The Master of One's Own Fate: International Independence Films
As the United States celebrates its independence over the 4th of July weekend, there are many films celebrating the independence of other countries (and of groups within), as well, illustrating the sometimes horrific realities of such efforts as much as the joyous victories. Which of the following films, while sometimes portraying both the struggles and the triumphs of independence, do you find to be the most inspirational?
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- DirectorEuzhan PalcyStarsDonald SutherlandJanet SuzmanZakes MokaeA white middle class South African suburbanite with no interest in politics agrees to help his black gardener find his jailed son. His investigation opens his eyes to the horrors committed by the secret police and turns him into a target.
- DirectorGillo PontecorvoStarsBrahim HadjadjJean MartinYacef SaadiIn the 1950s, fear and violence escalate as the people of Algiers fight for independence from the French government.
- DirectorMel GibsonStarsMel GibsonSophie MarceauPatrick McGoohanScottish warrior William Wallace leads his countrymen in a rebellion to free his homeland from the tyranny of King Edward I of England.
- DirectorJohn BoormanStarsPatricia ArquetteU Aung KoFrances McDormandLaura is trying to pick up the pieces of her life after the murder of her husband and son, and goes on vacation with her sister to Burma. After losing her passport at a political rally, she is left on her own for a few days, during which time she falls in with students fighting for democracy. She and their leader, U Aung Ko, travel through Burma, whilst witnessing many bloody acts of repression by the dictatorship, in an attempt to escape to Thailand. Based on a true story.
- DirectorMorgan FreemanStarsDanny GloverMalcolm McDowellAlfre WoodardIn this story of a black policeman during South African apartheid, Danny Glover plays the cop, who believes he's trying to help his people, even while serving as a pawn of the racist government. When his son gets involved in the anti-apartheid movement, he finds himself torn between his family (including long-suffering wife Alfre Woodard) and what he believes is his duty.
- DirectorNeil JordanStarsLiam NeesonAidan QuinnJulia RobertsNeil Jordan's historical biopic of Irish revolutionary Michael Collins, the man who led a guerrilla war against the UK, helped negotiate the creation of the Irish Free State, and led the National Army during the Irish Civil War.
- DirectorBille AugustStarsJoseph FiennesDennis HaysbertDiane KrugerGoodbye Bafana is the true story of a white South African racist whose life was profoundly altered by the black prisoner he guarded for twenty years. The prisoner's name was Nelson Mandela.
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsDenzel WashingtonKevin KlineJosette SimonSouth African journalist Donald Woods is forced to flee the country after attempting to investigate the death in custody of his friend, the Black anti-Apartheid activist Steve Biko.
- DirectorPierre SchoendoerfferStarsDonald PleasencePatrick CatalifoJean-François BalmerAn American reporter finds himself in the middle of the 57-day battle of Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam between the French army and the Vietminh, which finally resulted in the defeat and surrender of the French forces and France's eventual withdrawal from Vietnam.
- DirectorRichard AttenboroughStarsBen KingsleyJohn GielgudRohini HattangadiThe life of the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of nonviolent protest.
- DirectorRégis WargnierStarsCatherine DeneuveVincent PerezLinh-Dan PhamEliane adopts Camille, whose Vietnamese parents were friends. In 1930, a French navy officer is interested in Eliane (owns 60km2 plantation) and later in Camille. There's an uprising in Vietnam against French colonial power.
- DirectorClint EastwoodStarsMorgan FreemanMatt DamonTony KgorogeNelson Mandela, in his first term as President of South Africa, initiates a unique venture to unite the Apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.
- DirectorHarry HookStarsBob PeckEdwin MahindaPhyllis LoganThe son of a priest slain by the Mau Mau moves in with a police officer and his wife in 1950 Kenya.
- DirectorFernando de FuentesStarsAntonio R. FraustoDomingo SolerManuel TamésThe Mexican Revolution is on its way when six brave peasants, known as "Los Leones de San Pablo", decide to join Pancho Villa's army and help end the suffering in their community by assisting in the struggle. After several battles and valiant heroics, the original group is eventually reduced to the leader Tiburcio Maya (Frausto) and young Becerrillo (Vallarino). When Becerrillo is infected by smallpox, Villa orders Tiburcio to kill him and burn the corpse. After reluctantly doing his duty, Tiburcio is ordered to leave the army, and returns home.
- DirectorRaoul PeckStarsEriq EbouaneyAlex DescasThéophile SowiéThe true story of controversial leader of independent Congo Patrice Lumumba.
- DirectorHany Abu-AssadStarsAdam BakriLeem LubanyEyad HouraniA young Palestinian freedom fighter agrees to work as an informant after he's tricked into an admission of guilt by association in the wake of an Israeli soldier's killing.
- DirectorKetan MehtaStarsAamir KhanRani MukerjiToby StephensThis is a film about the leader of the 1857 mutiny and his fight against the British rule.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsRobert MitchumTrevor HowardJohn MillsSet in the wake of the 1916 Easter Rising, a married woman in a small Irish village has an affair with a troubled British officer.
- DirectorRobert WiseStarsSteve McQueenRichard AttenboroughRichard CrennaIn 1926, a U.S. Naval engineer gets assigned to a gunboat on a rescue mission in war-torn China.
- DirectorRichard E. GrantStarsNicholas HoultMiranda RichardsonEmily WatsonRalph witnesses the disintegration of his parents' marriage through adultery and alcohol during the last gasp of the British Empire in Swaziland in 1969. Ralph finds his new step-mother is the only one who understands his inner turmoil.
- DirectorAndrzej WajdaStarsRobert WieckiewiczAgnieszka GrochowskaIwona BielskaThe depiction of the life of Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of Poland's Solidarity movement, Lech Walesa, as events in the 1970s lead to a peaceful revolution.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsCillian MurphyPádraic DelaneyLiam CunninghamAgainst the backdrop of the Irish War of Independence, two brothers fight a guerrilla war against British forces.
- DirectorPeter WeirStarsMel GibsonSigourney WeaverLinda HuntA young Australian reporter tries to navigate the political turmoil of Indonesia during the rule of President Sukarno with the help of a diminutive photographer.
- DirectorPeter H. HuntStarsWilliam DanielsHoward Da SilvaKen HowardA musical retelling of the American Revolution's political struggle in the Continental Congress to declare independence.
- DirectorVidhu Vinod ChopraStarsAnil KapoorJackie ShroffManisha KoiralaA young Indian couple, both from wealthy backgrounds, find themselves caught up in the 1940's Indian revolutionary movement against their families whom are under the thumb a sadistic British general.