Sublimely beautiful, Jane Campion’s film has a dark austerity to it, but it is full of feeling underneath its period trappings. The film made Campion the first female recipient of a Palme d’Or, which was well deserved - it’s masterful and one of the best films of the 90s. Campion has made some pretty great films since this one, but it’s still her greatest.
A young queen falls in love with her physician, and they start a revolution that changes their nation forever.
2. Portrait of a Lady on fire (2019)
In 1770 the young daughter of a French countess develops a mutual attraction to the female artist commissioned to paint her wedding portrait.
3. Brooklyn (2015)
Young Irish immigrant Eilis Lace navigates her way through 1950s Brooklyn. Lured by the promise of America, Eilis departs Ireland and the comfort of her mother's home for the shores of New York City. The initial shackles of homesickness quickly diminish as a fresh romance sweeps Eilis into the intoxicating charm of love. But soon, her past disrupts her new vivacity, and Eilis must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within.
4. Birdsong (2012)
As an English soldier fights in the horrific trenches of northern France, he is haunted by the memories of his forbidden love affair with a French woman.
5. Carol (2015)
Therese Belivet spots the beautiful, elegant Carol perusing the doll displays in a 1950s Manhattan department store. The two women develop a fast bond that becomes a love with complicated consequences.
6. The new World (2005)
Arriving with a British expedition in Virginia in 1607, Capt. John Smith is captured by Native Americans. His life is spared thanks to Pocahontas, daughter of the tribe's chief. Smith and Pocahontas fall in love, to the mutual dismay of the Native Americans and the British.
7. The world to come (2020)
In this powerful 19th century romance set in the American Northeast, Abigail, a farmer's wife, and her new neighbor Tallie find themselves irrevocably drawn to each other. A grieving Abigail tends to her withdrawn husband Dyer as free-spirit Tallie bristles at the jealous control of her husband Finney , when together their intimacy begins to fill a void in each other's lives they never knew existed.
8. Miss Austen Regrets (2007)
This is a lovely Film starring the young Tom Hiddleston: Novelist Jane Austen (Olivia Williams) nears her 40th birthday, unmarried and reflecting on her past suitors
9. Belle (2013)
The illegitimate, mixed-race daughter of a British admiral plays an important role in the campaign to abolish slavery in England.
Catherine Breillat is one of the most controversial, and fearless, of all French directors; her films are harsh and frank in their depictions of tough subjects, often involving sexuality, coming of age, gender conflict, violence; sometimes drawing from her own experiences, sometimes fantasy, but always true. People sometimes miss the heart behind what is there, it’s just that there are no illusions added on for comfort.
Fat Girl is tough as nails, but the movie is so well made, with such an eye for bitter irony, that it could almost be called funny and entertaining. It’s so straightforward and so bare in what it says, that it’s shocking.