Best movies like Villa-Lobos: A Life of Passion
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The film tells the story of an intuitive, adventurous man who loved his country and being Brazilian. This man fought to be loyal to himself. His music is a transparent portrait of his genius, intuition, freedom, adventure and passion for Brazil.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 293
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: Brazil
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags:
Best tv shows and movies like Villa-Lobos: A Life of Passion (2000):
Similar in 90%
Django (2017)
Plot Summary:
The story of Django Reinhardt, famous guitarist and composer, and his flight from German-occupied Paris in 1943.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music, War
Country: France
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: costume drama
Similar in 88%
Clara (2008)
Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 5.5
IMDB Votes: 298
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: Germany, France, Hungary
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 90%
The American Letters (2015)
Plot Summary:
Bio-pic about Czech composer Antonin Dvoraák at the height of his career. Dvorák learns that his love and lifelong muse is ill and must return to her side.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 52
Genere: Biography, Music, Romance
Country: Czech Republic
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 88%
Passion (1999)
Plot Summary:
Passion concentrates on Grainger's unusual relationship with his mother and his sexual peculiarities (especially his obsessive self-flagellation, though homosexuality is also hinted at) which affect his relationship with a woman who comes to love him. It is set mainly in London in 1914, when Grainger's mother Rose was ill (she would later jump to her death in New York, upset by ill-founded rumours of incest with her son).
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 310
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Australia
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: independent film
Similar in 86%
The Way to Mandalay (2018)
Plot Summary:
The Way to Mandalay tells the story of one of Denmark's greatest and most beloved musicians. The film takes us on a journey from Mogenson's childhood to manhood and throughout his career which spanned more than twenty years, first with great success in a popular vocal group and later as a successful solo artist. There is a long period that John Mogensen can never be satisfied and he is confused by what are the things he truely loves and is willing to do everything for. Is it the music, the stage, the fame or his family?.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: Denmark
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, melancholic, sentimental, thought provoking, suspenseful
Similar in 86%
The Revolving Doors (1988)
Plot Summary:
Set in a small Quebec town in the late '20s, this moving drama follows the life and exploits of Celeste Beaumont, a talented young pianist, who gains local celebrity at the town movie theater for her gifts as a silent film accompanist. As an added attraction, Celeste dons ornate gowns for each performance. Audiences are just as interested in her ever-changing apparel as they are in the film. Awkward Pierre Blaudell is her biggest fan and eventually convinces Celeste to be his wife. Shortly after she bears his son, Pierre joins the army. She insists on joining him at the base and his meddlesome, snooty parents insist she give them her son. After Pierre is killed in battle, Celeste flees to New York where she finds steady employment as a jazz pianist. She finds a life-long companion with a black musician and chronicles her experiences in a diary that she passes on to her son after he grows up.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 194
Genere: Drama, Music
Country: Canada, France
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 77%
Testimony (1987)
Plot Summary:
The story of the great Soviet composer Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) and his life and career during the rule of Stalin.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 282
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Music
Country: Netherlands, UK, Denmark, West Germany, Sweden
Duration: 157 min
Plot tags: black and white, independent film
Similar in 83%
Farinelli (1994)
Plot Summary:
Farinelli is a 1994 biopic film about the life and career of Italian opera singer Farinelli, considered one of the greatest castrato singers of all time.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: France, Italy, Belgium, UK
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: realistic, heartbreaking, factual, sexy, emotional, disturbing, touching, erotic, dramatic, visual
Similar in 77%
Maestro (2023)
Plot Summary:
This fearless love story chronicles the complicated lifelong relationship between music legend Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags:
Similar in 84%
Ragged Life of Juice Leskinen (2018)
Plot Summary:
Biopic of Finnish singer and songwriter, Juice Leskinen.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: Finland
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, captivating
Similar in 83%
Dreams of Love - Liszt (1970)
Plot Summary:
This is a romantic biographical film about Franz Liszt. In a distinguished saloon of Paris, the unknown composer, Liszt, defeats the renown Thalberg at a piano competition. Through his playing, he wins the favours and later the hand of the countess D'Agoult. A daughter is born in their marriage, Cosima. Liszt is better and better known, Marie introduces him to the circle of artists.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 190
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Music, Romance
Country: Hungary, Soviet Union
Duration: 171 min
Plot tags: period piece
Similar in 78%
Tim Maia (2014)
Plot Summary:
Biopic of Brazilian singer Tim Maia, from his childhood in Rio de Janeiro until his death at age 55, including his passage by the US, where he discovers a new style of music and is arrested for theft and drug possession.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: Brazil
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 87%
Destined for Blues (2005)
Plot Summary:
The life of Ryszard Riedel, former leader of cult Polish rock-blues band Dzem, including the history of his family relationships, music career and addiction to alcohol and drugs.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: Poland
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, captivating
Similar in 78%
Cornelis (2010)
Plot Summary:
”Cornelis” is the unique chronicle about one of Sweden’s greatest music legends - Cornelis Vreeswijk. An honest and gripping account of an exceptionally talented, but self-destructive artist’s intense life both on and behind the stage. A man who during his whole life was searching for love and confirmation.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: Sweden
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: captivating, contemplative, atmospheric, psychological, factual, sincere, touching, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 84%
I Saw the Light (2015)
Plot Summary:
Singer and songwriter Hank Williams rises to fame in the 1940s, but alcohol abuse and infidelity take a toll on his career and marriage to fellow musician Audrey Mae Williams.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, emotional, stylized, romantic, sad, anamorphic, historical drama
Similar in 79%
Stardust (2020)
Plot Summary:
David Bowie went to America for the first time to promote his third album, The Man Who Sold the World. There, he embarked on a coast-to-coast publicity tour. During this tour, Bowie came up with the idea of his iconic Ziggy Stardust character, inspired by artists like Iggy Pop and Lou Reed.
IMDB Rating: 4.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: UK
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: touching, melancholic, disturbing, lyrical, retro, freeze frame, poignant
Similar in 88%
Mahler (1974)
Plot Summary:
The film begins on a train journey with Gustav Mahler (Robert Powell) and his wife Alma (Georgina Hale) confronting their failing marriage. The story is then recounted in a series of flashbacks (some of which are surrealistic and nightmarish), taking one through Mahler's childhood, his brother's suicide, his experience with anti-semitism, his conversion from Judaism to Catholicism, his marital problems, and the death of his young daughter. The film also contains a surreal fantasy sequence involving the anti-Semitic Cosima Wagner (Antonia Ellis), widow of Richard Wagner, whose objections to his taking control of the Court Opera were supposedly removed by his conversion to Catholicism. In the process, the film explores Mahler's music and its relationship to his life.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: UK
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: road movie, psychedelic, art house, historical drama, psychological, sincere, atmospheric, serious, realistic, stylized
Similar in 77%
The Harmonists (1997)
Plot Summary:
Comedian Harmonists tells the story of a famous, German male sextet, five vocals and piano, the "Comedian Harmonists", from the day they meet first in 1927 to the day in 1934, when they become banned by the upcoming Nazis, because three of them are Jewish.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: Germany, Austria
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: visually stunning, sentimental, touching, visual, sincere, uplifting, feel good, serious, emotional, realistic
Similar in 76%
Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993)
Plot Summary:
A collection of vignettes highlighting different aspects of the life, work, and character of the acclaimed Canadian classical pianist.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: Canada, Netherlands, Portugal, Finland
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: existential, independent film, spiritual, anthology, serious, realistic, contemplative, philosophical, atmospheric, thought provoking
Similar in 75%
The United States vs. Billie Holiday (2021)
Plot Summary:
The Federal Bureau of Narcotics launches an undercover sting operation against jazz singer Billie Holiday.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 126 min
Plot tags: tense, thought provoking, captivating, suspense, retro, political, anamorphic, independent film, interesting
Similar in 87%
Love & Mercy (2014)
Plot Summary:
The life of reclusive and eccentric Beach Boys songwriter and musician Brian Wilson.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min
Plot tags: emotional, factual, melancholic, talky, intense, serious, touching, inspirational, philosophical, intellectual
Similar in 82%
Copying Beethoven (2006)
Plot Summary:
A fictionalised exploration of Beethoven's life in his final days working on his Ninth Symphony. It is 1824. Beethoven is racing to finish his new symphony. However, it has been years since his last success and he is plagued by deafness, loneliness and personal trauma. A copyist is urgently needed to help the composer. A fictional character is introduced in the form of a young conservatory student and aspiring composer named Anna Holtz. The mercurial Beethoven is skeptical that a woman might become involved in his masterpiece but slowly comes to trust in Anna's assistance and in the end becomes quite fond of her. By the time the piece is performed, her presence in his life is an absolute necessity. Her deep understanding of his work is such that she even corrects mistakes he has made, while her passionate personality opens a door into his private world.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: Germany, UK, Hungary
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: touching, captivating, realistic, serious, stylized, period piece, psychological, inspirational, sincere, spiritual
Similar in 89%
De-Lovely (2004)
Plot Summary:
From Paris to Venice to Broadway to Hollywood, the lives of Cole Porter and his wife, Linda were never less than glamorous and wildly unconventional. And though Cole's thirst for life strained their marriage, Linda never stopped being his muse, inspiring some of the greatest sons of the twentieth century.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music, Musical
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: stylized, lyrical, atmospheric, captivating, sincere, historical drama, offbeat, realistic, semi serious, crying
Similar in 77%
Beyond the Sea (2004)
Plot Summary:
Based on the life and career of legendary entertainer, Bobby Darin, the biopic moves back and forth between his childhood and adulthood, to tell the tale of his remarkable life. Kevin Spacey did his own singing for Beyond the Sea, recreating Bobby Darin's vocal style with uncanny accuracy.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music, Musical
Country: UK, Germany, USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: sentimental, touching, stylized, intense, realistic, inspirational, indie film, serious, independent film, light
Similar in 88%
Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life (2010)
Plot Summary:
A glimpse at the life of French singer Serge Gainsbourg, from growing up in 1940s Nazi-occupied Paris through his successful song-writing years in the 1960s to his death in 1991 at the age of 62.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: France
Duration: 135 min
Plot tags: surreal, atmospheric, lyrical, visually appealing, captivating, sincere, touching, thought provoking, stylized, intense
Similar in 83%
Violeta Went to Heaven (2011)
Plot Summary:
A portrait of famed Chilean singer and folklorist Violeta Parra filled with her musical work, her memories, her loves and her hopes.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: Chile, Argentina, Brazil
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: sentimental, sincere, serious, touching, realistic, hispanic, non-linear
Similar in 80%
Scott Joplin (1977)
Plot Summary:
Details the life story of Scott Joplin and how he became the greatest ragtime composer of all time.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 316
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, period piece
Similar in 84%
Bride of the Wind (2001)
Plot Summary:
A biopic of Alma Mahler, the wife of composer Gustav Mahler (as well as Walter Gropius and Franz Werfel), and the mistress of Oskar Kokoschka.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 692
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music, Romance
Country: UK, Germany, Austria
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, serious, captivating, realistic, heartbreaking, visual, visually stunning, independent film, period drama
Similar in 78%
Respect (2021)
Plot Summary:
The rise of Aretha Franklin’s career from a child singing in her father’s church’s choir to her international superstardom.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: captivating, uplifting, factual, emotional, disturbing, period piece, deep, anamorphic, historical drama, touching
Similar in 83%
Ray (2004)
Plot Summary:
Born on a sharecropping plantation in Northern Florida, Ray Charles went blind at seven. Inspired by a fiercely independent mom who insisted he make his own way, He found his calling and his gift behind a piano keyboard. Touring across the Southern musical circuit, the soulful singer gained a reputation and then exploded with worldwide fame when he pioneered couping gospel and country together.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 155000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 152 min
Plot tags: inspirational, touching, sincere, emotional, captivating, sentimental, dramatic, psychological, motivational, romantic