Directed by Billy Woodberry • 1984 • United States
Starring Nate Hardman, Kaycee Moore, Angela Burnett
Scripted and shot by Charles Burnett, Billy Woodberry’s slice-of-life revelation is a key masterpiece of the LA Rebellion, the black independent-cinema renaissance that emerged from UCLA’s film school in the 1970s and ’80s. BLESS THEIR LITTLE HEARTS distills the social concerns and neorealist aesthetics of the movement into a sensitive exploration of the inner workings of community and family that pays homage to the power of the blues. Searching for steady work, Charlie Banks (Nate Hardman) views his chronic unemployment as a kind of spiritual trial. But day work and selling a few catfish can’t sustain a family of five. While his wife Andais (a remarkable Kaycee Moore) works to support them with dignity, Charlie finds comfort for his wounded sense of manhood in an affair that threatens his marriage and family.
Directed by Ulu Grosbard • 1984 • United States
Starring Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, Harvey Keitel
The palpable chemistry between Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro elevates this poignant romance, which plays like a 1980s update of a golden-age Hollywood melodrama. Architectural engineer Frank Ra...
Directed by Donna Deitch • 1985 • United States
Donna Deitch's swooning and sensual first narrative feature, DESERT HEARTS, was groundbreaking upon its release in 1985: a love story about two women, made entirely independently, on a shoestring budget, by a woman. In this 1959-set film, adapted...
Directed by Martin Ritt • 1985 • United States
Starring Sally Field, James Garner, Brian Kerwin
When gutsy, divorced mother Emma Moriarty (Sally Field) moves to Eunice, Arizona, eager to make it as a horse trainer on a small desert ranch, the last thing she expects to find is love. Enter the tow...
