Best movies like Black Rain
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The story of the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing, based on Masuji Ibuse's novel.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: depressing, political, disturbing, psychological, sincere, bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, contemplative
Best tv shows and movies like Black Rain (1989):
Similar in 84%
Dr. Akagi (1998)
Plot Summary:
At the end of WWII, Japanese doctor Akagi searches for the cure for hepatitis in the prisoner-of-war camp.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, History, War
Country: Japan, France
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: sexy, period piece, sentimental, touching, humorous, realistic, contemplative, semi serious
Similar in 79%
The Insect Woman (1963)
Plot Summary:
A woman, Tome, is born to a lower class family in Japan in 1918. The title refers to an insect, repeating its mistakes, as in an infinite circle. Imamura, with this metaphor, introduces the life of Tome, who keeps trying to change her poor life.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: freeze frame, semi documentary, clever, serious, realistic, witty, cynical, biting, avant garde, suspense
Similar in 77%
Tombstone of the Fireflies (2008)
Plot Summary:
Set during World War II, the film follows a young brother and sister as they attempt to survive the aftermath of the firebombing of Kobe City.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 370
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: psychological, rough, touching, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 89%
The Ballad of Narayama (1983)
Plot Summary:
In a small village in a valley everyone who reaches the age of 70 must leave the village and go to a certain mountain top to die. If anyone should refuse he/she would disgrace their family. Old Orin is 69. This winter it is her turn to go to the mountain. But first she must make sure that her eldest son Tatsuhei finds a wife.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 9000
Genere: Drama
Country: Japan
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: depressing, bleak, erotic, philosophical, neo noir, political, cerebral, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 86%
Silent Heart (2014)
Plot Summary:
The prestigious Danish filmmaker Bille August, winner of an Academy Award and two Palme d'Or in Cannes, returns with a highly personal drama. Three generations of a family gather over a weekend. The sisters Sanne and Heidi have accepted their terminally-ill mother’s desire to die before her disease worsens; but, as the weekend progresses, their mother's decision becomes harder and harder to deal with, and old conflicts come to the surface.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama
Country: Denmark
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: touching, serious, emotional, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 83%
Rose (2011)
Plot Summary:
This harrowing tale of survival centers on Rose, a Masurian woman, whose German soldier husband was killed in the war, leaving her alone on their farm. A single woman had no defense against Russian soldiers who raped as a form of revenge, nor against plundering Poles who found themselves in desperate straits. Help arrives for Rose in the form of Tadeusz, a former officer in the Polish Home Army who deserted after he saw his wife raped and murdered by Russian troops and is attempting to hide his identity.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Poland
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: rough, realistic, tense, captivating, psychological, bleak, serious, emotional
Similar in 86%
Pastorale 1943 (1978)
Plot Summary:
In a Dutch village during the German occupation, a small group of badly organized resistance fighters attempt to assassinate a collaborator.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 477
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, psychological, factual, rough, disturbing, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 76%
Under the Flag of the Rising Sun (1972)
Plot Summary:
A war widow determined to clear the name of her disgraced husband, who was court-martialed for desertion and executed. Official records have been destroyed, and the ministry that distributes benefits continues to deny her a pension. Twenty-six years after the war, she seeks out four survivors of her husband's garrison. Each tells a dramatically different story about her husband's conduct, but she is determined to learn the truth.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, serious, disturbing, captivating, emotional, sincere, atmospheric, bleak, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 76%
Caterpillar (2010)
Plot Summary:
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, in 1940, Lieutenant Kurokawa returns home as a honored and decorated soldier but deprived of his arms and legs lost in battle. All hopes, from the villagers and women to close family members, turn to Shigeko, the Lieutenant's wife. She must honor the Emperor and the country in setting an example for all by fulfilling her duty and taking care of the 'god soldier'. Kurokawa prior to leaving to fight in the war regularly beat and berated his wife for her barrenness and inability to bring him a son. When he returns home as an amputee with no hearing and no speech, his wife dutifully attends to him, even though he shows little appreciation for her dedicated care. His main concerns are getting fed and getting sex. Even in his own degraded condition, he manages to berate his wife. Eventually, though, his own memories infiltrate and he is haunted by his horrible, sadistic deeds, performed while in the duty of the Japanese military.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 85 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, emotional, atmospheric, realistic, scary, depressing, contemplative, avant garde
Similar in 80%
The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer (1961)
Plot Summary:
His ideals challenged by life as a conscript in war-time Japan's military, a pacifist faces ever greater tests in his fight for survival.
IMDB Rating: 8.8
IMDB Votes: 7000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 190 min
Plot tags: existential, art house, poetic, atmospheric, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, cynical, gloomy
Similar in 90%
Adam Resurrected (2008)
Plot Summary:
Before the war, in Berlin, Adam was an entertainer- cabaret impresario, magician, musician-loved by all until he finds himself in a concentration camp, confronted by Commandant Klein. Adam survives the camp by becoming the Klein's "dog", entertaining him while his wife and daughter are sent off to die. "Adam Resurrected" is the story of a man who once was a dog who meets a dog who once was a boy.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Germany, Israel, USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: touching, bleak, serious, realistic, contemplative, emotional, gloomy, entertaining, period drama
Similar in 90%
Sword of Honour (2001)
Plot Summary:
Guy Crouchback joins the war effort during World War 2, an idealistic quest to join the forces of good in the fight against evil. But his efforts is not rewarded, he never has any chance to join any real fighting, circumstances always prevent it. Instead he finds himself in the middle of an army full of cowards, incompetents and a few outright evil men. They of course reap the fortunes of war, promotions and fame, but never Crouchback. His war is just an endless list of transfers and an hopeless but noble quest for righteousness.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 918
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 208 min
Plot tags: serious, realistic, captivating, touching, semi autobiographical, gloomy
Similar in 80%
Japan's Longest Day (1967)
Plot Summary:
Following the detonation of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Japanese military and the government clash over the demand from the Allies for unconditional surrender. Minister of the Army Anami leads the military officers who propose to fight on, even to the death of every Japanese citizen. Emperor Hirohito, however, joins with his ministers in asking the unthinkable, the peaceful surrender of Japan. When the military plots a coup to overthrow the Emperor's civilian government, Anami must face the choice between his desires and loyalty to his Emperor.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 989
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 157 min
Plot tags: political
Similar in 76%
Oba: The Last Samurai (2011)
Plot Summary:
In 1944, the American military lands on the shores of Saipan. Refusing to commit suicide with his superiors or be forced into camps for prisoners of war, Captain Oba Sakae leads a group of his men and other similarly minded local residents into the mountains. Even after hearing reports of the Japanese military's surrender, Oba dismisses the reports as propaganda and continues to launch guerilla attacks against the American soldiers, earning him the nickname "The Fox". Soon, even the American commander who's charged with the task of capturing Oba comes to admire his persistent enemy.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: exciting, tense, captivating, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 78%
A Day in October (1991)
Plot Summary:
During the month of October 1943, the Danish resistance movement and just plain ordinary citizens joined together in staging a mass exodus by fishing boats to neutral Sweden of their Jewish countrymen, practically on the eve of the Nazi's planned round-up and delivery to concentration camps of all Jews. Story is told from the point of view of one Jewish family.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 323
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Denmark
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: independent film, touching, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic, contemplative, gloomy, factual
Similar in 89%
The Blockhouse (1973)
Plot Summary:
A group of Slave workers, drafted by the Nazis to help construct their coastal defenses in 1944 are trapped in an underground bunker when the Allies land at Normandy on D-Day. They find huge dtores of food but not enough candles. The slow dying of the light parallels their increasing boredom, illness and jealousy during their entrapment. Based on the Novel 'Le Blockhaus' by Jean Paul Clebert.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 632
Genere: Drama, War
Country: UK
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, bleak, serious, realistic, suspenseful, gloomy, independent film
Similar in 89%
Yamato (2005)
Plot Summary:
Directed by Junya Sato and based on a book by Jun Henmi, "Yamato" has a framing story set in the present day and uses flashbacks to tell the story of the crew of the World War II Japanese battleship Yamato. The film was never released in the United States, where reviewers who have seen it have compared the military epic to "Titanic" and "Saving Private Ryan.".
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: captivating, realistic, exciting, serious, touching
Similar in 76%
In the Fog (2012)
Plot Summary:
Western frontiers of the USSR, 1942. The region is under German occupation. A man is wrongly accused of collaboration. Desperate to save his dignity, he faces an impossible moral choice.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Germany, Netherlands, Belarus, Russia, Latvia
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: realistic, bleak, serious, psychological, captivating, sexy, slow cinema, aesthetic, sincere, contemplative
Similar in 86%
Stones for the Rampart (2014)
Plot Summary:
To be defeated and not be - a victory. This is the motto that life is guided by three young friends: Alek, Sophy and Rudy. Scouts, high school graduates high school in Warsaw drifting ambitious plans for the future broken through September 1939. Entering adulthood in a very dramatic times, which puts them a choice - to survive at any cost, or to join the fighting for a free homeland, risking everything. The boys brought up in patriotic homes, shaped by the ideals of scouting, they decide to fight. They become soldiers, and although every scrape with death, they can live a full life.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Poland
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, disturbing
Similar in 81%
The Ascent (1977)
Plot Summary:
Two Soviet partisans leave their starving band to get supplies from a nearby farm. The Germans have reached the farm first, so the pair must go on a journey deep into occupied territory, a voyage that will also take them deep into their souls.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: bleak, depressing, sincere, philosophical, political, sad, contemplative, black and white, existential, patriotic
Similar in 90%
The Last Lieutenant (1993)
Plot Summary:
Norwegian war drama. The old sea-captain retires, but the next day German WWII occupation of Norway begins. He then kisses his wife good-bye and is off to Army HQ. There he finds a lack of leadership and morale that offends him. They even laugh at him and his out-dated uniform and officer-rank. Secondloitnanten then finds and leads his private troop of volunteers against the German attack. The movie tells the story of a man that refuses to give up, even when everybody else leaves. He will fight for the country he loves and do his duty.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 365
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Norway
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: sincere, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, contemplative
Similar in 83%
Attack on Leningrad (2009)
Plot Summary:
When in 1941 Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union, their troops quickly besieged Leningrad. Foreign journalists are evacuated but one of them, Kate Davies, is presumed dead and misses the plane. Alone in the city she is helped by Nina Tsvetnova a young and idealist police officer and together they will fight for their own survival and the survival of the people in the besieged Leningrad. Written by Marcio Eduardo.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Russia, UK
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, realistic, gloomy
Similar in 90%
Fires on the Plain (2014)
Plot Summary:
In the final days of World War II, occupying Japanese forces in the Philippines face resistance from the local population and the American offensive. The dwindling Japanese soldiers attempt to survive through the horrors of war.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 831
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: psychological, tense, atmospheric, realistic, captivating, rough, bleak, serious, gloomy, cult film
Similar in 82%
In the Presence of Mine Enemies (1997)
Plot Summary:
In the Warsau Ghetto of 1943, one man's struggle to keep his family together leads him to the ultimate crisis of faith, and one final chance at redemption. Written by legendary 'Twilight Zone' creator, Rod Sterling.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 352
Genere: Drama, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, emotional, realistic, disturbing, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 83%
This Life (2012)
Plot Summary:
The true story of the Fiil's a family of innkeepers who during Nazi-Germany's occupation of Denmark took up arms against the German occupiers. But in the fight for freedom, some must die so that others may live.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Denmark
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: emotional, realistic, disturbing, captivating, tense, bleak, serious
Similar in 80%
Emperor (2012)
Plot Summary:
As the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII, Gen. Fellers is tasked with deciding if Emperor Hirohito will be hanged as a war criminal. Influencing his ruling is his quest to find Aya, an exchange student he met years earlier in the U.S.
IMDB Rating: 6.5
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: Japan, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: touching, captivating, sincere, thought provoking, retro, epic, social, sex comedy, patriotic, historical drama
Similar in 87%
Hiroshima (1995)
Plot Summary:
Hiroshima is a 1995 Japanese / Canadian film directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara and Roger Spottiswoode about the decision-making processes that led to the dropping of the atomic bombs by the United States on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki toward the end of World War II. Except as actors, no Americans took part in the production. The three-hour film was made for television and evidently had no theatrical release, but is available on DVD for home viewing. A combination of dramatisation, historical footage, and eyewitness interviews, the film alternates between documentary footage and the dramatic recreations. Both the dramatisations and most of the original footage are presented as sepia-toned images, serving to blur the distinction between them. The languages are English and Japanese, with subtitles, and the actors are largely Canadian and Japanese.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 968
Genere: Drama, War
Country: Canada, Japan
Duration: 190 min
Plot tags: serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 90%
Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes (1990)
Plot Summary:
The movie follows the perspective of several characters (such as Japanese victims, soldiers, American prisoners of war and others) and how they lived or tried to survive the effects felt during the aftermath of the Atomic Bomb dropping by the Enola Gay at Hiroshima, during World War II.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 415
Genere: Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: bleak, serious, captivating, emotional, realistic, disturbing, contemplative, gloomy
Similar in 87%
Enola Gay: The Men, the Mission, the Atomic Bomb (1980)
Plot Summary:
Well-intentioned history lesson; the decision to drop the atom bomb, the secrecy surrounding the mission, and the men who flew it.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 317
Genere: Adventure, Drama, History, War
Country: USA
Duration: 156 min
Plot tags: rough, bleak, serious, captivating, realistic
Similar in 75%
Ambush (1999)
Plot Summary:
It is the summer of 1941 and the Finnish army has been mobilized along the border with Russia. A platoon led by Lt. Eero Perkola is waiting for orders to go on the offensive. The platoon receives orders for a recon mission through the wilderness around the Lieksa lake to search for possible Russian defensive positions.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: War, Drama
Country: Finland
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: realistic, suspense, intense, sincere, disturbing, rough, bleak, serious, brutal, sex comedy