Toto The Hero, Belgium-France-Germany, 1991, 90 min. Starring Michel Bouquet, Mireille Perrier. Directed by Jaco van Dormael. Bouqet plays Thomas, a man who has come to believe he was switched at birth with the neighbor boy, who subsequently lived the life he was meant to live. As the film flashes back and forth between three stages of Thomas's life, we get a sense of what he longed to be and how he came to feel that he was cheated out of fulfilling his dreams, and yet van Dormael, a former circus clown, transforms a story that could have been suffused with bitterness into a charming fable of life's absurdities.

In The Name Of The Father, USA-Ireland, 1993, 127 min. Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Posthelwaite, Emma Thompson. Directed by Jim Sheridan. A young Irishman is intimidated into confessing to involvement in an IRA bombing, which ends up landing his father in prison as well. Despite evidence of their innocence, they are put through hell, until a British attorney manages to find substantiation of a frame and subsequent cover-up. Wrenching tale based on a true story boasts electric performances, and may be even more relevant now than it was when first released.

The Piano, New Zealand-France, 1993, 121 min. Starring Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Sam Neill, Anna Paquin. Directed by Anna Campion. A woman, mute by choice, is sent to New Zealand in an arranged marriage, bringing with her the two things she loves most in the world: her daughter and her piano. When her husband sells the piano to a local man who has adopted the Maori customs, she strikes a deal with the man that leads to a truly unusual situation indeed. A demanding film with strong characters and a mysterious unconventional eroticism.

Naked, UK, 1993, 131 min. Starring David Thewlis, Lesley Sharp, Katrin Cartlidge. Directed by Mike Leigh. Nihilistic film follows the exploits of Johnny, a crude, sexually violent young man who flees his native Manchester after raping a girl to shack up in London with an ex-girlfriend and her dim roommate. Leigh, famous for his depictions of Britain's assorted classes, most especially the working class, shoots for something darker here, peeling away the surface and showing the UK's darker underbelly of dispossessed souls. Thewlis is particularly unforgettable in his Cannes-awarded performance.

Farewell My Concubine, China, 1993, 155 min. Starring Leslie Cheung, Zhang Fengyi, Gong Li. Directed by Chen Kaige. Sprawling film tells the tale of two men, both opera performers, one straight, one gay, and their relationship over the years, while simultaneously depicting the political changes that occurred in China throughout that time, especially the ramifications of the Cultural Revolution. Kaige made this highly personal film against great obstacles (and saw it banned in his native land repeatedly), which makes his ultimate achievement all the more remarkable.