Great Films w/ Female Protag.

[nix]

Suggestions? I'm directing a short with a female protagonist and mostly female supporting characters and I want a bunch of Female driven films (good ones, not steel magnolias and shit) to throw on my netflix que.

[kotte]

The Virgin Suicides...

[matt35mm]

Resident Evil 1 & 2

But seriously:

Far From Heaven
Safe
Thirteen (I guess counts)
The Virgin Suicides
Lost and Delirious (very silly but I like it)
Boys Don't Cry (Uh, I guess that's debatable)
Birth (I haven't seen it but it looks like it focuses on Nicole Kidman)
Maria Full of Grace (Still haven't seen it but looks great)

Maybe I'll think of more later.

[nix]

Yes, birth focuses on Kidman's character. And yes Maria Full of Grace is fantastic.

[Sleuth]

Alien and Aliens, I wish Sigourney was my mom.

[Gamblour.]

I don't know what you want, so I'll throw a bunch out there:

Kill Bill Vol 1 and 2
Lost in Translation
Erin Brockivich (I guess I've never seen it)
Persona
The Ring
Jackie Brown
Fargo (for Frances McDormand)
Cries and Whispers (DEPRESSING as shit)
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (I'm guessing again)
Spirited Away
Marnie
The Birds
Breaking the Waves (or any Von Trier)

[nix]

Ohhh. Persona. Haven't seen that in a few years. I'll probably just go out and buy it. Cries and Whispers is really great. Interiors reminds me of that film. Both amazing.

[Weak2ndAct]

If your lead is waif-ish and has a penchant for violence, might I suggest Luc Besson's last 4 flicks.

[nix]

She does kill someone, but it's more noirish than action oriented. My goal is to kinda use a traditional noir plotline, but focus on the character much more than the story. In other words, it's not about what happens so much as how the charcter deals with the consequences.

[rustinglass]

mulholland drive
dancer in the dark
hilary and jackie
the hunger
thelma and louise

[kotte]

Dogville.

Some moments are so emotionally true.

[MacGuffin]

The Women (1939)
All About Eve
Leave Her To Heaven
Mildred Pierce
The Heiress
Now, Voyager
Dark Victory
The Miracle Worker
Little Women (1949 or 1994)
Diabolique (1955)
The Marriage of Maria Braun
Veronika Voss
Lola
Loves Of A Blonde
High Art
Girl, Interrupted
The Accused
Sense and Sensibility

[nix]

Good list, mac. I've got the BDR trilogy at the top of my Q. Can't wait.

[samsong]

Johnny Guitar - big, bold women's picture, film noir western that's as much about the vulnerability as it is the empowerment of women.  one of my VERY favorite films.
The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant  - would go well with Cries and Whispers... great character-driven, heavily psychological film... and it's Fassbinder -- never a bad thing.
Secrets & Lies - Brenda Blethyn's work in this film is extraordinary, as is the overall portrayal of the different facets of the female through all the women in the film; beautifully humane, very sensitive, but blunt in its depiction... in other words the ineffability of Mike Leigh (might be naive of me to say since I've seen all of two films by him but I'm amazed and a worshipper nonetheless).
All That Heaven Allows - If you're doing a female-driven film I don't see how you can possibly do it without looking at some Sirk.

strong performances from the leading women in the following (that haven't been mentioned previously):
His Girl Friday
The Lady Eve
Nights of Cabiria
Whale Rider

[nix]

Yeah. All That heaven Allows is never to far in the back of my mind. Some great suggestions samsong. Stuff I haven't seen too! Sweet.