Best movies like Pavilion of Women
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
With World War 2 looming, a prominent family in China must confront the contrasting ideas of traditionalism, communism and Western thinking, while dealing with the most important ideal of all: love and its meaning in society.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: China, USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: emotional, serious, realistic, tense, crying, intercultural
Best tv shows and movies like Pavilion of Women (2001):
Similar in 84%
Ship of Fools (1965)
Plot Summary:
Passengers on a ship traveling from Mexico to Europe in the 1930s represent society at large in that era. The crew is German, including the ship's Dr. Schumann, who falls in love with one of the passengers, La Condesa. A young American woman, Jenny, is traveling with the man she loves, David. Jenny is fascinated and puzzled by just who some of the other passengers are.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 149 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, emotional, tense, serious, realistic, black and white, talky, intellectual, retro, psychological
Similar in 78%
The Proposition (1998)
Plot Summary:
Father Michael McKinnon goes from the UK to Boston circa 1935. For unknown reasons, he avoids at all costs the most prominent parishioners, Arthur and Eleanor Barret. Meanwhile Eleanor and Arthur desperately want to have a child, but Arthur is sterile, so they hire Harvard law student Roger Martin to impregnate Eleanor, but unfortunately Roger falls in love with her.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: melancholic, absurd, sincere, erotic, emotional, inspirational, romantic drama, psychological, serious, realistic
Similar in 87%
Springtime in a Small Town (2002)
Plot Summary:
In a mansion decimated during World War II, a frustrated, bored housewife, Yuwen, is torn between caring for her ailing husband and her longing for a former sweetheart, a doctor who has come to treat her husband.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: China, Hong Kong, France, Netherlands
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: sentimental, thought provoking, serious, emotional, realistic, stylized, touching, contemplative, gloomy, crying
Similar in 87%
Frankie Starlight (1995)
Plot Summary:
The quirky story of a young boy's adventures growing up with his stunningly beautiful mother and the two very different men who love her.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 926
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: Ireland, UK, France, USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: talky, serious, psychological, touching, realistic, cult classic, independent film, crying, fairy tale, sentimental
Similar in 76%
David & Fatima (2008)
Plot Summary:
A retelling of Romeo and Juliet in Jerusalem involving a Palestinian woman and an Israeli man.
IMDB Rating: 4.5
IMDB Votes: 231
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: uplifting, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, captivating, gloomy
Similar in 89%
The House of the Spirits (1993)
Plot Summary:
A rancher, his clairvoyant wife and their family face turbulent years in South America.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 25000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Germany, Denmark, Portugal
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, family saga, melancholic, realistic, costume drama, sexy, mystical, erotic
Similar in 75%
Forty Shades of Blue (2005)
Plot Summary:
A Russian woman living in Memphis with a much older rock-n-roll legend experiences a personal awakening when her husband's estranged son comes to visit.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: sincere, emotional, realistic, contemplative, serious, erotic, offbeat, psychological, gloomy, crying
Similar in 84%
Ae Fond Kiss... (2004)
Plot Summary:
A young man upsets his Punjabi family when he falls in love with an Irish schoolteacher.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, Italy, Germany, Spain, Belgium
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: realistic, emotional, sentimental, touching, romantic, offbeat, serious, crying, erotic, sexy
Similar in 86%
Map of the Human Heart (1992)
Plot Summary:
Fantastic improbabilities, happenstance and the undying bridge of love are part of this romantic fantasy about an Inuit who crosses years, oceans and the ravages of WWII to find his childhood love, a Metis girl, but finds that their cultures are the most difficult spaces to gap.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Romance, War
Country: Australia, UK, Canada, France
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: romantic, touching, emotional, realistic, erotic, retro, independent film, serious, captivating, fairy tale
Similar in 85%
The White Countess (2005)
Plot Summary:
The last movie from the team of Ismail Merchant, James Ivory, and Kazuo Ishiguro. Set in 1930s Shanghai, "The White Countess" is both Sofia (Natasha Richardson), a fallen member of the Russian aristocracy, and a nightclub created by a blind American diplomat named Jackson (Ralph Fiennes), who asks Sofia to be the centerpiece of the world he wants to create.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: UK, Germany, China, USA
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: romantic, sentimental, emotional, atmospheric, period piece, costume drama, touching, lyrical, romantic drama, sincere
Similar in 76%
Twice in a Lifetime (1985)
Plot Summary:
A middle-aged steelworker is content with his job and his family, but feels that something is missing in his life. On his 50th birthday, he stops in at a local bar for a drink to celebrate. He finds himself attracted to the young, very sexy barmaid--and, to his surprise, he finds that she is also very attracted to him.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: sentimental, emotional, realistic, sincere, touching, serious, independent film, contemplative
Similar in 89%
Basil (1998)
Plot Summary:
A lonely young aristocrat in turn-of the century England struggles to meet the approval of his over-bearing, class-conscious father while trying to please the selfish woman he loves.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, realistic, light, sincere, period piece, gothic, crying, independent film, period drama
Similar in 83%
Lover's Prayer (2001)
Plot Summary:
A younger boy falls in love with a tragic girl who flirts with, and manipulates, her older suitors in 1800s Russia.
IMDB Rating: 4.8
IMDB Votes: 849
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: captivating, sentimental, serious, realistic, period piece, costume drama, independent film, period drama
Similar in 80%
Red Sorghum (1988)
Plot Summary:
An old leper who owned a remote sorghum winery dies. Jiu'er, the wife bought by the leper, and her lover, identified only as "my Grandpa" by the narrator, take over the winery and set up an idealized quasi-matriarchal community headed by Jiu'er. When the Japanese invaders subject the area to their rule and cut down the sorghum to make way for a road, the community rises up and resists as the sorghum grows anew.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: China
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags: tense, depressing, manga, independent film, costume drama, mind blowing, psychological, sincere, epic, serious
Similar in 89%
Ethan Frome (1992)
Plot Summary:
Based on the novel of the same name by Edith Wharton, it is about a husband and wife (Ethan and Zeena), who need an extra hand around the house due to Zeena's debilitated body and constant illness. The young woman who joins them is a beautiful, spirited person. She and Ethan fall in love much to the dismay of Zeena. Written by Jason Ihle.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: emotional, intense, costume drama, sentimental, captivating, serious, realistic, contemplative, independent film, light
Similar in 80%
Zelary (2003)
Plot Summary:
A nurse and her surgeon-lover are part of a resistance movement in 1940s Czechoslovakia. When they are discovered, her lover flees and she must find a place to hide. A patient whose life she saved, a man from a remote mountain village where time stopped 150 years ago, agrees to hide her as his wife.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Austria
Duration: 150 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, realistic, sincere, contemplative, epic, mysterious, serious, sentimental, romantic
Similar in 78%
Bethune: The Making of a Hero (1990)
Plot Summary:
True story of Norman Bethune, a medical doctor who fought for justice in China during Mao's rise to power.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 407
Genere: Biography, Drama, Romance, War
Country: Canada, China, France
Duration: 168 min
Plot tags: realistic, thought provoking, serious, epic, exciting, suspense, independent film, tense, sincere, uplifting
Similar in 83%
The Year That Trembled (2002)
Plot Summary:
The Year That Trembled is a 1970 coming-of-age story set in the shadow of Kent State that focuses on a group of young characters facing the Vietnam Draft Lottery.
IMDB Rating: 5.1
IMDB Votes: 222
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, emotional, serious, realistic, contemplative, independent film
Similar in 81%
Good (2008)
Plot Summary:
The rise of national socialism in Germany should not be regarded as a conspiracy of madmen. Millions of "good" people found themselves in a society spiralling into terrible chaos. A film about then, which illuminates the terrors of now.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, disturbing, captivating, christian film, retro, political, sad, period piece, romantic drama
Similar in 83%
Raise the Red Lantern (1991)
Plot Summary:
China in the 1920s. After her father's death, 19 year old Songlian is forced to marry the much older lord of a powerful family. With three wives already, each living in a separate house within the great castle, there is fierce competition for his attention and the privileges that are gained. This competition gets out of hand.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 35000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Hong Kong, China
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, depressing, stylized, visually stunning, intense, serious, realistic, poignant, cerebral, independent film
Similar in 80%
Shadow Magic (2000)
Plot Summary:
Beijing, 1902: an enterprising young portrait photographer named Liu Jinglun, keen on new technology, befriends a newly-arrived Englishman who's brought projector, camera, and Lumière-brothers' shorts to open the Shadow Magic theater. Liu's work with Wallace brings him conflict with tradition and his father's authority, complicated by his falling in love with Ling, daughter of Lord Tan, star of Beijing's traditional opera. Liu sees movies as his chance to become wealthy and worthy of Ling. When the Shadow Magic pair are invited to show the films to the Empress Dowager, things look good. But, is disaster in the script? And, can movies preserve tradition even as they bring change?.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 795
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: China, Germany, Taiwan, USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, realistic, emotional, fairy tale, funny, light, romantic, feel good, unusual plot structure
Similar in 77%
The English Patient (1996)
Plot Summary:
In the 1930s, Count Almásy is a Hungarian map maker employed by the Royal Geographical Society to chart the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert along with several other prominent explorers. As World War II unfolds, Almásy enters into a world of love, betrayal, and politics.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 198000
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA, UK, Italy
Duration: 162 min
Plot tags: romantic, sentimental, emotional, touching, heartbreaking, sexy, erotic, scenic, epic, captivating
Similar in 80%
Chinese Box (1997)
Plot Summary:
The story of Hong Kong, from New Year's Day to June 30th, 1997, when the British left their colony and turned it over to the People's Republic of China.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: France, Japan, USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, independent film, sentimental, serious, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, philosophical, sexy, thought provoking
Similar in 75%
Talk of Angels (1998)
Plot Summary:
This is the story of a young Irish woman who comes to Spain to escape from the pressures she feels about her impending marriage to a political activist in Ireland. But in Spain in the 1930's, taking a job of governess in a wealthy family, she finds the same kinds of political unrest. In fact, it isn't long before she finds herself attracted to a married man who is similarly involved in the struggle against fascism and Franco. This awakens her to her nature that brings her to such men and resolves for her what she must do about the life she left in Ireland.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 893
Genere: Drama, Romance, War
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, sentimental, disturbing, independent film
Similar in 85%
To Live (1994)
Plot Summary:
Fugui and Jiazhen endure tumultuous events in China as their personal fortunes move from wealthy landownership to peasantry.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Hong Kong, China
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: epic, family saga, sad, touching, emotional, sincere, depressing, independent film, mind blowing, tense
Similar in 77%
The Sleeping Dictionary (2003)
Plot Summary:
A young Englishman is dispatched to Sarawak to become part of the British colonial government. He encounters some unorthodox local traditions, and finds himself faced with tough decisions of the heart involving the beautiful Selima, the unwitting object of his affections.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, Germany, USA
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: romantic, sexy, erotic, scenic, captivating, serious, period piece, fairy tale, touching, art film
Similar in 87%
The Heart of Me (2002)
Plot Summary:
Drama set in 1930s London with two sisters, Madeleine married to Rickie, and Dinah, who falls in love with him. Rickie and Dinah begin an affair which is to have repercussions throughout all their lives.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, Germany
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, serious, emotional, romantic drama, clever, erotic, romantic, spiritual, cult classic
Similar in 87%
Damage (1992)
Plot Summary:
The life of a respected British politician at the height of his career crumbles when he becomes obsessed with his son's lover.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: UK, France
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: sexy, sexual, erotic, melancholic, psychological, sensual, emotional, realistic, non-linear, romantic
Similar in 87%
The Painted Veil (2006)
Plot Summary:
A British medical doctor fights a cholera outbreak in a small Chinese village, while also being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 95000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: China, Canada, USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: touching, emotional, scenic, captivating, heartbreaking, melancholic, costume drama, romantic, period piece, atmospheric
Similar in 85%
A Walk in the Clouds (1995)
Plot Summary:
World War II vet Paul Sutton falls for a pregnant and unwed woman who persuades him -- during their first encounter -- to pose as her husband so she can face her family.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: romantic, touching, realistic, sentimental, uplifting, sweet, tear jerker, emotional, epic, cult classic