Huppert is stunning in perhaps her finest role as the eponymous Mme Bovary, a slave to her repressive bourgeois 19th Century existence, who, married to a chump, becomes notorious through her pursuit of love, excitement and liberation. Claude Chabrol's sumptuous, moving adaptation of Flaubert's classic novel sticks accurately to the story line. find out more...

A truly remarkable adaptation of Woolf's novel. Tilda Swanton is enthralling as the androgenous and ageless Orlando seeking love in a 400 year odyssey; from the finery of Elizabeth the First's court, through the Civil War, the early colonial period, the literary salons of 1750, by which time Orlando is a woman, the Victorian era of property, and finally to the present day. Potter's direction adds a marvellous period feel. Superb, this is a magical story . find out more...

After Renoir's reluctant addition of a couple of titles to satisfy the producers desire to expand to feature length, this masterpiece was finally released in 1946. On an idyllic country picnic, a young girl briefly leaves her family and fiance and succumbs to an all-too-brief romance. The careful reconstruction of period (around 1860) is enhanced by a typically touching generosity towards the characters and an aching, poignant sense of love lost, but never forgotten. And, as always in Renoir, find out more...

Sumptuous adaptation of Edith Wharton's period drama set in the NY high society of the 1880s. Day Lewis plays the gentleman set to be married to May in the wedding of the year, but increasingly fascinated by the beautiful Countess Olenska. Decor reflects and oppresses characters, posture, gesture, glance and witty ironic narration convey not only individual psychology but the ideals of an entire etiquette-obsessed elite. Tragedy awaits. Awesome; one of the best period adaptations ever made, both find out more...

Haunting adaptation of Henry James' novel, from the director of The Piano. Kidman proves her versatility yet again with a stunning performance as Isabel Archer, a young woman whose spirit and independence is eroded by the cunning of those around her. An intense and aesthetically gorgeous drama, especially recommended for fans or students of the book. find out more...

Marcel Proust (1871-1922) is on his deathbed; looking at photographs brings memories of his childhood, his youth, his lovers and the way the Great War put an end to a stratum of society. His memories are in no particular order, they move back and forth in time. Marcel at various ages interacts with Odette, with the beautiful Gilberte and her doomed husband, with the pleasure seeking Baron de Charlus, with Marcel's lover Albertine, and with others; present also in memory are Marcel's beloved moth find out more...