, you learn more about the story behind the man, and, in classic walk-a-mile-in-his-shoes fashion, start to find him rather loveable. After all, nobody is born grumpy and cynical. Naturally, this is a sweet and sentimental film. But an amazing lead performance and a charming, darkly funny script rescue it from drifting too far off the shore. The result is a wholesome, fun, and thoughtful dramedy with a beautiful message.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Anna Granath, Bahar Pars, Borje Lundberg, Chatarina Larsson, Christoffer Nordenrot, Erik Ståhlberg, Filip Berg, Fredrik Evers, Ida Engvoll, Jerker Fahlström, Jessica Olsson, Johan Friberg, Johan Widerberg, Karin de Frumerie, Klas Wiljergard, Magnus Sundberg, Maja Rung, Poyan Karimi, Rolf Lassgård, Simon Edenroth, Simon Reithner, Sofie Gällerspång, Stefan Godicke, Tobias Almborg
Director: Hannes Holm
"Sometimes even the wrong train takes you to the right destination". In this thoughtful feature film debut by Ritesh Batra, we follow a lonely Indian housewife, Ila (Nimrat Kaur), as she tries to come to terms with a cheating husband, a stale relationship, and a dying father, while seeking love, attention, and appreciation through her cooking. One day, she sends out a special lunch to her husband, but her delivery goes to the wrong address. Spicy food is complemented with a spicy note and thus begins an unlikely and unique romance through the letters she packs in the lunchbox day after day. The man on the receiving end is Saajan, a middle-aged office worker, played by Bollywood star Irrfan Khan. With its delightful characters and beautiful acting, this was a huge success in India, but there is no reason to believe that this bittersweet, Mumbai-based story couldn't be a hit anywhere in the world.
Genre: Drama, Romance
Actor: Bharati Achrekar, Denzil Smith, Irrfan Khan, Kyeron Kandoria, Lillete Dubey, Nakul Vaid, Nasirr Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Nimrat Kaur, Shruti Bapna, Yashvi Puneet Nagar
Director: Ritesh Batra
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Birgitte Simonsen, Birthe Neumann, Bjarne Henriksen, Erna Boas, Gbatokai Dakinah, Helle Dolleris, Henning Moritzen, Klaus Bondam, Lars Brygmann, Lasse Lunderskov, Lene Laub Oksen, Linda Laursen, Paprika Steen, Therese Glahn, Thomas Bo Larsen, Thomas Vinterberg, Trine Dyrholm, Ulrich Thomsen
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Alicia Love, Ashley Aufderheide, Beth Dixon, Brianne Siddall, Chris Papavasiliou, Christopher Alan, Georgia Lyman, Imogene Wolodarsky, Keir Dullea, Liam McNeill, Mark Ruffalo, Mary O'Rourke, Mike Jablon, Nekhebet Kum Juch, Patrick Shea, Scout Lyons, Wallace Wolodarsky, William Xifaras, Zoe Saldana
Director: Maya Forbes
This is a very nice movie about a lovely older couple named Tom and Gerri. It follows their lives for an entire year, as they work at their jobs, invite friends over for dinner, and work in their garden. They live modest but fulfilling lives, and they seem mostly happy and very much in love, a rarity in the movies. This probably sounds horribly boring to most people, but since Mike Leigh is the director, the film is instead a touching and realistic portrayal of love and how people spend their time together. We should all be so lucky as to live a life as charmed as the central couple in this film.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Actor: Badi Uzzaman, Ben Roberts, David Bradley, David Hobbs, Edna Doré, Eileen Davies, Gary Powell, Imelda Staunton, Jim Broadbent, Karina Fernandez, Lesley Manville, Martin Savage, Mary Jo Randle, Meneka Das, Michele Austin, Oliver Maltman, Peter Wight, Phil Davis, Ralph Ineson, Ruth Sheen, Stuart McQuarrie
Director: Mike Leigh
An intriguing, funny and rather bizarre movie which serves as a fantastic introduction to 'new-wave' German cinema. Featuring a cast of young talented actors and excellent direction, this movie takes place around the time the Berlin wall fell and East and West Berlin were still united. Christiane, a devout socialist activist in East Berlin suffers an accident which leaves her in a coma, during which time the Berlin wall comes down and Western capitalism encroaches on her beloved East Berlin. Fearing that she may relapse into a coma after waking up, her doctors warn that she must remain calm and not endure any shocks. Despite the somewhat contrived premise, the film really takes off from this point as her son Alex and his friend aim to hide this fact from her, by faking news reports on the television, coming up with excuses for a giant Coca Cola banner and a whole host of other amusing exploits to prevent her from knowing. While categorised as a comedy, it is also a moving portrayal of a loving family enduring great, historic change.
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Actor: Alexander Beyer, Armin Dillenberger, Arndt Schwering-Sohnrey, Burghart Klaussner, Christine Schorn, Chulpan Khamatova, Daniel Brühl, Eberhard Kirchberg, Ernst-Georg Schwill, Florian Lukas, Fritz Roth, Hanna Schwamborn, Hans-Uwe Bauer, Jochen Stern, Jürgen Holtz, Jürgen Vogel, Katrin Saß, Marc Bischoff, Maria Simon, Martin Brambach, Mennan Yapo, Michael Gerber, Michael Gwisdek, Peter Kurth, Stefan Walz, Svea Timander
Director: Wolfgang Becker
I always seek out Icelandic films; something about the quality of light and quirky sensibility that appeal to me. Having developed a fondness for sheep on a recent Welsh trek, "Rams" had a double attraction. A tale of brothers divided by life but ultimately united in and by their deep, tender, inspiring love of their rams. Close to perfection. Sigurdur Sigurdurjonsson is luminous in the lead role.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Þorleifur Einarsson, Charlotte Bøving, Charlotte Bøving, Gunnar Jonsson, Ingrid Jonsdottir, Jon Benonysson, Jorundur Ragnarsson, Sigurður Sigurjónsson, Sigurður Sigurjónsson, Sveinn Olafur Gunnarsson, Theodór Júlíusson, Thorleifur Einarsson, Þorsteinn Gunnar Bjarnason
Director: Grímur Hákonarson
Wadjda is a smart, spirited 10-year-old girl who wants nothing more than to own her own bike, something that is frowned upon in the Saudi Arabian suburb where she lives. While it’s not technically illegal for women to own bikes, it is thought of as something that is “dangerous to a girl’s virtue,” and it’s worth noting that this is a society where women are also not allowed to drive their own cars. Wadjda devises numerous schemes to earn enough money to buy a bike (selling bracelets, making mixes of Western pop songs, delivering clandestine messages between men and women), before getting caught by the headmistress at her school. It is then that Wadjda hits on the ultimate money-making scheme: there is to be a Koran-reciting contest at her school with a hefty cash prize, and she’s determined to win. There is a subplot involving a growing rift between Wadjda’s parents; while there is clearly a lot of love between both parties, it becomes increasingly clear that her father may be leaving her mother for another woman who could potentially bear him a son (a common practice). This subplot is handled with respect and little judgement though, as it is simply the way things work in this culture. Yet, as Wadjda is coming-of-age and learning about the limitations placed on her as a girl, she is obviously negotiating ingenious ways of pushing back against those limitations. The film is subtle and humane in how it handles the slowly changing cultural and gender dynamics in a traditionally conservative, patriarchal society. It wouldn’t work without a strong central performance from first-time actor Waad Mohammed though -- she is never less than believable as a clever, determined and joyful 10-year-old, and her journey towards adulthood is both heartbreaking and inspiring.
Genre: Drama
Actor: Abdullrahman Al Gohani, Ahd, Ahd Kamel, Alanoud Sajini, Dana Abdullilah, Haifaa Al-Mansour, Rafa Al Sanea, Reem Abdullah, Sultan Al Assaf, Waad Mohammed
Director: Haifaa al-Mansour
Genre: Drama, Romance
Actor: Choe Min, Ha Yeo-jin, Ji Dae-han, Jong-ho Kim, Ki-duk Kim, Kim Jong-ho, Kim Jung-young, Kim Ki-duk, Kim Young-min, Oh Yeong-su, Oh Young-soo, Park Ji-a, Park Zia, Seo Jae-kyeong, Yeong-su Oh
Director: Ki-duk Kim, Kim Ki-duk
Genre: Drama
Actor: Alexandra Maria Lara, Andrew Sheridan, Ben Naylor, Craig Parkinson, George Newton, Harry Treadaway, Herbert Gronemeyer, James Anthony Pearson, Joanna Swain, Joe Anderson, John Cooper Clarke, Margaret Jackman, Mary Jo Randle, Matthew McNulty, Monica Axelsson, Nicola Harrison, Paul Arlington, Richard Bremmer, Robert Shelly, Sam Riley, Samantha Morton, Tanya Myers, Tim Plester, Toby Kebbell
Director: Anton Corbijn