71. Human Condition I, The ( Ningen no joken I )
Year of Release: 1959
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama/Historical
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Masaki Kobayashi
Actors: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Ineko Arima, Chikage Awashima
Plot: In the first part of a trilogy, a man named Kaji, hoping to avoid military service during WWII instead supervises a Manchurain POW camp, which functions as an iron ore mine. He treats the prisoners with respect and, in turn, improves production. But the influx of a large group of prisoners exposes the corrupt system, and when a foreman organizes an escape attempt, it ultimately leads to Kaji being accused of helping the rebels, being labeled a Red and sent to war after all.
72. 1900 ( Novecento )
Year of Release: 1977
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: Italian
Genre: Drama/Historical
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Actors: Robert De Niro, Gérard Depardieu, Dominique Sanda, Francesca Bertini
Plot: The lives of two Italian men - one a bastard born to a peasant, the other to a land-owner from 1900 - 1945 - the rise of Fascism and Communism and how the two men are shaped by the social and political times.
73. Thirteen Days
Year of Release: 2001
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Historical
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Roger Donaldson
Actors: Shawn Driscoll, Kevin Costner, Bruce Greenwood, Frank Wood
Plot: The Cuban Missile Crisis is chronicled here, as the film's title references to the 13 days in October of 1962 when the world was brought to the brink of nuclear war between the United States and the Soviet Union.
74. The Trial of the Chicago 7
Year of Release: 2020
Overall Rating: 3.1 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Historical
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Aaron Sorkin
Actors: Eddie Redmayne, Alex Sharp, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jeremy Strong
75. Flowers of War, The ( Jin líng shí san chai )
Year of Release: 2011
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: Mandarin
Genre: Drama/Historical
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Yimou Zhang
Actors: Christian Bale, Paul Schneider, Shigeo Kobayashi, Atsurô Watabe
Plot: Based on the novel The 13 Women of Nanjing, from Chinese author Yan Gelin, it tells the story of the massacre of Nanjing, when thousands of women were raped and killed by the Japanese troops during and invasion in 1937. Christian Bale plays a priest who helps a group of prostitutes and students in a church during the invasion.
76. Human Condition II: Road to Eternity, The ( Ningen no joken II )
Year of Release: 1961
Overall Rating: 3.2 out of 4 stars
Language: Japanese
Genre: Drama/Historical
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Masaki Kobayashi
Actors: Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Minoru Chiaki, Keiji Sada
Plot: Continuing the story of Kaji - the soldier finds himself in a unit where the veterans berate him and mistreatment leads one man to suicide and another to defect. With cruelty the order of the day, it ends at the front where his unit is pitted against a Russian tank division - with no hope of winning.
77. Viva Zapata!
Year of Release: 1952
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Historical/Western
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Elia Kazan
Actors: Marlon Brando, Jean Peters, Anthony Quinn, Joseph Wiseman
78. Intolerance
Year of Release: 1916
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: English
Genre: Drama/Historical
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: D.W. Griffith
Actors: Mae Marsh, Robert Harron, Sam De Grasse, Vera Lewis
Plot: A young, poor woman must live her live with intolerance as she is separated from her family due to prejudice.
79. Leopard, The ( gattopardo, Il )
Year of Release: 1963
Overall Rating: 2.9 out of 4 stars
Language: Italian
Genre: Drama/Historical
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Luchino Visconti
Actors: Burt Lancaster, Claudia Cardinale, Alain Delon, Paolo Stoppa
Plot: Follows the ebb and flow of aristocracy in 1860s Sicily.
80. Simon of the Desert ( Simón del desierto )
Year of Release: 1969
Overall Rating: 3.0 out of 4 stars
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama/Historical
MPAA Rating: NR
Director: Luis Buñuel
Actors: Claudio Brook, Enrique Álvarez Félix, Hortensia Santoveña, Francisco Reiguera
Plot: Simon is living in the 4th century and is deeply religious. He wants to be as close to God as possible, and thus climbs a column. The devil tries to lure him back down, but Simon recognizes him every time and refuses to leave his heights. So the devil transports him to a New York nightclub circa 1960s.
