Comments on: Social Justice Films

Question: Social Justice Films

charmston — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:15:33 -0800

Recommend me a film with a theme centering around a social justice issue. Preferably fictitious, or at least not a documentary (sorry Michael Moore fans). I realize that "social justice" is a loosely-defined term; basically, if the screenwriter is trying to make a point about a social justice issue, it's fair game. An archetypal example would be The Constant Gardener, but also acceptable would be movies along the lines of American History X, Crash, Children of Men or Gattaca. Thanks, green!

By: Deep Dish

Deep Dish — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:20:40 -0800

A recent favorite of mine is Lord of War, also the Quiet American is good although in these cases the social justice element might be a bit esoteric if you aren't somewhat familiar with what is happening in these places.

By: Ms. Saint

Ms. Saint — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:23:38 -0800

I just saw ...And Justice for All recently. The word "justice" is right there in the title!

By: thirteenkiller

thirteenkiller — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:30:37 -0800

Erin Brockovich, Philadelphia, Hotel Rwanda

By: hermitosis

hermitosis — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:31:23 -0800

Polanski's Death and the Maiden

By: nasreddin

nasreddin — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:31:49 -0800

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Fantastic film.
Godard's Two or Three Things I Know About Her (patriarchy, consumerism....)
And, finally, Ilya Kazan's Gentlemen's Agreement (I think it's Gregory Peck's best movie).

By: jessamyn

jessamyn — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:37:41 -0800

I think Twelve Angry Men is a good example of this, and fun to watch. Same with To Kill a Mockingbird in a similar way. I mean on the surface they're about obvious justice, getting a fair shake in the legal system. But they're also about class issues and issues of poverty and our ideas of The Other coming to bear on how we mete out that justice within our society. Other obvious titles from a few social justice directions are

Norma Rae - union and workplace issues
Philadephia - sexual orientation and discrimination
Apocalypse Now & Full Metal Jacket - the complications and awfulness of war
The Caine Mutiny & A Few Good Men - what is "justice" in the military, also M*A*S*H

Not all of these are trying to make one social justice point, but they all approach social justice angles which I sometimes think can be more useful than a blatant in your face Free Willy sort of message

By: fandango_matt

fandango_matt — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:46:20 -0800

Bob Roberts
Mississippi Burning

By: specialk420

specialk420 — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:51:10 -0800

wow. how about Darwin's Nightmare ? the harshest movie I have ever seen... and absolutely required viewing for all humans.

doesn't really count as fiction though.

how about lords of war?

By: pompomtom

pompomtom — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:52:40 -0800

Not entirely ficitious, but perhaps: Cry Freedom

By: lemuria

lemuria — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:57:16 -0800

John Sayles specializes in this kind of thing.

Is there a historical period or specific subject that interests you most?

By: maryh

maryh — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:03:44 -0800

Damaged Care - Extremely effective drama based on the experiences of Dr Linda Peeno, HMO whistleblower.
Erin Brockovich - Better known whistleblower movie
The Architect - Fictional film about the architect of a dangerously unlivable public housing complex and his run-in with an activist tenant
Rosetta - This is more of a character study, but the portayal of the deadening effect of poverty on an emotionally destroyed girl is deeply moving and humane

By: MidAtlantic

MidAtlantic — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:05:23 -0800

Blood Diamond
The Fog of War
Syriana
Good Night, and Good Luck
The Motorcycle Diaries
Network
The Insider

Also, you might want to consider The Wire. It's a TV show (and at first it might seem like a run of the mill cop show), but it addresses a lot of issues about urban decay. It's also, hands down, the best thing I've ever seen on television.

By: metabrilliant

metabrilliant — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:17:11 -0800

The Milagro Beanfield War
El Norte

By: chococat

chococat — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:34:16 -0800

Les Ordres is an awesome French Canadian film about the FLQ/October crisis in Quebec in 1970, when Trudeau authorized the War Measures Act which allowed the cops to bust anyone for no reason and haul them off to jail. They were trying to bust up terrorist groups, you see.
Shot in Cinema Verité style, but not a documentary.

By: rtha

rtha — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:36:32 -0800

Three Kings. The Mission.

By: mdonley

mdonley — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 19:47:29 -0800

Heterosexism, homophobia, men wearing condom hats: Le Placard.

By: southof40

southof40 — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:06:59 -0800

Missing depicts one version of the events surrounding the overthrow of the Chilean President Salvador Allende and in particular the alleged involvement of CIA.

The story is based on the death of US journalist Charles Horman and alleges that how the US government was happy to deny information to his family regarding his disappearance in order to further their geo-polictical goals in Chile.

By: rob511

rob511 — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:09:41 -0800

The Candidate
Missing
Sophie's Choice
The Handmaid's Tale
Far From Heaven

By: doublesix

doublesix — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:10:05 -0800

Code 46 - along the lines of CoM/Gattaca, plus Mick Jones doing karaoke.

By: rob511

rob511 — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:10:18 -0800

great minds...

By: kittens for breakfast

kittens for breakfast — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:38:54 -0800

The Caine Mutiny & A Few Good Men - what is "justice" in the military, also M*A*S*H

Along the same lines as these, I liked William Friedkin's Rules of Engagement...it's not without its flaws, but it features some terrific performances (courtroom drama with Tommy Lee Jones AND Samuel L. Jackson!), and addresses issues pretty relevant to our current military adventures (although it was made a while before we went into Iraq, if memory serves).

By: ZakDaddy

ZakDaddy — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 20:49:58 -0800

A Time to Kill - Matthew McConaughey in khakis from the back. Yum! And I'm not even gay. Oh, yeah, and a pretty well-made adaptation of the John Grisham book, with some nice turns by Ashley Judd, Sandra Bullock, Donald Sutherland and Samuel L. Jackson. Recommended.

By: brookeb

brookeb — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:10:15 -0800

Maetwan - by John Sayles (a fictionalized account of history)
Vera Drake by Mike Leigh
Hester Street by Joan Micklin Silver
Do The Right Thing by Spike Lee

By: Slarty Bartfast

Slarty Bartfast — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:29:46 -0800

Boy, I'd wish you'd consider one documentary I saw recently: Bus 174. It really plays out more like a movie, a thriller actually. It involves a real life incident in Rio de Janiero a few years ago where a guy takes a bunch of hostages on a bus and a stand off with the police ensues. As the stand off unfolds, the film maker explores the life of this guy who was born in the Brazilian barrio and raised on the streets, how he witnessed family murdered in front of him, his life in a Rio prison, how all the violence in the world begets more violence. It really blew me away and was done in a way to keep me riveted until the end because I hadn't heard how it ended.

By: hurdy gurdy girl

hurdy gurdy girl — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 21:48:35 -0800

The Magdalene Sisters--about abuse of girls and women in a Catholic Magdalene Asylum in Ireland (absolutely shocking--and apparently the abuse in the real Magdalene Asylums was much worse than depicted in the film)

Rabbit-Proof Fence--about aboriginal children in Australia kidnapped by the government from their families and forced into residential schools where they were forbidden to speak their native language or practice their traditional culture (heartbreakingly sad)

Moolaade--about women opposing female circumcision in an unnamed African community (sounds totally grim but is actually pretty uplifting)

By: Dr. Zira

Dr. Zira — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 22:06:41 -0800

Soylent Green
Watership Down
Beyond Rangoon
Planet of the Apes
The Killing Fields
Cry, the Beloved Country
When the Wind Blows
Amistad
A Civil Action
The China Syndrome
Judgment at Nuremberg
The Seige (Eerily prescient for 1998)
Dead Man Walking (for that matter, just look at Sean Penn's IMDB listings)
Dr. Strangelove
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (Made for HBO)
And if you're counting Errol Morris work such as The Fog of War noted above you'd have to include The Thin Blue Line.

By: Neiltupper

Neiltupper — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 22:13:42 -0800

Also, you might want to consider The Wire.. . . the best thing I've ever seen on television.

True that!

By: The Deej

The Deej — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 22:16:17 -0800

Minority Report
The War Within
THX-1138
Gattaca

By: klanawa

klanawa — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 22:39:32 -0800

The Oxbow Incident

By: The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew

The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:01:00 -0800

Das Leben Der Anderen (The Lives of Others).

By: rhizome

rhizome — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:01:11 -0800

Battle of Algiers

By: [expletive deleted]

[expletive deleted] — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:32:40 -0800

Cidade de Deus (City of God)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Paths of Glory
Boys Don't Cry
Do the Right Thing

By: ceri richard

ceri richard — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 00:43:42 -0800

I don't know if you can get hold of it but the 1966 play Cathy Come Home on homelessness is very powerful.

By: ninebelow

ninebelow — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 02:41:15 -0800

Ken Loach and, perhaps to a lesser extent, Mike Leigh.

By: Prospero

Prospero — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 06:24:36 -0800

Inherit the Wind.

By: candyland

candyland — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:37:02 -0800

Matewan
Hate (La Haine)

By: puddleglum

puddleglum — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 08:33:14 -0800

North Country - sexual harassment
In My Country - Truth and Reconciliation trials (post-apartheid South Africa)

By: SageLeVoid

SageLeVoid — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 09:10:37 -0800

L'Aveu
Tueur à gages

By: The Deej

The Deej — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 10:03:08 -0800

Along the lines of Battle of Algiers, Cache.

By: Invoke

Invoke — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 10:51:40 -0800

Life and Times of David Gale

By: clanger

clanger — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:15:00 -0800

Monsters Ball
City of Ghosts
City of God

By: fac21

fac21 — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:27:02 -0800

i strongly second The Insider and The Thin Blue Line

By: The Deej

The Deej — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:27:42 -0800

The above recommended Errol Morris films, The Thin Blue Line and The Fog of War should be on everyone's must-see list. But, as a heads-up to the OP, they are both documentaries.

By: nicwolff

nicwolff — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 17:34:23 -0800

Meet John Doe.

By: Jeff_Larson

Jeff_Larson — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 20:43:09 -0800

The Wind that Shakes the Barley.

By: cashman

cashman — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 15:17:05 -0800

The Rainmaker