In the beginning of the 19th century, Johannes Elias Alder is born in a small village in the Austrian mountains. While growing up he is considered strange by the other villagers and discovers his love of music, especially rebuilding and playing the organ at the village church. After experiencing an "acoustic wonder", his eye color changes and he can hear even the most subtle sounds.
The eldest member of a rural community of grape growers refuses to sell his land to a greedy real estate company. When he seems cornered by the dirty tactics of a corrupt businessman, he must decide whether to give up everything he owns, or take control of the situation.
A young woman leaves the city to return to her hometown in the countryside. Seeking to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, she becomes self-sufficient in a bid to reconnect with nature.
David Sumner, a mild-mannered academic from the United States, marries Amy, an Englishwoman. In order to escape a hectic stateside lifestyle, David and his wife relocate to the small town in rural Cornwall where Amy was raised. There, David is ostracized by the brutish men of the village, including Amy's old flame, Charlie. Eventually the taunts escalate.
A young girl living in the French countryside suffers constant indignities at the hand of alcoholism and her fellow man.
When former Green Beret John Rambo is harassed by local law enforcement and arrested for vagrancy, he is forced to flee into the mountains and wage an escalating one-man war against his pursuers.
After an accident, acclaimed novelist Paul Sheldon is rescued by a nurse who claims to be his biggest fan. Her obsession takes a dark turn when she holds him captive in her remote Colorado home and forces him to write back to life the popular literary character he killed off.
Gilbert Grape is a small-town young man with a lot of responsibility. Chief among his concerns are his mother, who is so overweight that she can't leave the house, and his mentally impaired younger brother, Arnie, who has a knack for finding trouble. Settled into a job at a grocery store and an ongoing affair with local woman Betty Carver, Gilbert finally has his life shaken up by the free-spirited Becky.
Five unmarried sisters make the most of their simple existence in rural Ireland in the 1930s.
A mother and daughter returning from their vacation experience car trouble forcing them to pull over and seek help. Luckily near by is a farm where the inhabitants offer them assistance. Unfortunately repair to the car takes longer then expected and the mother and her daughter remain as guests. As a result the peace and tranquility of the household becomes tested as the farmers traditions and principles come under question almost ending in tragedy.
After long absence, a man returns to his hometown only to find his best friend has become an alcoholic.
In the Stockholm archipelago in the 1880s, Carlsson move out to an isolated farmstead to help the widow Flood with the farm. Carlsson has big plans for the island, including having paying guests in the summer but Gusten, the son of the widow, is negative. Plot by Mattias Thuresson.
When a willful young man tries to venture beyond his sequestered Pennsylvania hamlet, his actions set off a chain of chilling incidents that will alter the community forever.
Los Montes de la Ermita, region of Bierzo Alto, in the province of León, Spain. Six women assist Joaquín —the only and last inhabitant of the remote village, located on the slopes of the mythical and mysterious Catoute Peak—, who is in danger of death due to an unfortunate accident.
A young woman fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her nightmarish marriage, but discovers it is impossible to elude her controlling husband.
In an Italian seaside town, young Titta gets into trouble with his friends and watches various local eccentrics as they engage in often absurd behavior. Frequently clashing with his stern father and defended by his doting mother, Titta witnesses the actions of a wide range of characters, from his extended family to Fascist loyalists to sensual women, with certain moments shifting into fantastical scenarios.
When a son and mother move to Seattle in hopes for a better life, the mother meets a seemingly polite man. Things go south when the man turns out to be abusive, endangering their lives. As the mother struggles to maintain hope in an impossible situation, the son has plans to escape.
Retired farmer and widower Alvin Straight learns one day that his estranged brother Lyle has suffered a severe stroke. Alvin is determined to make things right with Lyle while he still can, but his brother lives in Wisconsin, while Alvin is stuck in Iowa with no car and no driver's license. He then has the idea of making the trip on his old lawnmower, thus beginning a picturesque and at times deeply spiritual odyssey.
A married farmer falls under the spell of a slatternly woman from the city, who tries to convince him to drown his wife.
Photographer Robert Kincaid wanders into the life of housewife Francesca Johnson for four days in the 1960s.