167 articles
The Elephant Man (1980 film)
The Elephant Man (1980) is David Lynch's black-and-white biographical drama, produced by Mel Brooks, starring John Hurt as Joseph Merrick and Anthony Hopkins as Frederick Treves; eight Oscar nominations, no wins, about $26 million US box office.
The Family (1987 film)
The Family (La famiglia) is Ettore Scola's 1987 Italian-French drama starring Vittorio Gassman, covering 80 years of a Roman family from 1906 to 1986 within one apartment; it competed at Cannes 1987 and won five David di Donatello awards.
The Green, Green Grass of Home (在那河畔青草青)
The Green, Green Grass of Home (在那河畔青草青, Zai na he pan qing cao qing) is Hou Hsiao-hsien's 1982 Taiwanese film about a Taipei substitute teacher in Neiwan, his romance with a colleague, and the river-protection campaign that earned Hou his first Golden Horse Best Director nomination.
The Herdsman (牧马人)
The Herdsman (牧马人) is a 1982 Shanghai Film Studio drama directed by Xie Jin, adapted from Zhang Xianliang's story 灵与肉, starring Zhu Shimao and Cong Shan; it drew over 130 million admissions, won Hundred Flowers and Golden Rooster awards, and went viral again in 2019.
The Horse Thief (盗马贼)
The Horse Thief (盗马贼, Dao ma zei) is Tian Zhuangzhuang's 1986 Fifth Generation drama from Xi'an Film Studio: a 1923-set Tibetan-language story of herder Norbu, banished for theft, whose faith collapses; restored in 4K and shown at Cannes Classics 2019.
The Illegal Immigrant (非法移民)
The Illegal Immigrant (非法移民) is a 1985 Hong Kong drama, Mabel Cheung's NYU thesis debut funded by Shaw Brothers, written by Alex Law, first of her migration trilogy, and Best Director winner at the 1986 Hong Kong Film Awards.
The Last Metro
The Last Metro (Le Dernier Métro) is François Truffaut's 1980 French drama about a Paris theater troupe under Nazi occupation, starring Catherine Deneuve and Gérard Depardieu; it won ten César Awards and was Oscar-nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.
The Last of England
The Last of England (1987) is Derek Jarman's experimental collage film, made from Super 8, home movies and found footage, starring Tilda Swinton; an angry lament for Thatcher-era Britain, titled after Ford Madox Brown's 1855 painting and accompanied by Jarman's book Kicking the Pricks.
The Legend of Billie Jean
The Legend of Billie Jean is a 1985 American drama directed by Matthew Robbins and starring Helen Slater as a Texas teen who becomes a fugitive folk hero.
The Legend of Suram Fortress
The Legend of Suram Fortress (Ambavi Suramis tsikhitsa, 1984) is a Soviet Georgian tableau-style drama by Sergei Parajanov and Dodo Abashidze, adapted from Daniel Chonkadze's novella about a fortress that stands only when a young man is walled alive into its collapsing walls.
The Lunatics
The Lunatics (癲佬正傳, The Story of Maniacs) is Derek Yee's 1986 Hong Kong drama debut for D & B Films about a social worker and mentally ill street people; Paul Chun won Best Supporting Actor at the Hong Kong Film and Golden Horse Awards.
The Man with Three Coffins (나그네는 길에서도 쉬지 않는다)
The Man with Three Coffins (나그네는 길에서도 쉬지 않는다) is Lee Jang-ho's 1987 Korean road movie based on Lee Je-ha's Yi Sang Award novella; a widower carries his wife's ashes, meets Lee Bo-hee's triple role, and won Tokyo critics' and Berlin Caligari prizes.
The Mission (1986 film)
The Mission is a 1986 Roland Joffé film, scripted by Robert Bolt, about Jesuits defending a Guaraní mission after the 1750 Treaty of Madrid; it won the 1986 Palme d'Or and seven Oscar nominations.
The Mosquito Coast (film)
The Mosquito Coast (1986) is Peter Weir's adventure drama adapted by Paul Schrader from Paul Theroux's 1981 novel, starring Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, and River Phoenix as a family seeking utopia in Central America; released November 26, 1986 by Warner Bros.
The Outsider (1981 film)
The Outsider (Hungarian: Szabadgyalog) is a 1981 Hungarian drama film directed by Béla Tarr, his second feature, about an irresponsible violinist played by András Szabó.
The Ploughman's Lunch
The Ploughman's Lunch (1983) is a British political drama directed by Richard Eyre, written by Ian McEwan, starring Jonathan Pryce as a BBC journalist rewriting Suez history during the Falklands War.
The River (1984 film)
The River (1984) is a Mark Rydell drama starring Mel Gibson, Sissy Spacek, and Scott Glenn about Tennessee farmers fighting floods and a dam scheme; Universal release, John Williams score, Oscar for sound effects editing.
The Sacrifice
The Sacrifice (Offret) is Andrei Tarkovsky's 1986 final film, a Swedish-French parable in which Alexander offers everything to God to avert nuclear war; it won Cannes' Grand Prix and the 1988 BAFTA for Best Foreign Language Film.
The Sandwich Man (儿子的大玩偶)
The Sandwich Man (兒子的大玩偶) is a 1983 Taiwanese omnibus film by Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wan Jen, and Tseng Chuang-hsiang, adapting three Huang Chun-ming stories; regarded as the founding work of Taiwan New Cinema.
The Seventh Continent
The Seventh Continent (Der siebente Kontinent) is Michael Haneke's 1989 Austrian debut feature, first of the glaciation trilogy, depicting a Linz family's routine life ending in planned collective suicide, based on a true story.
The South
The South (El sur) is Víctor Erice's 1983 Spanish-French drama, adapted from Adelaida García Morales's novella, about a girl uncovering her father's secrets; production was halted 48 days into an 81-day shoot, leaving it famously unfinished.
The Surrogate Woman (씨받이)
The Surrogate Woman (씨받이, Ssibaji) is a 1986 South Korean period drama directed by Im Kwon-taek, about a Joseon noble family hiring a peasant woman to bear its heir.
The Terrorizers (恐怖分子)
The Terrorizers (恐怖份子) is Edward Yang's 1986 Taiwanese drama, his third feature, in which a prank phone call entangles strangers in Taipei. It won the 23rd Golden Horse Best Feature Film and the 1987 Locarno Silver Leopard.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (film)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), Philip Kaufman's adaptation of Milan Kundera's novel, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche, and Lena Olin in 1968 Prague, produced by Saul Zaentz, shot by Sven Nykvist, and restored in 4K by the Academy Film Archive.
The Verdict
The Verdict (1982) is Sidney Lumet's courtroom drama, scripted by David Mamet from Barry Reed's novel, starring Paul Newman as alcoholic Boston lawyer Frank Galvin in a medical malpractice trial against the Archdiocese of Boston; five Oscar nominations including Best Picture.
The Whales of August
The Whales of August (1987) is a Lindsay Anderson drama adapted from David Berry's play, starring Bette Davis and Lillian Gish as elderly widowed sisters in Maine, with Vincent Price and Ann Sothern; Gish's and Sothern's final film.
The Woman Next Door
The Woman Next Door (La Femme d'à côté) is François Truffaut's 1981 French drama starring Gérard Depardieu and Fanny Ardant as former lovers turned neighbors near Grenoble, ending in a fatal embrace.
The World According to Garp (film)
The World According to Garp (1982) is George Roy Hill's Warner Bros. comedy-drama adapting John Irving's novel, starring Robin Williams, Glenn Close, and John Lithgow; screenplay by Steve Tesich, released July 23, 1982.
The Year of Living Dangerously (film)
The Year of Living Dangerously is a 1982 Peter Weir film, adapted from Christopher Koch's novel, starring Mel Gibson, Sigourney Weaver, and Oscar winner Linda Hunt, set in 1965 Jakarta and banned in Indonesia until 2000.
They Don't Wear Black-Tie
They Don't Wear Black-Tie (Eles não usam black-tie) is Leon Hirszman's 1981 Brazilian political drama, adapted from Guarnieri's 1958 Teatro de Arena play, about a father-son split during the ABC metalworkers' strikes; it won Venice's Special Jury Prize.