The 10 best anti-fascist movies of all-time: The Great Dictator, Brazil, The Spirit of the Beehive, Porco Rosso, and more.
By Wilson Chapman
Fascism: Arguably the most insidious and evil political ideology to have ever been created. Less a true belief than a cynical way to control and stifle opposition, fascism emerged in the early 20th century in Italy, with Benito Mussolini’s reign as dictator of the country from 1922 to 1945, and is most famously (at least in the United States) associated with Nazi Germany and Adolf Hitler. But it’s a means of governance that can infect any country. At its core, fascism is a far-right authoritarian philosophy that puts the nation above the individual, and is characterized by an autocratic government, a dictatorial leader with unobstructed power, heavy militarism, severe economic regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition. It’s a terrifying force that at its core, believes in the dehumanization and oppression of human beings. Good thing we in the United States don’t have to worry about it!
Oh…wait a minute…
Suffice to say, as recent events have pushed fascism from something Americans study to something we’re actively living through, watching movies about the ideology might not be the type of escapist cinema that the masses are clamoring for. But anti-fascism has a long and rich history in filmmaking, with movies being made as attacks against the ideology as early as 1940, with Charlie Chaplin’s masterpiece “The Great Dictator.”
That’s not to say that movies that support fascism don’t (unfortunately) exist: infamously, Leni Riefenstahl‘s 1935 film “Triumph of the Will” is both one of the greatest and most important movies ever made from a sheer technical level — it’s and also shameless Nazi propaganda. But fascism, as an ideology, is anti-individualistic, anti-intellectual, and anti-art. So it’s unsurprising that over the decades, artists have used cinema as a vehicle to expose and explore the evils of fascist regimes, from Nazi Germany to Fascist Italy to completely fictional worlds (what is “Star Wars” if not the story of the fight against space fascists?)
As America lurches forth into an uncertain future, we can’t promise that watching these 10 films will somehow save the country from itself. However, at its core anti-fascist filmmaking can serve as a reminder and a warning against the evils of authoritarian governance, and a hopeful reminder that these governments can be stopped. Read on for the 10 best anti-fascist films of all time, listed in chronological order.
With editorial contributions from Christian Blauvelt.
Photo : Courtesy Everett Collection
“The Great Dictator” (1940)
Made at a time when the United States was still at peace with Nazi Germany and the country hadn’t yet woken up to the horrors of fascism, “The Great Dictator” was a bold work from arguably the then-most famous filmmaker in the world, a satire that argued passionately against the antisemitism and totalitarianism on the rise in Europe at the time. Charles Chaplin directed and starred in a dual role, playing obvious Hitler stand-in “Adenoid Hynkel,” the dictator of the European country of Tomainia, as well as a Jewish barber and war veteran who rises up to fight against the poisonous corruption of his country. The film was Chaplin’s first true sound picture, and he put the jump in mediums to good use with a riveting, emotional final speech in which he drops the comedy to deliver a beautiful, impassioned plea for democracy and liberty. Although it was the most successful film he ever made, Chaplin himself came to regret “The Great Dictator” somewhat, writing in his autobiography that he would never have made it had the extent of the brutality Jewish people endured in concentration camps been public knowledge at the time. But if you forgive its lack of foresight, the film remains a funny, smart takedown of fascism to this day.
Photo : ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection
“The Man I Married” (1940)
There’s a moment when you know all-American working mom Joan Bennett is going to have to end things with her husband, who’s become besotted with Nazism, once and for all: When he’s so indoctrinated their young son, the boy replies, “Ja, Vater!” That’s it. Take the child away. Hire the divorce lawyer. It’s over.
“The Man I Married” is an anti-fascist film as a “woman’s picture” domestic drama, and that proves a particularly potent genre to convey its message. Bennett’s character seems to have it all, but her husband (Francis Lederer) goes down the rabbit hole of Nazism and even moves the family to Hitler’s Germany. Which is why this very pro-divorce movie (rare for the studio era!) has a few more twists and turns after that “Ja, Vater!” shocker.
Bennett is basically presented as the average American in 1941: Not especially plugged in about what Nazism really means or the threat that it represents. Her dawning awareness of the danger it poses is that of the entire U.S. waking up and realizing just how dangerous it is. And that it needs to be stood up to, no matter how each freedom-loving person is able to resist in their own way — even if against their spouse. That it has the vibe of a 1940s Lifetime movie, and features one helluva twist ending, makes it all that much sweeter. —CB
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