Filmography: A Short Guide to Sociology and Film
1. INTRODUCTION
We live in a mediated world saturated with film and video; and most films suggest ideas about the society we live in. Films provide a good resource for sociology.
Look at Jean-Anne Sutherland & Kathryn Feltey Cinematic Sociology: Social Life in Film (2nd ed, 2012) Pine Forge Press, which shows how to use contemporary films to develop the sociological imagination and provides an excellent filmography by theme.
See also:
Damian Cox & Michael P Levine (2012) Thinking Through Film. Wiley-Blackwell
Wanda Teays (2012) Seeing the Light: Exploring Ethics Through Movies. Wiley Blackwell
Roberta Secret (2012) World Affairs in Foreign Films. McFarland
Norman K Denzin (1995) The Cinematic Society: The Voyeur’s Gaze. Sage
A very valuable book to help you make sense of film is: James Monaco How To Read a Film (2008) 4th edition.
See also:
Sociology goes to the Movies
The Sociological Cinema at
http://www.thesociologicalcinema.com/
The Sociological Cinema is edited and published by Valerie Chepp, Paul Dean, and Lester Andrist, a team of three public sociologists. “As graduate student colleagues and close friends in the Sociology Department at the University of Maryland, we launched this site in September 2010 as a way to facilitate using popular culture and video to teach and learn about sociology”.
Sociology through Documentary Film
http://sociologythroughdocumentaryfilm.pbworks.com/w/page/17194965/FrontPage
2: FILMS MENTIONED IN THE BOOK, 3rd edition (updated)
Below is a list/index of films mentioned in this book with page indicated where it is mentioned:
Amazing Grace (2006) dir Michael Apted, p190
Amisted (1997) dir Stephen Spielberg, p190
Beloved (1998) dir Jonathan Dumme by Toni Morrison p 142
Citizen Four (2015) dir Laura Poitras p 74
City of God (2002) dir Fernando Meirelles, Katia Lund, p66
Fire at Sea (2016) dir Fernando Meirelles, Katia Lund p 65
The Fourth World (2011) dir Mark Volkers, p 66
Groundhog Day (1993) dir Harold Ramis, p 130
Human Flow (2017) dir Ai Wieweit , p 191
I Am Not Your Negro (2016) James Baldwin dir Raoul Peck, p190
I, Daniel Blake (2017) dir Ken Loach, p183
Life in a Day (2011) dir Ken McDonald p228
(second version accessible on You Tube,for 2021)
Love Actually (2011) dir Richard Curtis, p10
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0314331/
The Lives of Others (2006) dir Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, p79
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0405094/
Metropolis (1927) Fritz Lang, p43
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017136/
Modern Times (1936) dir Charles Chaplin, p 43
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027977/
Q2P (2006) dir Paromita Vohra, p 14
http://www.oberlin.edu/stupub/ocreview/2007/11/09/arts/Vohras_Q2P_Film_Explores_S.html
Rashomon (1950) dir Akira Kurosawa p174
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0042876/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
The Salt of the Earth (Sebastião Salgado) (2014) dir Wim Wenders p188
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3674140/
Sliding Doors (1998) dir Peter Howitt, p146.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120148/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Slumdog Millionaire (2008) dir Danny Boyle, p66
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120148/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Stranger than Fiction (2006) dir Marc Foster, p130
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0420223/
Snowden (2016) dir p74
The Stuart Hall Project (2014) dir John Akomfrah p 241
The Truman Show (1998) dir Peter Weir p79
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120382/
Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach (2016) dir Louise Osmond, p227
Where to Invade Next (2015) dir Michael Moore
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4897822/
12 Years a Slave (2011) dir Steve McQueen p190
ttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt2024544/?ref_=nv_sr_1
see also his five part BBC series in 2021, Small Axe(2021)
3: SOME INTERNATIONAL FILMS / FOREIGN FILMS
Generally, see:
Roberta Secret (2012) World Affairs in Foreign Films. McFarland
One important entrance to global sociology is to watch and analyse films from distinctively different cultures.
Katarzyna Marciniak & Bruce Bennett (2016) Teaching Transnational Cinema: Politics and Cinema, Routledge
Here is a select listing to get you going:
Afghanistan, Osama (2003) Siddiq Barmak
Argentina, Wild Tales, Damián Szifrón, director
Chile, Nostalgia for the Light, Dir Patricia Guzman
China, Beijing Bicycle (2002) Wang Xiaoshuai
Estonia, Tangerines, Zaza Urushadze, director
Georgia, Corn Island, George Ovashvili, director
India, Water (2005) Deepa Mehta, director
Japan, (2009) Tokyo Sonata Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Mexico (2018) Roma dir Alfonso Cuaron
Mauritania, Timbuktu, Abderrahmane Sissako, director
Netherlands, Accused, Paula van der Oest, director
Poland, Ida, Paweł Pawlikowski, director
Russia, Leviathan, Andrey Zvyagintsev, director
Rwanda (2004) Hotel Rwanda Terry George
South Africa (2005) Tsotsi Gavin Hood
South Korea (2019) Parasite dir Bong Joon-ho
Turkey/German ( 2007) The Edge of Heaven dir Faith Akim
Sweden, Force Majeure, Ruben Östlund, director
Uganda: (2007)War Dance, Sean Fine, Andres Nix Fine
Venezuela, The Liberator, Alberto Arvelo, director
For some classic books on the role of cross-cultural global film and ethnography, see:
David MacDougall, Transcultural Cinema (1998)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Transcultural-Cinema-David-MacDougall/dp/0691012342/ref=pd_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=41TcDEpVPDL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR107%2C160_&refRID=06EKR21Q8EE0DW99ZB4A
Jay Ruby: Picturing Culture: Explorations in Film and Ethnography (2000)
4: SOME FILMS OF SOCIOLOGICAL INTEREST
This is a list of popular films of sociological interest – there are thousands more! You can probe more on
The Internet Movie Database: www.imdb.com
About People
The Stuart Hall Project, dir John Akomfrah, 2013
He Named me Malala dir Davis Guggenheim, 2015
Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach, dir Louise Osmond, 2016
Hannah Arendt, dir Margarethe von Trotta , 2013
Alzheimer’s/ Dementia
Iris, dir Richard Eyre, 2002
Away from her, dir Sarah Polley, 2007
The Father, dir Florian Zeller, 2021
Bodies and Cyborgs
The Art of Killing, dir Joshua Openheimer, 2012
The Fly, David Cronenberg, 1986
Frankenstein. James Whale, 1931
Terminator, James Cameron, 1984
Capitalism: see economics
Crime and violence
There is a chronological list of crime films, organized by decade on Wikipedai at:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_crime_films_of_the_2010s
Top 25 Crime films of all time? For one list, see:
http://www.theguardian.com/film/series/the-crime-25
See also:
Nicole Rafer & Michelle Brown Criminology goes to the Movies (2011) NYU Press
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Criminology-Goes-Movies-Popular-Culture/dp/0814776523/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1460558246&sr=1-1&keywords=Criminology++goes+to+the+movies
A few classics:
M, Fritz Lang, 1931
Twelve Angry Men, Sydney Lumet, 1957
Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino, 1992
The Godfather, Francis Ford Coppola, 1972
Goodfellas, Martin Scorcese, 1990
Class
See Working Class cinema at
https://libcom.org/library/working-class-cinema-video-guide
Harlan County USA, Barbara Kopple, 1976
Blue Collar, Paul Schrader, 1978
This is England, Shane Meadows, 2002
I, Daniel Blake, Ken Loach, 2016
Hillbilly Elegy, Ron Howard, 2020
See also:
Titanic, James Cameron, 1997
Gosford Park , Robert Altman, 2001
Disability
Two wide ranging list of films about disability can be found at:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls056904626/
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054644606/
The Elephant Man, David Lynch, 1980
Sick: The Life and Death of Bob Flanegan Supermasochist, Kirby Dick,1997
Inside I’m Dancing, Damien O’Donnell, 2004.
Murderball Henry, Alex Rubin, 2005.
The Diving bell and the Butterfly Julian Schnabel 2007
The Best of Men, Tim Whitby, 2012
Documentary
50 Documentary films you need to see:
Documentary Films
See: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/watch-online/
Popular films about the city: see
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/the-top-12-movies-about-urbanism
Some classics are:
Nanook of the North, Robert J. Flaherty, 1922
Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore, 2002
Freaks, Tod Browning, 1932
Capturing the Friedmans (2003) dir Andrew Jarecki, p 224
Drug use
Classics include:
Reefer Madness, Louis J. Gasnier, 1936
Trainspotting, Danny Boyle, 1996
Traffic, Steven Soderbergh, 2000
See a longer listing at:
http://whatculture.com/film/15-best-movies-about-drugs-and-addiction-in-cinema-history?page=2
Dying and Bereavement
Shadowlands, Richard Attenborough, 1993
Away from Her, Sarah Polley, 2007
A Single Man, Tom Ford , 2009
Economics
Films on the 2008 Financial Crash include:
Inside Job (2010) dir Charles Ferguson
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1645089/
Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) dir Michael Moore
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1232207/
Too Big To Fail (2011) dir Curtis Hanson
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1742683/
The Flaw (2010) dir David Sinton
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1787810/
As well as
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) dir Alex Ribney
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1016268/
Education
Kes, Ken Loach, 1969
If.., Lindsay Anderson, 1968
Dead Poet’s Society, Peter Weir, 1989
The History Boys, Nicholas Hytner, 2006
The Class, Laurent Cantent 2008
Environment
There are several listings of environmental films: see
For Documentary Films on the environment, see:
http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/category/environment/
For fiction films on the environment, see:
http://ecohearth.com/eco-zine/arts-and-culture/1625-green-movies-best-environmental-films-fictional-features.html
Top Ten Environmental films of all time
http://www.mnn.com/green-tech/research-innovations/blogs/top-10-environmental-films-of-all-time
15 Green Movies
http://grist.org/article/movies/
A classic documentary is
Al Gore An Inconvenient Truth (2006)
See also:
Erin Brockovitch, Steven Soderbergh, 2000
Human Flow, Ai Weiwei, 2017
Everyday interaction
Being There, Hal Ashby, 1979
Zelig, Woody Allen, 1983
Groundhog Day, Harold Ramis, 1993
Stranger than Fiction, Marc Foster (2006)
Family life
Life is Sweet, Mike Leigh, 1990
In the Bedroom, Todd Field, 2001
American Beauty, Sam Mendes, 1999
Little Miss Sunshine, Valerie Faris , 2006
The Kids are Alright , Lisa Cholodenko 2010
Gay: see Queer, Gender
Gender and Feminism
10 Movies about gender, sexism and equality http://www.imdb.com/list/ls074185633/
10 films that pioneered the way
http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/lists/10-great-feminist-films
15 best recent (2015) feminist films
http://msmagazine.com/blog/2015/12/21/the-15-or-so-best-feminist-films-of-2015/
The Celluloid Closet, Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, 1995
Fabulous, The story of Queer Cinema, Lisa Ades , 2006
Stand by Me, Rob Reiner, 1986
Thelma and Louise, Ridley Scott, 1991
Boys don’t cry, Kimberley Pierce, 1999
Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee, 2005
Holocaust
The Pianist, Roman Polanski, 2002
Schindler’s List, Steven Spielberg, 1993
Music: A musical view of society
The Wizard of Oz, Victor Fleming, 1939
West Side Story, Jerome Robbins and Robert Wise, 1961
(see also new version, released Christmas 2021)
Fiddler on a Roof, dir Norman Jewison, 1971
Cabaret, Bob Fosse, 1972
Saturday Night Fever, dir John Badham, 1977
Chicago, Rob Marshall, 2002
Sweeney Todd, Tim Burton, 2007
La La Land, Damien Chazelle, 2016
Everybody’s Talking About Jaimie, 2021 dir Jonathan Butterell
Queer: see also Gender and Feminism
See The British Film Institute List of Top 30 LGBTQ films: at
http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/30-best-lgbt-films-all-time
I would add:
Pride, 2014 dir Matthew Marcus
It’s a Sin, 2021, dir Russell T Davies
Hating Peter Tatchell, 2021 dir Christopher Amos
Race and racism
Two Lists of Major Films about Race
See: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls003616976/
see: http://www.tasteofcinema.com/2015/25-great-movies-about-racism-that-are-worth-your-time/3/
Classics include:
I am not Your Negro die Raoul Peck , 2017
To Kill a Mockingbird, Robert Mulligan, 1962
The Long Walk Home, Richard Pearce, 1990
Crash, Paul Haggis, 2004
Malcolm X, Spike Lee, 1992
Do the Right Thing, Spike Lee, 1989
Mississippi Burning, Alan Parker, 1988
Refugees and Migration
A list of films (72 of them )about immigrants and migration can be found at:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls051658814/
https://uk.pinterest.com/uscri/movies-and-films-about-refugees-and-immigrants/
https://mubi.com/lists/films-about-immigrants
Brooklyn, dir John Crowley, 2015
Fire at Sea, dir Gianfranco Rosi, 2016
Relationships
Brief Encounters, David Lean, 1945
A Streetcar named desire, Elia Kazan, 1951
Fear Eats the Soul, Rainer Wernder Fassbinder, 1974
Annie Hall, Woody Allen, 1977
When Harry met Sally, Rob Reiner, 1989
The Human Stain, Robert Benton, 2003
Poverty
The Grapes of Wrath, John Ford, 1940
Ermanno Olmi’s The Tree of wooden clogs , 1978
Angela’s Ashes, Alan Parker, 1999
Sorry We Missed You, Ken Loach, 2019
Religious bigotry
Inherit the Wind, Stanley Kramer, 1960
Elmer Gantry, Richard Brooks, 1960
Futures? Science fiction
Metropolis, Fritz Lang, 1927
2001: A Space Odyssey, Stanley Kubrick, 1968
Blade Runner, Ridley Scott, 1982
Back to the Future, Robert Zemeckis, 1985
The Matrix, Andy and Larry Wachowski, 1999
Slavery & total institutions
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Milos Forman, 1975
Das Boot, Wolfgang Petersen, 1981
The Shawshank Redemption, Frank Darabont, 1994
Amistad, Stephen Spielberg , 1997
Sports
Hoop Dreams, Steve James, 1994
Remember the Titans, Boaz Yakin, 2000
Bend It Like Beckham, Gurinder Chadha, 2002
The Fan, Tony Scott, 1996
Surveillance
There are several substantial listings of ‘surveillance films’: see
Classic films are:
1984 – there are two versions:
Gattaca (2007)
Minority Report (2002)
The Net (1995)
The Lives of Others (2006)
The Truman Show (1998)
V for Vendeatta dir James McTeigue
Terrorism
Films on 9/11
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/8753226/The-10-most-significant-films-about-the-September-11-attacks.html
For a listing see:
http://www.imdb.com/list/ls000912041/
Paradise Now (2005) Hany Abu-Assad
The Battle for Algiers, 1966 Gillo Potecorvo
Munich (205) Steven Spielberg
United 93 ( (2006) Paul Greengrass
Urban life and Community- the Classics
Sunset Boulevard, Billy Wilder, 1950
On the Waterfront, Elia Kazan, 1954
Taxi Driver, Martin Scorcese, 1976
Manhattan, Woody Allen, 1979
Paris, Texas, Wim Wenders, 1984
Blue Velvet, David Lynch, 1986
Tokyo Story, Yasujiro Ozu, 1953
Utopias /Dystoppias
http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/2014/08/11/thns-top-10-utopia-dystopia-movies/
http://www.fandango.com/movie-photos/famous-utopias-in-sci-fi-movies-925
Things to come (1936)
The Time Machine (1960)
1984
Children of Men dir Alfonos Cuaron
Youth cultures
Rebel without a cause, Nicholas Ray, 1955
Les Quatre Cent Coups, François Truffaut, 1959
A Clockwork Orange, Stanley Kubrick, 1971
Saturday Night Fever, John Badham, 1977
Gregory’s Girl, Bill Forsyth, 1981
Samson and Deliah, Warwick Thorton, 2010
War
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Deer Hunter, Michael Cimino, 1978
Saving Private Ryan, Stephen Spielberg, 1998
Afghanistan
Kandahar (2001) dir Mohsen Makhmalbaf
Osama (2003) dir Siddiq Barmak
The Kite Runner (2007) dir Marc Foster
United 93 (2006) Paul Greengrass
World Trade Center (2006) dir Oliver Stone
Miscellaneous
The White Tiger, dir Ramin Bahrani, 2021
For other examples of sociological theory applied to Hollywood film clips, see these examples:
- Weber’s concept of bureaucracy in Office Space
- Goffman’s concept of a total institution in Full Metal Jacket
- Institutionalization in Shawshank Redemption
- Stereotyping in Up in the Air
- Du Bois’ concept of double consciousness in The Tuskegee Airmen
- The politics of menstruation in Super Bad
- Distinction in Dr. Seuss’ The Sneetches
- Forms of capital in Pretty Woman
- Theories of crime and deviance in West Side Story
- Game theory in A Dark Knight