Best movies like A City of Sadness
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Soon after Japan relinquishes control of Taiwan in 1945, the Lin brothers face hardships from the changing culture. Bar owner Wen-heung (Chen Sown-yung), the eldest brother, falls foul of local gangsters, Wen-sun disappears, and Wen-leung, scarred by his experiences in the war, ends up in an insane asylum. Deaf-mute photographer Wen-ching (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), the youngest brother, decides to make a stand and fight the Kuomintang government from China that is assuming power.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 157 min
Plot tags: realistic, sad, saga, black and white, slow cinema, aesthetic, tense, rough, serious, captivating
Best tv shows and movies like A City of Sadness (1989):
Similar in 76%
Dust in the Wind (1986)
Plot Summary:
A-yuan and A-yun are both from the small mining town of Jio-fen. In the city, A-yuan is an apprentice by day and goes to night school, and A-yun works as a helper at a tailors. Everyone thinks they are meant for each other, so do they. They fail to see time and fate are beyond their control.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Romance
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: slow cinema, teen, aesthetic, rough, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 76%
Punjab 1984 (2014)
Plot Summary:
This is the story of a mother and her missing son set in the backdrop of 1984 Punjab, when the state was going through a terrible time of terrorism. The film depicts the longing of a mother for her son and her search for her son, who is labelled a terrorist because of the bad times in Punjab.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, Family, History
Country: India, Canada
Duration: 159 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, suspenseful, tense, realistic, mind blowing
Similar in 80%
Prince of Tears (2009)
Plot Summary:
A shameful period in Taiwanese history provides the backdrop for this emotional drama from writer and director Yonfan (aka Yang Fan). In 1949, in the wake of the 228 Incident (in which anti-government protesters launched a rebellion that was violently put down by authorities), Taiwan came under martial law, and through much of the 1950s brutal reprisals against suspected communists were commonplace. During the years of the "White Terror," thousand of supposed dissidents were killed, imprisoned or simply disappeared at the hands of the military police.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 254
Genere: Drama
Country: Taiwan, Hong Kong
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, captivating, emotional, stylized, serious, realistic
Similar in 77%
The Price of Sugar (2013)
Plot Summary:
A story about two half-sisters life in the eighteenth century Suriname. There is Lynda, a white colonial and slave owner, and her slave Mini-Mini's. While Lynda is slowly embittered by the hard life in the colony, Mini-Mini gets a chance at her own happiness. The question is, if she dares to seize that chance, as this happiness is at the expense of her mistress and half sister?.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Netherlands, Germany, South Africa
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: touching, captivating, serious, realistic
Similar in 83%
The Domino Effect (2012)
Plot Summary:
If global economy came to a sudden stop what would be the effect on families worldwide? People in different countries or continents might not seem to be interrelated but there is more than meets the eye and we might be more connected than we sometimes like to think.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 276
Genere: Drama
Country: UK, Netherlands
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: realistic, serious, psychological, captivating, emotional, gloomy
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Tula: The Revolt (2013)
Plot Summary:
'Tula, The Revolt' is an international English spoken feature length movie about the leader of the big slave uprising on the island of Curacao, a Dutch colony in 1795.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 422
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Netherlands Antilles, Netherlands
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: sentimental, serious, captivating, realistic
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The Battle of Canudos (1997)
Plot Summary:
The film adaptation of Nobel Prize winning author, Mario Vargas Llosa's epic, The War At The End Of the World (La guerra del fin del mundo).
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 786
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Brazil
Duration: 170 min
Plot tags: political, sincere, epic, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic
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Waiting for Heaven (2006)
Plot Summary:
Eflatun is a master miniature artist who's living in 17th century Istanbul. One day, he's taken to the vizier's mansion by force. There he learns that Danyal, one of the Ottoman princes who has ignited an insurrection, is arrested in a far off state and to be executed soon. Eflatun is ordered to make a portrait of the rebel prince who's been condemned to death in a Western manner to help the authorities be certain on the identity of him. Upon the order, Eflatun sets off for an arduous journey to Anatolia. He picks up a girl named Leyla en route. Together, they find themselves in a great venture fraught with sensations.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Hungary, Turkey
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, captivating, realistic, epic
Similar in 83%
Groenten uit Balen (2011)
Plot Summary:
The story of the laborer family Debruycker during the turbulent strike by Vieille Montagne in 1971.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Belgium
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, sincere, gloomy
Similar in 81%
Kabei: Our Mother (2008)
Plot Summary:
Set in Tokyo in 1940, the peaceful life of the Nogami Family suddenly changes when the father, Shigeru, is arrested and accused of being a Communist. His wife Kayo works frantically from morning to night to maintain the household and bring up her two daughters with the support of Shigeru's sister Hisako and Shigeru's ex-student Yamazaki, but her husband does not return. WWII breaks out and casts dark shadows on the entire country, but Kayo still tries to keep her cheerful determination, and sustain the family with her love. This is an emotional drama of a mother and an eternal message for peace.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 133 min
Plot tags: sincere, touching, serious, emotional, realistic, captivating, disturbing
Similar in 82%
Press (2010)
Plot Summary:
The story of a Kurdish newspaper whose journalists are under the constant threat of being abducted and killed by the state security forces.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 711
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Turkey
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, thought provoking, serious, political thriller
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Beginning of the Great Revival (2011)
Plot Summary:
A chronicle of the events that led to the founding of the Chinese Communist Party.
IMDB Rating: 3.1
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: China
Duration: 140 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, factual, banned
Similar in 90%
The Soong Sisters (1997)
Plot Summary:
The Soong family was a political dynasty in China that reached the highest levels of power. This film follows the lives of the three Soong daughters, who were educated in America and returned to China. Ai-ling (the oldest) married a wealthy and powerful businessman. Ching-ling married Sun Yat-sen, the revolutionary founder of modern China. Mei-ling (the youngest) married Chiang Kai-shek, China's l.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance
Country: Hong Kong, Japan, China
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, epic, serious, captivating, realistic, stylized
Similar in 81%
Sunshine (1999)
Plot Summary:
The film follows a Jewish family living in Hungary through three generations, rising from humble beginnings to positions of wealth and power in the crumbling Austro-Hungarian Empire. The patriarch becomes a prominent judge but is torn when his government sanctions anti-Jewish persecutions. His son converts to Christianity to advance his career as a champion fencer and Olympic hero, but is caught up in the Holocaust. Finally, the grandson, after surviving war, revolution, loss and betrayal, realizes that his ultimate allegiance must be to himself and his heritage.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: Hungary, Germany, Canada, Austria, France, UK, USA
Duration: 181 min
Plot tags: costume drama, erotic, family saga, sincere, romantic, sad, saga, art film, historical drama, epic
Similar in 81%
The Rice Bomber (2014)
Plot Summary:
Based on a true social event, The Rice Bomber depicts a series of bombing events in Taiwan a decade ago. It is a time when the agriculture is struggling to survive. A man strives to arouse the government’s attention and to revive its conscience by making 17 rice bombs.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 78
Genere: Biography, Drama
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, realistic
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The Viceroys (2007)
Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 386
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Italy, Spain, Germany, USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: captivating, psychological, atmospheric, epic, serious, emotional, realistic, saga
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The Kautokeino Rebellion (2008)
Plot Summary:
Religious and cultural reawakening inspires rebellion in a 19th century Norwegian village.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Denmark, Norway, Sweden
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: epic, serious, captivating, realistic, esoteric, bleak
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Show Me a Hero (2015)
Plot Summary:
Mayor Nick Wasicsko took office in 1987 during Yonkers' worst crisis when federal courts ordered public housing built in the white, middle class side of town, dividing the city in a bitter battle fueled by fear, racism, murder and politics.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: USA
Duration: 358 min
Plot tags: serious, tense, rough, thought provoking, captivating, political, realistic, social, saga, clever
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The Black Pimpernel (2007)
Plot Summary:
The story about Swedish ambassador in Chile - Harald Edelstam - and his heroic actions to protect the innocent people from the execution during and after the military coup on September 11th 1973.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 826
Genere: Drama, History, Romance, Thriller
Country: Sweden, Mexico, Denmark
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, captivating, suspenseful, emotional, realistic
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April Captains (2000)
Plot Summary:
Story of the 1974 coup that overthrew the right-wing Portuguese dictatorship--which continued the fascist policies of long-time dictator Antonio Salazar--and of two young army captains who were involved in it.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Portugal, Spain, Italy, France
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: tense, rough, serious, thought provoking, realistic, inspirational, political
Similar in 86%
Copperhead (2013)
Plot Summary:
A family is torn apart during the American Civil War.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: realistic, tense, touching, serious, captivating
Similar in 78%
Back to 1942 (2012)
Plot Summary:
In 1942, Henan Province was devastated by the most tragic famine in modern Chinese history, resulting in the deaths of at least three million men, women and children. Although the primary cause of the famine was a severe drought, it was exacerbated by locusts, windstorms, earthquakes, epidemic disease and the corruption of the ruling Kuomintang government.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama
Country: China
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: rough, serious, captivating, bleak, realistic, intense
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Miral (2010)
Plot Summary:
A drama centered on an orphaned Palestinian girl growing up in the wake of the first Arab-Israeli war who finds herself drawn into the conflict.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: France, Israel, Italy, India, USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: realistic, sentimental, emotional, stylized, inspirational, breathtaking, serious, gloomy, independent film
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Endgame (2009)
Plot Summary:
The time is the late '80s, a crucial period in the history of South Africa. President P.W. Botha is hanging on to power by a thread as the African National Congress (ANC) takes up arms against apartheid and the country tumbles toward insurrection. A British mining concern is convinced that their interests would be better served in a stable South Africa and they quietly dispatch Michael Young, their head of public affairs, to open an unofficial dialogue between the bitter rivals. Assembling a reluctant yet brilliant team to pave the way to reconciliation by confronting obstacles that initially seem insurmountable, Young places his trust in ANC leader Thabo Mbeki and Afrikaner philosophy professor Willie Esterhuyse. It is their empathy that will ultimately serve as the catalyst for change by proving more powerful than the terrorist bombs that threaten to disrupt the peaceful dialogue.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: UK, South Africa
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: tense, sincere, serious, captivating, exciting, thought provoking, epic, realistic, political, contemplative
Similar in 81%
Beyond Friendship (2006)
Plot Summary:
A tale of friendship between two men, one Jewish and the other Arab, as the state of Israel is being created.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 947
Genere: Drama, History
Country: France, UK, Italy, Greece, Israel, USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, disturbing, inspirational, sad, informative
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The Edelweiss Pirates (2004)
Plot Summary:
Im Kölner Stadtteil Ehrenfeld lebt eine Gruppe von Arbeiterkindern kurz vor Ende des Zweiten Weltkriegs ihren ganz eigenen Alltag. Die selbsternannten „Edelweißpiraten“ träumen von einer gerechten Welt und sehnen sich nach der unbeschwerten Vergangenheit. Sie rebellieren gegen das Naziregime. (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edelwei%C3%9Fpiraten_(Film)).
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 565
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Germany, Netherlands
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, bleak, serious, independent film
Similar in 88%
The Time That Remains (2009)
Plot Summary:
An examination of the creation of the state of Israel in 1948 through to the present day.[Synopsis from the director, courtesy of Cannes Film Festival] : "The Time That Remains" is a semi biographic film, in four historic episodes, about a family--my family--spanning from 1948, until recent times. The film is inspired by my father’s diaries of his personal accounts, starting from when he was a resistant fighter in 1948, and by my mother’s letters to family members who were forced to leave the country since then. Combined with my intimate memories of them and with them, the film attempts to portray the daily life of those Palestinians who remained in their land and were labeled "Israeli-Arabs," living as a minority in their own homeland.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: France, Belgium, Italy, UK, United Arab Emirates, Israel
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: psychological, thought provoking, humorous, touching, realistic, contemplative, offbeat, semi serious, biting, suspense
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Saviors in the Night (2009)
Plot Summary:
Drama, based on the book "Retter in der Nacht", in which Marga Spiegel tells her memories: In Westfalia of 1943 Marga Spiegel, her husband and her daughter are about to be deported. Yet westfalian farmers help the jewish family, grant Marga and her daughter refuge under false names and hide her husband.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 295
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Germany, France
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, emotional, realistic, bleak
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The Sun (2005)
Plot Summary:
The Sun (Russian: Сóлнце, Solntse) is a 2005 Russian biographical film depicting Japanese Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) during the final days of World War II. The film is the third drama in director Aleksandr Sokurov's trilogy, which included Taurus about the Soviet Union's Vladimir Lenin and Moloch about Nazi Germany's Adolf Hitler.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History
Country: Russia, Italy, Switzerland, France
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, disturbing, serious, captivating, slow cinema, visual, aesthetic, realistic
Similar in 79%
Day One (1989)
Plot Summary:
Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard leaves Europe, eventually arriving in the United States. With the help of Einstein, he persuades the government to build an atomic bomb. The project is given to no-nonsense Gen. Leslie Groves who selects physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to head the Los Alamos Laboratory in New Mexico, where the bomb is built. As World War II draws to a close, Szilard has second thoughts about atomic weapons, and policy makers debate how and when to use the bomb.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 494
Genere: Drama, History
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: tense, thought provoking, serious, captivating, realistic