Year by year: 1991
My 50 favorite films of 1991
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50 titles
- DirectorJonathan DemmeStarsJodie FosterAnthony HopkinsScott GlennA young F.B.I. cadet must receive the help of an incarcerated and manipulative cannibal killer to help catch another serial killer, a madman who skins his victims.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsKevin CostnerGary OldmanJack LemmonNew Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsGong LiJingwu MaSaifei HeChina in the 1920s. After her father's death, Songlian is forced to marry the wealthy Master Chen. With three wives already, each living in a separate house, there is fierce competition for his attention and the privileges that are gained.
- DirectorRidley ScottStarsSusan SarandonGeena DavisHarvey KeitelTwo best friends set out on an adventure, but it soon turns around to a terrifying escape from being hunted by the police, as these two women escape for the crimes they committed.
- DirectorJoel CoenEthan CoenStarsJohn TurturroJohn GoodmanJudy DavisA renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
- DirectorKrzysztof KieslowskiStarsIrène JacobWladyslaw KowalskiHalina GryglaszewskaTwo 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.
- DirectorLeos CaraxStarsJuliette BinocheDenis LavantKlaus-Michael GrüberAlex, who's homeless and addicted to alcohol, and Michèle, who's losing her sight, form a relationship while sleeping rough on Paris's Pont-Neuf bridge.
- DirectorLars von TrierStarsBarbara SukowaJean-Marc BarrUdo KierJust after World War II, an American takes a railway job in Germany, but finds his position politically sensitive with various people trying to use him.
- DirectorDavid CronenbergStarsPeter WellerJudy DavisIan HolmAfter developing an addiction to the substance he uses to kill bugs, an exterminator accidentally kills his wife and becomes involved in a secret government plot being orchestrated by giant bugs in a port town in North Africa.
- DirectorGary TrousdaleKirk WiseStarsPaige O'HaraRobby BensonJesse CortiA prince cursed to spend his days as a hideous monster sets out to regain his humanity by earning a young woman's love.
- DirectorEdward YangStarsChang ChenLisa YangKuo-Chu ChangBased on a true story, primarily on a conflict between two youth gangs, a 14-year-old boy's girlfriend conflicts with the head of one gang for an unclear reason, until finally the conflict comes to a violent climax.
- DirectorMike LeighStarsAlison SteadmanJim BroadbentClaire SkinnerA shop assistant, her cook husband, and their twin daughters go about their lives in a working-class London suburb.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJeff BridgesRobin WilliamsAdam BryantA former radio DJ, suicidally despondent because of a terrible mistake he made, finds redemption in helping a deranged homeless man who was an unwitting victim of that mistake.
- DirectorVicente ArandaStarsVictoria AbrilJorge SanzMaribel Verdú1950s Madrid: After military service, Paco looks for work to save up and marry his fiancée. She rejects his sexual advances. So when he rents a room with a cute widow making advances, he caves in.
- DirectorJohn SingletonStarsCuba Gooding Jr.Laurence FishburneHudhail Al-AmirFollows the lives of three young males living in the Crenshaw ghetto of Los Angeles, dissecting questions of race, relationships, violence, and future prospects.
- DirectorJohn SaylesStarsVincent SpanoTony Lo BiancoStephen MendilloAn intersecting tale with a multitude of characters living lives which, in one way or another, revolve around an old apartment block scheduled to be demolished.
- DirectorAlain CorneauStarsGérard DepardieuJean-Pierre MarielleAnne BrochetThe story of Monsieur de Sainte Colombe, fierce and somber man, grand master of the viola da gamba and professor of Marin Marais, prestigious musician in the court of Louis XIV.
- DirectorBarry LevinsonStarsWarren BeattyAnnette BeningHarvey KeitelThe story of how Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel started Las Vegas.
- DirectorArturo RipsteinStarsEvangelina SosaAlejandro ParodiDamián AlcázarPerla is a teenager who has been prostituted by her mother, Tomasa and acts as a dancer in a cabaret-brothel. The pianist who plays at the venue is a romantic singer-songwriter and inveterate poet who would like to make art out of a sordid situation. When "el Marro", a sick sailor stops at the place and falls in love with the girl, the mother tries to cut off that relationship, but fails to do so. Because she knows that they are actually siblings.
- DirectorGus Van SantStarsRiver PhoenixKeanu ReevesJames RussoTwo best friends living on the streets of Portland as hustlers embark on a journey of self discovery and find their relationship stumbling along the way.
- DirectorMarc CaroJean-Pierre JeunetStarsMarie-Laure DougnacDominique PinonPascal BenezechPost-apocalyptic surrealist black comedy about the landlord of an apartment building who occasionally prepares a delicacy for his odd tenants.
- DirectorAgnieszka HollandStarsSolomon PerelMarco HofschneiderRené HofschneiderA boy in Nazi Germany, trying to conceal that he is Jewish, joins the Hitler Youth.
- DirectorLawrence KasdanStarsDanny GloverKevin KlineSteve MartinThe fates of several people are randomly intertwining. Their sympathy of each other faces multiple differences in their lifestyles.
- DirectorAlan ParkerStarsRobert ArkinsMichael AherneAngeline BallJimmy Rabbitte, an unemployed Dublin boy, decides to put together a soul band made up entirely of the Irish working class.
- DirectorIsao TakahataStarsMiki ImaiToshirô YanagibaYoko HonnaA twenty-seven-year-old office worker travels to the countryside while reminiscing about her childhood in Tokyo.
- DirectorJacques RivetteStarsMichel PiccoliJane BirkinEmmanuelle BéartThe former famous painter Frenhofer revisits an abandoned project using the girlfriend of a young visiting artist. Questions about truth, life, and artistic limits are explored.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsWesley SnipesAnnabella SciorraSpike LeeFriends and family of a married Black architect react in different ways to his affair with an Italian secretary.
- DirectorDavid MametStarsJoe MantegnaWilliam H. MacyVincent GuastaferroA Jewish homicide detective investigates a seemingly minor murder and falls in with a Zionist group as a result.
- DirectorManoel de OliveiraStarsMaria de MedeirosMiguel GuilhermeLuís Miguel CintraPatients in a mental institution see themselves as Adam and Eve, Sonia and Raskolnikov, a Philosopher and a Prophet, Alyosha and Ivan Karamazov, Jesus, Lazarus, Martha, Mary and St Teresa of Avila.
- DirectorAtom EgoyanStarsElias KoteasArsinée KhanjianMaury ChaykinA family with the lack of sincerity faces a crisis.
- DirectorMartin ScorseseStarsRobert De NiroNick NolteJessica LangeA convicted rapist, released from prison after serving a fourteen-year sentence, stalks the family of the lawyer who originally defended him.
- DirectorBarbra StreisandStarsBarbra StreisandNick NolteBlythe DannerA troubled man talks to his suicidal sister's psychiatrist about their family history and falls in love with her in the process.
- DirectorAkira KurosawaStarsSachiko MuraseRichard GereHisashi IgawaThree generations' responses to the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
- DirectorJim JarmuschStarsWinona RyderGena RowlandsLisanne FalkAn anthology of 5 different cab drivers in 5 American and European cities and their remarkable fares on the same eventful night.
- DirectorMarco FerreriStarsIngrid ThulinDado RuspoliEnzo CannavaleA septuagenarian couple are attracted to each other in a retirement home but find the institution and their fellow patients frown on their relationship.
- DirectorJames CameronStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerLinda HamiltonEdward FurlongA cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.
- DirectorAnthony MinghellaStarsJuliet StevensonAlan RickmanJenny HoweA woman dealing with inconsolable grief over the death of her partner gets another chance when he returns to earth as a ghost.
- DirectorJan SverákStarsJan TrískaZdenek SverákLibuse SafránkováThe time is 1945-46. 10 year old Eda and his friend Tonda live in a small village outside Prague. In school, their class is so wild and indisciplined that their teacher quits and is replaced by the militant Igor Hnidzo. He is very strict - but also very just. His weakness is his interest in young women.
- DirectorErrol MorrisStarsStephen HawkingIsobel HawkingJanet HumphreyA film about the life and work of the cosmologist, Stephen Hawking, who despite his near total paralysis, was one of the great minds of all time.
- DirectorPedro AlmodóvarStarsVictoria AbrilMarisa ParedesMiguel BoséA singer returns after 15 years abroad to perform in Madrid and finds her 27 y.o. daughter married to one of her mom's ex-lovers.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJeremy IronsTheresa RussellJoel GreyKafka works during the day at an insurance company, where events lead him to discover a mysterious underground society with strange suppressive goals.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsRobert CarlyleEmer McCourtJim R. ColemanThe story of construction-worker Stevie and his unemployed pop-singer girlfriend shows the living conditions of the British poor class.
- DirectorMaroun BagdadiStarsHippolyte GirardotRafik Ali AhmadHussein SbeityA French photograher is kidnapped and held hostage in a war-torn Beirut. Slowly but surely his integrity and self-respect is broken.
- DirectorIstván SzabóStarsGlenn CloseNiels ArestrupKiri Te KanawaA deliciously biting satire about both the world of Grand Opera and United Europe. A Hungarian conductor (Arestrup) attempts to mount a bold new production of Richard Wagner's "Tannhäuser" while navigating the snares and pitfalls of artistic egos, rampant nationalism, internal company and union politics, and precarious funding.
- DirectorImanol UribeStarsMaría BarrancoJoaquim de AlmeidaLaura del SolAfter spending a night with a sensual prostitute, the King of Spain decides that he wants to see his wife naked. His decision causes a real revolution amidst his subjects.
- DirectorJulie DashStarsCora Lee DayAlva RogersBarbara OA languid, impressionistic story of three generations of Gullah women living on the South Carolina Sea Islands in 1902.
- DirectorJohn DuiganStarsNoah TaylorThandiwe NewtonNicole KidmanTwo freethinking teenagers - a boy and a girl - confront with authoritarian teachers in their boarding schools. The other students treat this differently.
- DirectorJon AvnetStarsKathy BatesJessica TandyMary Stuart MastersonEvelyn, an ordinary housewife, visits a nursing home and befriends the old lady Ninny. Together, they bond over stories from the past about two intrepid women of Whistle Stop Cafe.
- DirectorTheodoros AngelopoulosStarsMarcello MastroianniJeanne MoreauGregory Patrick KarrA reporter stuck in a border town with an overcrowding of refugees sees a man he believes to be a long lost politician.
- DirectorAllie LightIrving SarafStarsWilliam S. JonesWinner of the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, this film is a hilarious and affectionate look at the path to stardom inside the competitive world of opera.