14 Movies Directed by Alan Parker

Bugsy Malone

Bugsy Malone

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1976-09-15

Languages:

English, Italian

Countries:

UK

Runtime:

93 min

Rated:

G

IMDB Ratings:

6.8 (11688 Reviews)

Director:

Alan Parker

Fullplot:

A gangster movie where all the gangsters are played by children. Instead of real bullets they use "splurge guns" that cover the victim in cream. The story tells of the rise of "Bugsy Malone" and the battle for power between "Fat Sam" and "Dandy Dan".

Midnight Express

Midnight Express

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1978-10-06

Languages:

English, Maltese, French, Turkish

Countries:

UK, USA

Runtime:

121 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

7.7 (49941 Reviews)

Director:

Alan Parker

Cast:

Writer:

Billy Hayes (book)

William Hoffer (book)

Oliver Stone (screenplay)

Fullplot:

On October 6, 1970 while boarding an international flight out of Istanbul Airport, American Billy Hayes is caught attempting to smuggle 2 kilos of hashish out of the country, the drugs strapped to his body. He is told that he will be released if he cooperates with the authorities in identifying the person who actually sold him the hash. Billy's troubles really begin when after that assistance, he makes a run for it and is recaptured. He is initially sentenced to just over four years for possession, with no time for the more harsh crime of smuggling. The prison environment is inhospitable in every sense, with a sadistic prison guard named Hamidou ruling the prison, he who relishes the mental and physical torture he inflicts on the prisoners for whatever reason. Told to trust no one, Billy does befriend a few of the other inmates, namely fellow American Jimmy Booth (in for stealing two candlesticks from a mosque), a Swede named Erich, and one of the senior prisoners having already served seven years, an Englishman named Max, the latter two also in for hash related charges. One prisoner not befriended is Rifki, who wields power in the prison as the unofficial eyes and ears for the guards. As Billy, his family and his girlfriend Susan attempt through legal and diplomatic channels for Billy's release, Max tells him that the only way out is to "catch the midnight express" aka escape, which is what Jimmy is continually trying to do. When Billy's situation changes, he becomes more desperate in every sense of the word. It seems as if Billy has only two options: to let the prison ultimately figuratively then literally kill him, or to somehow regain control of his life through whatever means available.

Fame

Fame

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1980-05-16

Languages:

English, Spanish, French, Russian

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

134 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

6.5 (15417 Reviews)

Director:

Alan Parker

Fullplot:

At the New York City High School for the Performing Arts, students get specialized training that often leads to success as actors, singers, etc. This movie follows four students from the time when they audition to get into the school, through graduation. They are the brazen Coco Hernandez, shy Doris Finsecker, sensitive gay Montgomery MacNeil, and brash, abrasive Raul Garcia.

Pink Floyd The Wall

Pink Floyd The Wall

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1982-09-10

Languages:

English

Countries:

UK

Runtime:

95 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

(55969 Reviews)

Director:

Alan Parker

Cast:

Writer:

Roger Waters (album "The Wall")

Roger Waters (screenplay)

Fullplot:

The movie tells the story of rock singer "Pink" who is sitting in his hotel room in Los Angeles, burnt out from the music business and only able to perform on stage with the help of drugs. Based on the 1979 double album "The Wall" by Pink Floyd, the film begins in Pink's youth where he is crushed by the love of his mother. Several years later, he is punished by the teachers in school because he is starting to write poems. He slowly begins to build a wall around himself to be protected from the world outside. The film shows all this in massive and epic pictures until the very end where he tears down the wall and breaks free.

Shoot the Moon

Shoot the Moon

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1982-02-19

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

124 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

(1861 Reviews)

Director:

Alan Parker

Genres:

Drama

Fullplot:

A fifteen year marriage dissolves, leaving both the husband and wife, and their four children, devastated. He's preoccupied with a career and a mistress, she with a career and caring for four young children. While they attempt to go their separate ways, jealousy and bitterness reconnect them.

Birdy

Birdy

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1984-12-21

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

120 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

7.3 (16392 Reviews)

Director:

Alan Parker

Genres:

DramaWar

Cast:

Writer:

William Wharton (based on the novel by)

Sandy Kroopf (screenplay)

Jack Behr (screenplay)

Fullplot:

Philly boys Al and Birdy became friends in high school despite the extreme difference in their personalities, Al being the popular and athletic extrovert, Birdy the antisocial "weird" introvert. Al gave Birdy his nickname because of his fascination - obsession really - with birds, especially with flight. Al and Birdy have just completed their service of duty in the Vietnam War and have returned to the States. Al sustained some serious physical injuries, which required major reconstructive surgery to his face. Birdy, however, returned from Vietnam seemingly emotionally scarred. He was missing in action for one month. He has not spoken since he was found. Despite his own medical issues, Al travels to the institution where Birdy is being kept to see if he can assist in getting Birdy out of his near comatose state. Having always had issues with authority, Al is less than forthright with the doctors about Birdy's mental state prior to the war. As Al tries whatever he can to help Birdy using tools from their shared history prior to the war, he deals with his own post-war mental state.

Angel Heart

Angel Heart

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1987-03-06

Languages:

English, French

Countries:

UK, Canada, USA

Runtime:

113 min

Rated:

X

IMDB Ratings:

7.3 (58765 Reviews)

Director:

Alan Parker

Cast:

Writer:

William Hjortsberg (novel)

Alan Parker (screenplay)

Fullplot:

Harry Angel has a new case, to find a man called Johnny Favourite. Except things aren't quite that simple and Johnny doesn't want to be found. Let's just say that amongst the period detail and beautiful scenery, it all gets really really nasty.

Mississippi Burning

Mississippi Burning

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1989-01-27

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

128 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

7.8 (61013 Reviews)

Director:

Alan Parker

Fullplot:

Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and white. The younger agent trained in FBI school runs up against the small town ways of his former Sheriff partner.

Come See the Paradise

Come See the Paradise

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1991-01-01

Languages:

English, Japanese

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

138 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

6.7 (2001 Reviews)

Director:

Alan Parker

Fullplot:

Portraying one of the shadier details of American history, this is the story of Jack McGurn, who comes to Los Angeles in 1936. He gets a job at a movie theatre in Little Tokyo and falls in love with the boss's daughter, Lily Kawamura. When her father finds out, he is fired and forbidden ever to see her again. But together they escape to Seattle. When the war breaks out, the authorities decide that the Japanese immigrants must live in camps like war prisoners.

The Commitments

The Commitments

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1991-10-04

Languages:

English, Irish

Countries:

Ireland, UK, USA

Runtime:

118 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

7.5 (23843 Reviews)

Director:

Alan Parker

Cast:

Writer:

Roddy Doyle (novel)

Dick Clement (screenplay)

Ian La Frenais (screenplay)

Roddy Doyle (screenplay)

Fullplot:

Jimmy Rabbitte, che vive di piccoli espedienti in un quartiere proletario di Dublino, si e' messo in testa di organizzare una band musicale per rinverdire i fasti del rythm&blues e del soul. Grazie ad un annuncio sul giornale, Rabbitte comincia a selezionare giovani dal lavoro precario ma pieni di talento: Dean, Fay, Outspan, l'occhialuto Steven , Clifford, Deco, il ciccione senza buone maniere ma con una grande voce, Billy il batterista e Joey "The lips", un bizzarro e maturo anziano suonatore di tromba che si vanta di aver suonato con famosi soul-singers. Aggrega anche Natalie, Imelda e Bernie, tre grintose ragazze, ottime coriste e molto sexy. Procuratisi a credito la strumentazione, cominciano le prove, massacranti, che impegnano tutti. Si inizia a suonare in pubblico, in capannoni e feste sociali: il gruppo sembra pervaso dal fuoco della musica e dell'ambizione. La band, pur se dilettantesca e provinciale, sembra lanciata verso il vertice e finisce invece nel fallimento: dissapori, piccole gelosie e contrasti umani ed artistici, sfaldano il gruppo. Il sogno di Jimmy evapora nel nulla e quel grande patrimonio di energia e bravura che poteva fruttare quattrini e successo siPL: disperde nel nulla.

The Road to Wellville

The Road to Wellville

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1994-10-28

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

118 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

5.7 (9447 Reviews)

Director:

Alan Parker

Genres:

ComedyDrama

Cast:

Writer:

T. Coraghessan Boyle (novel)

Alan Parker (screenplay)

Fullplot:

A madcap portrayal of William Lightbody's stay at the health farm run by cereal king Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. William's wife, Eleanor, has persuaded him to go to Kellogg to have his system cleaned of impurities. Kellogg is very unconventional, and almost barbaric in his treatments.

Evita

Evita

Basic Info:

Released Date:

1997-01-10

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA

Runtime:

135 min

Rated:

PG

IMDB Ratings:

6.3 (27994 Reviews)

Director:

Alan Parker

Cast:

Writer:

Tim Rice (book)

Alan Parker (screenplay)

Oliver Stone (screenplay)

Fullplot:

High-flying, adored! The film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical depicting the infamous real-life story of Eva "Evita" Duarte de Peron, the wife of President Juan Peron, who rose from poverty to become the most famous Argentine woman in history. Her huge political influence and constant charity works earned her scorn and fear from the military and upper classes but adoration and love from the workers and descamisados. Evita's legendary life is displayed before your eyes as the most hated and most beloved woman in Argentina.

Angela's Ashes

Angela's Ashes

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2000-01-21

Languages:

English

Countries:

USA, Ireland

Runtime:

145 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

7.3 (16134 Reviews)

Director:

Alan Parker

Genres:

Drama

Cast:

Writer:

Frank McCourt (book)

Laura Jones (screenplay)

Alan Parker (screenplay)

Fullplot:

Based on the best selling autobiography by Irish expat Frank McCourt, Angela's Ashes follows the experiences of young Frankie and his family as they try against all odds to escape the poverty endemic in the slums of pre-war Limerick. The film opens with the family in Brooklyn, but following the death of one of Frankie's siblings, they return home, only to find the situation there even worse. Prejudice against Frankie's Northern Irish father makes his search for employment in the Republic difficult despite his having fought for the IRA, and when he does find money, he spends the money on drink.

The Life of David Gale

The Life of David Gale

Basic Info:

Released Date:

2003-02-21

Languages:

English, Spanish

Countries:

USA, Germany, UK

Runtime:

130 min

Rated:

R

IMDB Ratings:

7.5 (81953 Reviews)

Director:

Alan Parker

Fullplot:

When anti-death-penalty activist David Gale is convicted and condemned to death for the murder of a colleague, reporter Bitsey Bloom sets out to learn the story behind Gale's crime. What she finds challenges her belief in Gale's guilt and, finally, in the justice system.

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