1. 'A Room with a View' transports audiences to the romantic slopes of Florence
A Room with a View is based on the novel by E.M. Forster and tells the life of a young English woman named Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) on her trip to Italy with her cousin in the early 1900s.
While at her hotel in Florence, Lucy meets George Emerson (Julian Sands) and forms a romantic connection with him. Later, she returns to England and becomes engaged to a wealthy suitor (Day-Lewis), forcing her to decide between him and George.
New York Times reporter Vincent Canby described the film as "a party out of time". It is a journey into "another dimension" as it is transported from the dangerously seductive settings of Florence, with its foul odors and Renaissance glories, to "the more serene landscapes of England, where undeclared wars are fought."
2. 'Selma' tells of the demonstrations that took place in 1965 in Selma during the civil rights movement.
The film focuses on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery marches. The film tells the story of Martin Luther King Jr.'s (David Oyelowo) campaign for voting rights.
Director Ava DuVernay's 2014 historical drama highlights the sacrifice and pain of people in the quest for equality, making Selma an essential story 55 years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act.
"Selma seems to contain the seeds of at least a dozen other films. It's a glimpse into what the civil rights era was like and how little it's been explored by popular culture," noted New York Times critic A.O. Scott.
3. 'Portrait of a Woman on Fire' is an astonishingly shot film about the relationship of two women in 18th century France.
In the 18th century, a painter named Marianne (Noémie Merlant) arrives on an island off Brittany after she is commissioned to paint a wedding portrait of Héloïse (Adèle Haenel), a young aristocrat who refuses to pose.
Marianne pretends to be a simple lady so that she can accompany Héloïse on her walks, studying her features and secretly painting her.
"Portrait of a Woman on Fire goes beyond pictorial beauty," wrote Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal. "She Sees into Souls," he pointed out.
4. 'Sense and Sensibility' is about gender roles on the scene of 18th century England.
Based on the Jane Austen novel of the same name, Sense and Sensibility tells the story of the Dashwood sisters after their millionaire father (Tom Wilkinson) dies. His fortune goes to his eldest son and women have no choice but to seek their own security by marrying other men.
"Sense and Sensitivity used 19th-century characters to sell late-20th-century ideals of manhood, at a time when the pro-feminist men's movement was challenging gender norms in the realm of politics and pop culture," recounted Devoney Looser in The Atlantic's review of the film.
5. 'Brooklyn' deals with the complex reality that immigrants have historically faced when arriving in America
The 2015 film follows a young Irish immigrant named Eilis Lacey (Ronan) on her solo journey from Ireland to New York City in the 1950s.
She begins to find her place in Brooklyn and even begins a relationship with an Italian man (Emory Cohen). Ultimately, Eilis is caught between her new life in America and her family in Ireland.
"Brooklyn is the best and most seductive love story of the year," Peter Travers wrote for Rolling Stone. "The surprise is that it's also deeper and sadder and more real than it seems," he said.
