Movies that will teach you to believe in the best

cultural critic, writer, film critic

“There are many life-affirming films made today, starting with Soviet films and ending with something reminiscent of Claude Lelouch’s French classic “Man and Woman”. In almost every picture you can pick up one or two clever thoughts, which may well turn out to be a new philosophy of life.
But what is a training movie? It is a movie that makes you think hard, make difficult choices in your mind and act differently. The plot of the movie may not coincide with your real life story, but the moral burden of the choice certainly does. In favor of a better life, for which it is important to learn to believe in yourself, your strength and circumstances. The circumstances, at first glance, seem unfavorable. If you look closely, however, are they so unfavorable to the best?”

To learn how to make better choices, we recommend you to watch five movies that make you think bigger and act more decisively. After all, the best is sometimes the result of the worst passed and meaningful. In a philosophical sense.

Table of Contents

“Once Upon a Time,” 2007, Ireland, directed by John Carney.

He fixes vacuum cleaners, she cleans rich houses in Dublin. But who says these two can’t be a great start for each other?

The Irish movie “Once Upon a Time” is specific with its dialog and logic of actions. The heroes did not immediately find common ground, but later it turns out that he dreams of a music career and fame, and she dreams of a piano. When two people unite, it is bound to lead to something new. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be love. Common dreams and goals also bind, they create new resources and turn what seemed unreal yesterday into reality today. The viewer will love this reality.

There are a lot of songs and music in the movie. You may like absolutely all compositions. Let me remind you, this is Ireland, not staid England. This is Dublin, not London. So, don’t be surprised by the distinctive atmosphere and cityscape. A little bit of Europe preserved to this day, without a hint of high-rise buildings with modern signage.

Age Limit: 16+

“Innocent”, 2019, Russia, directed by Andzor Emkuzhev

The movie makes a deep impression. First of all, by the story, which is thought out to the last detail.

It is devoted to the fact that in any interpersonal conflict someone must stop. The one who has more willpower. In the movie, this strong person turned out to be the mother of the murdered young man. And then it turns out that the guilty guy has his own misfortune – his parents were killed when he was still a child, and the bitterness of loss embittered him for many years.

Perhaps a mother has a special right to forgive or not to forgive. That’s her power. But no mother would ever want to exercise that right, because it is against her nature to pardon, especially the one responsible for the death of her child.

The movie is very good in terms of directorial finds. The pardon scene, in my opinion, deserves an Oscar. In addition, the film is quite broad in its coverage of several themes, within which it is sometimes difficult for a person to make a choice, especially a choice in favor of the best.

Age restrictions: 16+

“The Atlantic,” 2019, Senegal, directed by Mati Diop

The reviews trashed this movie. But it’s worth watching for one reason. The social contract, or what happens when it’s broken. In the Senegalese movie “The Atlantic” it is well shown that the measure of any social contract is money. If you have it, then you can cross the ocean on an airplane without any problems. If you don’t, you’re left with a boat, which is likely to capsize.

If you have the means, you can choose who you marry. If not, you have to agree to a humiliating innocence test. If, again, you have money, the local police treat you with respect, but if you don’t, they keep you at the station to help you catch another person. It’s like that in everything.

This movie was directed by a woman, Mati Diop. The cameraman is also a woman – Claire Maton. As you can imagine, the music for the movie was also written by a woman – Fatima Al-Qadiri. But “Atlantic” is not a woman’s movie, although the majority of women-actresses in the picture. Any viewer can try on his life to the plot of the movie and accurately determine whether he himself has a choice, as well as to what extent he takes responsibility for his well-being.

Senegalese cinema is as practical as it can be. Against the backdrop of beautiful ocean vistas, the viewer feels the truth of life, which is subtly conveyed through local beliefs. These beliefs, if you look closely, are a real translation of decisions that are or should be enshrined in tangible law today.

Age limit: 16+

“Snow”, 2008, Bosnia and Herzegovina, directed by Ida Begic.

It’s hard to argue when everyone is right. Someone considers it a happiness to live in his own house in a remote village. Someone, on the contrary, is looking for happiness for his children in the city.

Someone wants to buy the whole village for a profitable construction, and someone, on the contrary, hopes to feed half of Bosnia at the expense of the village. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country with tears that have not yet dried up. And the village of Slavno from the movie “Snow” is a real woman’s kingdom. But it is not a kingdom for reasons of matriarchy, but because husbands and sons were left behind in the war. A lot of serious questions were raised by director Ida Begich.

For example, what is a good life? A simple question, but how difficult it is to answer. “We used to live well,” says one of the heroines. She goes on to describe an ordinary everyday morning with her husband. It’s the kind of morning we all have, but how often do we realize that we’re living the good life at this moment in time? We wake up in the morning, make coffee, turn on the TV, get ready for work…..

The good life is not only about what surrounds us, and not only about our well-ordered lives. But it’s also about ourselves. Are we happy? And if not, what prevents us from being happy? Maybe under different circumstances we would change our attitude towards annoying things and people, but as long as they annoy us, we are unhappy.

The Bosnian movie perfectly showed – a person becomes happy only when he starts to appreciate what he can at least theoretically lose. Appreciating what you have is a great art. Happiness can be anything, even something as small as watching TV every morning or the first snow of the year.

Age limit: 16+

“4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”, 2007, Romania, directed by Cristian Mungiu

Romania, 1987. The last years of Nicolae Ceausescu’s rule. What do we know about the time the Romanians went through? Only dry facts from a history textbook, fit into two lines. But what if the hell from that time is felt through the example of ordinary girls, a gynecologist, a young man, his family and many other people who are essentially unrelated to each other?

The movie centers around a student’s unwanted pregnancy. She doesn’t want a baby, but abortion is banned in the country. It is a big risk for her, but even more risky is not even she and not the gynecologist, but her friend, who found herself in the maelstrom of events by accident.

Against her friend’s background, all the other characters are unimportant. Her decisions are staggering. You certainly wouldn’t go to this length for a friend or a friend, no matter how close she or he is.

This movie is not just about Romania and Ceausescu’s time. This movie is about the web you can fall into at any minute. Even if you get out of it with dignity, there will still be a residue on your soul. Not dirt, but pain. Mud, too, but it’s a different kind of mud. From the category of self-sacrifice, the value of which the victim of circumstances, namely the pregnant student, will still not understand. Although it depends on who the victim is.

The movie isn’t heavy, but it raises a serious topic. If I remember it for more than 10 years and I still have the desire to watch it again, it means that director Cristian Mungiu has brilliantly achieved his goal.

Age limit: 16+