30 Extremely Overlooked Cinematic Masterpieces (1980 - Present)
by EliHayes | created - 25 Feb 2013 | updated - 25 Feb 2013 | PublicIn no particular order.
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1. The Promise (1996)
Not Rated | 90 min | Drama
Roger uses his son Igor to ruthlessly traffic and exploit undocumented immigrants. When one of the immigrants is killed, Igor is guilt-ridden and wants to care for the dead man's family against his father's orders.
Directors: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne | Stars: Jérémie Renier, Olivier Gourmet, Assita Ouedraogo, Jean-Michel Balthazar
Votes: 8,537 | Gross: $0.45M
2. Goodbye Solo (2008)
R | 91 min | Drama
Two men form an unlikely friendship that will change both of their lives forever.
Director: Ramin Bahrani | Stars: Souleymane Sy Savane, Red West, Diana Franco Galindo, Lane 'Roc' Williams
Votes: 6,154 | Gross: $0.87M
3. George Washington (2000)
Not Rated | 89 min | Drama
A group of children, in a depressed small town, band together to cover up a tragic mistake one summer.
Director: David Gordon Green | Stars: Candace Evanofski, Donald Holden, Damian Jewan Lee, Curtis Cotton III
Votes: 8,663 | Gross: $0.24M
4. Naked (1993)
Not Rated | 131 min | Comedy, Drama
An unemployed Mancunian vents his rage on unsuspecting strangers as he embarks on a nocturnal London odyssey.
Director: Mike Leigh | Stars: David Thewlis, Lesley Sharp, Katrin Cartlidge, Greg Cruttwell
Votes: 43,909 | Gross: $1.77M
5. Ratcatcher (1999)
Not Rated | 94 min | Drama
A naïve young lad navigates the dirty squalid streets of 1973 Glasgow and the poor youth around him.
Director: Lynne Ramsay | Stars: Tommy Flanagan, Mandy Matthews, William Eadie, Michelle Stewart
Votes: 11,767 | Gross: $0.22M
6. Nostalghia (1983)
Not Rated | 125 min | Drama
A Russian poet and his interpreter travel to Italy researching the life of an 18th-century composer, and instead meet a ruminative madman who tells the poet how the world may be saved.
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky | Stars: Oleg Yankovskiy, Erland Josephson, Domiziana Giordano, Patrizia Terreno
Votes: 30,038 | Gross: $0.01M
7. The Color of Paradise (1999)
PG | 90 min | Drama, Family
The story of Mohammed, a blind Iranian boy and his father, Hashem, who is always oscillating between accepting his son as he is and abandoning him, as he represents a burden for him, after the loss of his wife.
Director: Majid Majidi | Stars: Hossein Mahjoub, Mohsen Ramezani, Salameh Feyzi, Farahnaz Safari
Votes: 18,190 | Gross: $1.81M
8. L.I.E. (2001)
R | 97 min | Crime, Drama
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: 10,444 | Gross: $1.14M
9. Snow Angels (I) (2007)
R | 107 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A drama that interweaves the life of a teenager, with his old baby sitter, her estranged husband, and their daughter.
Director: David Gordon Green | Stars: Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockwell, Michael Angarano, Jeannetta Arnette
Votes: 13,153 | Gross: $0.40M
10. Lilya 4-Ever (2002)
R | 109 min | Crime, Drama
Sixteen-year-old Lilja and her only friend, the young boy Volodja, live in Russia, fantasizing about a better life. One day, Lilja falls in love with Andrej, who is going to Sweden, and invites Lilja to come along and start a new life.
Director: Lukas Moodysson | Stars: Oksana Akinshina, Artyom Bogucharskiy, Pavel Ponomaryov, Lyubov Agapova
Votes: 49,364 | Gross: $0.18M
11. The Double Life of Véronique (1991)
R | 98 min | Drama, Fantasy, Music
Two parallel stories about two identical women; one living in Poland, the other in France. They don't know each other, but their lives are nevertheless profoundly connected.
Director: Krzysztof Kieslowski | Stars: Irène Jacob, Wladyslaw Kowalski, Halina Gryglaszewska, Kalina Jedrusik
Votes: 52,924 | Gross: $2.00M
12. Christiane F. (1981)
R | 138 min | Biography, Drama
A teen girl in 1970s Berlin becomes addicted to heroin. Everything in her life slowly begins to distort and disappear as she befriends a small crew of junkies and falls in love with a drug-abusing male prostitute.
Director: Uli Edel | Stars: Natja Brunckhorst, Eberhard Auriga, Peggy Bussieck, Lothar Chamski
Votes: 29,367
13. The Return (2003)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama
In the Russian wilderness, two brothers face a range of new, conflicting emotions when their father - a man they know only through a single photograph - resurfaces.
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev | Stars: Vladimir Garin, Ivan Dobronravov, Konstantin Lavronenko, Nataliya Vdovina
Votes: 47,494 | Gross: $0.50M
14. Reprise (2006)
R | 105 min | Drama
Fueled by literary aspirations and youthful exuberance, two competitive friends endure the pangs of love, depression, and burgeoning careers.
Director: Joachim Trier | Stars: Anders Danielsen Lie, Espen Klouman Høiner, Viktoria Winge, Odd-Magnus Williamson
Votes: 15,618 | Gross: $0.55M
15. Rosetta (1999)
R | 95 min | Drama
Young and impulsive Rosetta lives with her alcoholic mother and, moved by despair, she will do anything to maintain a job.
Directors: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne | Stars: Émilie Dequenne, Fabrizio Rongione, Anne Yernaux, Olivier Gourmet
Votes: 15,569 | Gross: $0.26M
16. Schizopolis (1996)
Not Rated | 96 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery
Fletcher Munson, the lethargic employee of a pseudo-religious self help company, and his doppelganger, the friendly but dull dentist Dr. Jeffrey Korchek.
Director: Steven Soderbergh | Stars: Steven Soderbergh, Scott Allen, Betsy Brantley, Marcus Lyle Brown
Votes: 6,050 | Gross: $0.01M
17. Trust (1990)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
After being thrown out of her house, Maria encounters a married woman who complains of not having children. Maria ends up in an abandoned house, where she meets Matthew. When a baby is kidnapped Maria sets out to find the woman.
Director: Hal Hartley | Stars: Adrienne Shelly, Martin Donovan, Rebecca Nelson, John MacKay
Votes: 12,310 | Gross: $0.36M
18. Close-Up (1990)
Not Rated | 98 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The true story of Hossain Sabzian, a cinephile who impersonated the director Mohsen Makhmalbaf to convince a family they would star in his so-called new film.
Director: Abbas Kiarostami | Stars: Hossain Sabzian, Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Abolfazl Ahankhah, Mehrdad Ahankhah
Votes: 22,988 | Gross: $0.00M
19. Nobody Knows (2004)
PG-13 | 141 min | Drama
In a small Tokyo apartment, twelve-year-old Akira must care for his younger siblings after their mother leaves them and shows no sign of returning.
Director: Kore-eda Hirokazu | Stars: Yûya Yagira, Ayu Kitaura, Hiei Kimura, Momoko Shimizu
Votes: 31,381 | Gross: $0.68M
20. Michael (II) (2011)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Thriller
Five months in the life of a pedophile who keeps a 10-year-old boy locked in his basement.
Director: Markus Schleinzer | Stars: Michael Fuith, David Rauchenberger, Christine Kain, Ursula Strauss
Votes: 5,113 | Gross: $0.02M
21. Sweet Sixteen (I) (2002)
R | 106 min | Crime, Drama
Determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison, a Scottish teenager from a tough background sets out to raise the money for a home.
Director: Ken Loach | Stars: Martin Compston, Michelle Coulter, Annmarie Fulton, William Ruane
Votes: 15,763 | Gross: $0.03M
22. Everyone Else (2009)
Unrated | 119 min | Drama, Romance
While on a Mediterranean vacation, a seemingly happy boyfriend and girlfriend find their connection to one another tested as they bond with another couple.
Director: Maren Ade | Stars: Lars Eidinger, Birgit Minichmayr, Hans-Jochen Wagner, Nicole Marischka
Votes: 4,031 | Gross: $0.10M
23. Man Bites Dog (1992)
NC-17 | 95 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A film crew follows a ruthless thief and heartless killer as he goes about his daily routine. But complications set in when the film crew lose their objectivity and begin lending a hand.
Directors: Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel, Benoît Poelvoorde | Stars: Benoît Poelvoorde, Jacqueline Poelvoorde-Pappaert, Nelly Pappaert, Hector Pappaert
Votes: 43,711 | Gross: $0.21M
24. Goodbye, Children (1987)
PG | 104 min | Drama, War
A French boarding school run by priests seems to be a haven from World War II until a new student arrives. Occupying the next bed in the dormitory to the top student in his class, the two young boys begin to form a bond.
Director: Louis Malle | Stars: Gaspard Manesse, Raphael Fejtö, Francine Racette, Stanislas Carré de Malberg
Votes: 36,108 | Gross: $4.54M
25. The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
R | 112 min | Drama
A bus crash in a small town brings a lawyer to defend the families, but he discovers everything isn't what it seems.
Director: Atom Egoyan | Stars: Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Caerthan Banks, Tom McCamus
Votes: 36,724 | Gross: $3.25M
26. Down by Law (1986)
R | 107 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
Two men are framed and sent to jail, where they meet a murderer who helps them escape and leave the state.
Director: Jim Jarmusch | Stars: Tom Waits, John Lurie, Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi
Votes: 55,269 | Gross: $1.44M
27. Heaven (I) (2002)
R | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
A woman takes the law into her own hands after police ignore her pleas to arrest the man responsible for her husband's death, and finds herself not only under arrest for murder but falling in love with an officer.
Director: Tom Tykwer | Stars: Cate Blanchett, Giovanni Ribisi, Remo Girone, Stefania Rocca
Votes: 26,481 | Gross: $0.77M
28. Oslo, August 31st (2011)
Not Rated | 95 min | Drama
One day in the life of Anders, a young recovering drug addict, who takes a brief leave from his treatment center to interview for a job and catch up with old friends in Oslo.
Director: Joachim Trier | Stars: Anders Danielsen Lie, Hans Olav Brenner, Ingrid Olava, Malin Crépin
Votes: 29,622 | Gross: $0.10M
29. Frozen River (2008)
R | 97 min | Crime, Drama
A mom looks for another source of income, when her husband leaves with the money meant for the new mobile home. A nearby Indian territory stretches across the border to Canada with a drivable frozen river between. Smuggling?
Director: Courtney Hunt | Stars: Melissa Leo, Misty Upham, Charlie McDermott, Michael O'Keefe
Votes: 26,457 | Gross: $2.51M
30. Clean Slate (1981)
Not Rated | 128 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A pathetic police chief, humiliated by everyone around him, suddenly wants a clean slate in life - and resorts to drastic means to do so.
Director: Bertrand Tavernier | Stars: Philippe Noiret, Isabelle Huppert, Stéphane Audran, Jean-Pierre Marielle
Votes: 6,712
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