War Movies

Miss Arizona

Story of the owners (Mastroianni and Schygulla) of a fancy nightclub in Budapest before and during WWII.

The White Ship

Although released anonymously, as was the custom with all films produced by the Italian Navy, La Nave Bianca is the first feature-length effort directed by Roberto Rossellini; it is also very much the work of its co-writer and supervisor Francesco De Robertis. The film combines a documentary look at the Italian Navy during World War II with newsreel combat footage and a scripted love story performed by non-professional actors.

Winner

Civil War. Red Army commander Yakov Spiridonov falls into the White Guard rear, escapes and finds shelter in one of the ruined villages with a young teacher. He does not relax, but organizes a rebel detachment and before the arrival of the Red Army performs an operational combat mission to hold the bridge.

SHTTL

In one continuous shot, SHTTL shows the lives, loves, and inner conflicts within a Yiddish speaking shtetl on the border between Ukraine and Poland - one day before the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union.

Luciano Serra, Pilot

Successful WWI pilot Luciano Serra has problems adjusting to an ordinary life in peace, so he leaves his family and becomes a pilot in America. In the 30s, his son in Italy wants also to become a pilot, and Luciano accepts an offer of a double dealing agent for a flight from Rio to Rome, but his plane crashes in the Atlantic. For the world Luciano Serra is missing, but he has entered the Italian army under a new name to fight in Ethiopia. The train in which his unit travels is attacked by Ethiopian soldiers, his son flying a reconasaince mission is shot down and wounded by the same attacking enemies. Will Luciano be able to fly the plane back, to get close air support for the outnumbered Italian troups?

The Christian Revolt

In Tokugawa-era (1637) Shimabara, oppressed peasant Christians revolt against the shogunate with the aid of charismatic Christian rebel leader Shiro Amakusa.

If I Don't Come Home: Letters from D-Day

A partly dramatised account of the lives of four Allied servicemen ahead of D-Day, the programme told their story through their final letters home before the assault.

The 18 Warriors of the North

Death Race

In the North African desert in World War II, a crippled American fighter plane that is unable to take off tries to evade and destroy a pursuing Nazi tank.

Dans l'œil de l'occupant

This film offers a glimpse into the four years of the Occupation of France through previously unseen archives: amateur films shot by German soldiers and thousands of letters sent to their loved ones. It offers a completely new perspective on this period, with breathtaking personal images, free of propaganda, showing soldiers as masters of the country, admiring France and its culture or hating it...

The School of Spies

Nakano Institution is the so-called ‘Spy School’ where many young men are trained to be excellent spies. They erase their names, families, even lovers to bury themselves in training. Jiro, one of the cadets, successfully seize the secret code of English army to pass the final exam. However, he reaches the crossroad when his fiancee Yukiko turns out to be a spy of the enemy.

The Last Grenade

Two ruthless mercenaries break their friendship when one of them changes sides.

Tank Battalion

Korean War, 1951. A tank crew struggles to survive behind enemy lines.

The Crisis

Stephen Brice, a young lawyer in Civil War-era St. Louis, falls in love with Virginia Carvel, the daughter of his benefactor. But she is loyal to the South and Brice is committed to Lincoln's cause. In the course of the war, their convictions separate them, and Virginia becomes engaged to her cousin Clarence Colfax, a Confederate officer. Brice becomes an officer under General Sherman, and eventually finds himself faced with the captured Colfax, facing execution for spying. Brice must decide whether or not to intercede in his rival's behalf.

Bloody History of Soldiers

A historical film that portrays the fervent and violent actions of young Army and Navy officers, such as the February 26 and May 15 incidents, in a semi-documentary style.

Purgatory

A young man, William Hawthorne, gets drafted into a brutal war for the U.S. Once on the battlefield, William loses his squad after a deadly bombing and searches for salvation.

Latino

The fighting between the Sandinista government in Nicaragua and the Contra rebels backed by U.S. money and expertise is the focus of this pro-Sandinista film by Haskell Wexler. On a secret mission to help the U.S. Special Forces train Contra rebels in the jungles of Nicaragua, American soldier Eddie Guerrero begins to question the morality of the task at hand and consider how his actions may influence the fate of a nation.

The Fall of Italy

The setting is the islands off the Dalmatian coast of Yugoslavia, during WW II. The islands are controlled by occupying Italian forces, and a resistence movement of Communists is dedicated to sabotaging and ending the occupation. When a wealthy young man joins the resistence, he falls in love with a woman who turns out to be a spy for the Italians. As a result of his liaison and her activity, they are both executed by a Communist comrade - a previous friend. The comrade is dedicated to the hard-line policies of the resistence, until he himself falls in love with the daughter of a bourgeois landowner on the island - a landowner who has collaborated with the Italians. Neither the Italian occupying army (one officer is shown in an attempted rape scene) nor the resistence fighters are stereotyped forces for good or evil, but all are equally subject to the dehumanizing effects of war.

The Changing of the Guard

During WW2, it's not wise to be a mayor chosen by the fascists with the Americans' impending arrival.

A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangendo

Young, timid bowmaster Kazuma seeks to beat the archery record set by Hoshino Kanzaemon, a mysterious figure who, it is rumoured, drove the previous champion—Kazuma’s father—to suicide. Possessed of much raw talent, Kazuma is very much a coward, holing up in an inn and generally avoiding confrontation. Despite his best attempts to remain clandestine, the locals know of Kazuma’s purpose and an attempt is made on his life. He's saved by Karatsu Kanbei, a samurai who offers to help Kazuma hone his archery skills, though it becomes clear that this apparently selfless stranger has potentially shady ulterior motives.