93 articles
All the Right Moves (film)
All the Right Moves is a 1983 American sports drama starring Tom Cruise as a high school football player seeking a scholarship to leave a dying Pennsylvania steel town.
Alpine Fire
Alpine Fire (Höhenfeuer) is a 1985 Swiss drama by Fredi M. Murer about an isolated Alpine farm family and an incestuous relationship between a deaf brother and his sister; it won the 1985 Locarno Golden Leopard.
Amadeus (film)
Amadeus (1984), Miloš Forman's adaptation of Peter Shaffer's play, dramatizes a fictional Mozart-Salieri rivalry; it won eight Oscars including Best Picture and exists in 158-minute theatrical and 2002 Director's Cut versions.
An Officer and a Gentleman
An Officer and a Gentleman is a 1982 Taylor Hackford romantic drama starring Richard Gere, Debra Winger, and Oscar winner Louis Gossett Jr., about a Navy officer candidate's training and romance; it won two Academy Awards and grossed about $130 million.
Anne Devlin
Anne Devlin (1984) is Pat Murphy's Irish historical drama about Robert Emmet's housekeeper, based on her prison journals; first all-Irish feature, 121 minutes, starring Bríd Brennan, restored in 2020.
Another Country
Another Country: 1984 British drama by Marek Kanievska, adapted by Julian Mitchell from his 1981 play, starring Rupert Everett as Guy Bennett, a Guy Burgess-based schoolboy, and Colin Firth as Tommy Judd.
Another Time, Another Place
Another Time, Another Place is Michael Radford's 1983 British debut feature, a Film on Four adaptation of Jessie Kesson's novel in which a Scottish farmer's wife (Phyllis Logan) has an affair with an Italian POW (Giovanni Mauriello); distinct from the 1958 Sean Connery film of the same title.
At Middle Age (人到中年)
At Middle Age (人到中年, Ren dao zhong nian) is a 1982 Changchun Film Studio drama directed by Wang Qimin and Sun Yu from Chen Rong's novella, starring Pan Hong as overworked ophthalmologist Lu Wenting; it won the 1983 Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Best Picture awards.
Begin the Beguine
Begin the Beguine (Volver a empezar) is José Luis Garci's 1982 Spanish drama about a Nobel laureate returning to Gijón after 40 years of exile; in 1983 it became the first Spanish film to win the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
Beyond the Limit
Beyond the Limit, released outside the US as The Honorary Consul, is John Mackenzie's 1983 British thriller adapting Graham Greene's novel, starring Michael Caine, Richard Gere, and Bob Hoskins in a Paraguay-Argentina kidnapping drama.
Birdy (film)
Birdy (1984) is Alan Parker's drama based on William Wharton's novel, starring Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage as Vietnam veterans; it won the 1985 Cannes Jury's Special Grand Prix.
Boat People (望郷 ボートピープル)
Boat People is a 1982 Hong Kong political drama directed by Ann Hui, starring George Lam as a photojournalist who uncovers hardship in postwar Vietnam.
Brubaker
Brubaker is a 1980 American prison drama directed by Stuart Rosenberg, starring Robert Redford as a reform-minded warden who infiltrates an Arkansas prison as an inmate.
Cal
Cal (1984) is a Pat O'Connor drama adapted by Bernard MacLaverty from his novel, starring John Lynch as a guilt-ridden young IRA member and Helen Mirren, who won Best Actress at Cannes 1984; re-released remastered in 2025.
Dance with a Stranger
Dance with a Stranger (1985) is a Mike Newell British drama, written by Shelagh Delaney, about Ruth Ellis, the last woman hanged in Britain, starring Miranda Richardson in her debut, Rupert Everett, and Ian Holm; it won a Cannes youth award.
Der Bockerer
Der Bockerer is a 1981 Austrian-German tragic-grotesque comedy by Franz Antel, based on the Becher and Preses play, starring Karl Merkatz as a Viennese butcher surviving the Nazi era; it won the 1982 Deutscher Filmpreis and spawned two sequels.
Der Stand der Dinge
Der Stand der Dinge (The State of Things) is Wim Wenders' 1982 black-and-white film about a stranded film crew in Portugal, made during the troubled Hammett shoot; it won the 1982 Venice Golden Lion and the 1983 German Film Award.
Desert Hearts
Desert Hearts, Donna Deitch's 1985 lesbian romance adapted from Jane Rule's novel Desert of the Heart, stars Helen Shaver and Patricia Charbonneau in 1959 Reno; first mainstream feature with a positive lesbian love story, restored by Criterion in 2017.
El Sur
El Sur (The South) is Víctor Erice's 1983 Spanish drama, his second feature, adapted from Adelaida García Morales's novella about Estrella and her secretive doctor father in postwar northern Spain. Production was halted 48 days into an 81-day shoot, leaving the Andalusian half unfilmed; it competed at Cannes 1983 and is considered a Spanish cinema landmark.
Fanny and Alexander
Fanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander) is Ingmar Bergman's 1982 semi-autobiographical drama about the Ekdahl family in 1907 Uppsala, made in a 188-minute theatrical cut and a five-hour TV version, winner of four Oscars including best foreign language film.
Father and Son (父子情) (1981 film)
Father and Son (父子情) is Allen Fong's 1981 Hong Kong New Wave debut, produced by Feng Huang, about a father sacrificing his daughters for his son's education; it won Best Film and Best Director at the first Hong Kong Film Awards.
From the Life of the Marionettes
From the Life of the Marionettes (Aus dem Leben der Marionetten) is Ingmar Bergman's 1980 German-language TV film, made in Munich exile, a semi-sequel to Scenes from a Marriage about Peter Egermann's murder of a prostitute.
Gaijin - Os Caminhos da Liberdade
Gaijin - Os Caminhos da Liberdade (Gaijin: Roads to Freedom) is Tizuka Yamasaki's 1980 Brazilian feature debut about Japanese immigration to Brazil in 1908, starring Kyoko Tsukamoto and Antonio Fagundes, winner at Gramado and Havana.
Gilsotteum (길소뜸)
Gilsotteum (길소뜸, also Gilsoddeum) is Im Kwon-taek's 1985 South Korean drama-war film, released April 5, 1986, starring Kim Ji-mee and Shin Seong-il as war-separated lovers reunited by the 1983 KBS Finding Dispersed Families telethon; it competed at the 36th Berlinale.
Hail Mary (1985 film)
Hail Mary (Je vous salue, Marie) is Jean-Luc Godard's 1985 French-Swiss-British drama retelling the virgin birth with Mary as a basketball-playing petrol-station worker. Denounced by Pope John Paul II, banned in Brazil, yet awarded at the Berlinale.
Hansa Vilak
Hansa Vilak (හංස විලක්) is a 1980 Sinhala-language film directed by Dharmasiri Bandaranayake, his directorial debut, known for Swarna Mallawarachchi's acting, Premasiri Khemadasa's music, and its Sarasaviya Awards wins.
Himala
Himala (Miracle) is a 1982 Filipino drama by Ishmael Bernal, written by Ricky Lee, starring Nora Aunor as healer Elsa; it won nine 1982 MMFF awards and was named CNN's Best Asia-Pacific Film of All Time in 2008.
Himatsuri
Himatsuri (火まつり, Fire Festival) is a 1985 Japanese drama directed by Mitsuo Yanagimachi from Kenji Nakagami's first screenplay, about a Kumano lumberjack who kills his family after a storm; shown at Cannes 1985.
Homecoming (似水流年) (1984 film)
Homecoming (似水流年) is a 1984 Hong Kong drama directed by Yim Ho, starring Josephine Koo, Siqin Gaowa, and Tse Wai-hung. Shot in Chaoshan, produced by Xia Meng's Bluebird, it won six Hong Kong Film Awards including Best Film and Best Director.
Hong Kong Hong Kong
Hong Kong Hong Kong (男與女) is a 1983 Shaw Brothers drama directed by Hong Kong New Wave filmmaker Clifford Choi, starring Cherie Chung and Alex Man as illegal immigrants in Hong Kong; it won the 1983 Golden Horse Award for Best Original Screenplay.