TWENTIETH CENTURY WORLD HISTORY
2003-04
Second Assignment: Film Review
Write a historical review of one of the feature films listed below.
Part of the aim of this assignment is to introduce you to history through the lens of world cinema:
European, African, Latin American, Australasian and Asian, as well as North American. The review
should be about 1,000 words long and contain a complete citation of the film, references, and a
bibliography of at least two related historical works on the society and period depicted (which of course
you should read)! What past events, issues or themes does the film deal with? Describe the
historical context. What value does the film medium have for the recreation or invention and
understanding of history? How are historical events and past periods represented? Compare the
film with textual accounts of the period. Note that a description of the plot or narrative by itself is not
a review, although you will probably want to include a short summary. You will need to consider
questions such as how the film portrays historical events, what techniques are used, the point of view of
the director, the conditions under which the film was made, the use of symbolism, and so on.
You might also want to pay attention to some of the following issues, where relevant: belief systems;
engagements with "modernity"; government and authority; anti-colonial resistance; colonial
relationships; class relationships; social organization; production and the material life; economic
relationships; postcolonial problems; gender issues; changes in the family; cultural expressions, and any
other relevant historical topics.
N.B. Essays written using internet sources only are not acceptable, although there is nothing wrong with
using one or two especially helpful web sites in addition to books and articles. Check the last pages of
the course outline as well as Berkin and Anderson for further advice. The handout on watching
historical videos will also be useful.
A Dry White Season (US, 1989) Euzhan Palcy. Something is wrong in South Africa, 1976!
All Quiet on the Western Front (US, 1930) Lewis Milestone. Unrelenting anti-war classic.
Ararat (Canada, 2002) Atom Egoyan. Shifting reality and memories of Armenian genocide. Complex!
Au Revour les Enfants (France/WGer, 1987) Louis Malle Jewish boy in occupied France. Sombre.
Bandit Queen (India/GB, 1994) Shekhar Kapur. Gender and caste oppression in 1970s-80s north India.
The Battle of Algiers (Algeria/It, 1965) Gillo Pontecorvo. Guerrilla war against the French. A classic.
The Battle of Britain (GB, 1969) Guy Hamilton. Conventional account of the battle. Stiff upper lip!
Bayan Ko: My Own Country (Philippines/Fr, 1984) Lino Brocka. Political turmoil under Marcos.
The Beast (US/Israel) Dir. Kevin Reynolds. Afghanistan war: Russians v Afghans. Tough!
Before the Rain (Mac/GB/Fr, 1994) Milcho Manchevski. Brave triptych; in Yugoslavia and London.
Bird (US, 1988) Clint Eastward. Brave and honest story of jazz great, Charlie Parker. Memorable!
The Blue Kite (HK/China, 1993) Tian Zhuangzhuang. Beijing family during Cultural Revolution.
Breaker Morant (Australia, 1979) Bruce Beresford. War crimes trial in Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902)
The Bridge on the River Kwei (GB, 1957) David Lean. Classic PoW movie: morale v collaboration.
Burnt by the Sun (Russia/Fr, 1994) Nikita Mikhalkov. Illusions of Stalinist Russia, 1936. Telling!
Camp de Thiaroye ((Senegal, 1987) Ousmane Sembene. African soldiers and colonialism. Superb!
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The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (Aust, 1978). Fred Schepisi. One aborigine’s rebellion. Brilliant!
Chocolat (France, 1988) Claire Denis. Colonial hypocrisy in French Cameroons. Atmospheric!
Cinema Paradiso (Italy/Fr, 1988) Giuseppe Tornatore. The romance of cinema and WWII childhood.
Circle of Deceit (WGer/Fr, 1981) Volker Schlondorff. War correspondent in Beirut, Lebanese Civil
War.
The Commissar (USSR, 1967) Alexander Askoldov. 1920. Anti-semitism and gender, 1920 Russia.
The Conformist (Italy, 1969) Bernardo Bertolucci. “A subtle anatomy of Italy’s fascist past.”
Cry Freedom (GB, 1987) Richard Attenborough. 1960s Apartheid South Africa: Steve Biko and Woods
The Crying Game (GB, 1992) Neil Jordan. IRA and a British soldier, Northern Ireland. Moving!
The Cyclist (Iran, 1989) Mohsen Makhmalbaf. Afghan refugee in Tehran during Iran-Iraq war.
Dr. Strangelove: or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (GB, 1963) Stanley
Kubrick.
Earth (India/Can, 1998) Deepa Mehta. Drama against background of Partition of India, 1947.
The English Patient (US, 1996) Anthony Minghella. Memory and romance in WWII Tuscany. Rich!
Emitai (Senegal, 1972) Ousmane Sembene. African villagers resist colonial oppression during WWII.
Empire of the Sun (US, 1987) Steven Spilberg. Expat brat in Shanghai, invaded by the Japanese.
Farewell My Concubine (HK/China, 1993), Chen Kaige. Struggles of Peking opera stars, 1925-1977.
Flame (Zimbabwe/Namibia, 1996) Ingrid Sinclair. Women fighters and Zimbabwe liberation war.
The Four Feathers (GB, 1939) Classic British imperialist adventure: the Sudan, 1890s. Mythologizing.
Frida (Mexico/US, 2002) Julie Taymor. Mexican painters Frida Kahlo/Diego Rivera, and their times.
Funny Dirty Little War (Argentina, 1983) Hector Olivera. Brilliant (and real) political comedy.
Gallipoli (Australia, 1981) Peter Weir. Nationalistic epic of Gallipoli campaign, WWI.
Gandhi (GB, 1982) Richard Attenborough. Epic treatment of Indian nationalist leader. Superb acting!
Good Morning Babylon (Italy/Fr/US, 1986) Taviani brothers. Italian immigrants in US; early cinema.
La Grande Illusion (France, 1937) Jean Renoir. Powerful and humane indictment of war. A classic!
Heat and Dust (GB, 1982) James Ivory. Colonial India, 1920s. Charming and ironic. R.P. Jhabvala
novel.
High Hopes (GB, 1988) Mike Leigh. Warm depiction of Thatcher’s Britain through one family.
Hiroshima, Mon Amour (France/Japan, 1959) Alain Resnais. Memories of WWII and Hiroshima.
The Home and the World (India, 1984) Satyajit Ray. Bengal during nationalist struggle. Masterful!
Hope and Glory (GB, 1987) John Boorman. Joyous childhood in London during the Blitz.
I am Cuba (USSR/Cuba) Mikhail Kalatozov. Tribute to the Cuban revolution. Poetic and passionate.
In Custody (GB/India) Ismail Merchant. Dieing Urdu tradition as India modernizes. Anita Desai novel.
Indochine (France, 1991) Régis Wargnier. Pro Vietnamese epic of colonialism. Grand melodrama.
Kanal (Poland, 1956) Andrzej Wadja. Grim but dramatic story of Warsaw uprising, 1944.
The Killing Fields (GB, 1984) Roland Joffe. Khmer Rouge horrors in 1970s Cambodia. Convincing!
Kundun (US, 1997) Martin Scorsese. Story of the Dalai Lama from childhood to exile in India.
Land and Freedom (GB, 1995) Ken Loach. Emotional story of volunteer in Spanish Civil War.
The Land Girls (GB/Fr), David Leland. The Home Front, WWII. Three women in the Land Army.
The Last Emperor (China/It, 1987) Bernardo Bertolucci. Odyssey of last Chinese Emperor. Epic!
The Last Metro (France, 1980) François Truffaut. Romanticized view of theatre in occupied Paris.
Lawrence of Arabia (GB, 1962) David Lean. Famous WWI epic on the grandest scale.
Lumumba (France, 2001). Raoul Peck. The rise and fall of African hero, Patrice Lumumba. Chilling!
Man of Iron (Poland, 1981) Andrzej Wadja. Emotional account of Polish Solidarity uprising.
Map of the Human Heart (GB/Aust/Fr/Can, 1992) Vincent Ward. Ambitious Can. WWII love story.
The Marriage of Maria Braun (WGer, 1978) Rainer Fassbinder. Explosive German marriage, 1943.
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Matewan (US, 1987) John Sayles. Class/racial conflict in 1920s West Virginia mining town. Gripping
Men with Guns (US, 1997) John Sayles. Sensitive story of oppression of Mayan Indians.
Mephisto (Hungary, 1981) Istvan Szabo. Actor’s self-deception in Nazi Germany. Brilliant!
Merry Xmas Mr. Lawrence (GB, 1982) Nagisa Oshima. East-West relations in Japanese PoW camp.
Michael Collins (US, 1992) Neil Jordan. Irish republican hero against the British, 1916-1922.
Missing (US, 1981) Costa Gavras. True story of terror during Pinochet’s coup, Chile, 1973.
A Month in the Country (GB, 1987) Pat O’Connor. Two traumatized victims of WWI meet.
Mortu Nega (Guinea-Bissau, 1988) Flora Gomes. African guerrillas against the Portuguese, 1970s.
Muddy River (Japan, 1981) Kohei Oguri. Children’s friendship in 1950s Japan muddied by class/sex
My Friend Ivan Lapshin (USSR, 1986) Alexei Ghermain. Reminiscence of 1930s, before Stalin’s
terror.
The Nasty Girl (WGer, 1989) Michael Verhoeven. Delving into Nazi pasts. Humorous and sharp.
Night of the Shooting Stars (Italy, 1982) Paolo and Vittorio Taviani. Italian resistance, WWII.
The Official Story (Argentina, 1985) Luis Puenzo. Argentina’s military dictatorship 1970s. Powerful
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Norway, 1971) Casper Wrede. Survival in Stalin’s gulag.
Padro Padrone (Italy, 1977) Paolo and Vittorio Taviani. One man against patriarchal society.
The Pianist (Fr/Ger/Pol/GB, 2003) Roman Polanski. Survival during the Holocaust. Stunning!
Prisoner of the Mountains (Kazakhstan/Rus, 1996) Sergei Bodrov. Chechens capture Russian soldrs
The Quiet American (US, 2002) Phillip Noyce. Moral complexity in Saigon, 1952. Prescient!
Rabbit Proof Fence (Australia, 2002), Phillip Noyce. Escape of “stolen” Aboriginal children, 1931.
Reds (US, 1981) Warren Beaty. American socialists and the Russian Revolution.
Red Sorghum (China, 1987) Zhang Yimou. Peasants in north China, 1920s and 1930s. Stunning!
Romero (US, 1989) John Duignan. Passionate story of heroic anti-war priest in El Salvador.
Rosa Luxemburg (WGer, 1986) Margaretha von Trotta. Famous German revolutionary and her times.
Salaam Bombay (Ind/Fr/GB, 1988) Mira Nair. World of Bombay street kids: Urbanization in India.
The Shooting Party (GB, 1984) Alan Bridges. Aristocrats and class exploitation on eve of WWI.
Sounder (US, 1972) Martin Ritt. Determined struggle of southern Blacks during 1930s Depression.
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (GB, 1965) Martin Ritt. Cold War spies. Betrayal/disillusion.
Stalingrad (Germany, 1992) Joseph Vilsmaier. Battle of Stalingrad, a German view. War is hell!
The Story of Women (France, 1988) Claude Chabrol. Tragedy in Nazi occupied France. Brilliant!
Sugarcane Alley (1983), Euzhan Palcy. Colonial Martinique in the 1930s, by Caribbean director.
The Thin Red Line (US, 1998) Terrence Malik. Moral chaos in the Pacific War. Best recent war film?
Three Brothers (Italy/Fr) Francesco Rosi. Various themes of 1970s Italy: north v south, terrorism
Three Colours: White (France/Pol, 1993) Krzysztof Kieslowski. Post-communist Poland.
Tora Tora Tora (US/Japan, 1970) Richard Fleischer. The best Pearl Harbour movie.
Ulysses Gaze (Greece/Fr/It) Theo Angelopoulis. Powerful Balkans history with stunning images.
Vukovar (Serbia/Croatia/It, 1994) Boro Draskovic. Riveting story from Yugoslavian civil war.
The Wannsee Conference (WGer/Austria, 1984) Heinz Schirk. Nazi leaders meet to plan genocide.
The Wars (Canada, 1982) Robin Philips. Near great WWI film from Timothy Findley novel.
Wedding in Galilee (Bel/Fra, 1987) Michel Khleifi. Moving plea for liberation by Palestinian director.
White Mischief (GB, 1987) Michael Radford. Colonial decadence in Kenya.
Yellow Earth (China, 1984), Chen Kaige. Communist-peasant relations in 1939China. Controversial.
Xala (Senegal, 1974) Ousmane Sembene. Sharp parody of postcolonial elite in 1960s Senegal.
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Make up a short list and then search for your first choices. Many of these films are available at:
- the University of Toronto Audio Visual Library (third floor of Robarts Library). To search, select
keyword and type keywordavl, or title.
- the Toronto International Film Festival's Film Reference library (2 Carlton St., East Mezzanine). Note,
there is a small fee.
- York University Library
- The better Scarborough video/dvd stores
- video/dvd rental stores with a substantial foreign film section. These include Revue Video (207
Danforth Ave.); Hollywood Canteen (1516 Danforth Ave.); 724 Movies and More (501A Church
Street); Suspect Video (605 Markham St.); After Dark Video (1043 Bathurst St.); Bay St. Video (1172
Bay St.); Queen Video (412 Queen St. W.)
N.B. You are strongly advised to watch your chosen film at least twice.
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