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Best Fascism Movies

Ranked by how strongly each film carries the visual signature of fascism cinema — measured across 1,483 indexed frames from 20 films, against a 408,752-frame catalogue baseline. Not by box office, and not by vote.

Fascism films over-index on military uniform, soldier and suit — the objects that make the genre recognisable before a line is spoken.

  1. 1

    Amarcord (1973)

    Federico FelliniDP Giuseppe RotunnoIMDb 7.8TMDB 7.9See in full on FrameThrower →

    One year in a small northern Italian coastal town in the late 1930s is presented. The slightly off-kilter cast of characters are affected by time and location, the social mores dictated largely by Catholicism, and the national fervor surrounding Il Duce aka Benito Mussolini and Fascism. The stories loosely center on mid-teen Titta and his household, including his adolescent brother, his ever-supportive mother who is always defending him against his father, his freeloading maternal Uncle Lallo, and his paternal grandfather who slyly has eyes and hands for the household maid. Other townsfolk include: town beauty Gradisca, who can probably have any man she wants but generally has none as most think she out of their league; Volpina, the prostitute; Giudizio, the historian; a blind accordionist; and an extremely buxom tobacconist. The several vignettes presented include: the town bonfire in celebration of spring; life at Titta's school with his classmates and teachers; Titta's father Aurelio at his beachfront construction worksite and his and his workmates' encounter with Volpina; Titta's confessions to the priest about his burgeoning sexuality; Aurelio being questioned by authorities about his anti-Fascist leanings; a fantasy sequence at the luxurious Grand Hotel; a family outing with Aurelio's institutionalized brother Teo; many townsfolk embarking on a sail to witness a marine event passing by their town; an annual car race; Titta's fantasy encounter with the tobacconist after closing hours coming true; events surrounding the big snowfall that year, including a family tragedy; and an event centering on Gradisca and her future.

  2. 2

    The Great Dictator (1940)

    Charlie ChaplinDP Karl StrussIMDb 8.4TMDB 8.3See in full on FrameThrower →

    20 years after the end of WWI, in which the nation of Tomainia was on the losing side, Adenoid Hynkel has risen to power as the ruthless dictator of the country. He believes in a pure Aryan state and the decimation of the Jews. This situation is unknown to a simple Jewish Tomainian barber who has been hospitalized since a WWI battle. Upon his release the barber, who had been suffering from memory loss about the war, is shown the new persecuted life of the Jews by many living in the Jewish ghetto, including a washerwoman named Hannah with whom he begins a relationship. The barber is ultimately spared such persecution by Commander Schultz, whom he saved in that WWI battle. The lives of all Jews in Tomainia are eventually spared with a policy shift by Hynkel himself, who is doing so for ulterior motives. But those motives include a desire for world domination, starting with the invasion of neighboring Osterlich, which may be threatened by Benzino Napaloni, the dictator of neighboring Bacteria. Ultimately Schultz, who has turned traitor against Hynkel's regime, and the barber may be able to join forces to take control of the situation, using Schultz's inside knowledge of the regime's workings and the barber's uncanny resemblance to one of those in power.

  3. 3

    The Trial (1962)

    Orson WellesDP Edmond RichardIMDb 7.6TMDB 7.4See in full on FrameThrower →

    Josef K wakes up in the morning and finds the police in his room. They tell him that he is on trial but nobody tells him what he is accused of. In order to find out about the reason of this accusation and to protest his innocence, he tries to look behind the facade of the judicial system. But since this remains fruitless, there seems to be no chance for him to escape from this Kafkaesque nightmare.

  4. 4

    Z (1969)

    Costa-GavrasDP Raoul CoutardIMDb 8.1TMDB 7.8See in full on FrameThrower →

    In a mid-sized metropolis (population 500,000) in a right-wing military led country, a pacifist organization, which supports the opposition party in the government, is planning on holding an anti-military, nuclear disarmament rally. The organization's charismatic leader - the deputy - is scheduled to arrive in the town from the capital the day of the rally. Beyond the problems arranging the rally due to the probable incitement of violence at such a rally, the organization learns of an unconfirmed report that there will be an attempt on the deputy's life. The rally does happen, after which a three-wheeled kamikaze runs over the deputy, who eventually passes away from his injuries. The official report is that the incident was a drunken accident. In reality, the deputy's death was murder orchestrated by the secret police, the general for who likens the pacifist organization to mildew killing off agricultural crops. A magistrate is assigned to the case. Although he does have political views, he is more interested in finding out the truth, and as such has to wade through the political rhetoric and politically motivated testimony he hears. Thrown into the mix is a photojournalist who too is looking for the truth, as it, he believes, will make a great front page story.

  5. 5

    V for Vendetta (2006)

    James McTeigueDP Adrian BiddleIMDb 8.1TMDB 7.9See in full on FrameThrower →

    In the distant future, Evey Hammond is an average citizen of the United Kingdom, which is under the rule of the fascist and tyrannical Norsefire Party. She is an employee of the state-run British Television Network, but soon, she becomes the number one enemy of the state together with an enigmatic and larger-than-life freedom fighter known only by the letter "V". V informs Evey that she must hide in his underground lair for at least one year, and while she is reluctant to the idea at first, a bond soon forms between the two individuals. In the meanwhile, the mysterious past of V is gradually revealed to the police inspector tasked with capturing him, Eric Finch, and it is not long until he starts questioning everything his government stands for.

  6. 6

    The Conformist (1970)

    Bernardo BertolucciDP Vittorio StoraroIMDb 7.9TMDB 7.7See in full on FrameThrower →

    This story opens in 1938 in Rome, where Marcello has just taken a job working for Mussollini and is courting a beautiful young woman who will make him even more of a conformist. Marcello is going to Paris on his honeymoon and his bosses have an assignment for him there. Look up an old professor who fled Italy when the fascists came into power. At the border of Italy and France, where Marcello and his bride have to change trains, his bosses give him a gun with a silencer. In a flashback to 1917, we learn why sex and violence are linked in Marcello's mind.

  7. 7

    Life is Beautiful (1997)

    Roberto BenigniDP Tonino Delli ColliIMDb 8.6TMDB 8.4See in full on FrameThrower →

    In 1930s Italy, a carefree Jewish waiter-turned-bookseller named Guido starts a fairy tale life by courting and marrying a lovely woman teacher named Dora. Guido and Dora have a son named Joshua and live happily together until the forced deportation of the town's Jewish population in cattle cars. Dora, while not required to be deported, volunteers to leave with her family, and they are all forced to live in a concentration camp. In an attempt to hold his family together and help his son survive the horrors of a concentration camp, Guido imagines that the Holocaust is a game and that the grand prize for winning is a tank.

  8. 8

    Porco Rosso (1992)

    Hayao MiyazakiDP Atsushi OkuiIMDb 7.7TMDB 7.8See in full on FrameThrower →

    In Early 1930's era Italy air pirates, bounty hunters and high fliers of all sorts rule the skies. The most cunning and skilled of these pilots is Porco Rosso. A former Ace, he now makes a living flying contract jobs, such as rescuing those kidnapped by air pirates. Donald Curtis, Porco's rival in the air and in catching the affections of women, provides a constant challenge to the hero, culminating in a hilarious, action packed finale.

  9. 9

    Attack on Titan (2013)

    Spike LeeDP Shôji EharaIMDb 9.1TMDB 8.7See in full on FrameThrower →

    Humans are nearly exterminated by giant creatures called Titans. Titans are typically several stories tall, seem to have no intelligence, devour human beings and, worst of all, seem to do it for the pleasure rather than as a food source. A small percentage of humanity survived by walling themselves in a land protected by extremely high walls, even taller than the biggest of titans. Flash forward to the present, and mankind has not seen a titan in over 100 years. One day, 10 year old Eren and his childhood friend Mikasa witness something horrific as the city walls are destroyed by a colossal titan that appears out of thin air. As the smaller titans flood the city, the two kids watch in horror as Eren's mother is eaten alive. Eren vows that he will murder every single titan and take revenge for all of mankind.

  10. 10

    Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (2022)

    Mark Gustafson, Guillermo del ToroDP Frank PassinghamIMDb 7.6TMDB 8.0See in full on FrameThrower →

    A dark, twisted retelling of the famous Carlo Collodi fairy tale about the wooden puppet who dreams of becoming a real boy. When Pinocchio comes to life, he turns out not to be that nice of a boy, creating mischief and playing mean tricks. He eventually learns a few lessons.

What fascism films are made of

How much more often each element appears in a fascism frame than in an average frame from the catalogue. A ratio, not a share — military uniform is not in most frames, it is simply far more common here than anywhere else.

  • military uniform5.1×
  • soldier3.9×
  • suit2.5×
  • tie2.2×
  • hat2.2×
  • coat2.2×
  • concrete wall2.2×
  • trench coat2.0×

How fascism films are shot

Weaker signals than the objects above, and worth saying so: most dramatic genres skew dark and night-heavy, so these numbers separate fascism from the catalogue far more than they separate it from its neighbours.

  • 26%widevs 20% baseline

What breaks the pattern

Suspiria (2018) is the least typical film here — it carries the least of what the rest of this list is made of. Which is either a failure of the genre label, or the most interesting film on the page.

Method

Every frame in the FrameThrower catalogue is tagged for shot size, lighting, time of day, camera angle, colour and the objects visible in it. This page aggregates those tags across 1,483 frames from 20 films carrying the fascism label, and compares each figure to the same measurement across the whole catalogue (408,752 frames). Films are ranked by how closely they match the theme’s over-indexed elements, weighted by how distinctive each element is; one film per series. Only films with at least 20 indexed frames and 500 TMDB votes are listed.

Machine-readable: /api/list/fascism

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