political-prisoner movies

Jackal, The (1997)

Wednesday, July 29th, 2009
Genres: Action | Adventure | Crime | Thriller
Countries: France | Germany | Japan | UK | USA
Actors: Willis, Bruce | Gere, Richard | Poitier, Sidney | Venora, Diane | May, Mathilda | Simmons, J.K. | Lineback, Richard | Cunningham, John | Black, Jack | Harper, Tess | Phillips, Leslie | Spinella, Stephen | Okonedo, Sophie | Hayman, David | Bassett, Steve
Directors: Caton-Jones, Michael
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Russian mobster Terek Murad has declared open season on the Russian militia and the FBI over the shooting of his brother in a Moscow nightclub. He hires the Jackal, a nasty assassin whom nobody has even seen, to kill the Director of the FBI. With nowhere else to turn (except a woman who used to work with the Basque separatists, who is now in the USA but whose exact whereabouts in unknown to all save Mulqueen), FBI Deputy Director Carter Preston (who was present at the Moscow shooting) and Major Valentina Koslova of the Russian milita (who pulled the trigger in that shooting) enlist the reluctant services of Declan Mulqueen, an imprisoned IRA sniper, to track the Jackal down, for Declan is the only other person who can positively identify the Jackal.

Gandhi (1982)

Thursday, December 18th, 2008
Genres: Biography | Drama | History
Countries: India | UK
Actors: Kingsley, Ben | Bergen, Candice | Fox, Edward | Gielgud, John | Howard, Trevor | Mills, John | Sheen, Martin | Charleson, Ian | Fugard, Athol | Halmer, Günther Maria | Jaffrey, Saeed | James, Geraldine | Padamsee, Alyque | Puri, Amrish | Seth, Roshan
Directors: Attenborough, Richard
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When ‘Mahatma Gandhi’ (qv) first set foot in British India, he had already been to Britain and South Africa, and had created quite a stir for the betterment of the people. But in India, he realized that he had first to live the life of a peasant to understand what it is to be an Indian. This resolve will lead him to shed his westerners clothing, and don a simple loincloth, be subjected to racial slurs from none other than Winston Churchill (Half naked Indian Fakir); Mobilize awareness of local industry and less dependence on imported clothing and material; the historic dandee march for withdrawal of the salt tax; a fast unto death to stop the virtual slaughter of British troops by irate Indian mobs; and be imprisoned several times. His resolve was to work with stalwarts such as Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Sardar Valabhbhai Patel, Professor Gokhale, J.B. Kripalani, Maulana Azad, and Pandit Jawarharlal Nehru to ensure first of all to get the British to quit India, and then run an Indian Government under the Congress party. Gandhi will soon realize that it is not enough to be just an Indian, for India has many facets – Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Jewish, and Christian. The British relied on these many facets as an excuse for their continuance as they wanted to ensure that the minorities are not oppressed by the Hindu majority. Concerned over the inroads made by Gandhi to unite the Hindus, Muslims, and all others under a common umbrella, the British invited Jinnah for talks, and it is here that a seed was laid for a separate country called Pakistan. When Gandhi came to know about this, he pleaded with Jinnah to unite the Muslims, even take over as the first Prime Minister with his choice of Muslim candidates for Parliament, but separatist Jinnah had already made his mind. The World Wars of 1914 and 1944 having taken it’s toll on Europe and Britain in particular, the weary British finally decided to leave India in 1947 – not the India they had conquered – but an India that was ready to be divided in East Pakistan and West Pakistan. Now after the much awaited independence was the real test for Gandhi – a test that will make him or break him – as he started a fast unto death to try and stop the violence that was threatening to break out into a civil war, not realizing that he had indirectly fanned Hindu extremism, which would later be called the Shiv Sena, into taking the matter directly in their hands to ensure that Muslims are kept out of their Hindustan forever.

Goodbye Bafana (2007)

Thursday, April 17th, 2008
Genres: Biography | Drama | History
Countries: Belgium | France | Germany | Italy | Luxembourg | South Africa | UK
Actors: Fiennes, Joseph | Haysbert, Dennis | Kruger, Diane | Henderson, Shiloh | Lyster, Patrick | Ndukwana, Faith | Bawa, Mehboob | Galley, Adrian | Grier, Warrick | Mongezi, Leslie | Msutu, Sizwe | Roberts, Matthew | van Jaarsveldt, Eduan | Pheto, Terry | Troiano, Giulia
Directors: August, Bille
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GOODBYE BAFANA is the true story of a white South African racist whose life was profoundly altered by the black prisoner he guarded for twenty years. The prisoner’s name was Nelson Mandela.

Catch a Fire (2006)

Thursday, October 18th, 2007
Genres: Drama | History | Thriller
Countries: France | South Africa | UK | USA
Actors: Robbins, Tim | Luke, Derek | Mbuli, Bonnie | Shabangu, Mncedisi | Masha, Tumisho | Khumalo, Sithembiso | Pheto, Terry | Burgers, Michele | Lovinga, Mpho | Mxo | Anstey, Jessica | Savage, Charlotte | Nkyonyeni, Nomhlé | Mabizela, Michael | van Jaarsveldt, Eduan
Directors: Noyce, Phillip
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A political thriller: the real-life story of a South African hero’s journey to freedom. In the country’s turbulent and divided times in the 1980s, Patrick Chamusso is an oil refinery foreman and soccer coach who is apolitical – until he and his wife Precious are jailed. Patrick is stunned into action against the country’s oppressive reigning system, even as police Colonel Nic Vos further insinuates himself into the Chamussos’ lives.

Last Emperor, The (1987)

Thursday, March 15th, 2007
Genres: Biography | Drama | History
Countries: China | France | Italy | UK
Actors: Lone, John | Chen, Joan | O'Toole, Peter | Ying, Ruocheng | | Dun, Dennis | Sakamoto, Ryuichi | Han, Maggie | Young, Ric | Wu, Vivian | Tagawa, Cary-Hiroyuki | Go, Jade | Ikeda, Fumihiko | Vuu, Richard | Tijger, Tsou
Directors: Bertolucci, Bernardo
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A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People’s Republic.