World War II
*Cabaret 1972
Dir. Bod Fosse. With Lisa Minelli and Michael York
A musical set in Weimar Germany and based on the "Berlin novels" of Christopher Isherwood.
*Triumph of the Will 1934 [Triumph des Willens]
Dir. Leni Reifenstahl
A "classic" presentation of Nazi Germany in the most romantic way possible. The prime example of the propagandistic use of film.
*Mephisto 1981 [In German]
Dir. István Szabó (I). With Klaus Maria Brandauer
-About an actor and his pact with the Devil ini the shape of the Nazis.
The White Rose 1982
Dir. Michael Verhoeven, With Leno Stolze and Wolf Kessler.
True story of the resistance to Nazism by some students at Munich University.
*Mrs. Miniver 1942
Dir. William Wyler. With Greer Garson.
"Mrs. Miniver" won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1942. It's portyrayl of a gritty British family facing the war was a major propaganda coup.
*Battle of Britain 1969
Dir. Guy Hamilton.
The film was made with real WWII aircraft, and has great air fight footage, not to mention wonderful theme music.
*The Winning of World War II: Why We Fight 1943-45 [link is to vol I]
Dir. Frank Capra
A series of documentaries made during the War by the US government to explain what the war was about. Uses Reifenstahl's filsm against the Nazis.
Bataan 1943
Dir. Tay Garnett. With Robert Taylor
- Long considered one of the great war movies.
*The Longest Day 1962, 180 mins
Dir. Ken Annakin.
First telling of the story of D-Day. The real mover behind the movies was Darryl Zanuck, who saw it as an anti-war movie. Sometimes consider the greates ever war film.
*Saving Private Ryan 1998
Dir. Steven Spielberg. With Tom Hanks.
*Fat Man and Little Boy 1989)
Dir. Roland Joffé. With Paul Newman.
The story of the Manhattan project that created the atom bomb.
Judgment at Nuremberg 1961
Dir. Stanley Kramer. With Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Marlene Dietrich, Maximilian Schell, Judy Garland, Montgomery Clift.
Nuremberg 2000 (TV mini-series) 140 mins
Dir. Yves Simoneau. With Alec Baldwin
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The Holocaust
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis 1970. 95 mins.
Directed by Vittorio de Sica, with Dominique Sanda and Lino Capolicchio.
The story of a wealthy Italian Jewish family in the 1930s.
Holocaust (TV) 1978, 475 mins.
Dir. Marvin Chomsky. With Meryl Streep
The Wannsee Conference 1984
Dir. Heinz Schirk, With Dietrich Mattausch and Gerd Boeckmann.
This 1942 meeting at which high-ranking Nazis agreed on the "final solution."
QB VII (TV), 390 mins.
Dir. Tom Gries, With Anthony Hopkins and Ben Gazzara
Based on Leon Uris' novel about a Holcaust trial in London. QB VII stands for "Queen's Bench VII" -- the courtroom in question.
*Schindler's List 1993
Dir. Steven Spielberg. With Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley.
Stephen Spielberg's presentation of the Holocaust. It might be interesting to compare it to Spielberg's Amistadand ask about ways in which Spielberg might be distorting the past.
*Life is Beautiful 1987
Dir. Roberto Benigni.
Over-rated.
*Jakob the Liar 1999, 114 mins
Dir. Peter Kassovitz, With Robin Williams.
Similar story to Life is Beautiful.