You were happy around them. Or you played that version well enough that it held up for a long time, long enough that sometimes you weren't sure where the performance ended and something realer began. Looking back at it now has a particular quality: a kind of detached amazement at the work involved, how much energy it takes to maintain a face for another person, how you made it look so easy. The irony is self-protection. It keeps you from feeling too directly what the performance was covering. These films will recognize what you were doing, and they won't make you feel ashamed of it.
Fleeing the war, the immortal Machia, graced with eternal youth, finds a baby abandoned in the forest and decides to raise it as her own child, sparking a moving story between a mortal and a being who does not age.
Smart enough to hold at arm's length while still doing something real. You can stay behind the glass and it will still find you.
Keeps the distance
M, a university dropout low on money and luck, volunteers to take care of his terminally ill grandmother, in the hope of pocketing an inheritance.
It knows what you are doing and does not make you feel bad about it. The irony is part of the furniture here.
Smart enough to hold
Born free in the American West, Black Beauty is a horse rounded up and brought to Birtwick Stables, where she meets spirited teenager Jo Green. The two forge a bond that carries Beauty through the different chapters, challenges and adventures.
The film has enough wit to keep your defenses comfortable and enough truth to slip through anyway.
Finds the gap anyway
A peculiar girl transforms into a cat to catch her crush's attention. But before she realizes it, the line between human and animal starts to blur.
It will not break through the detachment. It will just remind you, quietly, that the detachment is sitting on something.
Works with the coat on
Smart enough to hold the distance. True enough to find the gap in it anyway.
Held captive for 7 years in an enclosed space, a woman and her young son finally gain their freedom, allowing the boy to experience the outside world for the first time.
Smart enough to hold at arm's length while still doing something real. You can stay behind the glass and it will still find you.
Keeps the distance
A family dog - with a near-human soul and a philosopher's mind - evaluates his life through the lessons learned by his human owner, a race-car driver.
It knows what you are doing and does not make you feel bad about it. The irony is part of the furniture here.
Smart enough to hold
Jojo, a lonely German boy during World War II has his world shaken when he learns that his single mother is hiding a Jewish girl in their home. Influenced by a buffoonish imaginary version of Adolf Hitler, he begins to question his beliefs and confront the conflict between propag
The film has enough wit to keep your defenses comfortable and enough truth to slip through anyway.
Finds the gap anyway
The story of life on our planet by the man who has seen more of the natural world than any other. In more than 90 years, Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of our planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder.
It will not break through the detachment. It will just remind you, quietly, that the detachment is sitting on something.
Works with the coat on
An aspiring musician agrees to a marriage of convenience with a soon-to-deploy Marine, but a tragedy soon turns their fake relationship all too real.
Smart enough to hold at arm's length while still doing something real. You can stay behind the glass and it will still find you.
Keeps the distance
Deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, beginning a journey that challenges his idea of what it means to be a parent.
It knows what you are doing and does not make you feel bad about it. The irony is part of the furniture here.
Smart enough to hold
A boy growing up in Dublin during the 1980s escapes his strained family life by starting a band to impress the mysterious girl he likes.
The film has enough wit to keep your defenses comfortable and enough truth to slip through anyway.
Finds the gap anyway
With college decisions looming, Elle juggles her long-distance romance with Noah, changing relationship with bestie Lee and feelings for a new classmate.
It will not break through the detachment. It will just remind you, quietly, that the detachment is sitting on something.
Works with the coat on
You can stay behind the glass. They'll find you anyway.