11 Anti-war And Anti-fascism Movies You Really Have To Watch

Sometimes I wonder how fascism can still exist in 2015. I believe that people should fight against fascism and against war in general. We need to know our history and to be aware of what racism and hatred have really caused to humanity. That's why I decided to create a list with 11 of the best anti-fascism and antiwar movies. Some of them are famous, some others aren't. Take a look!

1) La Vita E Bella

Life Is Beautiful (Italian: La vita è bella) is a 1997 Italian comedy-drama film directed by and starring Roberto Benigni. It's the story of Guido Orefice, a Jewish Italian book shop owner, who must employ his fertile imagination to shield his son from the horrors of internment in a Nazi concentration camp. Part of the film came from Benigni's own family history; before Roberto's birth, his father had survived three years of internment at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The film was a critical and financial success, winning Benigni the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 71st Academy Awards as well as the Academy Award for Best Original Dramatic Score and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

2) Full Metal Jacket

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Full Metal Jacket is a 1987 war film directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick. The film stars Matthew Modine, Adam Baldwin, Vincent D'Onofrio, R. Lee Ermey, Dorian Harewood, Arliss Howard, Kevyn Major Howard and Ed O'Ross. The story follows a platoon of U.S. Marines through their training and the experiences of two of the platoon's Marines in the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War. The film's title refers to the full metal jacket bullet used by infantry riflemen. The film was released in the United States on June 26, 1987. The film received critical acclaim, and an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for Kubrick, Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford.

3) The Great Dictator

The Great Dictator is a 1940 American satirical political comedy-drama film starring, written, produced, scored, and directed by Charlie Chaplin, following the tradition of many of his other films. Having been the only Hollywood filmmaker to continue to make silent films well into the period of sound films, this was Chaplin's first true talking picture as well as his most commercially successful film. At the time of its first release, the United States was still formally at peace with Nazi Germany. Chaplin's film advanced a stirring condemnation of Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini's fascism, antisemitism, and the Nazis. Chaplin's film followed only nine months after Hollywood's first parody of Hitler, the short subject You Nazty Spy! by the Three Stooges which itself premiered in January 1940, although Chaplin had been planning it for years before. Hitler had been previously allegorically pilloried in the German film by Fritz Lang, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse. In his 1964 autobiography, Chaplin stated that he would not have made the film had he known about the actual horrors of the Nazi concentration camps at the time.

4) Saving Private Ryan

A 1998 movie, based on a World War II drama. US soldiers try to save their comrade, paratrooper Private Ryan, who's stationed behind enemy lines. A Spielberg classic that was awarded 11 academy awards including Spielberg’s second Academy Award for Best Director. Following the Allied invasion of Normandy and battle in New Guinea, three brothers lie dead from battle. After learning that the fourth brother is missing in France, the Army Chief of Staff orders a rescue mission to find the young soldier and return him safely home. This Anti-War film in particular has been noted by military personnel as being one of the most realistic out there, in particular, the battle scenes are heralded as being soberingly accurate.

5) Hiroshima Mon Amour

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Post-war Japan is the setting for Hiroshima Mon Amour, Alain Resnais’ groundbreaking and lyrical experiment in the language of cinema. It follows a French actress and a Japanese architect they as discuss the nature of memory, both personal and historic. Ushering in the French New Wave, Resnais jumps between the past and the present, the personal and the social, as the two lovers offer their perspectives on their relationship and their past. The imagery frequently juxtaposes ideas and themes – during the war, the actress had her head shaved for sleeping with an German soldier in the occupied French town of Nevers, contrasting with the Japanese women following the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima losing their hair on account of radiation poisoning. It’s both a striking and daring film in its construction, with a looseness of narrative that allows for the exploration of broader ideas. It’s also a commentary on the meaningless cultural divisions which war creates, with love transcending boundaries, however fragile and tentative it may be.

6) Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now is a 1979 movie with a clear Anti-War message. Directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola and is based on Joseph Conrad’s book Heart of Darkness. The film is a re imagining of Conrad’s book; originally set in the African congo, the film converts this to the war in Vietnam where Special Operations veteran Benjamin L.Willard (Martin Sheen) is sent to kill Colonel Walter E.Kurtz (Marlon Brando) who has gone insane. The film does not depict the war on the battlefield as much as it depicts the war in the human soul.

7) Downfall

Downfall (2004) is a 2004 German war film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, depicting the final ten days of Adolf Hitler's reign over Nazi Germany in 1945. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

8) Johnny Got His Gun

Johnny Got His Gun is a 1971 drama anti-war film based on the novel of the same name written and directed by Dalton Trumbo and starring Timothy Bottoms, Jason Robards and Donald Sutherland, with Diane Varsi. The film was released on DVD in the U.S on April 28, 2009 via Shout! Factory, with special features.

9) Platoon

Platoon is a 1986 American war film written and directed by Oliver Stone and starring Tom Berenger, Willem Dafoe and Charlie Sheen. It is the first film of a trilogy of Vietnam War films by Stone (followed by 1989's Born on the Fourth of July and 1993's Heaven & Earth). Stone wrote the story based upon his experiences as a U.S. infantryman in Vietnam to counter the vision of the war portrayed in John Wayne's The Green Berets. It was the first Hollywood film to be written and directed by a veteran of the Vietnam War.

10) '71

'71 is a 2014 British historical action film set in Northern Ireland. Written by Gregory Burke and directed by Yann Demange. It stars Jack O'Connell, Sean Harris, David Wilmot, Richard Dormer, Paul Anderson, and Charlie Murphy, and tells the story of a British soldier who becomes separated from his unit during a riot in Belfast at the height of the Troubles in 1971.

11) American History X

A former neo-nazi skinhead tries to prevent his younger brother from going down the same wrong path that he did.

American History X is a 1998 American crime drama film directed by Tony Kaye and written by David McKenna. It stars Edward Norton and Edward Furlong, and co-stars Fairuza Balk, Stacy Keach, Elliott Gould, Avery Brooks, Ethan Suplee and Beverly D'Angelo. The film was released in the United States on October 30, 1998 and was distributed by New Line Cinema.

The film tells the story of two Venice, Los Angeles brothers who become involved in the neo-Nazi movement. The older brother serves three years in prison for voluntary manslaughter, changes his beliefs and tries to prevent his brother from going down the same path. The film is told in the style of nonlinear narrative. It was given an "R" rating by the MPAA for "graphic brutal violence including rape, pervasive language, strong sexuality and nudity".

Critics mostly praised the film and Norton's performance, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. In September 2008, Empire magazine named it the 311th Greatest Movie of All Time.

References: Wikipedia, What Culture

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