Illumination (1973)

Director
Krzysztof Zanussi

Main cast
Stanislaw Latallo; Malgorzata Pritulak; Monika Dzienisiewicz-Olbrychska; Jan Skotnicki; Edward Zebrowski

Genres
Drama

Description
A man looks for the meaning of life through science, work, love, marriage, family, death, and spirituality.


Similar movies

Have you ever wondered "What is the meaning of life? Why do we exist?" The answer to this vexing question is now within your reach! You'll find it in a small yet amazing booklet, which will explain, in easy to follow, simple terms your reason for being! The booklet, printed on the finest paper, contains illuminating, exquisite colour pictures, and could be yours for a mere $9.99.
Quiz Show is a 1994 American historical drama film which tells the true story of the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s.
The social anxiety of a morbidly shy Ecuadorian dishwasher working in a Queens diner provides the psychological engine that powers this blend of drama and magical realism.
A film based on the semi-autobiographical novel of the same name by American writer Jonathan Safran Foer, in which a young Jewish American man endeavors—with the help of eccentric, distant relatives—to find the woman who saved his grandfather during World War II, in a Ukrainian village which was ultimately razed by the Nazis.
A contemporary, ensemble drama telling the complex tale of six high school students whose lives are interwoven with situations that so many of today's youth are faced with. The story takes place during a normal school day. At precisely 2:37 a tragedy will occur, affecting the lives of a group of students and their teachers. As the story unfolds, the individual stories of the six teenagers are revealed, each with its own explosive significance. An unwanted pregnancy unravels a terrible, dark secret; all is not as it appears for the seemingly confident school football hero; an outcast must deal with everyday taunts from his peers; a beautiful young girl battles an eating disorder; a stellar student constantly struggles to win his parents' approval; while another uses drugs to escape from his own demons.
A psychological thriller about an eight year old boy named Cole Sear who believes he can see into the world of the dead. A child psychologist named Malcolm Crowe comes to Cole to help him deal with his problem, learning that he really can see ghosts of dead people.
When the popular, restless Landon Carter is forced to participate in the school drama production he falls in love with Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of the town's minister. Jamie has a "to-do" list for her life and also a very big secret she must keep from Landon.
"Aogeba Totoshi" deals with the issues of mortality and death through the eyes of a lonely student who has an morbid and albeit naive fascination with death. His teacher, Koichi is also grappling with the issue of mortality as he deals with the impending death of his ailing father, who has decided to spend his final days in the family home. As the story progresses, Koichi finds unexpected solace from his grief by letting his troubled student visit and meet with his father in the hopes that he will understand the meaning of life and death.
Melodrama about two girls whose fortunes run on very different paths.
The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father. Jack finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.
A screenwriter who travels to an abandoned house to finish a script on time, but a series of strange events lead her to a psychological breakdown.
This is a bizarre film, almost completely melodramatic. The screenplay by Howard Koch is based on the 1941 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same title by Ellen Glasgow.Completed in 1942 after the US had joined the war, the film was disapproved in 1943 for foreign release by the wartime Office of Censorship, because it dealt truthfully with racial discrimination as part of its plot. It was Huston's second movie and as he put it: “It was the first time [in an American film], I believe, that a black character was presented as anything other than a good and faithful servant or comic relief.”.
Waking Life is about a young man in a persistent lucid dream-like state. The film follows its protagonist as he initially observes and later participates in philosophical discussions that weave together issues like reality, free will, our relationships with others, and the meaning of life.
Marnie is a beautiful kleptomaniac who is in love with businessman Mark Rutland. Marnie who is a compulsive thief is being watched by her new boss Mark who suspects her of stealing from him and thus decides to blackmail her in the most unusual way. A psychological thriller from Alfred Hitchcock based on a novel of the same name by Winston Graham.
Me and Orson Welles is a period-drama film directed by Richard Linklater and starring Zac Efron, Christian McKay and Claire Danes. Based on Robert Kaplow's novel of the same name, the story, set in 1937 New York, tells of a teenager hired to star in Orson Welles' production of Julius Caesar, where he becomes attracted to a career-driven production assistant.
The War Game is a fictional, worst-case-scenario docudrama about nuclear war and its aftermath in and around a typical English city. Although it won an Oscar for Best Documentary, it is fiction. It was intended as an hour-long program to air on BBC 1, but it was deemed too intense and violent to broadcast. It went to theatrical distribution as a feature film instead. Low-budget and shot on location, it strives for and achieves convincing and unflinching realism.
A psychological thriller that takes you through the mind of convicted killer, Michael Raine, and his experiences on death row. Was he guilty of killing his girlfriend or was he a victim of a conspiracy to frame him for a crime he didn't commit? As the story unfolds Jessica Foster, an assistant to the Governor of Tennessee begins to interview Raine while on death row, claiming that she's writing a book about the inmates. Through various circumstances, Raine puts two and two together and builds a case that he believes can prove his innocence...or does he? Ms. Foster is the only one on the 'outside" who can give Raine a voice, but is she working for those who framed him? As time draws near to the date of his execution, in his most desperate hour Raine finds the missing pieces to the puzzle to prove his innocence, but is it too late...? Was this story told from Raine's point of view or from the book writers or from yours, the viewer - you decide.
The dramatic black and white classic film of Martin Luther's life made in the 1950's. This film was originally released in theaters worldwide and nominated for an Academy Award. A magnificent depiction of Luther and the forces at work in the surrounding society that resulted in his historic reforming efforts. This film traces Luther's life from a guilt-burdened monk to his eventual break with the Roman Church. This film, in spite of its age, continues to be a popular resource to introduce Luther's life.
Davis and Rains shine in a romantic melodrama set in the world of concert music. Davis is a pianist torn between her wealthy, jealous patron and her cellist husband.
The picture is about youth of 1960th, its ideals, search of meaning of life, about understanding between the generations, and firmness of moral values and friends… Years of the Thaw in the capital are shown in the picture. The picture art style is a lyrical novel which was foredoomed the whole cinema decade. Twenty-two-year-old Gennady Shpalikov (being the cult poet of the sixtieth and the spokesman of an epoch) was the co-author of Hutsiev in the script. Andrey Tarkovsky, Andrey Konchalovsky, Pavel Finn, Natalia Ryazantseva were in episodes. Film became the significant event in Thaw culture, but was prohibited by the authorities. This picture of men of the sixties can be used for study of the period of hopes not destined to be realized in history of the country.
A family reunion goes awry when the oldest son makes the accusation that his dying father, a famed psychiatrist who also did work for the CIA, adopted his children for the purposes of psychological experimentation.
Melodrama set in Victorian Brighton. Scheming pub landlady uses the timorous son of a domineering pharmacist to assist in the poisoning of her drunkard husband. (The title is from the way pharmacists used to wrap parcels containing poison).
Baxter Goode is a man trying to find an ending to his book about a sex obsessed stick figure searching for a portal to the three dimensional world, as his father, a best selling Christian author, tries to stop him. His life is further complicated by his search for the one woman who will liberate him from his long addiction to orgy fantasies.
The story of an anthropology professor Michal's who as the movie progresses develops two overwhelming obsessions. The first one is a mummified, 3,000 year-old, perfectly preserved body of a Shaman he and his colleagues have recently dragged out of a swamp, and the second – an enigmatic student he meets by chance at Krakow Railway Station.
Linda Darnell plays a beautiful Russian peasant in this moody Sirk melodrama, based on Chekhov's "The Shooting Party." Trying to pull herself out of serf-ish poverty, she works her charms on an engaged aristocrat (George Sanders) with tragic results.
Bruce Lee, My Brother is an action-dramatic biopic of the eponymous martial arts legend as told by his younger brother, Robert Lee. It revolves around Bruce Lee's life as a rebellious adolescent in Hong Kong before he sets off for the USA and conquers the world at the age of 18 with only US$100 in his pocket.
The didactic film is built around the ideas of French physician, writer and philosopher Henri Laborit, who plays himself in the film. It uses the stories of three people to illustrate Laborit's theories on evolutionary psychology regarding the relationship of self and society.
Director Atom Egoyan explores the concept of cyberspace as a place for redemption in this drama about an adolescent boy named Simon who reinvents his life on the internet. Before long, Simon's deeply personal journey provokes strong reactions from around the globe.
Deformed since birth, a bitter man known only as the Phantom lives in the sewers underneath the Paris Opera House. He falls in love with the obscure chorus singer Christine, and privately tutors her while terrorizing the rest of the opera house and demanding Christine be given lead roles. Things get worse when Christine meets back up with her childhood acquaintance Raoul and the two fall in love
Anita is a girl of only 16 years, and while she has developed early physically, to a mature woman, she is psychologically completly ruthless. Her relationship the her parents and her friends is very poor and she is regarded with contempt by the people around her, even by the men who so ruthlessly use her.
The two best disciples of Sivadas Swamigal, the earnest owner of a Drama school, are by design pitted against each other by the guru himself and this create multiple calamities ending in the duo's separation. Years pass by as one finds a good holding and the other wobbles away as a drunk loser only for them to cross paths again when the ongoing Indian Independence Movement gives another chance for the tables to turn!
A disfigured musical genius, hidden away in the Paris Opera House, terrorizes the opera company for the unwitting benefit of a young protégée whom he trains and loves. 25th years of Phantom of the Opera marked with a grand performance at the Royal Albert Hall
Aspiring actress Louise Muban attends the prestigious Paris School of Drama during the day and works at a dreary factory assembling gas meters at night. She daydreams and 'acts' her way through life, and her fellow students at school begin to suspect her stories are just that - fabrications. After Louise begins to weave an actual meeting with a debonair playboy into a fantasy of club dates and romance, her co-student Nana discovers the lie when she too meets the playboy. Nana sets a trap for Louise, and the result is an end to one fantasy and the realization of another.
"Singapore Dreaming" ( 美满人生) is a story about a family with big dreams, living on a small island. Heavily in debt, patriarch Loh Poh Huat can’t help but feel bitter irony whenever he has to perform his job as a lawyer’s clerk – seizing goods from the homes of credit card debtors. At the end of his career and frustrated by the gulf between his middle class dreams and his working class reality, he takes his feelings of failure and envy out on his family. So when Poh Huat suddenly wins two million dollars in the lottery, the Lohs start believing that maybe this windfall will deliver them from their struggles. But something happens which pitches the family into a battle where the stakes are the very meaning of life itself...
An agoraphobic psychologist and a female detective must work together to take down a serial killer who copies serial killers from the past.
Pere Lluc is thirty five and is living an unclear period in his life. He finds out that one of his friends has death 5 months ago and to forget the sorrows he goes out and get drunk and he falls in love.
In this adaptation of Umberto Eco's best-selling novel, 14th-century Franciscan monk William of Baskerville and his young novice arrive at a conference to find that several monks have been murdered under mysterious circumstances. To solve the crimes, William must rise up against the Church's authority and fight the shadowy conspiracy of monastery monks using only his intelligence -- which is considerable.
A dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.
Chaplin's final American film tells the story of a fading music hall comedian's effort to help a despondent ballet dancer learn both to walk and feel confident about life again. The highlight of the film is the classic duet with Chaplin's only real artistic film comedy rival, Buster Keaton.
A military veteran goes on a journey into the future, where he can foresee his death and is left with questions that could save his life and those he loves.
This uneven drama concerns the efforts of an aspiring filmmaker to include an unwilling female in his production. Paul finds difficulty deciding on a location for his film and angrily throws out his script. Jean is the film student who is sent by Paul to track down Dara and recruit her for the feature. All three end up in Brooklyn, where Dara's father believes Paul and Jean are only interested in having sex with his daughter.
On one evening in a decade of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, the innocence of youth and family unravels. Five parallel coming-of-age stories dramatize the stages of grief. A youthful mother in a custody battle over her children, finds tranquility with the bottle. The abuse of her ex-husband still haunts the children; a nineteen year old drug addict, and his younger brother, a bullied closet homosexual.There's the story of the dog; a teen who offers sexual favors to gain acceptance, the challenged classmate who would do anything for her love, and the redhead beauty, haunted by a secret, tragic past. These lives and others will change forever on this final evening before their hangout, The Toy Soldiers Roller Rink, closes its doors for the final time.
Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (English: Will you Cross the Skies and Come?) is a 2010 Tamil romantic drama film. Launched by a wave of publicity posters with no details about the cast and crew, the film began its initial run in February 2009. The film explores the complicated relationship between a Hindu Tamil assistant director, Karthik, and a Christian Malayali girl, Jessie. Karthik falls in love with Jessie only to be met by her indifference and reluctance as they belong to different religions and her strict conservative family will never consent to this. Undeterred Karthik pursues her, going as far as her native town. She also falls in love with him. However, they have to face many problems and emotional conflicts.
An original mix of fiction and reality illuminates the life of comic book hero everyman Harvey Pekar.
A New Jersey housewife is dissatisfied with her everyday life because she is smarter than she or anyone else knows. While taking a computer class, Julie discovers her abilities and finds the courage to make dramatic life changes. This is a story of realizing one's potential and being willing to turn one's life upside down to take a chance on finding happiness. Claire, Julie's best friend, goes along with Julie's secret quest and eventually moves in with her. Both women are on a search to realize their dreams and come to terms with their love for each other.
Japanese assassins threaten the carefree world of four lovers in Hong Kong.
Joe Swanberg and Adam Wingard’s AUTOEROTIC follows four interconnected Chicago couples as they explore the boundaries of self-pleasure and sexual exploration. Through a unique blend of outrageous comedy and in-your-face sex, AUTOEROTIC insightfully illuminates the private sexual lives of America’s urbanites.
Andreas, a man struggling with the recent demise of his marriage and his own emotional isolation, befriends a married couple also in the midst of psychological turmoil. In turn he meets Anna, who is grieving the recent deaths of her husband and son. She appears zealous in her faith and steadfast in her search for truth, but gradually her delusions surface. Andreas and Anna pursue a love affair, but he is unable to overcome his feelings of deep humiliation and remains disconnected. Meanwhile, the island community is victimized by an unknown person committing acts of animal cruelty.
Rama Krishna or Rakhi (Jr. NTR) aspires to become railway stationmaster like his father (Chandramohan). His love interest and close friend Tripura (Ileana D'Cruz) is a reporter in TV channel who exposes atrocities against women in society. For Rakhi, his sister Gayathri (Manjusha) is everything. She is married off to software professional (Ravi Varma) who plans to go USA. The greedy in-laws burn her alive for more dowry. Devastated by this he takes the law into his own hands and starts to kill men for harassing women. A police officer Meenakshi Iyer (Suhasini) convinces him to surrender to the law. Before surrendering, he has killed over 49 misogynists. Finally in jail, he kills his sister's friend's murderer like a tiger and in the climax, the main villain ministers . His dialogs in the court are remarkable. The court drama forms the rest of the story.
A caregiver at a small retirement home takes one of her patients for a drive to the country, but the two wind up stranded in a forest where they embark on an exhausting and enlightening two-day journey.
When neighborhood kids begin vanishing, Jenny (Lolita Davidovich) suspects her child psychologist husband, Carter, may be resuming the deranged experiments his father performed on Carter when he was young. Now, it falls to Jenny to unravel the mystery. And as more children disappear, she fears for her own child's safety. John Lithgow plays creepy multiple roles as Carter, his evil twin and their father in director Brian De Palma's wicked shocker.
In this biographical drama, Selena Quintanilla is born into a musical Mexican-American family in Texas. Her father, Abraham, realizes that his young daughter is talented and begins performing with her at small venues. She finds success and falls for her guitarist, Chris Perez, who draws the ire of her father. Seeking mainstream stardom, Selena begins recording an English-language album which, tragically, she would never complete.
A pint-sized cast illuminates this musical that is unlike any other ever made. Set in 1929 New York City, Bugsy Malone captures a flashy world of would-be hoodlums, showgirls, and dreamers - all played by child actors! As Tallulah, the sassy girlfriend of the owner of Fat Sam's Grand Slam Speakeasy, future superstar Jodie Foster dances and sings her way into our hearts.
This special one-off drama travels back in time to 1963 to see how Doctor Who was first brought to the screen. Actor William Hartnell felt trapped by a succession of hard-man roles. Wannabe producer Verity Lambert was frustrated by the TV industry's glass ceiling. Both of them were to find unlikely hope and unexpected challenges in the form of a Saturday tea-time drama. Allied with a team of unusual but brilliant people, they went on to create the longest running science fiction series ever made.
A psychological thriller about a senior at one of America's most prestigious universities. Under enormous pressure to complete her thesis and earn a top job at one of the world's most competitive consulting firms, Katie is still coping with the sudden unexplained disappearance of her first love two years prior. As the investigation continues, Katie is forced to choose between past passions and new possibilities, even as new facts are uncovered.
The fantastical tale of a little girl who won't - or can't - follow the rules. Confounded by her clashes with the rule-obsessed world around her, Phoebe seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher, even as her brilliant but anguished mother looks to Phoebe herself for inspiration.
Zia, distraught over breaking up with his girlfriend, decides to end it all. Unfortunately, he discovers that there is no real ending, only a run-down afterlife that is strikingly similar to his old one, just a bit worse. Discovering that his ex-girlfriend has also "offed" herself, he sets out on a road trip, with his Russian rocker friend, to find her. Their journey takes them through an absurd purgatory where they discover that being dead doesn't mean you have to stop livin'!
A true story of politics and art in the 1930s USA, centered around a leftist musical drama and attempts to stop its production.
Seven friends - Alec, Billy, Jules, Kevin, Kirby, Leslie and Wendy - are trying to navigate through life and their friendships following college graduation. Alec, who aspires to political life, has just shown his true colors by changing his allegiance from Democrat to Republican, which freaks out girlfriend Leslie, who he wants to marry. Budding architect Leslie, on the other hand, has an independent streak. She believes she has to make a name for herself to find out who she is before she can truly commit to another person in marriage. But Leslie and Alec have decided to live together. Because Leslie refuses to marry Alec, he believes that justifies certain behavior. Kirby, who wants to become a lawyer and who pays for his schooling by working as a waiter at their local hangout called St. Elmo's Bar, and struggling writer Kevin are currently roommates. They are on opposite extremes of the romance spectrum.
20 men are chosen to participate in the roles of guards and prisoners in a psychological study that ultimately spirals out of control.

© Valossa 2015–2024