Rated R for scenes of Social Justice
September 23, 2015 7:13 AM   Subscribe

What are some difficult movies to watch (with violent, emotional, or otherwise controversial content) that are believed to have high cultural value?

i.e., not looking for Kill Bill's violence "because it was fun," but rather 12 Years a Slave "because viewers need to feel suffering of its protagonists."
posted by Jason and Laszlo to Media & Arts (61 answers total) 28 users marked this as a favorite
 
Requiem for a Dream
Schindler's List
Saving Private Ryan
Mississippi Burning
posted by Ostara at 7:14 AM on September 23, 2015 [4 favorites]


Requiem for a Dream would fit here.
posted by saeculorum at 7:15 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Hotel Rwanda
posted by fourpotatoes at 7:19 AM on September 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


Boys Don't Cry
The Accused
posted by rtha at 7:19 AM on September 23, 2015 [4 favorites]




Once Were Warriors
Romper Stomper
The Odd Angry Shot
posted by pompomtom at 7:21 AM on September 23, 2015 [3 favorites]


I came to say Requiem for a Dream too, though I'm not sure I would ever advise someone to watch it under any circumstances.
posted by guster4lovers at 7:22 AM on September 23, 2015 [8 favorites]


Sophie's Choice
posted by plinth at 7:23 AM on September 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


Django Unchained


While Tarantino always includes plenty of gratuitous violence, in this movie it was actually central to the plot.
posted by RichardHenryYarbo at 7:23 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Selma
Amistad

I would really like to show the film "Lincoln" to my kids, and it's not SUPER graphic, but it's Matthew-Brady-photographs graphic, and that's graphic enough to put it off for quite a few years. More "momentary flinch" for adults, but a lot to take for kids I think.

(I also find March of those STUPID FUCKING PENGUINS unwatchable because of the MASS DEATHS OF COLD AND STARVATION, it's like a movie about Napoleon invading Moscow but with adorable penguins instead of murderous Frenchmen. IT IS NOT A MOVIE YOU WOULD BE ALLOWED TO MAKE ABOUT PEOPLE.)
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:24 AM on September 23, 2015 [7 favorites]


Do The Right Thing has some violent and upsetting scenes.
posted by chaiminda at 7:25 AM on September 23, 2015 [4 favorites]


I'd add:
Do the right thing
Birth of a nation
The battle of algiers
The deer hunter
Mississippi burning
The killing fields
Sankofa
The color purple
posted by Lisitasan at 7:26 AM on September 23, 2015


A Clockwork Orange

Capturing the Friedmans
posted by John Cohen at 7:28 AM on September 23, 2015


Deer Hunter
Killing Fields
posted by lmfsilva at 7:30 AM on September 23, 2015 [3 favorites]


American History X
posted by slogger at 7:31 AM on September 23, 2015 [7 favorites]


Un Chien Andalou is hard to watch but it's just what you'd expect from the mind of Salvador Dali. I'm not sure what it all MEANS though.

Some others:

Taxi Driver

American History X

Crash

Girl Rising

The Laramie Project

Waiting for Superman
posted by Ostara at 7:35 AM on September 23, 2015


Sunshine
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:37 AM on September 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


Rabbit-proof Fence
posted by belladonna at 7:38 AM on September 23, 2015 [6 favorites]


The passion of Joan of Arc
Beloved
Watership down
Compliance
Last tango in Paris*

*might not be exactly what you mean here, but in my opinion, is a devastating and important movie
posted by Lisitasan at 7:40 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


The Accused
Deliverance
Apocalypse Now
Das Boot (not ageing well)
posted by DarlingBri at 7:42 AM on September 23, 2015


A Short Film About Killing
posted by HandfulOfDust at 7:48 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Monster and Precious for me are like opposite sides of the same painful-to-watch coin.
posted by drlith at 7:48 AM on September 23, 2015


Shame by Steve McQueen starring Michael Fassbender & Carey Mulligan. I'm never watching it again but I am glad I did sit through it. It's an excellent film about a very damaged family - but it's a tough watch. Cold, harsh, gut-wrenching and very good. Also, the least sexy film ever despite its subject matter - a couple next to me watched it on a date night. That wasn't a good idea.
posted by kariebookish at 7:51 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Amour
posted by HandfulOfDust at 7:52 AM on September 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
(Also, came in to say American History X, saw it mentioned twice already. Well done.)
posted by jillithd at 7:53 AM on September 23, 2015


The French movie "Irreversible."
The Brazilian movie "Central Station" isn't particularly violent, but has some disturbing themes and is very compelling.
posted by Melismata at 7:55 AM on September 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


Kids
posted by galvanized unicorn at 7:56 AM on September 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


McQueen's two features prior to '12 years...' also fit into this category, Hunger particularly so.

Some of Ken Loach's stuff is pretty brutal: 'Raining Stones' and 'Wind That shakes the Barley' have some tough parts.
posted by biffa at 7:58 AM on September 23, 2015


Dear Zachary
posted by cakelite at 8:03 AM on September 23, 2015 [4 favorites]


There are some well-respected, well-made horror movies that many cinemaphiles would probably agree hold "high cultural value," although they probably don't meet the "Twelve Years A Slave" standard of social/ historical significance. Depending on your taste, those films probably include:

Rosemary's Baby
The Shining
The Exorcist
Psycho
Night of the Living Dead
Repulsion
Freaks
The Silence of the Lambs
posted by Clambone at 8:04 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. A punishing, unforgettable film about the experience of illegal abortion, set in 1987 Romania.
posted by PercussivePaul at 8:06 AM on September 23, 2015 [3 favorites]


Grave of the Fireflies
posted by rewil at 8:32 AM on September 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 8:35 AM on September 23, 2015


The Paradise Lost documentary series about the West Memphis Three

The Invisible War, a documentary about rape in the armed forces

Deliver Us from Evil, a documentary about a priest who molested and raped children throughout Northern California as he was transferred from parish to parish
posted by hmo at 8:51 AM on September 23, 2015


Natural Born Killers
posted by sexyrobot at 8:56 AM on September 23, 2015


I thought Tony Kaye's "Lake of Fire" was about the best documentary you could hope to make about the subject of abortion and I would pay good money to never have to see it again.
posted by selfnoise at 8:58 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


This is Todd Solondz's wheelhouse, right? Happiness springs to mind.
posted by saladin at 9:05 AM on September 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


Come and See

Funny Games

The Stoning of Soraya M.


(disclaimer: I haven't actually watched any of the above movies personally)

I know it's a matter of personal opinion but I would actually disagree with the inclusion of Hotel Rwanda. Considering its subject matter (the Rwandan genocide) it was surprisingly easy to watch and has a PG-13 rating. I think it pulled a lot of punches and did about everything it could to be palatable to audiences.
posted by phoenixy at 9:27 AM on September 23, 2015


Dancer In The Dark
posted by theseldomseenkid at 9:31 AM on September 23, 2015 [2 favorites]


A few documentaries I haven't seen here yet:

If you have half an hour, Night and Fog
If you have ten hours, Shoah (I haven't seen it myself yet, but I believe those who have.)
The Fog of War
The Iceman Interviews

If you're looking for existential despair with less explicitly articulated social messages (they are there, though), Lars von Trier's depression trilogy (Antichrist, Melancholia, and Nymphomaniac), and his Golden Heart trilogy (Dancer in the Dark,* Breaking the Waves, and The Idiots) are both just devastating, and are best when you watch all three.

‎Roy Andersson's A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, and probably also Songs from the Second Floor and We the Living, although I haven't seen those two yet.

Werner Herzog's Stroszek

Bela Tarr's The Turin Horse

Anything Catherine Breillat or Gaspar Noe, and really, pretty much anything in the category of New French Extremism would probably apply.

Lynne Ramsay's Ratcatcher and/or We Need to Talk about Kevin

* Oh, beat to that one on preview.
posted by ernielundquist at 9:33 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Affirming Once Were Warriors and The Killing Fields as highly affecting movies, as is John Singleton's Rosewood.
posted by mal de coucou at 9:38 AM on September 23, 2015


Sarafina!
posted by jgirl at 9:43 AM on September 23, 2015


The Missing with Jack Lemon. It is an older film but holds up well. Very sad and heartbreaking.
posted by cairnoflore at 9:53 AM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Seconding "The Act of Killing".
posted by a strong female character at 9:54 AM on September 23, 2015


The Railway Man
posted by cecic at 10:12 AM on September 23, 2015


Children of Men
A Clockwork Orange
Black Swan
Once Were Warriors
The Wrestler
Pulp Fiction
Permanent Midnight
Cape Fear
Saving Private Ryan
Taxi Driver
City of God
Trainspotting
Deliverance
Kids
Requiem for a Dream
Y Tu Mama Tambien
American History X
Gummo
Full Metal Jacket
posted by erst at 10:20 AM on September 23, 2015


This Is England
posted by dysh at 11:04 AM on September 23, 2015 [3 favorites]


Nil by Mouth, Gary Oldman's 1997 film, is a brutal portrayal of abuse.
posted by Kafkaesque at 1:07 PM on September 23, 2015


cry freedom
posted by Buddy_Boy at 1:46 PM on September 23, 2015


City of God
posted by pushing paper and bottoming chairs at 3:34 PM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Mixed Blood by Paul Morrisey is a 1985 black comedy about the drug trade in New York's lower East Side. It's an interesting and underrated film. Because it's a black comedy, it will be sure to offend some, but it's also a perceptive and ironic look at a unique particular sociological time and place. The cinema trailer on YT is terrible, don't watch it, the editing is misleading.

Many violent gangster films often referenced social commentary.
Like Bonnie and Clyde. Or Boyz n the Hood. etc.
posted by ovvl at 6:03 PM on September 23, 2015


Colors by Dennis Hopper is something else in a gangster theme..
posted by ovvl at 6:20 PM on September 23, 2015


Flowers of War
posted by celtalitha at 7:31 PM on September 23, 2015


I don't think anything wrecked me as hard as Xiu Xiu: The Sent-Down Girl
posted by Mchelly at 8:03 PM on September 23, 2015


I came in to also mention Grave of the Fireflies. It's one of the finest animated films I have ever seen, I own the DVD - and I haven't brought myself to rewatch it yet, because it is so emotionally challenging.

(Which maybe says something bad about me, as it is a simple story (intended for children as well as adults), and it represents what actual children actually went through. And I'm an adult - I should at least have enough bravery to witness. But that's me.)
posted by jb at 9:26 PM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


The Pillow Book by Peter Greenaway.

(Actually just about any Peter Greenaway movie but that is the first that came to mind)
posted by N-stoff at 11:41 PM on September 23, 2015 [1 favorite]


Lilya 4 Ever
posted by Salamander at 3:31 AM on September 24, 2015


The Act of Killing also has a sequel that just came out, The Look of Silence. Just as good/horrifying.

I've been thinking of posting an FPP about this...
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 9:33 AM on September 24, 2015


Bandit Queen
posted by unliteral at 4:59 PM on September 24, 2015


Midnight Cowboy
Roger and Me
This film is Not Yet Rated (NC17!)
Citizenfour (although rated R, at least one theater allowed kids to get in)
posted by el io at 11:19 PM on September 27, 2015


The Tribe may still be in theaters near you. Definitely meets your requirements.
posted by dogwalker at 9:38 PM on September 28, 2015


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