Children Full of Life follows the life and teaching of Mr. Kanamori, a 4th grade primary school teacher in Kanazawa, Japan. He gives his students lessons on what he considers to be the most important principles in life: to be happy and to care for other people. His lessons include discussion around teamwork, community, the importance of openness, how to cope, and the harm caused by bullying.
In 1981, Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks), a man with below-average intelligence, watches a feather fall from the sky at a bus stop in Savannah, Georgia. As he sits down on a bench, he removes a copy of The Adventures of Curious George from his suitcase and places the feather inside the pages. He introduces himself and begins telling his life story to strangers who sit next to him on the bench, recounting his childhood in Greenbow, Alabama. As a child in the 1950s, Forrest (Michael Connor Humphreys) had to wear leg braces for which other children make fun of him. He lives with his single mother (Sally Field) in a very large house outside of town, which they rent rooms to travelers. His father apparently left and he never knew him. Despite his limited mental capacity, Mrs. Gump tells her son that "stupid is as stupid does" (which he later uses as a retort when called "stupid") and also assures him that he is no different from any of the other children. Forrest is admitted to public school despite his IQ being below the cut-off, but only after his mother agrees to a one-night stand with the principal, Mr. Hancock (Sam Anderson). On his first bus ride to school, Forrest is rejected by nearly all of his peers except for Jenny Curran (Hanna R. Hall). He and Jenny become best friends, and he helps her hide from her abusive, alcoholic father. One day, while fleeing from bullies, Forrest's leg braces break apart and he discovers that he can run very fast. A few years later, Forrest inadvertently runs onto the field during a local high school football match and catches the attention of Coach Bryant from the University of Alabama who is scouting for players. Forrest attends the university on an athletic scholarship and becomes a college football star, earning him a spot on the College Football All-America Team and a trip to the White House to meet President John F.
Andrew Neiman is a first-year jazz student at the prestigious Shaffer Conservatory in New York. He has been playing drums from a young age and aspires to become one of the greats like Buddy Rich. Famed conductor Terence Fletcher discovers Andrew practicing in the music room late one night and eventually invites him into his studio band as the alternative for core drummer Carl Tanner. Fletcher is abusive toward his students, mocking and insulting them; when the band rehearses the Hank Levy piece "Whiplash" and Andrew struggles to keep his tempo, Fletcher hurls a chair at him, slaps him, and berates him in front of the class.
Farhan Qureshi (R.Madhavan) and Raju Rastogi (Sharman Joshi) are students at the Imperial College of Engineering (ICE), a highly regarded Indian engineering college. Farhan's passion is wildlife photography, but he pursues an engineering degree to appease his father. Raju chooses engineering with hopes of improving his family's financial situation, but his lack of self-confidence results in poor grades. Their third roommate and friend, Ranchodas 'Rancho' Shamaldas Chanchad (Aamir Khan), has immense interest in robotics, and invents in his spare time. Rancho regularly faces the wrath of the college's director, Dr. Viru Sahastrabuddhe (Boman Irani), known as "Virus", when he gives creative and unorthodox answers in class. He lives by the philosophy that one should pursue excellence, as when it is achieved, success follows. Virus is shown as an extremely strict person—so strict that he caused his own son's suicide by putting him under excess pressure. The star student of their class is Chatur Ramalingam (Omi Vaidya) nicknamed "Silencer", known for his incredible techniques of memorization but more notorious for his silent but malodorous flatulence in addition to his arrogant attitude. Catering for them and the other college students' needs is Man Mohan, nicknamed "Millimeter".
The film is set against the backdrop of unrest in East Pakistan in the late 1960s leading up to the Bangladesh War of Liberation. In this setting, a small family must come to grips with its culture, its faith, and the brutal political changes entering its small-town world. Anu, a young boy, is sent off to a madrasah by his unbendingly devout father Kazi. Anu's younger sister falls ill and dies because of Kazi's refusal to use conventional medicine. While at the madrasah, Anu befriends Rokon, an eccentric misfit in the rigorous religious school, who is forced by the teachers to undergo an exorcism by ducking in the freezing river to cure himself.
Teenager Marty McFly is an aspiring musician dating girlfriend Jennifer Parker in Hill Valley, California. His father George is bullied by his supervisor, Biff Tannen, while his mother Lorraine is an overweight, depressed alcoholic. Whilst expressing disapproval of Marty's relationship with Jennifer, Lorraine recounts how she met George when her father hit him with a car.
In 1988, businessman Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is arrested for drunken behavior, missing his daughter's 4th birthday. After his friend, Joo-hwan (Ji Dae-han), picks him up from the police station, they go to a phone booth to call home to let Dae-su's family know of his whereabouts. While Joo-hwan is talking to Dae-su's wife on the phone, Dae-su is kidnapped. He wakes up in a solitary confinement in a hotel-like prison. Confined with no human contact or explanation for his kidnapping and frequently gassed with a possibly mind altering drug, Dae-su soon learns through news reports his wife has been murdered, and he is the prime suspect. Dae-su passes the time shadowboxing, planning revenge, and secretly attempting to tunnel out of his cell.
Ishaan Nandkishore Awasthi (Darsheel Safary) is an eight-year-old boy who dislikes school and fails every test or exam. He finds all subjects difficult, and is belittled and berated by his teachers and classmates. But Ishaan's internal world is rich with wonders that he is unable to convey to others, magical lands filled with colour and animated animals. He is an artist whose talent is unrecognised.
Lucas is a member of a close-knit Danish community and works at a local kindergarten. Divorced, he struggles to maintain a relationship with his teenage son, who lives with his ex-wife, but enjoys wholesome interaction with the children at the kindergarten. His coworker Nadja makes advances towards him and eventually moves in as his girlfriend.
Amélie Poulain was raised by eccentric parents who — erroneously believing that she had a heart defect — prevented her from meeting other children. She was home schooled by her mother. She developed an active imagination and fantasy life to cope with her loneliness. After her mother is killed in a freak accident, her father's withdrawal from society worsens. Amélie eventually decides to leave home and becomes a waitress at Café des 2 Moulins in Montmartre, which is staffed and frequented by a collection of eccentrics. Spurning romantic relationships after a few disappointing efforts, she finds contentment in simple pleasures and letting her imagination roam free.
In 1947, John Nash (Crowe) arrives at Princeton University. He is co-recipient, with Martin Hansen (Lucas), of the prestigious Carnegie Scholarship for mathematics. At a reception, he meets a group of other promising math and science graduate students, Richard Sol (Goldberg), Ainsley (Jason Gray-Stanford), and Bender (Rapp). He also meets his roommate Charles Herman (Bettany), a literature student.