Brokeback Mountain
2005USA★ 7.83.5 pt match
Both films sit with all-consuming love, shame, and guilt. Both circle the same ground: men and women navigating expectations and family duty. Both move the same way too, melancholic, bleak, and slow burn.
La Chienne
1931FranceLanguage: frDirected by Jean Renoir★ 7.3
Available in English: subtitled
Cashier Maurice Legrand is married to the wretched Adele. By chance, he meets Lucienne, 'Lulu', and makes her his mistress. He thinks he has finally found love, but Lulu is a streetwalker, still in love with her pimp.
Themes and style
Tone
melancholicdark comedybleakquietly devastating
Pacing
slow burnescalating
Story
unravelingpursuit
Emotion
all-consuming lovefeeling powerlessguiltshameloss of innocence
Themes
class and moneymen and women navigating expectationspovertyfamily duty
Feel
quietly hauntinggut punchdiscussion startercerebral
Violence
moderateWhere to watch
Hollywood films like La Chienne
If La Chienne hit you the right way, here are Hollywood films that share its DNA. Same emotional weight, same kind of stories, same kind of payoff.