Best movies like Painted Fire
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The struggles of an artist. Jang Seung-up (1843-1897), also called Owon, focusing on the years 1882 to 1897, when Korea was in political upheaval, caught between China and Japan, the conservative dynasty dying, and peasant revolt at hand. Jang, born poor, has genius; a merchant, Kim, becomes his patron, finding him a teacher. Jang must convince others that a commoner can have talent, then move beyond his ability to copy old masters and find his own style. He's bedeviled by a temper and alcohol, arguments with patrons as he seeks commissions, and relationships with kisaeng, particularly Mae-hyang, that start and stop. It's the life of a restless spirit producing great art.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: South Korea
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, captivating, sentimental, melancholic, sincere, art film, period drama
Best tv shows and movies like Painted Fire (2002):
Similar in 87%
Goya in Bordeaux (1999)
Plot Summary:
Francisco Goya (1746-1828), deaf and ill, lives the last years of his life in voluntary exile in Bordeaux, a Liberal protesting the oppressive rule of Ferdinand VII. He's living with his much younger wife Leocadia and their daughter Rosario. He continues to paint at night, and in flashbacks stirred by conversations with his daughter, by awful headaches, and by the befuddlement of age, he relives key times in his life.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, War
Country: Spain, Italy
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: surreal, atmospheric, serious, realistic, contemplative, psychological, light, enigmatic, breathtaking, unusual plot structure
Similar in 84%
A Soul Haunted by Painting (1994)
Plot Summary:
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Yu-liang leaves a brothel in a small Chinese town, to become the second wife of Mr. Pan. While Pan is away at the revolution in Yunnan, Yu-liang learns to paint and takes art classes at the Shanghai Art Institute, until it is closed for painting nudes. Because she cannot bear him a son, Yu-liang leaves Pan to his first wife, and studies art in Paris, where she wins an award for a nude self-portrait. She returns to join Pan in Nanking in the 1930's, and becomes a Professor until it is discovered that she came from a brothel. She returns to Paris to live the rest of her life there, and finally gains a major exhibition of her work.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 477
Genere: Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: China, France, Taiwan
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, realistic, sexual, sexy
Similar in 85%
The Wolf at the Door (1986)
Plot Summary:
This biographical film, based on the life of French artist Paul Gauguin, follows the painter as he returns to Paris after a long stay in Tahiti and must confront his wife, his children, and his former lover.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 459
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Denmark, France
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, realistic, sexual, sexy
Similar in 78%
Rikyu (1989)
Plot Summary:
Late in the 1500s, an aging tea master teaches the way of tea to a headstrong Shogun. Through force of will and courageous fighting, Hideyoshi becomes Japan's most powerful warlord, unifying the country. Rikyu, through the tea ceremony and floral arrangements, tempers his lord, helping Hideyoshi focus on a single flower or be in a simple room where the shape of a cup is of most importance. But other forces fuel Hideyoshi's ambitions: the Portuguese bring a globe and guns, and he believes he can conquer Korea and China. When Rikyu raises doubts about invading China, Hideyoshi demands an apology, and Rikyu himself must find courage in the way of tea.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 813
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Japan
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, contemplative, stylized, jidai geki
Similar in 82%
Sade (2000)
Plot Summary:
A man prepares himself to be transferred to a detention center and rest home where he will relive one more time the highlights of his youth.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: France
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: serious, atmospheric, realistic, sexy, sexual, melancholic, sensual, tense, erotic, independent film
Similar in 87%
Van Gogh (1991)
Plot Summary:
In late spring, 1890, Vincent moves to Auvers-sur-Oise, near Paris, under the care of Dr. Gachet, living in a humble inn. Fewer than 70 days later, Vincent dies from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. We see Vincent at work, painting landscapes and portraits. His brother Theo, wife Johanna, and their baby visit Auvers. Vincent is playful and charming, engaging the attentions of Gachet's daughter Marguerite (who's half Vincent's age), a young maid at the inn, Cathy a Parisian prostitute, and Johanna. Shortly before his death, Vincent visits Paris, quarrels with Theo, disparages his own art and accomplishments, dances at a brothel, and is warm then cold toward Marguerite.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Adventure, Biography, Drama, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 158 min
Plot tags: anthology, psychological, sincere, atmospheric, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 82%
Egon Schiele: Death and the Maiden (2016)
Plot Summary:
At the beginning of the 20th Century Egon Schiele is one of the most provocative artists in Vienna. His life and work are driven by beautiful women and an era that is coming to an end. Two women will have a lasting impact on him - his sister and first muse Gerti, and 17 year old Wally, arguably Schiele's one true love, immortalized in his famous painting 'Death and the Maiden'. Schiele's radical paintings scandalize Viennese society while daring artists like Gustav Klimt and art agents alike are sensing the exceptional. But Egon Schiele is also prepared to go beyond his own pain and to sacrifice Love and Life for his Art. Art that inspires us up to this day.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Austria, Luxembourg
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, realistic, artsy, art house, non-linear
Similar in 88%
Andrei Rublev (1966)
Plot Summary:
An expansive Russian drama, this film focuses on the life of revered religious icon painter Andrei Rublev. Drifting from place to place in a tumultuous era, the peace-seeking monk eventually gains a reputation for his art. But after Rublev witnesses a brutal battle and unintentionally becomes involved, he takes a vow of silence and spends time away from his work. As he begins to ease his troubled soul, he takes steps towards becoming a painter once again.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 56000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 205 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, breathtaking, art house, black and white, philosophical, epic, visual, visually appealing, spiritual, bleak
Similar in 83%
A Harlot's Progress (2006)
Plot Summary:
Drama looking at artist William Hogarth and his relationship with the prostitute that inspired his most famous piece.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 336
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, historical drama, sexual, sexy, period drama
Similar in 85%
Edvard Munch (1974)
Plot Summary:
A biographical film about the Norwegian Expressionist painter Edvard Munch. It was originally created as a three-part miniseries co-produced by the Norwegian and Swedish state television networks, but subsequently gained an American theatrical release in a three-hour version in 1976. The film covers about thirty years of Munch's life, focusing on the influences that shaped his art, particularly the prevalence of disease and death in his family and his youthful affair with a married woman.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Mystery, Romance
Country: Sweden, Norway
Duration: 210 min
Plot tags: expressionism, art film, psychological, atmospheric, serious, realistic, stylized, intellectual, crying, dread
Similar in 79%
Modigliani (2004)
Plot Summary:
Set in Paris in 1919, biopic centers on the life of late Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, focusing on his last days as well as his rivalry with Pablo Picasso. Modigliani, a Jew, has fallen in love with Jeanne, a young and beautiful Catholic girl. The couple has an illegitimate child, and Jeanne's bigoted parents send the baby to a faraway convent to be raised by nuns. Modigliani is distraught and.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, Germany, Romania, France, Italy
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: touching, realistic, serious, sad, factual, melancholic, psychological, inspirational, romantic, epic
Similar in 84%
Nightwatching (2007)
Plot Summary:
An extravagant, exotic and moving look at Rembrandt's romantic and professional life, and the controversy he created by the identification of a murderer in the painting The Night Watch.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Mystery
Country: UK, Poland, Canada, Netherlands
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, disturbing, enigmatic, heartbreaking, art film, metafiction, avant garde, baroque
Similar in 81%
Renoir (2012)
Plot Summary:
The Côte d’Azur. 1915. In his twilight years, Pierre-Auguste Renoir is tormented by the loss of his wife, the pains of arthritic old age and the terrible news that his son Jean has been wounded in action. But when a young girl miraculously enters his world, the old painter is filled with a new, wholly unexpected energy. Blazing with life, radiantly beautiful, Andrée will become his last model, and the wellspring of a remarkable rejuvenation. Back at the family home to convalesce, Jean too falls under the spell of the new, redheaded star in the Renoir firmament. In their Mediterranean Eden - and in the face of his father's fierce opposition - he falls in love with this wild, untameable spirit... and as he does so, within weak-willed, battle-shaken Jean, a filmmaker begins to grow.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, scenic, sentimental, costume drama, historical drama, serious, realistic, stylized, period drama
Similar in 81%
Artemisia (1997)
Plot Summary:
Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1653) was one of the first well-known female painters. The movie tells the story of her youth, when she was guided and protected by her father, the painter Orazio Gentileschi. Her professional curiosity about the male anatomy, forbidden for her eyes, led her to the knowledge of sexual pleasure. But she was also well known because in 1612 she had to appear in a courtroom because her teacher, Agostino Tassi, was suspected of raping her. She tried to protect him, but was put in the thumb screws.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Romance
Country: France, Italy, Germany
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: erotic, factual, sexual, spiritual, art film, historical drama, serious, captivating, realistic, stylized
Similar in 78%
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 83%
Louis Cyr : The Strongest Man in the World (2013)
Plot Summary:
Biopic of Louis Cyr, strongest man in the world at the end of the 19th Century.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Canada
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 86%
Priest Daens (1992)
Plot Summary:
In the 1890s, Father Adolf Daens goes to Aalst, a textile town where child labor is rife, pay and working conditions are horrible, the poor have no vote, and the Catholic church backs the petite bourgeoisie in oppressing workers. He writes a few columns for the Catholic paper, and soon workers are listening and the powerful are in an uproar. He's expelled from the Catholic party, so he starts the Christian Democrats and is elected to Parliament. After Rome disciplines him, he must choose between two callings, as priest and as champion of workers. In subplots, a courageous young woman falls in love with a socialist and survives a shop foreman's rape; children die; prelates play billiards.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Belgium, France, Netherlands
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: bleak, sincere, serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing, gloomy, road movie, rough, sexy
Similar in 77%
Goya's Ghosts (2006)
Plot Summary:
Painter Francisco Goya faces a scandal involving his muse, who is labeled a heretic by a monk.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Spain, USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: period piece, intense, factual, thought provoking, realistic, dramatic, costume drama, historical drama, spiritual, sad
Similar in 81%
Forever Enthralled (2008)
Plot Summary:
A biographical account of Mei Lanfang, China's greatest opera star.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: China, Hong Kong
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, stylized, epic
Similar in 75%
Klimt (2006)
Plot Summary:
A portrait of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt whose lavish, sexual paintings came to symbolize the art nouveau style of the late 19th and early 20th century.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Austria, France, Germany, UK
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, stylized, cerebral, visual, visually stunning, serious, captivating, realistic, experimental, contemplative
Similar in 82%
Paradise Found (2003)
Plot Summary:
Paradise Found is a biography about the painter Paul Gauguin. Focusing on his personal conflict between citizen life and his family life and the art scene in Frane. In an incredible imagery montage Gauguin manages to make a successful living in the South Pacific, while being in opposition to France.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 670
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: UK, France, Germany, Australia, USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, scenic, contemplative
Similar in 75%
El Greco (2007)
Plot Summary:
The story of the uncompromising artist and fighter for freedom, Domenicos Theotokopoulos, known to the world as "El Greco".
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Greece, Spain, Hungary
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: serious, emotional, stylized, captivating, disgusting, epic, realistic, non-linear, light, period piece
Similar in 78%
My Nikifor (2004)
Plot Summary:
From his birth in 1895 through his death in 1968, the gifted Polish naïve artist Nikifor Krynicki (AKA Epifan Drowniak) lived his life and eked out a career cloaked in obscurity - a casualty of both his extreme speech impediment (his tongue was attached to the roof of his mouth, which prompted others to errantly tag him as mentally incapacitated) and his self-effacing decision to sell the majority of his work for meager amounts. Krzysztof Krauze's biopic My Nikifor travels to the tail end of Krynicki's (Krystyna Feldman) life journey, dramatizing the period that surrounded his interaction with the well-established artist Marian Wlosinski (Roman Gancarczyk).
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 866
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, captivating, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 90%
Seraphine (2008)
Plot Summary:
The tragic story of French naïve painter Séraphine Louis aka Séraphine de Senlis (1864-1942), a humble servant who becomes a gifted self-taught painter. Discovered by prominent critic and collector William Uhde, she came to prominence between the wars grouped with other naïve painters like Henri Rouseau only to descend into madness and obscurity with the onset of Great Depression and World War II.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: touching, sincere, sentimental, surprise ending, heartbreaking, avant garde, independent film, art film, visual, visually stunning
Similar in 79%
Vincent & Theo (1990)
Plot Summary:
The tragic story of Vincent van Gogh broadened by focusing as well on his brother Theodore, who helped support Vincent. Based on the letters written between the two.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: France, Netherlands, UK, Germany, Italy, USA
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: psychological, touching, scenic, sexy, cult classic, independent film, atmospheric, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 86%
Camille Claudel (1988)
Plot Summary:
The life of Camille Claudel, a french scupltor who becomes the apprentice of Auguste Rodin and later his lover. Her passion for her art and Rodin drive her further away from reason and rationality.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Romance
Country: France
Duration: 175 min
Plot tags: psychological, emotional, intense, touching, heartbreaking, serious, captivating, disturbing, atmospheric, romantic
Similar in 78%
Luther (2003)
Plot Summary:
During the early 16th Century idealistic German monk Martin Luther, disgusted by the materialism in the church, begins the dialogue that will lead to the Protestant Reformation.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Germany, USA, Czech Republic, Italy
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: uplifting, political, biblical, christian film, sincere, touching, intellectual, inspirational, costume drama, intense
Similar in 85%
At Eternity's Gate (2018)
Plot Summary:
Famed but tormented artist Vincent van Gogh spends his final years in Arles, France, painting masterworks of the natural world that surrounds him.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 39000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Ireland, Switzerland, UK, France, USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: independent film, melancholic, psychological, rough, touching, art film, captivating, suspenseful, philosophical, atmospheric
Similar in 87%
Mr. Turner (2014)
Plot Summary:
Eccentric British painter J.M.W. Turner lives his last 25 years with gusto and secretly becomes involved with a seaside landlady, while his faithful housekeeper bears an unrequited love for him.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 27000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: UK, France, Germany, USA, Belgium
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: enigmatic, surreal, meditative, sincere, captivating, costume drama, visual, atmospheric, clever, stylized
Similar in 88%
The Agony and the Ecstasy (1965)
Plot Summary:
Charlton Heston stars as Renaissance artist Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), who begrudgingly paints the Sistine Chapel for imperious Pope Julius II in this epic adaptation of Irvine Stone's novel directed by Carol Reed. While the novel covers Michelangelo's life from birth to death, the film focuses on the battle of wills between the perfectionist artist and the impatient Pope who commissions (and eventually commands) him to paint the famed chapel.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: epic, inspirational, uplifting, serious, biblical, christian film, psychedelic, art film, technicolor, sincere