LIFE & RELATIONSHIPS
bittersweet
Bittersweet films hold joy and sorrow together, in full, at the same time. Love, childhood, or connection gets fully celebrated even as its ending is fully felt. Perfery uses this register for films that leave you with a full heart and wet eyes at once, not one feeling cancelling the other out.

Tokyo Story
1953

Brief Encounter
1945

Late Spring
1949

Cinema Paradiso
1988

Life Is Beautiful
1997

The Tale of The Princess Kaguya
2013

In the Mood for Love
2000

Grave of the Fireflies
1988

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
1964

Wild Strawberries
1957

Cold War
2018

Make Way for Tomorrow
1937

Autumn Sonata
1978

The Cranes Are Flying
1957

To Live
1994

Past Lives
2023

City Lights
1931

5 Centimeters per Second
2007

Jules and Jim
1962

Pather Panchali
1955

Nights of Cabiria
1957

Before Sunset
2004

Hiroshima Mon Amour
1959

Au Revoir les Enfants
1987

Before Sunrise
1995