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Historical films
Welcome to Sarajevo (1997)
Directed by Michael Winterbottom
Based on the true story of British journalist Michael Nicholson who tries
to evacuate a child from war-torn Yugoslavia. A harrowingly realistic
account of the futility of war from a frustrated front-line perspective.
Farewell My Concubine (1993)
Directed by Kaige Chen
The story of two male performers – and lovers – in the Peking
Opera, and the woman who comes between them. Provides a good political
history of China in the 20th century.
Malcolm X (1992)
Directed by Spike Lee
Biopic of Malcolm X, the African-American leader (and former burglar)
who travelled from a belief in black separatism to a more universal Muslim
faith before his assassination in 1965.
Cry Freedom (1987)
Directed by Richard Attenborough
The powerful and devastating story of South African journalist Donald
Woods (Kevin Kline) and his relationship with black activist Steve Biko
(Denzel Washington). After Biko dies in prison at the hands of the white
police, Woods defies security police by illegally escaping the country
to publish the dead man's biography.
Empire of the Sun (1987)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Taken from J G Ballard's autobiographical novel, a pampered British boy
(Christian Bale) becomes almost feral when interned in a POW camp after
the Japanese take Shanghai during World War II. Inspiring, with brilliant
cinematography.
The Killing Fields (1984)
Directed by Roland Joffe
Haunting account of the friendship between US reporter Sidney Schanberg
(Sam Waterston) and his Cambodian assistant Dith Pran (Oscar-winning Haing
S Ngor), who is caught up in the Khmer Rouge's genocidal campaign.
The Right Stuff (1983)
Directed by Philip Kaufman
Adapted from Tom Wolfe's book, a grand and comic telling of NASA's efforts
to put a human in orbit. The film ranges from the breaking of the sound
barrier by Chuck Yeager to the Mercury 7 astronauts, used by the
US government in its public relations war with the Soviet Union.
Gandhi (1982)
Directed by Richard Attenborough
Stunning biopic that tells the story of the pacifist Mahatma Gandhi (Ben
Kingsley), who encouraged the ideals of freedom and racial harmony while
working to liberate India from British rule in the first half of the century.
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Perhaps one of the greatest anti-war films ever made. Martin Sheen plays
a burnt-out US captain during the Vietnam war, given the mission to capture
Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando) who has put together a disaffected army
in the Cambodian jungle.
The Longest Day (1962)
Directed by Ken Annakin
An epic of World War II – considered by some to be a masterpiece
– that culminates with D-Day. With a cast of thousands, it reveals
the preparations for the invasion of Normandy from the Allied side, and
also shows what was happening on the German.
The Battleship Potemkin (1925)
Directed by Sergei Eisenstein
Eisenstein's portrait of the sailors who overthrow their oppressors on
a tsarist battleship serves as a metaphor of the Russian Revolution. Marxist
propaganda, but considered one of the best films ever made (before Citizen
Kane). Particularly famed for the 'Odessa Steps' sequence – much
copied, especially by Brian de Palma in The Untouchables (1987).
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