Best movies like Dovlatov
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Dovlatov charts six days in the life of brilliant, ironic writer who saw far beyond the rigid limits of 70s Soviet Russia. Sergei Dovlatov fought to preserve his own talent and decency with poet and writer Joseph Brodsky while watching his artist friends get crushed by the iron-willed state machinery.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Russia, Poland, Serbia
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, melancholic, visually appealing, art house, beautiful
Best tv shows and movies like Dovlatov (2018):
Similar in 77%
Under Electric Clouds (2015)
Plot Summary:
Russia 2017. The world could be on the verge of a great war. People are anxious that things could fall apart. Evolving around an unfinished building, a diverse group of outsiders struggle to find their place in this rapidly changing society, making up the mosaic of existence that is life itself….
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 872
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: Russia, Ukraine, Poland
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: realistic, atmospheric, serious, contemplative, melancholic, political, weird
Similar in 80%
The Life of Aleksis Kivi (2001)
Plot Summary:
Aleksis Kivi (1834-1872) was a Finnish author who wrote the first significant novel in the Finnish language, "Seven Brothers/Seitsemän veljestä". Although Kivi was among the very earliest authors of prose and lyrics in Finnish language, he is still considered one of the greatest of them all.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 584
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Finland
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, captivating, realistic, cult film
Similar in 88%
Doll (2013)
Plot Summary:
The rise and fall of the most distinguished Polish-Gypsy poetess Bronislawa Wajs, widely known as Papusza, and her relationship with her discoverer, writer Jerzy Ficowski.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: non-linear, realistic, atmospheric, serious, contemplative, stylized, gloomy
Similar in 75%
The Happiest Place on Earth (1999)
Plot Summary:
The story of Robert Hughes-Lambert, who was captured by Nazis when his active homosexuality was discovered during the filming of Mermoz (1943).
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 43
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: France, Germany, Switzerland
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: clever, bleak, realistic, witty, disturbing, semi serious, biting, suspense
Similar in 84%
Legend No. 17 (2013)
Plot Summary:
Biopic of Russian ice hockey legend Valeri Kharlamov from early childhood, rising to the pinnacle of the sport and his untimely death.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Sport
Country: Russia
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: sincere, rough, suspense, suspenseful, psychological
Similar in 77%
Neal Cassady (2007)
Plot Summary:
The story of what happened to Neal Cassady after Jack Kerouac's "On The Road" came out. Deals primarily with Neal's relationship to his fictional alter-ego, Dean Moriarty.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 215
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 80 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, captivating, realistic, semi serious, stylized, sexual, sexy
Similar in 90%
Tropic of Cancer (1970)
Plot Summary:
In contemporary Paris, expat American writer Henry Miller works his way through a series of amorous encounters while trying to find his literary voice.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 678
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: realistic, stylized, atmospheric, serious, erotic, clever, controversial, sexual, grindhouse, sexy
Similar in 90%
Pandemonium (2000)
Plot Summary:
Set in England during the early 19th century, Pandaemonium evokes late-1960s America in its depiction of the relationship between Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Linus Roach) and William Wordsworth (John Hannah). Instead of going to Vietnam, Wordsworth goes off to fight against the French while Coleridge stays at home and promotes utopianism. After the war, the poets live and work together with Coleridge's wife, Sara (Samantha Morton), and Wordsworth's sister, Dorothy (Emily Woof). At first this communal arrangement works to the advantage of Coleridge--who does some of his best writing while Wordsworth stagnates--until Coleridge becomes addicted to opium. Wordsworth, meanwhile, doesn't find his voice until he abandons his friend. In 20th-century vernacular, Wordsworth is the yuppie, Coleridge the hippie.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 875
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, realistic, captivating, costume drama, cult classic, crying, independent film, period drama
Similar in 89%
Pasolini (2014)
Plot Summary:
We are with Pasolini during the last hours of his life, as he talks with his beloved family and friends, writes, gives a brutally honest interview, shares a meal with Ninetto Davoli, and cruises for the roughest rough trade in his gun-metal gray Alfa Romeo. Over the course of the action, Pasolini’s life and his art (represented by scenes from his films, his novel-in-progress Petrolio, and his projected film Porno-Teo-Kolossal) are constantly refracted and intermingled to the point where they become one.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: France, Belgium, Italy
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, realistic, intellectual, independent film, contemplative
Similar in 78%
Vysotsky: Thank God I'm Alive (2011)
Plot Summary:
Russian poet, singer and actor Vladimir Vysotsky was an idol of the 1970s and '80s. In 1980, at the age of 42, he passed away during the Moscow Olympic Games. This is the story of his last great love as handed down to his son from a family friend. Written by nitorch.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Russia
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, captivating, dramatic, emotional, suspenseful, gloomy
Similar in 75%
11.25: The Day He Chose His Own Fate (2012)
Plot Summary:
On November 25th 1970, a man committed ritual suicide inside the Tokyo headquarters of the Japanese Ministry of Defence, leaving behind a legacy of masterpieces and a controversy that echoes to this day. The man was Yukio Mishima, one of Japan's greatest and most celebrated novelists. With four members of his own private army - the Tatenokai - Mishima had taken the commandant hostage and called upon the assembled military outside the Ministry to overthrow their society and restore the powers of the Emperor. When the soldiers mocked and jeered Mishima, he cut short his speech and withdrew to the commandant's office where he committed seppuku - the samurai warrior's death - tearing open his belly with a ceremonial knife before being beheaded by one of his colleagues. What was Mishima truly trying to express through his actions? And what did he witness during his final moments?.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 249
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, serious, exciting, tense, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, offbeat, contemplative
Similar in 82%
The Color of Time (2012)
Plot Summary:
A poetic road trip through Pulitzer prize-winning CK Williams' life over the course of 40 years.
IMDB Rating: 4.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 73 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, touching, sentimental, melancholic, teen, independent film, contemplative
Similar in 88%
Cesar Chavez (2014)
Plot Summary:
A biography of the civil-rights activist and labor organizer Cesar Chavez. Chronicling the birth of a modern American labour movement, Cesar Chavez tells the story of the famed civil rights leader and labour organiser torn between his duties as a husband and father and his commitment to securing a living wage for farm workers. Passionate but soft-spoken, Chavez embraced non-violence as he battled greed and prejudice in his struggle to bring dignity to working people.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, Mexico, United Arab Emirates
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, captivating, realistic, inspirational, political, independent film
Similar in 84%
Cezanne and I (2016)
Plot Summary:
They loved each other with the ardor of thirteen-year-old boys. Rebellion and curiosity, hopes and doubts, girls and dreams of glory – they shared it all. Paul was rich, Emile poor. They went skinny-dipping, drank absinthe, starved, only to overeat. Sketched models by day, caressed them by night... Now, Paul is a painter and Emile a writer. Glory has passed Paul by. But Emile has it all: fame, money, the perfect wife, whom Paul once loved. They judge each other, admire each other, confront each other. They lose touch, meet up again, like a couple who cannot stop loving each other.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Belgium, France
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: exciting, atmospheric, captivating, realistic, contemplative, factual, artsy
Similar in 89%
Stefan Zweig: Farewell to Europe (2016)
Plot Summary:
Before Dawn charts the years of exile in the life of famous Jewish Austrian writer Stefan Zweig, his inner struggle for the "right attitude" towards the events in war torn Europe and his search for a new home.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Austria, Germany, France
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: exciting, thought provoking, captivating, sincere, touching, visually appealing
Similar in 89%
To Olivia (2021)
Plot Summary:
In 1962, Patricia Neal and Roald Dahl retreat to the English countryside to bring up their young family. The seemingly unlikely pair find their relationship put to the test by a tragic loss.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, disturbing, depressing
Similar in 82%
Hannah Arendt (2012)
Plot Summary:
Hannah Arendt is a portrait of the genius that shook the world with her discovery of “the banality of evil.” After she attends the Nazi Adolf Eichmann’s trial in Jerusalem, Arendt dares to write about the Holocaust in terms no one has ever heard before. Her work instantly provokes a furious scandal, and Arendt stands strong as she is attacked by friends and foes alike. But as the German-Jewish émigré also struggles to suppress her own painful associations with the past, the film exposes her beguiling blend of arrogance and vulnerability — revealing a soul defined and derailed by exile.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Germany, Luxembourg, France, Israel
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: psychological, thought provoking, realistic, philosophical, political, art house, anthropological, serious, captivating, contemplative
Similar in 83%
Mirror (1975)
Plot Summary:
A dying man in his forties remembers his past. His childhood, his mother, the war, personal moments and things that tell of the recent history of all the Russian nation.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 51000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: surreal, cerebral, atmospheric, avant garde, art house, enigmatic, serious, philosophical, psychological, thought provoking
Similar in 79%
Basquiat (1996)
Plot Summary:
Director Julian Schnabel illustrates the portrait of his friend, the first African-American pop artist Jean-Michel Basquiat who unfortunately died at a young age and just as he was beginning to make a name for himself in the art world. Alongside the biography of Basquiat are the artists and the art scene from early 1980’s New York.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: stylized, factual, inspirational, atmospheric, captivating, realistic, artsy, art house, thought provoking, dark
Similar in 80%
RKO 281 (1999)
Plot Summary:
A film about the making of Citizen Kane. Orson Welles produces his greatest film, Citizen Kane, despite the opposition of the film's de facto subject, William Randolph Hearst.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: talky, historical drama, sentimental, atmospheric, clever, serious, realistic, stylized, tense, light
Similar in 79%
Genius (2016)
Plot Summary:
New York in the 1920s. Max Perkins, literary editor at Scribner’s Sons is the first to sign such subsequent literary greats as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. When a sprawling, chaotic 1,000-page manuscript by an unknown writer named Thomas Wolfe falls into his hands, Perkins is convinced he has discovered a literary genius. Together the two men set out to work on a version for publication and a seemingly endless struggle over every single phrase ensues. During this process, Perkins the gentle family man and Wolfe the eccentric author become close – a relationship eyed with suspicion by their wives. When ‘Look Homeward, Angel’ becomes a resounding success, the writer grows increasingly paranoid.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 21000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: period piece, talky, touching, intellectual, informative, inspirational, melancholic, sexy, thought provoking, enigmatic
Similar in 89%
My Left Foot (1989)
Plot Summary:
In this true story told through flashbacks, Christy Brown is born with crippling cerebral palsy into a poor, working-class Irish family. Able only to control movement in his left foot and to speak in guttural sounds, he is mistakenly believed to be retarded for the first ten years of his life.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 79000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Ireland, UK
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, sincere, unusual plot structure, dramatic, sentimental, motivational, sad, captivating, biting
Similar in 77%
Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story (2011)
Plot Summary:
Magic Beyond Words: The J.K. Rowling Story is a made-for-TV film starring Australian actress Poppy Montgomery. The film, which was shot in B.C. Canada locations altered to look like British locations, details the journey of struggling single mother J. K. Rowling, her bid to become a published author, and her rise to fame that followed the publication of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The film aired on Lifetime on July 18th and was criticized for being too lacklustre (mainly down to the fiercely private author having no say in the production) but it also shed some light on her personal life and featured scenes such as her highly abusive first husband and the death of her mother. The eponymous J.K. Rowling is the world's first billionaire (in terms of US dollars) author and the films inspired by her books have been the highest grossing films of all time. Poppy Montgomery reportedly got blue contact lenses to play the role of the highly influential author.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, sincere, touching, realistic, inspirational, art film, ridiculous
Similar in 83%
The Sea Inside (2004)
Plot Summary:
The Sea Inside is about Spaniard Ramón Sampedro, who fought a 30-year campaign to win the right to end his life with dignity. It is the story of Ramón’s relationships with two women: Julia a lawyer who supports his cause, and Rosa, a local woman who wants to convince him that life is worth living.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 84000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Spain, France, Italy
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: sad, thought provoking, emotional, philosophical, touching, sentimental, breathtaking, serious, depressing, heartbreaking
Similar in 78%
Before Night Falls (2000)
Plot Summary:
Spanning several decades, this powerful biopic offers a glimpse into the life of famed Cuban poet and novelist Reinaldo Arenas, an artist who was vilified for his homosexuality in Fidel Castro's Cuba.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 26000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: Mexico, USA
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, bleak, lyrical, serious, emotional, realistic, independent film, sincere, sad, factual
Similar in 81%
Tove (2020)
Plot Summary:
Helsinki, 1945. The end of the war brings a new sense of artistic and social freedom for painter Tove Jansson. While focusing her artistic dreams on painting, the enchanting tales of the ‘Moomin’ creatures she told to scared children in bomb shelters, rapidly take on a life of their own, bringing international fame.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Finland, Sweden
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, romantic, touching, unusual plot structure, melancholic, contemplative, queer cinema, comic
Similar in 83%
The Iron Lady (2011)
Plot Summary:
A look at the life of Margaret Thatcher, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, with a focus on the price she paid for power.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 113000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, France
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: political, thought provoking, touching, inspirational, period piece, historical drama, intellectual, costume drama, edutainment, informative
Similar in 76%
The End Is My Beginning (2010)
Plot Summary:
When an extraordinary man who has lived through all is approaching his end, he decides to call his son to join him for the last time at his home in Tuscany. His intention is to share some valuable conversations about his life as a press correspondent in Southeast Asia, about the political and social changes which he has seen, and about the spiritual transformation he has experienced in recent years. But for him the most important is to show his son how he is preparing for the last great adventure of a lifetime.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 654
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Germany, Italy
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, contemplative, talky
Similar in 76%
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
Plot Summary:
The true story of Elle France editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who, in 1995 at the age of 43, suffered a stroke that paralyzed his entire body, except his left eye. Using that eye to blink out his memoir, Bauby eloquently described the aspects of his interior world, from the psychological torment of being trapped inside his body to his imagined stories from lands he'd only visited in his mind.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 110000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: France, USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: touching, inspirational, emotional, depressing, psychological, sincere, breathtaking, visual, motivational, sentimental
Similar in 83%
Pollock (2000)
Plot Summary:
In August of 1949, Life Magazine ran a banner headline that begged the question: "Jackson Pollock: Is he the greatest living painter in the United States?" The film is a look back into the life of an extraordinary man, a man who has fittingly been called "an artist dedicated to concealment, a celebrity who nobody knew." As he struggled with self-doubt, engaging in a lonely tug-of-war between needing to express himself and wanting to shut the world out, Pollock began a downward spiral.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 29000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: emotional, intellectual, atmospheric, depressing, breathtaking, art film, sincere, inspirational, dark, neurotic