Back to 1989
by pbn | created - 08 Sep 2019 | updated - 11 Sep 2019 | Public1989 was a significant year in history due to the fall of the Berlin Wall and other political eruptions. But not only movies concerned with politics flash back in time. Which of these films partly set in 1989 is your favorite depiction of the time?
Discuss here after voting
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1. Good Bye Lenin! (2003)
R | 121 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
In 1990, to protect his fragile mother from a fatal shock after a long coma, a young man must keep her from learning that her beloved nation of East Germany as she knew it has disappeared.
Director: Wolfgang Becker | Stars: Daniel Brühl, Katrin Sass, Chulpan Khamatova, Florian Lukas
Votes: 152,610 | Gross: $4.06M
2. Atomic Blonde (2017)
R | 115 min | Action, Thriller
An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.
Director: David Leitch | Stars: Charlize Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman, Eddie Marsan
Votes: 206,419 | Gross: $51.69M
3. It (I) (2017)
R | 135 min | Fantasy, Horror
In the summer of 1989, a group of bullied kids band together to destroy a shape-shifting monster, which disguises itself as a clown and preys on the children of Derry, their small Maine town.
Director: Andy Muschietti | Stars: Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Martell, Finn Wolfhard, Sophia Lillis
Votes: 605,870 | Gross: $327.48M
4. New Jack City (1991)
R | 97 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A crime lord ascends to power and becomes megalomaniacal while a maverick police detective vows to stop him.
Director: Mario Van Peebles | Stars: Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Allen Payne, Chris Rock
Votes: 38,807 | Gross: $47.62M
5. When They See Us (2019)
TV-MA | 296 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Five teens from Harlem become trapped in a nightmare when they're falsely accused of a brutal attack in Central Park. Based on the true story.
Stars: Asante Blackk, Caleel Harris, Ethan Herisse, Marquis Rodriguez
Votes: 137,753
(mini-series)
6. Rent (2005)
PG-13 | 135 min | Drama, Musical, Romance
In New York City's gritty East Village, a group of bohemians strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness and the AIDS epidemic.
Director: Chris Columbus | Stars: Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Rosario Dawson, Anthony Rapp
Votes: 55,910 | Gross: $29.08M
7. Kolya (1996)
PG-13 | 111 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A confirmed bachelor is in for the surprise of his life when a get-rich-quick scheme backfires and leaves him with a pint-sized new roommate.
Director: Jan Sverák | Stars: Zdenek Sverák, Andrey Khalimon, Libuse Safránková, Ondrej Vetchý
Votes: 16,217 | Gross: $5.73M
8. Berlin Blues (2003)
105 min | Comedy, Drama
Barkeeper Frank, semi-formally called "Herr Lehmann", is part of a lethargic West Berlin-microcosm. His lifestyle is disturbed when his parents show up for a visit, things go awry with his girlfriend and his best friend acts strange.
Director: Leander Haußmann | Stars: Christian Ulmen, Katja Danowski, Detlev Buck, Janek Rieke
Votes: 7,630
9. Monster (2003)
R | 109 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
Based on the life of Aileen Wuornos, a Daytona Beach prostitute who became a serial killer.
Director: Patty Jenkins | Stars: Charlize Theron, Christina Ricci, Bruce Dern, Lee Tergesen
Votes: 161,739 | Gross: $34.47M
10. The Glass Castle (2017)
PG-13 | 127 min | Biography, Drama
A young girl comes of age in a dysfunctional family of nonconformist nomads with a mother who's an eccentric artist and an alcoholic father who would stir the children's imagination with hope as a distraction to their poverty.
Director: Destin Daniel Cretton | Stars: Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts, Ella Anderson
Votes: 38,500 | Gross: $17.27M
11. Southside with You (2016)
PG-13 | 84 min | Biography, Drama, History
Chronicles the 1989 summer afternoon when the future President of the United States, Barack Obama, wooed his future First Lady, Michelle Obama, on a first date across Chicago's South Side.
Director: Richard Tanne | Stars: Tika Sumpter, Parker Sawyers, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Phillip Edward Van Lear
Votes: 10,134 | Gross: $6.30M
12. Last Orders (2001)
R | 109 min | Drama
A group of old friends reminisce about their lives over the years after the death of one of their crew.
Director: Fred Schepisi | Stars: Michael Caine, Bob Hoskins, Tom Courtenay, David Hemmings
Votes: 6,732 | Gross: $2.33M
13. Rosario Tijeras (2005)
R | 126 min | Crime, Drama, Romance
Two friends meet and are seduced by sensuous hit woman Rosario Tijeras. Full of hatred, violence is her way of life. The trio loose themselves in a passionate love triangle where the pain of love will be confused with that of death.
Director: Emilio Maillé | Stars: Flora Martínez, Unax Ugalde, Manolo Cardona, Rodrigo Oviedo
Votes: 2,526
14. Polytechnique (2009)
Not Rated | 77 min | Crime, Drama, History
A dramatization of the 1989 Montréal Massacre, during which several female engineering students were murdered by an unstable misogynist.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Maxim Gaudette, Sébastien Huberdeau, Karine Vanasse, Martin Watier
Votes: 18,996
15. The Man Who Loved Yngve (2008)
90 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A teenage boy loses his footing when he finds himself drawn to the new boy in class.
Director: Stian Kristiansen | Stars: Rolf Kristian Larsen, Arthur Berning, Ida Elise Broch, Ole Christoffer Ertvaag
Votes: 5,028
16. Mirage (2018)
TV-MA | 128 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Two storms separated by 25 years. A woman murdered. A daughter missed. Only 72 hours to discover the truth.
Director: Oriol Paulo | Stars: Adriana Ugarte, Chino Darín, Javier Gutiérrez, Álvaro Morte
Votes: 64,196
17. 17 Again (2009)
PG-13 | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Mike O'Donnell is ungrateful for how his life turned out. He gets a chance to rewrite his life when he tried to save a janitor near a bridge and jumped after him into a time vortex.
Director: Burr Steers | Stars: Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon
Votes: 216,288 | Gross: $64.17M
18. Laurence Anyways (2012)
Not Rated | 168 min | Drama, Romance
A drama that charts ten years in a transgender woman's relationship with her lover.
Director: Xavier Dolan | Stars: Melvil Poupaud, Emmanuel Schwartz, Suzanne Clément, Nathalie Baye
Votes: 22,197
19. Moszkva tér (2001)
88 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
1989 is an important year in the political history of Hungary. However, Petya and his friends couldn't care less. They are about to graduate high school. The only important things to them ... See full summary »
Director: Ferenc Török | Stars: Gábor Karalyos, Erzsi Pápai, Eszter Balla, Vilmos Csatlós
Votes: 3,809
20. Summer Palace (2006)
Unrated | 158 min | Drama, Romance
Yu Hong leaves her home village and starts university in Beijing, where she develops a consuming and compulsive relationship with another student. The student riots from 1989 then ensue and take a toll on their lives.
Director: Ye Lou | Stars: Lei Hao, Xiaodong Guo, Xueyun Bai, Lin Cui
Votes: 4,311 | Gross: $0.06M
21. We Own the Night (2007)
R | 117 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A New York City nightclub manager tries to save his brother and father from Russian Mafia hitmen.
Director: James Gray | Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Danny Hoch
Votes: 92,937 | Gross: $28.56M
22. Buffalo Soldiers (2001)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A criminal subculture operates among U.S. soldiers stationed in West Germany just before the fall of the Berlin wall.
Director: Gregor Jordan | Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Anna Paquin, Ed Harris, Scott Glenn
Votes: 25,554 | Gross: $0.35M
23. Jarhead (2005)
R | 125 min | Biography, Drama, War
A psychological study of Marine's state of mind during the Gulf War. Told through the eyes of a U.S. Marine sniper who struggles to cope with boredom, a sense of isolation, and other issues back home.
Director: Sam Mendes | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Lucas Black, Scott MacDonald
Votes: 206,413 | Gross: $62.66M
24. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992)
R | 134 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Laura Palmer's harrowing final days are chronicled one year after the murder of Teresa Banks, a resident of Twin Peaks' neighboring town.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Sheryl Lee, Ray Wise, Mädchen Amick, Dana Ashbrook
Votes: 105,107 | Gross: $4.16M
25. The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu (2010)
Not Rated | 180 min | Documentary, Biography, History
The film explores the image of the Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu using unknown official footage from the Romanian National Television and National Film Archives.
Director: Andrei Ujica | Stars: Nicolae Ceausescu, Elena Ceausescu, Stefan Andrei, Gheorghe Apostol
Votes: 1,639 | Gross: $0.03M
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