Comments on: Triumph of the Will

Question: Triumph of the Will

twinight — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 22:46:37 -0800

What are some movies that deal with the theme of self-discipline?

I wish I could say more clearly what I'm looking for, but I don't really know. I guess what I'm interested in are movies where a character is successful not because he/she is the smartest or strongest but because he/she is the most dedicated, persistent, and disciplined.

By: empatterson

empatterson — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 22:49:27 -0800

Harry Potter?

By: trip and a half

trip and a half — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 22:54:11 -0800

Forrest Gump?

By: JujuB

JujuB — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 22:55:13 -0800

Erin Brockovich

By: erst

erst — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 22:56:03 -0800

Karate Kid

By: hermitosis

hermitosis — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 22:56:57 -0800

Black Narcissus. And weirdly, Black Swan.

By: erst

erst — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 22:58:22 -0800

Rudy -- that movie is the epitome of what you're asking for.

By: Confess, Fletch

Confess, Fletch — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 22:58:22 -0800

Rocky

By: erst

erst — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 23:01:38 -0800

Lord of the Rings.

By: mannequito

mannequito — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 23:04:11 -0800

The King of Kong

By: spunweb

spunweb — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 23:06:14 -0800

Labyrinth!

By: spunweb

spunweb — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 23:08:27 -0800

Oh, and Kill Bill. :D

By: Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey

Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 00:01:24 -0800

God of Cookery.

Hong Kong comedy about a famous chef (master of culinary technique, restaurants named after him, TV show, entourage of assholes, the works) who gets revealed as a fraud who can't actually prepare the dishes he's famous for.

He's cast down to the streets and left destitute and disgraced. From there, he has to learn REAL cooking chops and come back to challenge the man who dethroned him in an Iron Chef-style "Kung Food" cook off.

By: Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey

Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 00:05:03 -0800

Gattaca. In a world where genetics is everything and parents buy the best gene manipulation they can afford, an "all natural" guy with a dodgy heart dreams of being a astronaut.

By: the noob

the noob — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 00:22:02 -0800

Taxi Driver

By: rhizome

rhizome — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 00:25:40 -0800

Anatomy of a Murder

By: Paragon

Paragon — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 00:34:50 -0800

The 36th Chamber of Shaolin is a great Kung Fu movie that is all about patience and training

By: ShutterBun

ShutterBun — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 00:48:50 -0800

Off the top of my head I'd say Vision Quest and perreneal fave King of Kong.

By: OnTheLastCastle

OnTheLastCastle — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 01:12:57 -0800

Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story.

Rocky.

By: CustooFintel

CustooFintel — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 01:13:39 -0800

I second Gattacca - I think it's a marvelous film.
I will add The Shawshank Redemption (though that's as mcuh about cleverness as determination), The Pursuit of Happyness, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (lots of patience in that one).

By: littlesq

littlesq — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 01:26:30 -0800

Beatrix Kiddo in Kill Bill.

By: crabintheocean

crabintheocean — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 02:46:04 -0800

Million Dollar Baby

By: wherever, whatever

wherever, whatever — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 03:40:34 -0800

I Heart Huckabees

By: Flood

Flood — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 03:43:40 -0800

Gandhi

By: natasha_k

natasha_k — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 04:46:40 -0800

Seconding Rudy!

By: hot soup girl

hot soup girl — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 04:57:00 -0800

Ghost Dog and Le Samouraï.

By: blue_beetle

blue_beetle — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 05:40:22 -0800

Nolan's Batman trilogy.

By: dawkins_7

dawkins_7 — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 06:32:10 -0800

Stand and Deliver
Flashdance

By: Currer Belfry

Currer Belfry — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 06:33:07 -0800

Lawrence of Arabia presents about as spectacular a triumph of the will as you're going to get, at least up until the intermission. After that, Lawrence is bested by forces beyond his control.

By: cashman

cashman — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 06:47:26 -0800

Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Temple of Doom
Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade

Dedication, persistence, discipline.

By: stebulus

stebulus — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 07:03:32 -0800

a character is successful not because he/she is the smartest or strongest but because he/she is the most dedicated, persistent, and disciplined.

The villain in Seven fits this description.

By: KingEdRa

KingEdRa — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 07:06:46 -0800

Valhalla Rising

By: Ideefixe

Ideefixe — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 07:31:47 -0800

GI Jane

By: sharkfu

sharkfu — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 07:55:15 -0800

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring

By: iviken

iviken — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 11:04:17 -0800

Various victims in the Saw movies.

By: cadge

cadge — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 12:53:28 -0800

The King's Speech
The September Issue

By: ibakecake

ibakecake — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 13:22:00 -0800

Iron Will

By: kmel

kmel — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 17:27:17 -0800

Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

By: Anything

Anything — Sat, 06 Oct 2012 20:40:32 -0800

The first scenes of There Will Be Blood are the purest display of stubbornness I can remember seeing in a film. The main character does get ahead by extraordinary persistence, but also by being an extraordinary liar and a bully, so depending on what you're specifically looking for, this may or may not be what you're looking for.

By: Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey

Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 00:11:41 -0800

Not to be a dick, but didn't Rocky lose in movie 1?

By: anildash

anildash — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 06:54:44 -0800

Purple Rain and 8 Mile.

By: stebulus

stebulus — Sun, 07 Oct 2012 15:53:47 -0800

Not to be a dick, but didn't Rocky lose in movie 1?

He lost the bout, but he achieved his goal of "going the distance", demonstrating persistence, etc., which makes him a reasonable answer to the question.