Title Creator Date Era City Country Emotional Sum (Sense of Life or emotional World View) Theme
3 Idiots Screenwriter: Chopra Vidhu Vinod 2009 1991-2010 United States Life can be fun and productive and exciting. As is true in some other Bollywood features, this story and the ideas behind it about pursuing the good life, has an honesty and clarity and benevolence that is not part of the U.S. movie scene.

Be what you want to be; follow your passion in life
A Few Good Men Director: Reiner, Rob 1992 1991-2010 United States Justice should be fought for, needs to be fought for and can be fragile.

Commitment to a moral code is central to a good man's life.
Anthem Rand, Ayn 1938, revised 1946 1900 - 1950 United States

The book starts out psychologically dark and disorienting because of the protagonist struggling with the radically collectivist world he was born into.  But what shows even in the early pages, and grows to the climax is the triumphant struggle of a rare few who break free of the yoke of total mind control and become free to live a life as a conceptual human and rediscover what it means to be an individual.  Thrilling and emotionally satisfying (unless the reader is a committed determinist.)

Ego and using one's individual mind is the core of being human.
Are You Lonesome Tonight? Composer: Handman, Lou 1926 1900s United States Sensuality and bitterness

The remembrance of past love.
Atlas Shrugged Author: Rand, Ayn 1957 1951 - 2000 Life can be good; Men are competent to live happily; The world can be a shining, happy place to exist, if one is free. But novel also presents a dark, dystopian world to help make real that positive view.

The crucial value of the human mind.
Attila (live performance) Composer: Verdi, Giuseppe 2010 03 03 1851-1900 Life is a mix of strength, heroism, romantic passion.

The work is a long complex opera, so it has many other lyrical emotions as part of it, but this covers the basic sense of life.

Loving a heroic woman leads to death
Billy Elliot Director: Daldry, Stephen 2000 1991-2010 Life is dirty but one can clean up.

Go after what you love.
Black Stallion Director: Ballard, Carroll 1979 Everything is possible between boy and beast, between an innocent human and mother nature.

Man and nature in harmony.
At least this is the theme of the first half of the movie. See "Description" and "Context" info below for more on this comment.
Blue Steps of Naumkeag Landscape Designer: Steele, Fletcher 1937-39 1900 - 1950 elegance and grace

The man-made enhances nature -- it is what makes nature beautiful
Bolero Dancers: Torvill and Dean 1994 1990-2009 Harmony, grace exist.

Two people as one.
Boulevard of Broken Dreams Composer: Warren and Dubin 1933-34 1900s Weariness & Sadness

Life is loss of dreams and sadness
Brass Bowl, The Vance, Louis Joseph 1907 1900 - 1950 The world is a delightful place. Good things happen to the deserving.

Life as a gay, lighthearted adventure.
Burgos Cathedral Crossing Architect: Unknown 1569 circa 1500s God is order and reason and light.

The spirit of god is rational, uplifting and rich in detail
Camelot Composer: Lerner and Loewe 1960 1951-2000 One must attempt to live by values, even though virtue is powerless and hopeless.

Camelot: a medieval place of goodness and justice, and its inevitable failure.
Chariot of Apollo Sculptor: Tuby, Jean Baptiste (1630-1700) 1668-1670 1600s The world has thrilling powerful men of action.  There are no limits to what can be achieved.

Elegant, physical power.&nbsp; The fantasy ability to fly through water and air with grace and ease.<br>
Chariots of Fire Director: Hudson, Hugh 1981 1971-1990 A complete feeling of openness of the world to greatness of your own choosing.

Life is achievement.
Chocolat Director: Hallstrom, Lasse 2000 Pleasure is good; religion and conventional thinking is bad.

Follow your dream and disregard convention.
City Island De Felitta, Raymond 2009 1991-2010 United States Anxiety and pain from all the lies and mistaken motives. Catharsis from the climax, leading to feelings of wanting to be truthful in life!

Lying is not the way to live.
Comedia Painter: Dewing, Thomas Wilmer 1892-4c 1800s Philadelphia United States Life is sumptuous and beautiful and alive.

Feminine vivacity and gaiety
Cyrano de Bergerac Playwright: Rostand, Edmond 1897 1900s United States Life can be exciting. Life can be grand, literally.
There is also some great sadness about consummated love, since it is portrayed as unreachable.

The importance of independence and independent thought. Compromise is deadly to one's soul.
Sub-themes: a) Doubt of one's goodness because of an incidental fact (physical feature) is terribly damaging and tragic. b) Helping someone by faking reality is damaging and can come to no good.
Dangerous Beauty Director: Herskovitz, Marshall 1998 pre-1910 United States The world is a horrible split of conventional marital morality vs. honest but promiscuous morality. The way to live requires one sacrifice one's body for one's soul.

1. The importance of accepting your own rules for living, your own morality.
2. The grim metaphysical conflict for a Venetian woman of being a slave to a husband or a free woman requiring sexual work.
David Sculptor: Buonarotti, Michelangelo 1504 1500s Man is a strong, indomitable creature who has the intelligence to overcome terrible odds.

[requires assumption of some context of this work -- not a "cold" introduction to it]: A man able to face a daunting task, with tremulous calm and determination. This is the depiction of the David/Goliath story of the Bible in which David takes on the much more formidable Goliath and wins.
Design for Living Writer: Coward, Noel 1932 1900s Life can be giddy and bright. Facing up to one's anti-conventional values is important. Conventional morality must be questioned if it causes suffering and conflict.

You should follow your deepest values and accept them no matter how unconventional the outcome.

A rare combination of the wittiest, lightest of Noel Coward's style, along with deeper themes of romantic love, proper morality and how should one live.
Die Hard Director: McTiernan, John 1988 July 15 The way to beat evil is to give no quarter, no compromise. Life is hard, but fighting for the right is rewarded.

Giving up in life is not an option.
Dirty Dancing Director: Ardolino, Emile 1987 Life is passionate and meaningful.

The joy and passion of love and life and dancing, while learning integrity and independence.