There are a number of reasons why you might want to watch international relations movies. For one, they can be educational. By seeing how other countries operate and how their leaders interact with each other, you can learn a lot about the world around you. Additionally, these movies can be entertaining. They often feature thrilling plots and exciting action sequences that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Finally, they can be inspiring. Many international relations movies depict individuals who have made a difference in the world, and their stories can motivate you to do likewise.
The Square
“The Square” is a unique documentary directed by Jehane Noujaim, that depicts the true tale of the Egyptian Revolution’s continuous fight through the eyes of six distinct activists.
It is based on the events of the Egyptian Revolution of 2011 at the Tahrir Square, which would soon spark revolutions across the region, which are nowadays known as the Arab Spring. The movie is a great eye-opener, since it shows Egyptian revolutionaries going against leaders and governments, endangering their lives with the hopes of establishing a new society based on ethics and justice.
First They Killed My Father
Directed by Angelina Jolie in 2017, the movie goes back to the 70s depicting the horrors that a 7-year-old girl has to endure while being prepared for war. Loung Ung tells us the story of the terrible tragedies she and her family experienced while staying in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge rule in the 1970s. She recounts how the Khmer Rouge regime wrecked their nation, how it divided her family, ruined her childhood and how she survived everything.
Babel
Renowned filmmaker Alejandro González Iárritu investigates the nature of the boundaries that seem to divide people in this fascinating, dramatic film that has been set on three different continents and includes four languages. Different storylines are presented in the movie, which take place in Morocco, Japan, Mexico, and the United States. Two teenage Moroccan goatherds, an American pair travelling, a deaf Japanese girl with her dad, and a Mexican babysitter who carries a young baby without parental consent are all connected by an incident. Through their story, we are able to witness the domino effect of globalization, or in other words, the way the events in one part of the world can affect other parts of the world.
Milk
Directed by Gus Van Sant in 2008, this American biographical film aims to depict the fight of a man against a potential ban on a part of his human rights. “Milk” is based on Harvey Milk, an American activist, who has overcome various obstacles in his struggle for homosexual rights, later becoming California’s first openly gay elected politician. Before his tragic death in 1978, Harvey Milk transformed the entire nature of what it meant to be a human rights activist, and he became a martyr for many Americans. This movie gracefully depicts his motivation and ambition to fight for everyone’s basic rights.
Beirut
The turmoil of the Lebanese Civil War is shown in Beirut, a 2018 American political thriller film directed by Brad Anderson. In 1982, CIA agents are stuck in the middle of a civil war, they must dispatch a former US ambassador to bargain for the fate of a friend he left behind. The filth, blood, and dirt on people’s faces, as well as aerial images of the devastated portions of the city, demonstrate the intensity and chaos of such events. Together with the interesting storyline, this movie is a true lecture of the sad reality of war.
13th
Ava DuVernay, a filmmaker, examines the history of racial injustice in the United States, concentrating mostly on the notion that African-Americans are overpopulated in the country’s jails. The movie further examines the connection between race, justice, and systemic racism in the United States, and is named after the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1865), that eliminated slavery and ended forced labor other than as a retribution for conviction. DuVernay not only discusses these topics with leftist activists and intellectuals like Angela Davis, Henry Louis Gates, and Van Jones, but she also gives conservatives like Newt Gingrich and Grover Norquist screen time.
Sergio
The life of senior UN diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello stands in the line, while having to complete the most dangerous assignment of his lifetime in the chaotic aftermath of the US occupation of Iraq. This movie directed by Greg Barker is a true story about the life and death of a complicated guy who devoted most of his career as a senior UN ambassador negotiating with everyone from leaders to war criminals with the intention to safeguard innocent human lives.
The Angel
The Angel, directed by Ariel Vromen, is based on the actual life of Ashraf Marwan, Egyptian President Nasser’s son-in-law, special assistant and companion to his successor Anwar Sadat, as well as one of Israel’s Intelligence’s most valuable helpers of the twentieth century. The movie depicts that through his help, peace and stability in the region have been established. A part of the life of this young man is shown in this movie, however, even to these days his intentions are left unclear, as there are many theories about him being a double agent.
Operation Finale
The history about how a handful of Israeli covert operatives caught infamous SS commander Adolf Eichmann – the person who orchestrated the “Final Solution” – in Argentina is told in director Chris Weitz’s political thriller. The tale was based on a number of sources, notably Eichmann in My Hands, a book by Israeli officer Peter Malkin. Malkin and his crew managed to track down Eichmann in Buenos Aires and arrested him, bringing him to Israel for a historical 8-month trial. Operational Finale’s emotional and psychological gravity comes from Malkin’s struggle to perceive Eichmann as more than a villain, despite the Nazis murdering his beloved sister and her kids.
Da 5 Bloods
Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods is a 2020 American military movie that he directed, produced, and co-wrote. The storyline of the movie shows a group of four old Vietnam War veterans who go back to the nation in quest of their dead squad leader’s remains and the treasure they hid while operating there. A chaotic collage of pictures from the 1960s and 1970s — news snippets and photos illustrating the fatal intersection of military buildup in Southeast Asia and racial tension in the United States are what makes this movie different and informative.