Best movies like The Girl from Hunan
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The heartbreaking tale of a young girl sold into an arranged marriage with a 2 year old boy who she must raise as his nanny until he is old enough to marry her. She is expected to honour tradition and to toe the line so far as social proprieties are concerned, but the young girl rebels against the edicts of her elders until at 16, she falls in love with another man... Though set in turn-of-the-century China, The Girl from Hunan deliberately parallel the state of affairs in the China of the late 1980s.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 219
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like The Girl from Hunan (1987):
Similar in 88%
Return to Dust (2022)
Plot Summary:
Humble, unassuming Ma and timid Cao have been cast off by their families and forced into an arranged marriage. They have to combine their strength and build a home to survive. In the face of much adversity, an unexpected bond begins to blossom, as both Ma and Cao, uniting with Earth’s cycles, create a haven for themselves in which they can thrive.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 80%
Flying Colors (2016)
Plot Summary:
A 15 year old mute village girl runs away from home due to problems, lands in Mumbai city. Initially she struggles to cope up with the big city, but fights her way forward to survive and achieve freedom overcoming obstacles.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 15
Genere: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 84 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 84%
Memed My Hawk (1984)
Plot Summary:
In 1920s Turkey, a young peasant is smitten with a beautiful young girl, who has been promised in marriage to the fat, dullard cousin of the province's powerful and corrupt governor. When an assassination attempt is made against the official, the young man flees his village and joins up with a group of outlaws fighting against the wealthy and powerful landowners who control the lives of the locals and make life miserable for them. The outlaws' successes prompt the governor to call in the Turkish army to capture or kill them.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 204
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Yugoslavia
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 84%
Angels Wear White (2017)
Plot Summary:
In a small seaside town, two schoolgirls are assaulted by a middle-aged man in a motel. Mia, a teenager who was working on reception that night, is the only witness. For fear of losing her job, she says nothing. Meanwhile, 12-year-old Wen, one of the victims, finds that her troubles have only just begun. Trapped in a world that offers them no safety, Mia and Wen will have to find their own way out.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: China, France
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: political
Similar in 84%
Jim, the World's Greatest (1975)
Plot Summary:
One of his earlier pieces, Don Coscarelli (of Phantasm Phame) has a knack for seeing the world through the eyes and heart of a young boy. He offers a Peter Pan-esque adventure to men from the boomers to present day, with each generation being introduced to a more innocent time.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 143
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 84%
The Hunter (2004)
Plot Summary:
A Kakakh kid (12) commits a robbery with a pistol he stole from a hunter. The hunter gives him a choice: either he goes to jail or they undertake a harsh journey through the mountains. Poetic Central Asian horse opera about the laws of nature.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 113
Genere: Drama
Country: France, Japan, Kazakhstan, Switzerland
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 76%
Xian's Finest (2000)
Plot Summary:
Wu, a veteran police officer in Xian, is demoted to work in a community policing center after he accidentally injures a hostage during a rescue mission. At first the new job appears to be simple and straightforward, but Wu and his family gradually get engulfed in a web of mistrust, jealousy, accusations, and even worse things.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 15
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
Harry Munter (1969)
Plot Summary:
Harry Munter, a sensitive, kind, appealing man in his twenties, lives with his parents. He's an inventor, a bit of a mystic, maybe a genius, and a good son and grandson. He's offered work in the U.S. But a friend has cancer and the world is changing in ways that provoke profound sadness. Written by Eileen Berdon.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 110
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 82%
My Country, My Parents (2021)
Plot Summary:
Actress Zhang Ziyi, actor-and-director Wu Jing, comedian Shen Teng, and actor-and-director Xu Zheng come together to direct four short films as part of a new anthology drama paying tribute to China’s families.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 526
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 157 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 88%
Julio Begins in July (1979)
Plot Summary:
This is the story of a teenager at the turn of the century in the conservative higher classes of Chile and the initiation rites in his society.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 282
Genere: Drama
Country: Chile
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 90%
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (1995)
Plot Summary:
Two very different people become friends and partners in this nautical drama. Nikos (Stephen Rea) is a radio man working on a Greek freighter when he finds himself stranded in Hong Kong after the firm that owned his ship suddenly goes out of business. Nikos is already depressed over his recent breakup with his girlfriend, and this latest turn of events hardly makes him feel any better; he develops a dependence on opium as he works a variety of odd jobs trying to keep himself together while waiting for his ship to return to the sea. Li (Ling Chu) is a ten-year-old Chinese girl, cut off from her mother and father, who has a sampan and asks Nikos to help her get the boat ready for the water. Nikos doesn't much care for Li at first, but her youthful optimism and determination to succeed make an impression on him, and in time he leads her on a voyage to find the family she left behind years before.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 523
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, France, UK
Duration: 92 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 79%
The River with No Bridge (1992)
Plot Summary:
THE RIVER WITH NO BRIDGE begins in 1908 and tells the story of a widow, Fude HATANAKA and her two sons, Seitaro and Koji, who live in the small town of Komori, where Buraku people are forced to reside. The two boys are continuously harassed by their teachers and classmates through their childhood as a result of their Buraku heritage. In the midst of the 1918 Great Rice Riots in Osaka, Seitaro meets with Asako, the daughter of a rice shop owner, and falls in love with her. She too is of Buraku descent. At the same period, Hideaki, an old friend of the brothers returns to Komori, and he along with Koji and the townspeople create "Zenkoku Suiheisha", the National Levelers Association, an organization pledged to build a bridge over the river of discrimination, making all people equal in every way.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 32
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 142 min
Plot tags: saga
Similar in 82%
Where The Miracle Happens (2008)
Plot Summary:
Pimdao, a successful real estate developer and businesswoman, is injured in an accident that kills her beloved daughter at a time when the two are estranged. After the accident, Pimdao decides to take her daughter's place as a volunteer at an impoverished rural school in Chiang Rai, keeping her identity a secret. In the end, Pimdao, played by Princess Ubol Ratana herself, realizes that real happiness doesn't come from external events but lies in the heart.
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 15
Genere: Drama
Country: Thailand
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: tear jerker, tearjerker
Similar in 82%
The Beans of Egypt, Maine (1994)
Plot Summary:
The Beans are poor, proud, hated by all, but alive in the sense that they struggle against their lot and support each other in time of trouble. Earlene lives across the street from the Bean's trailer, and the view from her window is better than any daytime television soap opera; especially Beal Bean, and especially Beal Bean shirtless. When Reuben Bean is sent to prison for resisting arrest for out-of-season deer hunting, Beal takes up with Reuben's woman Roberta. He also has a child by Earlene, with a triangle of sex complicated by poverty.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 405
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 83%
Little Moth (2007)
Plot Summary:
A couple purchases an eleven-year old girl who cannot walk, with the intention of using her to earn money through begging.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 138
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 79%
Letter from the Mountain (2002)
Plot Summary:
As the film begins, Takao (Akira Terao) and Michiko (Kanako Higuchi) have already pulled up their Tokyo roots and moved to a village that is Takao's ancestral home. They visit a thatched cottage that serves as a memorial shrine (amidado) for the village dead and chat with the attendant, the spry 96-year-old Oume (Tanie Kitabayashi). Together they admire the view -- from an inspiring distance. Oume, it turns out, is a kind of sage, whose thoughts and observations are a popular feature in a column in a local newsletter. Her amanuensis is a mute, sweetly smiling young woman named Sayuri (Manami Konishi), who is as devoted to Oume as Oume is to the souls of her beloved dead.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 290
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 89%
The Wizard of Loneliness (1988)
Plot Summary:
A family drama.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 283
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 79%
Tagged! (2011)
Plot Summary:
A teenage girl, raised on her schizophrenic mother's tales of galactic wars, believes she is an alien princess in hiding and forms a Lazer Tag team to train bodyguards. When her estranged father, disfigured and crippled in the Iraqi war, returns to ask forgiveness for staying away, she suffers a mental crisis. Can the love of a troubled young man bring her into the real world or will her fantasies finally win out and drive her into total insanity?.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 9
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: cult film
Similar in 85%
Virgina (1991)
Plot Summary:
"Virgina" tells a tale from the end of the 19th century. It took place in a isolated village near the Adriatic Sea. Because of the extreme patriarchal culture there is a superstition that families without male heirs are cursed. When the wife of a farmer gives birth to their fourth daughter, father decides that the child will become a so-called "Virgina" and that she will live as a man, so that she can work and be the family heir. This heartbreaking story of Virgina's life is told with strong words, augmented with harsh environment.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 556
Genere: Drama
Country: Yugoslavia, France
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 76%
Fantasia (2014)
Plot Summary:
Father got leukaemia. Mother was laid off long ago. She had to borrow money for her husband everywhere. Sister went to a night club to be a waitress secretly and soon became a “call girl”. Lin was cold-shouldered at school because of father’s illness. He became disgusted of school. One day, at the riverside, he found a dilapidated ship and knew the strange “father and daughter”. Lin made friends with that girl and helped them to steal iron stone. Because of Lin’s frequent absences the teacher came to see mother. He was sympathy for her. One day, Lin discovered his teacher was at his home with mother together…Lin went to see father. He could not help emerging out such a fantasy: He pinched father’s transfusion tube…Lin came to the riverside once again, but that ship disappeared….
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 51
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 86%
Baba Joon (2015)
Plot Summary:
Yitzhak runs the turkey farm his father built with his own two hands after they emigrated from Iran to Israel. When his son Moti turns thirteen, Yitzhak teaches him the trade, hoping that he will continue the proud family tradition. But Moti doesn't like working in the turkey barn; his passion is fixing up junkyard cars and bringing them back to life. Moti's mother Sarah tries to reconcile between the two, while his grandfather pushes Yitzhak to take a firm hand with his son. Yitzhak takes Moti's refusal to work in the turkey barn as a personal rejection. Though he loves his son dearly, he makes it his mission to impose the family farm on Moti. The arrival of Darius, the uncle from America, sets off a chain of events that will undermine the familial harmony. Soon enough Yitzhak will learn that his son is just as stubborn as he is. The conflict is inevitable.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 412
Genere: Drama
Country: Israel
Duration: 91 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 89%
Arcadia Lost (2010)
Plot Summary:
Two teenagers wander rural Greece after being stranded by a car crash. They encounter an itinerant vagabond on their travels.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 209
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration:
Plot tags: sincere, serious, captivating, touching
Similar in 85%
Annalisa (2011)
Plot Summary:
The friendship between two Southern Italy kids is tested by their meeting with a young girl who's attempted suicide after failing to get married. Based on the novel "Il paese delle spose infelici" (literally, "Village of the Sad Brides", which is also the original title of this film) this elegantly photographed coming-of-age tale has sensitivity to spare but its stylish, yet understated, attitude doesn't easily win viewers over.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 197
Genere: Drama
Country: Italy
Duration: 82 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 85%
There Should Be Rules (2015)
Plot Summary:
Mia and Mirjam are two 14-year-olds who live in a very dreary little town. Though not especially grown-up, they're both trying. Mirjam gets a head start by forming a relationship with an older man who says he loves her. Mia has a dad who drinks a little too much. Lucky for them that they have each other. Not forgetting Karl, their super-smart buddy.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 109
Genere: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, touching
Similar in 80%
Pickpocket (1997)
Plot Summary:
Little pocket thief Wu never got away from the streets like his friends did. He realises that he is alone, as his old buddy doesn't invite him for his wedding. When he falls in love with a hooker he is forced to think about his future. Can he break with his criminal past?.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama
Country: China, Hong Kong
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: contemplative, neo noir, independent film, psychological, serious, captivating, realistic, biting, suspense
Similar in 88%
Little Q (2019)
Plot Summary:
Little Q is an aspiring guide dog, training to be a guide for the blind. Soon Little Q is partnered with Bo-ting, a renowned pastry chef who’s losing his sight. But Bo-ting is irritable and reluctant, constantly losing his temper at those around him and rejecting Little Q. Eventually, dog and owner bond as Little Q wins Bo-ting over with its unwavering loyalty. However, as Little Q gets older and Bo-ting’s health suffers, the two of them face an unwilling separation.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 242
Genere: Drama
Country: China, Hong Kong
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: psychological, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 75%
Roll Of Thunder, Hear My Cry (1978)
Plot Summary:
With the land to hold them together, nothing can tear the Logans apart. Why is the land so important to Cassie's family? It takes the events of one turbulent year- the year of the night riders and the burnings, the year a white girl humiliates Cassie in public simply because she is black- to show Cassie that having a place of their own is the Logan family's lifeblood. It is the land that gives the Logans their courage and pride- no matter how others may degrade them, the Logans possess something no one can take away.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 336
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: historical drama
Similar in 76%
The Battery (2007)
Plot Summary:
Because of his younger brother’s poor health, Takumi and his family move to a different Japanese town. There, Takumi, an incredibly gifted baseball pitcher, gradually alienates his relatives and friends by putting sports above all else in life.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 175
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, dorama, light, compassionate
Similar in 78%
Wait Until Spring, Bandini (1989)
Plot Summary:
Rocklin Colorado, 1925. A hard cold winter. Young Arturo Bandini loves his father Svevo, his mother Maria and his brothers. Even though his bricklayer father wastes the little money he has in the Imperial Poolhall and his time with the rich American widow, Hildegarde. Even though his beautiful and pious mother lets his father get away with that, even if his little brother wets the bed. Arturo loves them all. He also loves to play baseball, even though he has to wait until spring. And he also loves the movies ... and Rosa. But she doesn't love him.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 710
Genere: Drama
Country: Belgium, France, Italy, USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: independent film, rough, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 81%
Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl (1998)
Plot Summary:
Young teen girl Xiu Xiu is sent away to a remote corner of the Sichuan steppes for manual labor in 1975 (sending young people to there was a part of Cultural Revolution in China). A year later, she agrees to go to even more remote spot with a Tibetan saddle tramp Lao Jin to learn horse herding.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: China, USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: depressing, emotional, disturbing, erotic, sincere, atmospheric, touching, serious, realistic, gloomy