lyrical backdrop

Movies with lyrical vibe

The Weeping Meadow

1. The Weeping Meadow

Drama History Historical Drama
7.8
20042h 49min

Overview

The first part of an incomplete trilogy telling the story of the greek people. The film begins in 1919, with Greek immigrants from Odessa arriving near Thessaloniki. Led by the charismatic Spyros, they establish a new settlement in the delta of a river. The youngest of the settlers are Spyros' son Alexis and an orphan from Odessa, Eleni. A strong, almost incestuous affection develops between the teenagers, resulting in twins who are given to a foster family. Also standing in the way of love is Spyros, determined to take his foster daughter as his wife. The lovers then decide to flee the village, persecuted by their father, leading a life of exile. As Alexis joins a group of musicians planning to go to the United States, Eleni regains custody of the twins. Angelopoulos, as in previous films, looks at the sacrifice of civilians confronted by the workers' demonstrations of 1935, the rule of Metaxas' fascist junta and forced emigration to America, and finally the civil war of 1944-1949.

Themes

Immigration and displacement, Forbidden love under pressure, Arranged marriage power dynamics, Civilian sacrifice during conflict, Political upheaval and emigration, Exile and kinship obligations

Available on

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

If Only

2. If Only

Drama Romance Fantasy Bittersweet Romance Tragic Drama
7.0
20041h 32min

Overview

After his impetuous musician girlfriend, Samantha, dies in an accident shortly after they had a fight (and nearly broke up), Ian Wyndham, a grief-stricken British businessman living in London gets a chance to relive the day all over again, in the hope of changing the events that led up to her getting killed.

Themes

Memory shaping identity, Grief and coping, Devotion under pressure, Time loop and agency, Love vs ambition, Creative pursuit vs relationship

Available on

Amazon Video
fuboTV
The Roku Channel
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Sylvia

3. Sylvia

Drama Romance Relationship Drama Passionate Romance
6.3
20031h 49min

Overview

Story of the relationship between the poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath.

Themes

Public vs private life, Creativity under pressure, Infidelity and accusation, Female writing under shadow, Posthumous literary legacy, Domestic life and ambition

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Best of Youth

4. The Best of Youth

Drama History Romance Historical Drama Historical Event
8.5
20036h 7min

Overview

After a fateful encounter in the summer of 1966, the lifepaths of two brothers from a middle-class Roman family diverge, intersecting with some of the most significant events of postwar Italian history in the following decades.

Themes

Intergenerational conflict, Political upheaval and reform, Family saga and legacy, Mafia influence and corruption

Available on

Amazon Video
Fandango At Home
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Sleeping Dictionary

5. The Sleeping Dictionary

Drama Romance Historical Drama Passionate Romance
6.5
20031h 49min

Overview

In the 1930s, British officer John Truscott journeys to a remote village in colonial Malaysia to educate and Westernize the local Iban population. There, he's introduced to the lovely Selima. In keeping with tradition, Selima is assigned to sleep with Truscott and teach him the native language and customs. But when they fall in love, both colonists and natives object to their plans to marry.

Themes

Loyalty and betrayal, Tradition versus individual choice, Forbidden cross-cultural romance, Colonial power dynamics, Cultural assimilation pressure, Authority and coercion

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Hours

6. The Hours

Drama Psychological Drama
7.5
20021h 54min

Overview

The story of three women searching for more potent, meaningful lives. Each is alive at a different time and place, all are linked by their yearnings and their fears. Their stories intertwine, and finally come together in a surprising, transcendent moment of shared recognition.

Themes

Suicide as turning point, Meaning within home life, Depression and social pressure, Family life versus independence, Empowerment through literature, Homelessness and displacement

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
fuboTV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Dolls

7. Dolls

Drama Romance Passionate Romance Relationship Drama
7.5
20021h 54min

Overview

Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.

Themes

Broken engagement pressure, Long-lost love, Yakuza, Bunraku, Multiple storylines, Murder motif and consequence

Available on

CineMember
Universcine
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Pianist

8. The Pianist

Drama War Historical Drama World War II
8.5
20022h 30min

Overview

The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.

Themes

Survival under occupation, Clandestine resistance and risk, Deportation and ghettoization, Art as refuge under oppression, Memory as testimony, Hunger and deprivation

Available on

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Behind the Sun

9. Behind the Sun

Drama Thriller Romance Historical Drama Dark Romance
7.6
20011h 35min

Overview

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 twenty 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 travelling circus passes through the vast badlands where Tonho's family lives.

Themes

Blood feud codes, Poverty and precarity, Duty vs rebellion, Circus as escape, Revenge cycles, Narrative voice

Available on

Hoopla
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Millennium Mambo

10. Millennium Mambo

Drama Romance Passionate Romance Relationship Drama
7.0
20011h 46min

Overview

Vicky recalls her romances with her exes Hao Hao and Jack in the neon-lit clubs of Taipei.

Themes

Urban nightlife pressure, Self reflection through memory, Fleeting youth nostalgia, Dual relationships, Nostalgic longing, Emotional ambiguity

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.