5 Films About Revolution

2011 began with revolutionary waves of protests in the Middle East and North Africa that took the world by storm. Thoreau would have been proud as hundreds of thousands partook in "Civil Disobedience." Thoreau's words are brilliant, but film is my point of reference, so here are 5 movies that taught me about revolutions.

"The Battle of Algiers"
The country of Algeria was actually one of the first to see protests erupt in December of 2010. Algeria's revolutionary roots are bloodied by violent outbreaks between 1954 and 1962 during the French occupation. Italian filmmaker Gillo Pontecorvo made the landmark film, "The Battle of Algiers," little more than 2 years after the Algerian War. The film is styled as a documentary, but engages a complex narrative with the use of street actors. The film is sometimes screened for military studies of terrorism and urban warfare.

"Gandhi"
Richard Attenborough's biopic "Gandhi," starring Ben Kingsley garnered them both Oscars, additional to Best Picture. While the film received some criticism from historians, it is a culturally essential study on Gandhi's life in nonviolent protests. Gandhi is grandfather of nonviolent protest, which many of the recent protests are rooted in. Talking about the history of nonviolent resistance without mentioning Gandhi is like splicing Eadweard Muybridge from the history of cinema.

"The Motorcycle Diaries"
A beautiful film from the wonderful director Walter Salles, "The Motorcycle Diaries" stars Gael Garcia Bernal as the young Ernesto "Che" Guevara. The film gives pertinent insight on the origins of a revolutionary, showing how the seed of unrest gets planted years before branching into action. Where Gandhi is the grandfather of nonviolent resistance, Che is like the poster-child of revolutions.

"Persepolis"
The French animated film from Marjane Satrapi, "Persepolis", is an intimate adaptation of her graphic novel. It traces Satrapi's upbringing during the 1979 Iranian Revolution and the subsequent revolution backlash. As Satrapi learns, life and revolutions don't always go as planned. With insight and humorous sentimentality, Satrapi's film makes the case that revolutions must come from within.

"V for Vendetta"
With lyric dialogue, vigilante swashbuckling and a genuine distaste for fascism, the Wachowski Brothers production of Alan Moore's graphic novel, "V for Vendetta" is an emotionally charged thriller. It is about ideas that inspire revolutions; as V says in the film, "Ideas are bulletproof." The film is also homage to the romance of revolutions, giving us the motto, "A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having." Again, the theme of revolution here fundamentally begins within individual motivation; like vengeance.

Notable Movies about Revolutions:

Journalists caught in Revolutions: Oliver Stone's "Salvador" & Roger Spottiswoode's "Under Fire"

Revolutionary Love: John Malkovich's "The Dancer Upstairs" & David Lean's "Doctor Zhivago"

Revolutionary Laughs: Woody Allen's "Bananas" & Corneliu Porumboiu's "12:08 East of Bucharest"

Mel Gibson's Guide to Revolutions: "Braveheart" & "The Patriot"

Labor Revolutions: Stanley Kubrick's "Spartacus" and Herbert J. Biberman's "Salt of the Earth"

There is a film that ingrained revolutionary themes deep in my developing subconscious. Coincidently its backdrop also begins in Tunisia. It was there that George Lucas re-imagined the Tunisian desert as Luke Skywalker's home planet of Tatooine in filming "Star Wars." Beneath Tunisian skies the young Skywalker filled his dream for something more, accompanied by the ever-moving John Williams score. Whether it's Tunisia, a Galaxy far, far away or your own backyard, revolutions begin as ideas that fuel a desire for change.

Thanks to J.J Lehmann for his Amazon.com list "Movies about Revolutions from both sides"