Subgenre Sampler

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Children of Gallipoli (2002): Dir. Anna Cottrell; Interesting documentary interviews the grandchildren of four combatants in the ANZAC Gallipoli campaign of WWI – involving Turkish and New…
Finest Hour (2002): Dir. Nick Read; In–depth and atmospheric study of the ‘Battle of Britain’, the crucial air war of WWII fought over England in 1940. Gripping…
Beautiful People (1999): Dir. Jasmin Dizdar
Feat. Rosalind Ayres, Julian Firth, Bobby Williams…; Set in London 1993 when the Balkan Wars were in full flight, this lively, panoramic drama reaches its ambitions in witnessing turbulence of the…
Cabaret Balkan (The Powder Keg) (1999): Dir. Goran Paskaljevic
Feat. Nikola Ristanovski; Troubling split–portrait of the Serbian psyche, depicting a series of often violent incidents over the course of a single night in Belgrade,…
Crossing, The (1999): Dir. Robert Harmon
Feat. Jeff Daniels, Roger Rees, Sebastian Roche; Acclaimed telemovie recreation of George Washington's crossing of the Delaware during the American War of Independence. Jeff Daniels lives up to the…
Last Days, The (1999): Dir. James Moll; Accompanied by return visits to their homeland and the Nazi death camps, five Hungarian survivors of the Holocaust recount their remarkable stories…
Men with Guns (1998): Dir. John Sayles
Feat. Frederico Luppi; Criminally denied a theatrical release, this masterful study of Third World realities is arguably prolific indie dir. John Sayles most accomplished…
Woundings (1998): Dir. Roberta Hanley
Feat. Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Emily Lloyd…; In a near–future world, after a debilitating military campaign for Great Britain (reminiscent of the Falkland Islands conflict), a unit of…
Brylcreem Boys, The (1997): Dir. Terence Ryan
Feat. Gabriel Byrne; The ubiquitous face of Irish cinema, Gabriel Byrne, slicks his hair back in a neutral POW camp in WWII Ireland, bunking with a variety of allied and…
Second Civil War, The (1997): Dir. Joe Dante
Feat. Denis Leary, James Earl Jones, James Coburn; Fairly realistic speculation of an American Civil War, occurring when present–day Idaho cedes from the Union, painted over with the lighter…
Vietnam War - Unknown Images (1997): Dir. Isabelle Clarke; Recently declassified military footage gives a harrowing new look into the years of the Vietnam War. Three episodes – 'Secrets of War',…
Betrayal, The (1996): Dir. John Anderson
Feat. Allen O'Leary; A dynamic mix of documentary, rare achive footage, and vivid dramatic recreations tells the extraordinary adventures of Kiwi Ron Jeffrey in wartime…
Blade, The (1996): Dir. Tsui Hark
Feat. Xin Xin Xiong, Moses Chan, Man Cheuk Chiu; Honour and retribution are the key themes in this densely–plotted, straight–faced actioner set in a mythic–historical setting.…
Fiesta (1996): Dir. Pierre Boutron
Feat. Jean-Louis Trintignant, Gregoire Colin; Biting, rigorously intelligent parable of the Spanish Civil War, watches unblinking as a young soldier is intiated into the brutalities by his…
Garden of Redemption (1996): Dir. Thomas Donnelly
Feat. Anthony LaPaglia, Embeth Davidtz; A saga of challenged faith and endurance set in Nazi–occupied Italy, where the village priest assists with the local resistance while besotted…
Prisoner of the Mountains (1996): Dir. Sergei Bodrov
Feat. Oleg Menshikov, Sergei Bodrov Jr, Susanna Mekhraliyeva…; A Tolstoy fable is here seamlessly transposed to the Chechean conflict, with two Russian soldiers apprehended by a Chechean village elder who hopes…
Self Made Hero, A (1996): Dir. Jacques Audiard
Feat. Mathieu Kassovitz; Mattieu Kassovitz (director of LA HAINE) proves to be no slouch actor here as a WW2 idler who swats up and cheekily ascends the ranks of the…
Innocent, The (1994): Dir. John Schlesinger
Feat. Anthony Hopkins, Campbell Scott, Isabella Rossellini; Anthony Hopkins toplines WW2 espionage thriller about a British engineer (Campbell Scott) who becomes caught in the crossfire of suspicion during his…
Fatherland (1993): Dir. Christopher Menaul
Feat. Rutger Hauer, Miranda Richardson; Ambitious film posits an alternative history in which Germany controls Europe and is locked in a cold war with the U.S. twenty years after winning…
Temptation of a Monk (1993): Dir. Clara Law
Feat. Joan Chen, Zhang Fenyi; Graphic chronicle of blood–letting by a fierce warrior general in 7th century China, that hews to the visual traditions of the classic Japanese…
Midnight Clear, A (1992): Dir. Keith Gordon
Feat. Peter Berg, Kevin Dillon, Arye Gross…; A provocative, suspenseful anti–war parable about a fresh–faced American platoon assigned to an abandoned chateau near the German border…
Last Butterfly, The (1991): Dir. Karel Kachyna
Feat. Tom Courtenay, Brigitte Fossey, Freddie Jones; Another worthy drama based on facts surrounding Nazi death camps, stage mime Tom Courtenay is compelled by the Gestapo to put on a performance for…
Doctor Petiot (1990): Dir. Christian De Chalonge
Feat. Michel Serrault, Pierre Romans, Berangere Bonvoisin; A dark, expressionistic account of a depraved physician who, in occupied Paris, used his practise to facilitate emigration for hopeful Jews, only to…
Life and Nothing But (1990): Dir. Bertrand Tavernier
Feat. Philippe Noiret, Sabine Azema; Philippe Noiret plays a Missing–in–Action chief officer whose obsession to account for the anonymous casualties of WW1 draws him to a…
Five Days in June (1989): Dir. Michel Legrand
Feat. Sabine Azema, Annie Girardot, Matthieu Roze; Yet another addition to the canon of dramas based on childhood memoirs. A renowned composer takes the helm to recall five days in his life on the…
Sandwich Years (Les années sandwiches) (1989): Dir. Emile Ghigo
Feat. Michel Aumont, Clovis Cornillac; In post–war France, a young Jewish boy befriends an elderly op–shop owner after his parents are arrested.
Going Hollywood - The War Years (1987): Dir. Julian Schlossberg
Feat. Vivian Blaine, Dane Clark, Jackie Cooper…; A glance back at Hollywood attitudes, movies and stars during the WW2 years 1941–1945. Compromising movie clips, newsreel footage and…
Kitchen Toto, The (1987): Dir. Harry Hook
Feat. Edwin Mahinda, Bob Peck, Phyllis Logan; Rewarding drama set in Kenya, during the Mau Mau insurrection.
Assault, The (1986): Dir. Fons Rademakers
Feat. Derek De Lint, Marc Van Uchelen, Monique Van de Ven; Exceptional near–epic tale of a young boy who witnesses the murder of a Nazi collaborator. Fine direction won this powerful drama the Best…
Sacred Hearts (1985): Dir. Barbara Rennie
Feat. Anna Massey; Earnest drama set in a repressive convent (run by Anna Massey) during the Blitz.
Purple Hearts (1984): Dir. Sidney J Furie
Feat. Ken Wahl, Cheryl Ladd, R. Lee Ermey…; Vietnam War set romance with Wahl and Ladd as love struck medics.
Keep, The (1983): Dir. Michael Mann
Feat. Scott Glenn, Alberta Watson, Jurgen Prochnow…; German soldiers camping in a Romanian castle are visited by various ghoulies in Michael Mann's off–beat supernatural yarn set during WWII,…
Atomic Cafe, The (1982): Dir. Kevin Rafferty, Jayne Loader, Pierce Rafferty; An insight into the American phenomenon of A–Bomb culture, which compiles cheesy propaganda flicks and newsreels with hilariously naive…
Great Santini, The (1979): Dir. Lewis John Carlino
Feat. Robert Duvall, Blythe Danner, Michael O'Keefe; Exploring the internal contradictions of ex–fighter pilot Robert Duvall, stranded in post WWll peacetime with his long–suffering family,…
Henry IV - Part 1 and 2 (1979): Dir. David Giles
Feat. Jon Finch, Anthony Quayle, Tim Pigott-Smith…; Part of the BBC's excellent series of Shakespeare productions, filmed in a 'theatrical' TV environment utilising the best of English acting talent.
Coming Home (1978): Dir. Hal Ashby
Feat. Jane Fonda, Jon Voight, Bruce Dern; A provocative weepie about the effects of the Vietnam war on the relatives at home. Jane Fonda involves herself with paraplegic veteran Jon Voight.
Other Side of Midnight, The (1977): Dir. Charles Jarrott
Feat. Marie-France Pisier, John Beck, Susan Sarandon…; Soapy Sidney Sheldon drama follows the exploits of a young French woman who vows revenge on a ne'er do well Canadian pilot for leaving her pregnant,…
John Pilger's Documentaries That Changed the World (The Quiet Mutiny; Do You Remember Vietnam?; Year Zero; Death of a Nation) (1970-1994): Dir. David Munro, John Pilger
Feat. John Pilger; Four of journalist John Pilger's most important documentaries, that exemplify his fiercely humanist perspective which makes few concessions to…
Virgin Soldiers, The (1969): Dir. Norman Cohen
Feat. Lynn Redgrave, Hywel Bennett, Nigel Davenport…; Comdey–drama following a squad of naive young British soldiers in 1950's Singapore who fall for the daughter of the Regimental Sergeant Major.
Guerre Est Finie, La (1966): Dir. Alain Resnais
Feat. Yves Montand, Ingrid Thulin, Genevieve Bujold…; (The War is Over). Deeply romantic film in which Spanish Civil War refugee Yves Montand tries in vain to keep alive the memory of his struggle.
Tobruk (1966): Dir. Arthur Hiller
Feat. Rock Hudson, George Peppard, Guy Stockwell…; This WW2 desert actioner is about the activities of the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), who ran commando raids against Rommel and his Afrika…
Secret Invasion, The (1964): Dir. Roger Corman
Feat. Stewart Granger, Raf Vallone, Mickey Rooney…; Expedient actioner is a rare, unsensational Roger Corman flick about British intelligence using criminals behind enemy lines in WW2 Yugoslavia.
Thin Red Line, The (1964): Dir. Andrew Marton
Feat. Keir Dullea, Jack Warden; First version of James Jones' war–novel (later redone by Terrence Malick), chronicles the US invasion of Guadalcanal during WWII in grim B&W,…
Long and the Short and the Tall, The (1960): Dir. Leslie Norman
Feat. Richard Todd, Laurence Harvey, Richard Harris…; A taut WW2 drama, based on a stageplay, set around a dysfunctional British patrol caught out behind enemy lines in Burma. Hinging on the treatment…
Danger Within (1959): Dir. Don Chaffey
Feat. Richard Attenborough; In an Italian POW camp in WW2, 400 plan to escape but one plans to betray. Can you spot the traitor? Richard Attenborough leads the cast of suspects.
Kings Go Forth (1958): Dir. Delmer Daves
Feat. Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood; Frank Sinatra and Tony Curtis are comrades in arms who fight over Natalie Wood, but her mixed heritage arouses their bigotry instead.
Long Gray Line, The (1955): Dir. John Ford
Feat. Tyrone Power, Maureen O'Hara, Donald Crisp; Engrossing true life tale of military instructors Marty Maher and his rise to the top of his profession.
What Price Glory? (1952): Dir. John Ford
Feat. James Cagney, Dan Dailey, Corinne Calvet; Soldiers James Cagney and Dan Dailey take time out from the trenches of WWI for some zesty romantic rivalry over local attraction Corrinne Calvet.
Sands of Iwo Jima (1949): Dir. Allan Dwan
Feat. John Wayne; Popular WWII saga with John Wayne as a tough Sarg, spurring his troops on in the Pacific.
Captive Heart (1946): Dir. Basil Dearden
Feat. Michael Redgrave, Rachel Kempson, Frederick Leister…; An exciting story of POWs in WWII Germany. Michael Redgrave gives an acclaimed performance as a Czech prisoner masquerading as a British officer.
Paisa (1946): Dir. Roberto Rossellini
Feat. Carmela Sazio, Robert Van Loon, Benjamin Emmanuel; Six short films focusing on the minor victories and losses of ordinary folk during WW2. Pioneering the now–familiar use of documentary footage,…
Fighting Sullivans, The (1944): Dir. Lloyd Bacon
Feat. Anne Baxter, Edward Ryan; Early telling of the true story that inspired SAVING PRIVATE RYAN about five brothers who served in WWII (in reality, at Guadacanal).
Passage to Marseille (1944): Dir. Michael Curtiz
Feat. Humphrey Bogart, Claude Rains, Peter Lorre; Distinguished by the use of flashbacks within flashbacks, this WW2 propaganda piece re–unites the director with CASABLANCA alumnae.
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944): Dir. Mervyn LeRoy
Feat. Spencer Tracy, Robert Mitchum, Robert Walker; True life WW2 story about the first American air raids on Japan with Spencer Tracy and Robert Mitchum in his leading debut.
Uncertain Glory (1944): Dir. Raoul Walsh
Feat. Errol Flynn, Paul Lukas, Lucile Watson; Wartime romance with Flynn playing French criminal Jean Picard who vows to make the ultimate sacrifice, only to fall in love.
White Cliffs of Dover, The (1944): Dir. Clarence Brown
Feat. Elizabeth Taylor, Roddy McDowall, Irene Dunne…; Patriotic sentiment up full–bore, this extended saga of English–American fraternising over both World Wars, has Irene Dunne and family…
Air Force (1943): Dir. Howard Hawks
Feat. John Garfield; Persuasive propaganda piece focusing on the crew of a B–17 bomber, quite thrilling in the hands of director Hawks.
Edge of Darkness (1943): Dir. Lewis Milestone
Feat. Errol Flynn, Ann Sheridan, Walter Huston…; Taut account of Resistance activities in Norway during WWII, has extra–good camerawork of Erroll Flynn, Ann Sheridan and Walter Huston in some…
Desperate Journey (1942): Dir. Raoul Walsh
Feat. Errol Flynn, Ronald Reagan; Errol Flynn and Ronald Reagan are stranded Allied pilots who flee the clutches of the Nazis in Boy's Own WW2 propaganda film.
Journey into Fear (1942): Dir. Norman Foster
Feat. Joseph Cotten, Dolores Del Rio, Orson Welles…; Hitchcockian suspenser set around an American engineer's adventures in WW2 Turkey. Loaded down with a maze–like plot (written by star Joseph…
One of Our Aircraft is Missing (1942): Dir. Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Feat. Eric Portman, Bernard Miles, Hugh Williams; Brisk war–thriller about how a six man British aircrew must find their way back to England across the Occupied Netherlands. Raised above the…
War Years (1939-1945): An excellent representative selection of wartime footage shot by the National Film Unit during WW2. Originally distributed as newsreels, this…
Dawn Patrol, The (1938): Dir. Edmund Goulding
Feat. Errol Flynn, David Niven; Errol Flynn and David Niven play ace fighter–pilots in a tense action/drama set during WWI.
I Accuse (J'Accuse) (1938): Dir. Abel Gance
Feat. Victor Francen, Line Noro, Marie Lou; Dir. Gance’s own remake of his 1919 silent classic, in which a soldier traumatised by the slaughter of WWI attempts to prevent future…
Wee Willie Winkie (1937): Dir. John Ford
Feat. Shirley Temple, Victor McLaglen; Charming adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's adventure story, with young Shirley negotiating between the British army and Afghani rebels.
Wings (1927): Dir. William A. Wellman
Feat. Clara Bow, Charles Rogers, Gary Cooper; Renowned silent film represents the epic struggles of the allied airforces in WWI, with brilliant aerial sequences, battle recreations and several…
Great War, The: Nine million died over the four years of World War 1. This chronicles events with exclusive use of achival footage.

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Subgenre Sampler