The story of three women searching for more potent, meaningful lives. Each is alive at a different time and place, all are linked by their yearnings and their fears. Their stories intertwine, and finally come together in a surprising, transcendent moment of shared recognition.
Falsely accused for cheating in a martial arts competition, two boyhood friends are banished from their Shaolin Temple and go their separate ways. As adults, they join opposing sides in a civil war. When one betrays the other, they settle their differences mano-a-mano.
Edward Wilson, the only witness to his father's suicide and member of the Skull and Bones Society while a student at Yale, is a morally upright young man who values honor and discretion, qualities that help him to be recruited for a career in the newly founded OSS. His dedication to his work does not come without a price though, leading him to sacrifice his ideals and eventually his family.
A 19-year-old searches for her twin brother after he runs away from home, following a fight with their father.
When 17-year-old Effi Briest marries the elderly Baron von Instetten, she moves to a small, isolated Baltic town and a house that she fears is haunted. Starved for companionship, Effi begins a friendship with Major Crampas, a charismatic womanizer.
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.
After the death of Lama Dorje, Tibetan Buddhist monks find three children — one American and two Nepalese — who may be the rebirth of their great teacher.
During her latest elopement, Liliane immerses herself in her family memories. Shattered by regret, loneliness and family pain, she tries to reach Paris, but to no avail. Her faith, inherited then abandoned, comes to her at decisive moments, calling forth the profane despair of a woman rejected and invariably “in hell” for eternity.
Mr. Miyagi decides to take Julie, a troubled teenager, under his wing after he learns that she blames herself for her parents' demise and struggles to adjust with her grandmother and fellow pupils.
A new couple and their families reckon with modern love amid culture clashes, societal expectations and generational differences.
After his mother flees the family home, a son turns to thieving in order to support his father, an abusive sort who is addicted to gambling.
Bia just turned eighteen. The end of the year is coming and also the ACTs. People at school and Bia’s parents are pressuring her to decide which graduation she will apply for. Bia doesn’t want to do anything.
The Tibetans refer to the Dalai Lama as 'Kundun', which means 'The Presence'. He was forced to escape from his native home, Tibet, when communist China invaded and enforced an oppressive regime upon the peaceful nation. The Dalai Lama escaped to India in 1959 and has been living in exile in Dharamsala ever since.
Mu-ok is the self-made owner of the established restaurant 'Pyongmanok' that has been drawing long lines of customers before social media existed. He is deeply troubled by his only son, Moon-seok, whom he hoped would inherit the family legacy, becoming a monk, leaving him with no one to carry on the family name. While Mu-ok is devastated by the thought that his family line would end with him, young kids come to his restaurant claiming Moon-seok as their father! Mu-ok, now given a chance to continue his family's legacy, enjoys happiness like never before. Meanwhile, Moon-seok revisits his life before becoming a monk—and stumbles upon a shocking revelation…
As the denizens of a Tibetan village prepare for their arduous annual trek to exchange salt for grain, the community's allegiances are split between aging chieftain Tinle (Thilen Lhondup) and rebellious young Karma (Gurgon Kyap). Tinle tries to maintain his clout and preserve obedience to ancient customs when Karma challenges the old man's power.
In the early 1200s, Dogen brought Chinese Zen philosophy to Japan, and established the Japanese Zen school of Buddhism. He taught that a person was capable of realizing Buddhahood within himself, by way of Zazen. Zazen is extended hours of sitting and meditating to achieve a state of “Mu” (nothingness, or empty existence).
A story about director Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s parents who were both doctors, and his memories of growing up in a hospital environment.
Yuien is a troubled young man. He meets the Buddhist monk Shinran, and listens to his teachings. Shinran takes him on as his disciple, and they travel together, with experiences both joyous and heartbreaking awaiting them on the road.
A young man must choose between his mother's plans or to follow his lifelong goal as a session musician.
Birdee Pruitt has been humiliated on live television by her best friend, Connie, who's been sleeping with Birdee's husband, Bill. Birdee tries starting over with her daughter, Bernice, by returning to her small Texas hometown, but she's faced with petty old acquaintances who are thrilled to see Birdee unhappy -- except for her friend Justin. As he helps Birdee get back on her feet, love begins to blossom.