129m; U.S.
Director: John Ford
Cast: Henry Fonda, Jane Darwell and John Carradine
Synopsis (IMDB): A poor Midwest family is forced off of their land. They travel to California, suffering the misfortunes of the homeless in the Great Depression.
Category Archives: Drama
Fury (1936)
92m; U.S.
Director: Fritz Lang
Cast: Sylvia Sidney, Spencer Tracy and Walter Abel
Synopsis: When a prisoner barely survives a lynch mob attack and is presumed dead, he vindictively decides to frame the mob for his murder.
Fury Below (1936)
58m; U.S.
Director: Harry L. Fraser
Cast: Russell Gleason, Maxine Doyle and LeRoy Mason
Synopsis (IMDB): Jim Cole, heir to a mining operation, takes over the mine, which is suffering from unexplained low production, and is facing a strike by the miners. Jim will soon loose the mine if production doesn’t increase and the sabotage continues. Mary Norsen, office-secretary, accidentally learns of a plot by Fred Johnson to wreck the mine and force Cole to sell his coal-mine. She and her brother, Joe, join Cole in his fight to stop Johnson
Gaijin: A Brazilian Odyssey (1980)
112m
Director: Tizuka Yamasaki
Cast: Kyoko Tsukamoto, Antônio Fagundes and Jiro Kawarazaki
Synopsis (IMDB): Based on fact, this is the story of the struggles of Japanese immigrants who traveled to and settled in Brazil looking for a better life.
Grounding: The Last Days of Swissair (2006)
120m; Switzerland
Director: Michael Steiner
Cast: Hanspeter Müller, Gilles Tschudi and László I. Kish
Synopsis (IMDB): The demise of airline Swissair in 2001 was a huge blow to Switzerland’s economy and to the country’s morale. It was a sad day for Swiss history when the airline’s fleet was grounded on 2 October 2001. “Grounding” is set during the last days of the doomed airline, and tells the story of manager Mario A. Corti’s unhappy fate, the last, unlucky CEO at the traditional airline company, as well as of all those nameless people who lost almost everything in the maelstrom of Swissair’s downfall: their job, home and their belief in Switzerland
The Garment Jungle (1957)
88m; U.S.
Director: Vincent Sherman
Cast: Lee J. Cobb, Kerwin Mathews and Gia Scala
Synopsis: Sweatshop workers.
Generosity (2011)
119m; U.S.
Director: Ray Kelly
Cast: David Maddalena, Mark David Nelson and Melinda Smart
Synopsis (IMDB): Generosity is an in depth look at the issue of homelessness. Through five main characters, the film explores five very different perspectives and asks the viewer to “just how close is anyone to homelessness?”
Website: http://www.generositythefilm.com/
Germinal (1993)
166m; France
Director: Claude Berri
Cast: Renaud, Gérard Depardieu and Miou-Miou
Synopsis: Gerard Depardieu plays the role of Toussaint Maheu from the film version of Emile Zola’s landmark book by the same name. He attempts to organize the coal miners to resist exploitation by the owners. The novel was one of the first to properly, using the finest art and understanding, to show the lives of working men and women. The film version was not shown widely, perhaps due to its theme and its length. John Sayles film “Matewan” is not based on this novel/film, but has many similarities. There were earlier versions including a British mini-series in 1970, and films in 1963, and 1913.
Gervaise (1956)
112m; France
Director: René Clément
Cast: Maria Schell, François Périer and Jany Holt
Synopsis: Story of a scrubwoman’s struggle to climb out of poverty and how she sinks back in. Based on the Emile Zola novel.
Getting Up (2007)
7m
Director: John Gorelski
Synopsis (Planet Ant Film & Video Festival): A man confronts the CEO of the corporation responsible for the death of his wife and child.
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