- Patch Adams: An unconventional healer dares to raise up joy as a way of life, demonstrating that often the best medicine for patients is laughter, love, compassion, and play.
- Awakenings: A doctor and his patient discover the deep down joy of life when caring rather than curing is the main emphasis in treatment.
- Little Big Man: A picaresque masterpiece revolves around an American anti-hero whose adventures in the Wild West are characterized by the robust vitalities of comedy and the sharp blows of tragedy.
- The Spitfire Grill: A soul-satisfying movie depicts the spiritual process of turning pain into joy and bringing new life out of darkness.
- Waking Ned Devine: A playful comedy set in a small Ireland community encourages us to catch joy as it flies.
- Pippi Longstocking: An animated feature film about a nine-year-old heroine comes across as an unbridled paean to joy.
- My Best Friend's Wedding: A romantic comedy revolving around a wedding evokes giddiness.
Music and dance movies as exhibitions of joy:
- Only the Strong Survive: A joyous tribute to soul music features some of the best singers of the 60s and 70s strutting their stuff on stage.
- Cool & Crazy: A beguiling documentary about a 30-man choir in a tiny Norwegian fishing village salutes the cathartic effect of singing.
- Ecstatic Dance: A dance workshop celebrates joy, movement, and rhythm.
- Bootmen: A raucous and rowdy Australian film shows how dance becomes an inspiring and energizing force in a community facing the loss of jobs.
- Burn the Floor: Forty-four of the world's best ballroom dancers from fifteen countries strut their stuff.
- Tango: Director Carlos Saura presents the passion, exotic footwork, and sexual undertow of the tango, along with cultural, political, and spiritual history in Argentina.
More Films about Joy