Best films of protest/ rebellion / revolution
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- DirectorSergei EisensteinStarsAleksandr AntonovVladimir BarskiyGrigoriy AleksandrovIn the midst of the Russian Revolution of 1905, the crew of the battleship Potemkin mutiny against the brutal, tyrannical regime of the vessel's officers. The resulting street demonstration in Odessa brings on a police massacre.
- DirectorGillo PontecorvoStarsBrahim HadjadjJean MartinYacef SaadiIn the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsJerzy RadziwilowiczKrystyna JandaMarian OpaniaA few years after the events of Man of Marble (1977), a journalist investigates Mateusz Birkut's son Maciek Tomczyk, now an activist leading a shipyard strike.
- DirectorGillo PontecorvoStarsMarlon BrandoEvaristo MárquezRenato SalvatoriIn 1844, a British mercenary helps the revolting slaves of an Antilles island colony gain independence from Portugal, but later returns to hunt down a local rebel leader and former protégé.
- DirectorSergei EisensteinStarsGrigoriy AleksandrovMaksim ShtraukhMikhail GomorovA group of oppressed factory workers go on strike in pre-revolutionary Russia.
- DirectorVsevolod PudovkinStarsVera BaranovskayaNikolay BatalovAleksandr ChistyakovA story about a family torn apart by a worker's strike. At first, the mother wants to protect her family from the troublemakers, but eventually she realizes that her son is right and the workers should strike.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsJack NicholsonLouise FletcherMichael BerrymanIn the Fall of 1963, a Korean War veteran and criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rallies up the scared patients against the tyrannical nurse.
- DirectorFranklin J. SchaffnerStarsSteve McQueenDustin HoffmanVictor JoryA French convict in the 1930s befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence in the South American penal colony on Devil's Island, which inspires the man to plot his escape.
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsKrystyna JandaJerzy RadziwilowiczTadeusz LomnickiA young Polish filmmaker sets out to find out what happened to Mateusz Birkut, a bricklayer who became a propaganda hero in the 1950s but later fell out of favor and disappeared.
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsGérard DepardieuWojciech PszoniakAnne AlvaroIn 1793, as the Terror begins in France, Georges Danton, a champion-of-the-people, returns to clash against Maximilien Robespierre and his extremist party.
- DirectorPhilippe de BrocaStarsPhilippe NoiretVincent SchmittRaoul BillereyIn 1793 when terror is widespread in France, peasants known as Chouans fight the revolutionaries in attempt to restore the monarchy.
- DirectorElia KazanStarsMarlon BrandoJean PetersAnthony QuinnThe story of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, who led a rebellion against the corrupt, oppressive dictatorship of President Porfirio Díaz in the early 20th century.
- DirectorPhilip KaufmanStarsDaniel Day-LewisJuliette BinocheLena OlinCentral Europe, 1968: A Czech doctor with an active sex life meets a woman who wants monogamy, and then the Soviet invasion further disrupts their lives.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsWoody HarrelsonCourtney LoveEdward NortonThe story of controversial pornography publisher Larry Flynt, and how he became a defender of free speech.
- DirectorBernardo BertolucciStarsRobert De NiroGérard DepardieuDominique SandaThe epic tale of a class struggle in twentieth-century Italy as seen through the eyes of two childhood friends on opposing sides.
- DirectorElio PetriStarsGian Maria VolontèMariangela MelatoGino PerniceA conscientious factory worker becomes embroiled in political activism after accidentally cutting off his finger while working a machine.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsIan HartRosana PastorIcíar BollaínDavid is an unemployed communist that comes to Spain in 1937 during the civil war to enroll the republicans and defend the democracy against the fascists. He makes friends between the soldiers.
- DirectorMichael RadfordStarsJohn HurtRichard BurtonSuzanna HamiltonIn a totalitarian future society, a man, whose daily work is re-writing history, tries to rebel by falling in love.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJonathan PryceKim GreistRobert De NiroA bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.
- DirectorFrançois TruffautStarsOskar WernerJulie ChristieCyril CusackIn an oppressive future, a fireman whose duty is to destroy all books begins to question his task.
- DirectorMichelangelo AntonioniStarsMark FrechetteDaria HalprinPaul FixAt a time of chronic civil unrest in late 1960s America, a young idealist and an anthropology student cross paths at Zabriskie Point in Death Valley, California. They start an unrestrained relationship by making love on the dusty terrain.
- DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsJack LemmonSissy SpacekMelanie MayronWhen an idealistic American writer disappears during the Chilean coup d'état in September 1973, his wife and father try to find him.
- DirectorRoger SpottiswoodeStarsNick NolteEd HarrisGene HackmanThree journalists in a romantic triangle are involved in political intrigue during the last days of the corrupt Somoza regime in Nicaragua before it falls to a popular revolution in 1979.
- DirectorSpike LeeStarsDenzel WashingtonAngela BassettDelroy LindoBiographical epic of the controversial and influential Black Nationalist leader, from his early life and career as a small-time gangster, to his ministry as a member of the Nation of Islam and his eventual assassination.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsCillian MurphyPádraic DelaneyLiam CunninghamAgainst the backdrop of the Irish War of Independence, two brothers fight a guerrilla war against British forces.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsLiam NeesonAidan QuinnJulia RobertsNeil Jordan's historical biopic of Irish revolutionary Michael Collins, the man who led a guerrilla war against the UK, helped negotiate the creation of the Irish Free State, and led the National Army during the Irish Civil War.
- DirectorGeorge ClooneyStarsDavid StrathairnGeorge ClooneyPatricia ClarksonBroadcast journalist Edward R. Murrow looks to bring down Senator Joseph McCarthy.
- DirectorLuis BuñuelStarsJean-Claude BrialyAdolfo CeliMichel PiccoliA series of surreal sequences that critique morality and society in a stream of consciousness style.
- DirectorMargarethe von TrottaStarsBarbara SukowaDaniel OlbrychskiOtto SanderAfter years of political agitation, Rosa Luxemburg, Karl Liebknecht, and Leo Jogiches form a revolutionary German party, the Spartacists.
- DirectorBo WiderbergStarsThommy BerggrenAnja SchmidtKelvin MalaveAbout the life and death of the legendary Swedish/American agitator Joe Hill.
- DirectorBob FosseStarsDustin HoffmanValerie PerrineJan MinerThe story of acerbic 1960s comic Lenny Bruce, whose groundbreaking, no-holds-barred style and social commentary was often deemed by the Establishment as too obscene for the public.
- DirectorBo WiderbergStarsPeter SchildtKerstin TideliusRoland HedlundDuring a strike strike-breakers are being transported to Lunde, where they are assaulted by the strikers. The military are sent in. On the 14th May 1931 there is a confrontation between demonstrators and the military who open fire and five people are killed and five injured.
- DirectorDennis HopperStarsPeter FondaDennis HopperJack NicholsonTwo bikers head from L.A. to New Orleans through the open country and desert lands, and along the way they meet a man who bridges a counter-culture gap of which they had been unaware.
- DirectorLina WertmüllerStarsGiancarlo GianniniMariangela MelatoLina PolitoWhen a friend is murdered by the Facists, a melancholy farmer takes up residence in a Roman brothel as he and an anarchist prostitute plot to assassinate Mussolini.
- DirectorMiklós JancsóStarsAndrea DrahotaGyöngyi BürösErzsi CserhalmiSet in the 1890s on the Hungarian plains, a group of farm workers go on strike in-which they face harsh reprisals and the reality of revolt, oppression, morality and violence.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsJulia OrmondBenicio Del ToroOscar IsaacIn 1956, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara and a band of Castro-led Cuban exiles mobilize an army to topple the regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsDemián BichirRodrigo SantoroBenicio Del ToroIn 1967, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara leads a small partisan army to fight an ill-fated revolutionary guerrilla war in Bolivia, South America.
- DirectorJean-François RichetStarsVincent CasselCécile de FranceGérard DepardieuThe story of the notorious French gangster Jacques Mesrine, with the focus on his life before the early 1970s and the events that led to him being declared Public Enemy No. 1 in France.
- DirectorJean-François RichetStarsVincent CasselLudivine SagnierMathieu AmalricThe story of the notorious French gangster Jacques Mesrine, with the focus on his life and death as France's Public Enemy No. 1 in the 1970s.
- StarsEdgar RamírezAlexander ScheerFadi Abi SamraThe story of Venezuelan revolutionary Ilich Ramírez Sánchez, who founded a worldwide terrorist organization and raided the 1975 OPEC meeting.
- DirectorMiklós JancsóStarsJános GörbeZoltán LatinovitsTibor MolnárIn Hungary, the national movement led by Kossuth has been crushed and the Austrian hegemony re-established, but partisans carry on with violent actions. In order to root out the guerilla, the army rounds up suspects and jails them in an isolated fort. The authorities do not have the identity of the guerilla leaders, who are supposed to be present among the prisoners. However, they know enough about some of the suspects to apply perfidious forms of coercion effectively.
- DirectorGleb PanfilovStarsInna ChurikovaViktor RakovLiubomiras LauceviciusBased on Maxim Gorky's novel about a woman torn between her loyalties to husband and son in the years of the Revolution.
- DirectorUli EdelStarsMartina GedeckMoritz BleibtreuJohanna WokalekA look at Germany's terrorist group, The Red Army Faction (RAF), which organized bombings, robberies, kidnappings, and assassinations in the late 1960s and '70s.
- DirectorRainer Werner FassbinderStarsEddie ConstantineHanna SchygullaVolker SpenglerA wildly anarchic satire of urban guerrilla warfare in which a band of leftist radicals inadvertently become puppets of the West German government, which uses them to justify its authoritarian policies.
- DirectorVladimir MotylStarsIrina KupchenkoAleksey BatalovNatalya BondarchukIn December 1825, distinguished members of the Russian military, most of whom were quite affluent and of noble lineage, took it upon themselves to stir revolution against the autocratic and tyrannical Czar Nikolai I in the wake of his not honoring (or even acknowledging) the drafting of a constitution for the Russian people. The revolution failed miserably and the conspirators (known as the Decembrists) were weeded out by the czar himself. One by one, each of the conspirators confess and are systematically exiled to the harsh winters of Siberia, slated to work and wither in a prison/mine. The wives of the conspirators are faced with the prospect of leaving the bosom of wealth and family (including their own children) to be with their husbands in the brutal Siberian locale. If they agree to this, they face having their illustrious social stations stripped away and certain disdain from everyone around them. Among these remarkable women is a princess exiled from France who falls in love with a man soon to be exiled. The film is the story of their unfathomable sacrifice and their dogged desire to be reunited with the men they love, despite the conditions and the circumstances.
- DirectorSergio LeoneStarsRod SteigerJames CoburnRomolo ValliA low-life bandit and an I.R.A. explosives expert rebel against the government and become heroes of the Mexican Revolution.
- DirectorDamiano DamianiStarsGian Maria VolontèKlaus KinskiMartine BeswickA band of Mexican gunrunners employed by a revolutionary General accept an American mercenary into their gang, unaware of his true intentions.
- DirectorMikhail KalatozovStarsSergio CorrieriSalvador WoodJosé GallardoFour vignettes about the lives of the Cuban people set during the pre-revolutionary era.
- DirectorAlain TannerStarsMyriam BoyerJean-Luc BideauMiou-MiouA look at the lives of several men and women in their 30s as they confront the slim gains of the "revolutionary" sixties.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsMireille DarcJean YanneJean-Pierre KalfonA surreal tale of a married couple going on a road trip to visit the wife's parents with the intention of killing them for the inheritance.
- DirectorPier Paolo PasoliniStarsEnrique IrazoquiMargherita CarusoSusanna PasoliniThe life of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of Matthew. Pasolini shows Christ as a Marxist avant-la-lettre and therefore uses half of the text of Matthew.
- DirectorHall BartlettStarsJuarez SantalvoFreddie GedeonAdemir Da SilvaInspired by the classic novel by Brazilian cultural icon Jorge Amado, this is the story of a gang of homeless children lead by Pedro Bala. Set in Bahia, the film follows the adventures of Bala's gang of under aged outlaws as they steal, rape, find love, "capoeira" (a Brazilian form of martial arts) and African-Brazilian religion.
- DirectorGrigoriy AleksandrovSergei EisensteinStarsBoris LivanovNikolay PopovVasili NikandrovA large-scale view on the events of 1917 in Russia, when the monarchy was overthrown.
- DirectorKrzysztof KieslowskiStarsBoguslaw LindaTadeusz LomnickiZbigniew ZapasiewiczWitek runs after a train. Three variations follow on how such a seemingly banal incident could influence the rest of Witek's life.
- DirectorVera ChytilováStarsIvana KarbanováJitka CerhováMarie CeskováAfter realizing that all world is spoiled, Marie and Marie are committed to be spoiled themselves. They rip off older men, feast in lavish meals and do all kinds of mischief. But what is all this leading to?
- DirectorGlauber RochaStarsGeraldo Del ReyYoná MagalhãesOthon BastosAfter killing his employer when he tries to cheat him out of his payment, a man becomes an outlaw and starts following a self-proclaimed saint.
- DirectorGlauber RochaStarsJardel FilhoPaulo AutranJosé LewgoyIn the fictional Latin American country Eldorado, a poet tries to effect political change by influencing powerful men.
- DirectorGlauber RochaStarsRada RassimovGiulio BrogiGabriele TintiA Latin-American insurgent and a black leader join forces to free an African nation. But they'll have to face a German mercenary aided by an American agent and a Portuguese advisor, all working for a mysterious woman.
- DirectorValerio ZurliniStarsWoody StrodeFranco CittiJean ServaisRebel Maurice Lalubi is arrested by the military on trumped up charges and tortured, which turns him into a martyr. Inspired by the final days of the first democratic Congolese leader, Patrice Lumumba.
- DirectorJack ConwayHoward HawksWilliam A. WellmanStarsWallace BeeryFay WrayLeo CarrilloAfter enacting revenge on the overseer who murdered his father, Pancho Villa becomes a bandit, earning the respect of the poor by brutally attacking the wealthy.
- DirectorAleksandr FaintsimmerStarsOleg StrizhenovMarianna StrizhenovaNikolai SimonovAgainst the background of Italian Patriots struggle for independence of his homeland, is three people by the tragic destiny of stops. Arthur who has evolved in the revolutionary, cardinal Montanelli and his love Gemma.
- DirectorNikolay MashchenkoStarsVladimir KonkinKonstantin StepankovFyodor PanasenkoFictionalized autobiography of a young Bolshevik fighter taking part in the Russian civil war.
- DirectorCosta-GavrasStarsYves MontandRenato SalvatoriO.E. HasseUsing the interrogation of a US counterinsurgency agent as a backdrop, the film explores the consequences of the struggle between Uruguay's government and the leftist Tupamaro guerrillas.
- DirectorOliver StoneStarsJames WoodsJim BelushiMichael MurphyA burnt-out photojournalist becomes involved in a Central American revolution.
- DirectorPaolo TavianiVittorio TavianiStarsMarcello MastroianniLea MassariMimsy FarmerA anarchist leader (Fulvio) wishes to retire, as he is old and tired. He tries to hide himself, but his friends find him and insist he carries on helping them.
- DirectorLindsay AndersonStarsMalcolm McDowellDavid WoodRichard WarwickIn this allegorical story, a revolution led by pupil Mick Travis takes place at an old established private school in England.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsMichael RedgraveTom CourtenayAvis BunnageA young thief takes up long-distance running when he is sent to a borstal.
- DirectorVilgot SjömanStarsLena NymanVilgot SjömanBörje AhlstedtTold in a quasi-documentary style, this companion piece to I Am Curious (Blue) (1968) deals with topics such as class society, non-violent resistance, sex, relationships, and tourism to Francoist Spain.
- DirectorNagisa ÔshimaStarsMiyuki KuwanoFumio WatanabeMasahiko TsugawaLong takes and a highly theatrical visual approach combine to form a tense and confrontational look at the decline of a socialist student activists' movement in Japan.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsAnna KarinaMichel SuborHenri-Jacques HuetDuring the Algerian War, a man and woman from opposing sides fall in love with one another.
- DirectorAlain ResnaisStarsYves MontandIngrid ThulinGeneviève BujoldA middle-aged political activist tries to dissuade his young followers from taking radical action.
- DirectorGiuliano MontaldoStarsGian Maria VolontèRiccardo CucciollaCyril CusackIn 1920s Boston, Italian immigrants Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti are scrutinized for their anarchist beliefs while on trial for robbery and murder.
- DirectorAlex CoxStarsGary OldmanChloe WebbDavid HaymanThe relationship between Sid Vicious, bassist for British punk group Sex Pistols, and his girlfriend Nancy Spungen is portrayed.
- DirectorGeoffrey WrightStarsRussell CroweDaniel PollockJacqueline McKenzieA group of skinheads become alarmed at the way their neighbourhood is changing.
- DirectorPaul GreengrassStarsJames NesbittTim Pigott-SmithNicholas FarrellA dramatization of the Irish civil rights protest march and subsequent massacre by British troops on January 30, 1972.
- DirectorStanley KubrickAnthony MannStarsKirk DouglasLaurence OlivierJean SimmonsThe slave Spartacus survives brutal training as a gladiator and leads a violent revolt against the decadent Roman Republic, as the ambitious Crassus seeks to gain power by crushing the uprising.
- DirectorMarco BellocchioStarsMaya SansaLuigi Lo CascioRoberto HerlitzkaThe 1978 kidnapping of politician Aldo Moro as seen from the perspective of one of his assailants: a conflicted young woman in the ranks of the Red Brigade.
- DirectorKôji WakamatsuStarsMaki SakaiArata IuraAkie NamikiThe film outlines Japanese students movements in the 60s, then shows the formation of the Japanese United Red Army, a communist armed resistance group.
- DirectorMasaki KobayashiStarsToshirô MifuneYôko TsukasaGô KatôThe mother of a feudal lord's only heir is kidnapped away from her husband by the lord. The husband and his samurai father must decide whether to accept the unjust decision, or risk death to get her back.
- DirectorTeddy ChanStarsXueqi WangTony Ka Fai LeungJun HuIn 1905, revolutionist Sun Yat-Sen visits Hong Kong to discuss plans with Tongmenghui members to overthrow the Qing dynasty. But when they find out that assassins have been sent to kill him, they assemble a group of protectors to prevent any attacks.
- DirectorJean-Luc GodardStarsAnne WiazemskyJean-Pierre LéaudJuliet BertoA small group of French students are studying Mao, trying to find out their position in the world and how to change the world to a Maoistic community using terrorism.
- DirectorPhilippe GarrelStarsLouis GarrelClotilde HesmeJulien Lucas1968 and 1969 in Paris during and after the student and trade-union revolt. 20-year-old François is a poet dodging military service. He takes to the barricades, but won't throw a Molotov cocktail at the police. He smokes opium and talks about revolution with his friend Antoine, who has an inheritance and a flat where François can stay. François meets Lilie, a sculptor who works at a foundry to support herself, and they fall in love. A year passes; François continues to write, talk, smoke, and be with Lilie. Opportunities come to Lilie: what will she and François do?
- DirectorRobert EdwardsStarsRalph FiennesDonald SutherlandTom HollanderA soldier recounts his relationship with a famous political prisoner attempting to overthrow their country's authoritarian government.
- DirectorJean RenoirStarsPierre RenoirLise DelamareLouis JouvetA news-reel like movie about early part of the French Revolution, shown from the eyes of individual people, citizens of Marseille, counts in German exile and, of course the king Louis XVI, showing their own small problems.