Box Office: The Monuments Men, 12 Years a Slave, Venus Talk

The Monuments Men (U.S., Germany)

Opening Feb. 27

Drama. Directed by George Clooney.During World War II, seven men ― comprised of curators, art historians and museum directors ― get together and plan to search for famous art works looted by the Nazis, and return them to their rightful owners. The film is based on a true story and is directed, produced by and stars George Clooney, along with Cate Blanchett, Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray, Jean Dujardin and other stars.

12 Years a Slave (U.S., U.K.)

Opening Feb. 27

Drama. Directed by Steve McQueen. In 1841, Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a free African-American New Yorker, is kidnapped by slavers in Washington, D.C., and sold into slavery in Louisiana. There, he is enslaved to work on farms in the South, after being renamed “Platt,” and becomes the property of a plantation owner (Benedict Cumberbatch). This film is an adaptation of the 1853 memoir of the same title by Northup, who was an educated carpenter, musician and family man before being abducted.

Venus Talk (Korea)

Opened Feb. 13

Comedy. Drama. Directed by Kwon Chil-in. Shin-hye (Uhm Jung-hwa) is a capable TV producer and a single woman in her 40s. She used to date her coworker, the current chief of their TV network, but he left her for a younger woman who also happens to be Shin-hye’s junior colleague. She has two best friends, Mi-yeon (Moon So-ri), a housewife who is not satisfied with her sex life with her rather docile husband, and Hae-young (Jo Min-soo), a single mother who wants her grown daughter to move out so she can have more time with her boyfriend, Seong-jae (Lee Gyeung-young).

My Place (Korea)

Opened Jan. 30

Documentary. Directed by Park Moon-chil. Filmmaker Park Moon-chil offers a personal account of his sister’s unexpected pregnancy and what followed in his latest documentary “My Place.” Park’s sister, Peace, became pregnant in 2006 and decided to have the child alone. She had never been married and had broken up with the baby’s father. Park weaves his sister’s story with his family’s unique history of migration, from Korea to Toronto and back again to Korea.

The Nun (France)

Opened Jan. 23

Drama. Directed by Guillaume Nicloux. In 18th-century France, a young woman named Suzanne (Pauline Etienne) is told by her parents to become a nun. She does not want to, but decides to follow her parents’ wishes after learning that she is an illegitimate child. In the beginning, she finds her life as a nun bearable mostly because of her abbess, who is generous and understanding. But when the abbess dies abruptly, Suzanne faces a series of hardships as the new abbess cruelly abuses her for not obeying. “The Nun” is a film adaptation of French author Denis Diderot’s 18th-century novel of the same name. It premiered in the competition category at last year’s Berlin International Film Festival.