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Humanity Crimes | Historical Drama & Fiction

by Wings_of_Sorrow • Created 4 years ago • Modified 1 month ago
Humanity at its best, am I right? This list includes titles that are based on historical events or are inspired by them. Most revolve around human rights, discrimination, the impact government policies have on societies, the consequences of war on civilian populations, post-war misery etc. Keep in mind that some directors astray from the realistic approach and use metaphors or symbolisms to represent a historical period.
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  • 42 titles
  • Amen. (2002)

    1. Amen.

    20022h 12mNot Rated57Metascore
    7.2 (15K)
    During WWII SS officer Kurt Gerstein tries to inform Pope Pius XII about Jews being sent to extermination camps. Young Jesuit priest Riccardo Fontana helps him in the difficult mission to inform the world.
    DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsUlrich TukurMathieu KassovitzUlrich Mühe
  • Roberto Benigni, Nicoletta Braschi, and Giorgio Cantarini in Life Is Beautiful (1997)

    2. Life Is Beautiful

    19971h 56mPG-1358Metascore
    8.6 (779K)
    When an open-minded Jewish waiter and his son become victims of the Holocaust, he uses a perfect mixture of will, humor and imagination to protect his son from the dangers around their camp.
    DirectorRoberto BenigniStarsRoberto BenigniNicoletta BraschiGiorgio Cantarini
  • Adrien Brody in The Pianist (2002)

    3. The Pianist

    20022h 30mR85Metascore
    8.5 (969K)
    During WWII, acclaimed Polish musician Wladyslaw faces various struggles as he loses contact with his family. As the situation worsens, he hides in the ruins of Warsaw in order to survive.
    DirectorRoman PolanskiStarsAdrien BrodyThomas KretschmannFrank Finlay
  • Nahuel Pérez Biscayart and Lars Eidinger in Persian Lessons (2020)

    4. Persian Lessons

    20202h 7m53Metascore
    7.4 (14K)
    A young Jewish man in a concentration camp has his life saved when executioners realize he owns a Persian book. Brought before a camp officer who wants to learn Farsi, Gilles agrees to teach him despite not knowing a word of the language.
    DirectorVadim PerelmanStarsNahuel Pérez BiscayartLars EidingerJonas Nay
  • Géza Röhrig in Son of Saul (2015)

    5. Son of Saul

    20151h 47mR91Metascore
    7.4 (53K)
    A Jewish-Hungarian concentration camp prisoner sets out to give a child he mistook for his son a proper burial.
    DirectorLászló NemesStarsGéza RöhrigLevente MolnárUrs Rechn
  • Schindler's List (1993)

    6. Schindler's List

    19933h 15mR95Metascore
    9.0 (1.5M)
    In German-occupied Poland during World War II, industrialist Oskar Schindler gradually becomes concerned for his Jewish workforce after witnessing their persecution by the Nazis.
    DirectorSteven SpielbergStarsLiam NeesonRalph FiennesBen Kingsley
  • Asa Butterfield and Jack Scanlon in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)

    7. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

    20081h 34mPG-1355Metascore
    7.7 (262K)
    Through the innocent eyes of Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the commandant at a German concentration camp, a forbidden friendship with a Jewish boy on the other side of the camp fence has startling and unexpected consequences.
    DirectorMark HermanStarsAsa ButterfieldDavid ThewlisRupert Friend
  • Christopher Plummer in Remember (2015)

    8. Remember

    20151h 34mR52Metascore
    7.5 (29K)
    With the aid of a fellow Auschwitz survivor and a hand-written letter, an elderly man with dementia goes in search of the person he believes to be responsible for the death of his family in the death camp to kill him himself.
    DirectorAtom EgoyanStarsChristopher PlummerKim RobertsAmanda Smith
  • The White Ribbon (2009)

    9. The White Ribbon

    20092h 24mR84Metascore
    7.8 (80K)
    Strange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment. Who is responsible?
    DirectorMichael HanekeStarsChristian FriedelErnst JacobiLeonie Benesch
  • Geoffrey Rush and Sophie Nélisse in The Book Thief (2013)

    10. The Book Thief

    20132h 11mPG-1353Metascore
    7.5 (145K)
    While subjected to the horrors of World War II Germany, young Liesel finds solace by stealing books and sharing them with others. In the basement of her home, a Jewish refugee is being protected by her adoptive parents.
    DirectorBrian PercivalStarsSophie NélisseGeoffrey RushEmily Watson
  • George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman in 1917 (2019)

    11. 1917

    20191h 59mR78Metascore
    8.2 (729K)
    April 6th, 1917. As an infantry battalion assembles to wage war deep in enemy territory, two soldiers are assigned to race against time and deliver a message that will stop 1,600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap.
    DirectorSam MendesStarsDean-Charles ChapmanGeorge MacKayDaniel Mays
  • Aleksey Kravchenko in Come and See (1985)

    12. Come and See

    19852h 22mNot Rated
    8.3 (112K)
    After finding an old rifle, a young boy joins the Soviet resistance movement against ruthless German forces and experiences the horrors of World War II.
    DirectorElem KlimovStarsAleksey KravchenkoOlga MironovaLiubomiras Laucevicius
  • Daniel Day-Lewis in In the Name of the Father (1993)

    13. In the Name of the Father

    19932h 13mR84Metascore
    8.1 (196K)
    An Irish man's coerced confession to an I.R.A. bombing he did not commit results in the imprisonment of his father as well. Meanwhile, a British lawyer fights to clear their names and free them.
    DirectorJim SheridanStarsDaniel Day-LewisPete PostlethwaiteAlison Crosbie
  • Music Box (1989)

    14. Music Box

    19892h 4mPG-13
    7.4 (9.4K)
    A lawyer defends her father accused of war crimes, but there is more to the case than she suspects.
    DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsJessica LangeArmin Mueller-StahlFrederic Forrest
  • Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, and John Shea in Missing (1982)

    15. Missing

    19822h 2mPG78Metascore
    7.7 (25K)
    When an idealistic American writer disappears during the Chilean coup d'état in September 1973, his wife and father try to find him.
    DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsJack LemmonSissy SpacekMelanie Mayron
  • Z (1969)

    16. Z

    19692h 7mM/PG86Metascore
    8.1 (33K)
    The public murder of a prominent politician and doctor amid a violent demonstration is covered up by military and government officials. A tenacious magistrate is determined not to let them get away with it.
    DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsYves MontandIrene PapasJean-Louis Trintignant
  • The Confession (1970)

    17. The Confession

    19702h 19mGP
    7.8 (5.1K)
    A high-ranking official is forced to confess to high treason.
    DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsYves MontandSimone SignoretGabriele Ferzetti
  • Adrien Brody in The Brutalist (2024)

    18. The Brutalist

    20243h 36mR90Metascore
    7.4 (86K)
    A visionary architect flees post-war Europe in 1947 for a brighter future in the United States and finds his life forever changed by a wealthy client.
    DirectorBrady CorbetStarsAdrien BrodyFelicity JonesGuy Pearce
  • Martina Gedeck, Sebastian Koch, and Ulrich Mühe in The Lives of Others (2006)

    19. The Lives of Others

    20062h 17mR89Metascore
    8.4 (428K)
    In 1984 East Berlin, an agent of the secret police conducting surveillance on a writer and his lover finds himself becoming increasingly absorbed by their lives.
    DirectorFlorian Henckel von DonnersmarckStarsUlrich MüheMartina GedeckSebastian Koch
  • Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou in Blood Diamond (2006)

    20. Blood Diamond

    20062h 23mR64Metascore
    8.0 (608K)
    A fisherman, a smuggler, and a syndicate of businessmen match wits over the possession of a priceless diamond.
    DirectorEdward ZwickStarsLeonardo DiCaprioDjimon HounsouJennifer Connelly
  • Psyhi vathia (2009)

    21. Psyhi vathia

    20092h 22m
    7.1 (2.7K)
    Near the end of the Greek Civil War two brothers find themselves in opposite sides.
    DirectorPantelis VoulgarisStarsVangelis MourikisGiorgos SymeonidisVictoria Haralabidou
  • Themis Bazaka in Stone Years (1985)

    22. Stone Years

    19852h 22m
    7.7 (959)
    A young couple fight for their love and freedom.
    DirectorPantelis VoulgarisStarsThemis BazakaDimitris KatalifosMaria Martika
  • The Island (2010)

    23. The Island

    2010–201126 epsTV Series
    9.1 (3.2K)
    Alexis wants to learn everything about her mother's past. She finds out that her family is connected with the isolated island of Spinaloga - the former settlement of lepers. Adaption of the novel, "The Island", by Victoria Hislop.
    StarsStelios MainasGrigoris OrfanoudakisTasos Nousias
  • Voyage to Cythera (1984)

    24. Voyage to Cythera

    19842h
    7.7 (3.3K)
    An old communist returns to Greece after 32 years in the Soviet Union. However, things aren't the way he had hoped for.
    DirectorTheodoros AngelopoulosStarsManos KatrakisMary HronopoulouDionysis Papagiannopoulos
  • Ulysses' Gaze (1995)

    25. Ulysses' Gaze

    19952h 56mUnrated
    7.6 (7.7K)
    An exiled filmmaker finally returns to his home country where former mysteries and afflictions of his early life come back to haunt him once more.
    DirectorTheodoros AngelopoulosStarsHarvey KeitelMaia MorgensternErland Josephson

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