The film consists of a series of tightly interlinked vignettes, the most sustained of which details the story of a man and a woman who are passionately in love. Their attempts to consummate their passion are constantly thwarted, by their families, by the Church and bourgeois society in general.
Soviet High School girls are sent to the U.S. where they are taught to become secret agents and use sex to find information.
Amy Lindel, a church choir singer, goes to the city to pursue a singing career, but finds herself only able to get cabaret gigs. She then becomes entangled in a situation involving stolen diamonds, and is saved by the "good guy" whom she later marries.
Every night while the city sleeps, Ahmad, a former Pakistani rock star turned immigrant, drags his heavy cart along the streets of New York. And every morning, he sells coffee and donuts to a city he cannot call his own. One day, however, the pattern of this harsh existence is broken by a glimmer of hope for a better life.
Charlie gets released from an insane asylum and moves in with Miranda, the young daughter he left behind. Charlie believes that there is treasure hidden beneath the local Costco, so he puts together a plan to unearth the loot. By convincing Miranda to quit her job at McDonald's and instead work at the wholesale store, he is able to obtain a key. Although Miranda is skeptical, she helps her father with his irrational quest.
Sal is the Italian owner of a pizzeria in Brooklyn. A neighborhood local, Buggin' Out, becomes upset when he sees that the pizzeria's Wall of Fame exhibits only Italian actors. Buggin' Out believes a pizzeria in a black neighborhood should showcase black actors, but Sal disagrees. The wall becomes a symbol of racism and hate to Buggin' Out and to other people in the neighborhood, and tensions rise.
A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind flower girl. His on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man allows him to be the girl's benefactor and suitor.
After the death of his mother, a young boy calls a radio station in an attempt to set his father up on a date. Across the country, an engaged woman becomes convinced that they belong together, despite their never having met. Will their paths collide despite the odds?
A young South African boy from the Johannesburg ghetto named Tsotsi, meaning Gangster, leaves home as a child to get away from his helpless parents. Now a teenage thug, Tsotsi finds a baby in the back seat of a car he's just stolen. He decides that it is his responsibility to care for the infant and in the process learns that maybe the criminal life isn’t the best way.
Tessa finds herself struggling with her complicated relationship with Hardin; she faces a dilemma that could change their lives forever.
Diagnosed with ovarian cancer, a 29-year-old journalist who longs for true love ends up writing the biography for an entrepreneur's father, which leads her to embark on an existential journey.
Miranda and Josef's relationship is shaken when Anastasia enters the couple's life. The chronology of a partnership unfolds: from getting to know each other to the fading of passion.
A celebration of love and creative inspiration takes place in the infamous, gaudy and glamorous Parisian nightclub, at the cusp of the 20th century. A young poet, who is plunged into the heady world of Moulin Rouge, begins a passionate affair with the club's most notorious and beautiful star.
Slaking a thirst for dangerous games, Kathryn challenges her stepbrother, Sebastian, to deflower their headmaster's daughter before the summer ends. If he succeeds, the prize is the chance to bed Kathryn. But if he loses, Kathryn will claim his most prized possession.
A gold prospector in Alaska struggles to survive the elements and win the heart of a dance hall girl.
A woman’s lover and her ex-boyfriend take justice into their own hands after she becomes the victim of a rapist. Because some acts can’t be undone. Because man is an animal. Because the desire for vengeance is a natural impulse. Because most crimes remain unpunished.
Frank is a man who thinks he has lost everything, until his house is destroyed by a tornado. Then when he goes to the insurance company, he’s told they won't pay because the damage falls under the "Act of God" exclusion in his policy. With nothing left, and nothing left to lose, he decides to sue God himself for damages, naming representatives of the world's religions as defendants in the suit. What starts as a ridiculous stunt, becomes a beautiful, funny, soulful odyssey in which he rediscovers that love itself... requires a leap of faith.
Halil the greengrocer goes to a nightclub with his friends one day to break the monotony of his life. There he meets Sabiha, one of the women working at the club. They fall in love at first sight and begin living together. While Sabiha is making plans for the future with Halil, she learns a truth about him that she didn't know, and the forbidden love that began at the nightclub turns into a dead end filled with lies.
Jerry, a small-town Minnesota car salesman is bursting at the seams with debt... but he's got a plan. He's going to hire two thugs to kidnap his wife in a scheme to collect a hefty ransom from his wealthy father-in-law. It's going to be a snap and nobody's going to get hurt... until people start dying. Enter Police Chief Marge, a coffee-drinking, parka-wearing - and extremely pregnant - investigator who'll stop at nothing to get her man. And if you think her small-time investigative skills will give the crooks a run for their ransom... you betcha!
A man entranced by his dreams and imagination is lovestruck with a French woman and feels he can show her his world.