The necessity of sacrifice: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon." The idea of giving up personal benefits for the common good rarely gets an airing in America. This Oscar-winning historical fantasy is justly famous for its martial arts sequences, but the main story is about warriors who never acknowledge love for each other because of social obligations.
Growth through pain and rebirth: "Spirited Away." One of many timeless stories on this theme from Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. (Also try "Howl's Moving Castle.
") A girl slaves away in a witch's domain to save her parents, who've been transformed into swine, and finds spiritual growth and love on her journey. The dignity of all people: "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." Any film of Hugo's novel (except Disney's animated mess) will inspire empathy for the bell ringer whose outward hideousness causes Parisians to mock him and overlook a tender soul.
I recommend the 1939 version with Charles Laughton, because it's also full of ideas about democracy and justice. (Next: "Bad Day at Black Rock.") The value of having a dream: "A Raisin in the Sun.
" Everyone in the Younger family clings to a dream: moving out of a poor and segregated Chicago neighborhood in the late 1950s, opening a business, becoming a doctor. Some dreams get fulfilled, one is destroyed, some are deferred -- but all have meaning. (Next: "A League of Their Own.
") The redemptive power of art, beauty or nature: "The Secret Garden." An earthquake makes an orphan of a girl born in India; when she goes to England to live with her uncle, she's profoundly depressed. Then she and a local lad cultivate a garden that's meant to restore the health of her sickly cousin.
Try the 1993 adaptation of Frances Burnett's book.
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