The Man With a Movie Camera (1929), On the Bowery (1956), Mamma Roma (1962), The Measure of a Man (2015), Mahanagar (1963), Capernaum (2018), L'économie du couple (2016), The Exiles (1961) ... Let's take a look at the ranked list of the best Social Realism movies.
Storyline: Shahid Khan is exiled after impersonating the legendary Sultana Daku in order to rob British trains. Now outcast, Shahid becomes a worker at Ramadhir Singh's colliery, only to spur a revenge battle that passes on to generations. At the turn of the decade, Shahid's son, the philandering Sardar Khan vows to get his father's honor back, becoming the most feared man of Wasseypur.
Plot Keywords: crime, gangster, violence, revenge, indian cinema, epic, realism ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Born on the fourth of July, 1900, the future holds unlimited potential for newborn John Sims. But dreams soon fade with the death of his father when John is but a lad. Like many before him, John sets out to make his mark in New York City, but ends up a faceless worker (#137) in a large office of a large business. Still he is happy with his fate and soon meets a young woman named Mary on a blind double date. Things take their course and they soon marry and live in a small apartment. Soon John is bickering with Mary and finds that he has no love for the in-laws. When the marriage looks like a bust, he finds that Mary is with child and he stays. After 5 years, he has a son and a daughter and the same dead end job. When tragedy strikes, John must find the conviction to continue or lose what little he has left.—Tony Fontana <tony.fontana@spacebbs.com>
Plot Keywords: silent film, drama, american film, classic film, realism, social critique, urban life ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A chief of detectives, homicide section, kills his mistress and deliberately leaves clues to prove his own responsibility for the crime.—Damir Dukich <Damir.Dukic@snet.fer.uni-lj.si>
Plot Keywords: political satire, crime, black comedy, thriller, psychological thriller, italian cinema, social critique ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The location: Nazi occupied Rome. As Rome is classified an open city, most Romans can wander the streets without fear of the city being bombed or them being killed in the process. But life for Romans is still difficult with the Nazi occupation as there is a curfew, basic foods are rationed, and the Nazis are still searching for those working for the resistance and will go to any length to quash those in the resistance and anyone providing them with assistance. War worn widowed mother Pina is about to get married to her next door neighbor Francesco. Despite their situation - Pina being pregnant, and Francesco being an atheist - Pina and Francesco will be wed by Catholic priest Don Pietro Pelligrini. The day before the wedding, Francesco's friend, Giorgio Manfredi, who Pina has never met, comes looking for Francesco as he, working for the resistance, needs a place to hide out. For his latest mission, Giorgio also requests the assistance of Don Pietro, who is more than willing as he sees...
Plot Keywords: war, resistance, world war ii, fascism, poverty, sacrifice, collaboration ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Young Krishna's mother abandons him at the Apollo Circus and informs him that he can only return home when he can afford 500 rupees to pay for his brother's bicycle that he destroyed. The circus then leaves Krishna behind and he takes a train to Bombay, where he works delivering tee for Chacha's street bar and being called "Chaipau" by the local street children. He befriends heroin addict and drug dealer Chillum, and young Manju Golub, the daughter of Baba Golub and prostitute Rekha Golub. Krishna dreams of saving 500 rupees to return home, but Bombay street life isn't easy.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Plot Keywords: india, children, street life, social realism, mumbai, independent film, coming of age ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Incarcerated in the Dominican Republic, an inmate uses sign language to communicate with his imprisoned girlfriend at an adjacent institution.
Plot Keywords: drama, romance, prison, social issues, communication, isolation, emotions ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Sullivan is a successful, spoiled, and naive director of fluff films, with a heart-o-gold, who decides he wants to make a film about the troubles of the downtrodden poor. Much to the chagrin of his producers, he sets off in tramp's clothing with a single dime in his pocket to experience poverty first-hand, and gets some reality shock.
Plot Keywords: comedy, satire, hollywood, director, social issues, great depression, poverty ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The Joad clan, introduced to the world in John Steinbeck's iconic novel, is looking for a better life in California. After their drought-ridden farm is seized by the bank, the family -- led by just-paroled son Tom -- loads up a truck and heads West. On the road, beset by hardships, the Joads meet dozens of other families making the same trek and holding onto the same dream. Once in California, however, the Joads soon realize that the promised land isn't quite what they hoped.
Plot Keywords: poverty, social injustice, family struggle, american dream, class conflict, labor exploitation, resilience ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The kind and generous nature of a former ostrich farmer (Reza Naji) starts to erode after he takes a job in the city driving a motorcycle taxi.
Plot Keywords: drama, family, social realism, humanity, life struggles, unemployment, moral dilemma ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A 59 year old carpenter recovering from a heart attack befriends a single mother and her two kids as they navigate their way through the impersonal, Kafkaesque benefits system. With equal amounts of humor, warmth and despair, the journey is heartfelt and emotional until the end.
Plot Keywords: social realism, working class, bureaucracy, poverty, british society, unemployment, social injustice ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper (David Bradley), a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped and encouraged by his English teacher Mr. Farthing (Colin Welland) and his fellow students, Billy finally finds a positive purpose to his unhappy existence, until tragedy strikes.
Plot Keywords: social realism, working class, coming of age, british cinema, education system, poverty, family conflict ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: Romania, 1987, the brutal Ceausescu communist regime is in place; birth control is illegal and abortion is a crime punishable by death. Gabita (Laura Vasliu) is almost five months into an unwanted pregnancy and in meek desperation turns to her friend and roommate, Otilia (Anamaria Marinca) for help in organizing an illegal termination. Unfortunate circumstances force the two women to use an unwanted male abortionist, Bebe (Vlad Ivanov). The bleakness of the storyline expresses a dark socio-political critique in the twilight years of a repressive dictatorship.
Plot Keywords: drama, 1980s, communism, women, friendship, social realism, black and white ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: A woman (Nguyen Ngoc Hiep) harvests flowers for a leper (Tran Manh Cuong), a cyclo driver (Don Duong) loves a prostitute, and an ex-Marine seeks an unknown daughter in Saigon.
Plot Keywords: drama, vietnam, independent film, multi-narrative, social realism, cultural clash, poetic ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: While waiting for her mothers reply to take her to the USA, Lilya idles the time away smoking, drinking and having fun with her, too, outcast friend Volodya. In time, the chance of a new life becomes non-existent; her life is going nowhere. Meeting a young man, she then finds a plane ticket in her hand and a new life in Sweden: a job, an apartment and prospects. All is not what it seems. There shall be work, there shall be housing and there shall be no escape. This is the stark, frank and disturbing vision of the life of a young victim of the underground sex trade and in all its tone of realism of abject poverty, despicable actions and of wanting to show that dreaming of a better life is not a crime but that life can shatter the illusion of a happy ending.
Plot Keywords: drama, crime, swedish film, european film, social realism, dark side of humanity, poverty ...
Movie Details Click Here !Storyline: The film, set in Mumbai, revolves around a mistaken delivery by the Dabbawalas (lunchbox service) of Mumbai, which leads to a relationship between Saajan, a lonely widower close to retirement, and Ila, an unhappy housewife, as they start exchanging notes through the daily lunchbox.
Plot Keywords: romance, drama, indian cinema, urban life, loneliness, letters, food ...
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