All of the films on this following list are great in many ways. They are all amazing movies, but more importantly, there are messages that we all should learn. Some are brutal and would normally not be watched by people in their teens, but the messages are so important to learn, especially in the teen years of someone’s life, that they must be seen. No violence in them is without good reason, and all it does is make the story more powerful.
5. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Every aspect of film is top notch in this drama. But its on this list because of it’s message. Jack Nicholson plays a guy who gets stuck in a mental hospital where all of the patients are trained to do whatever the nurse says. Throughout, he tries to make them realize that there is a whole world out there where they can be free. The purpose? To show viewers not to get to attached to “the system” in which we live our lives. Live on the edge, take some chances and have some fun while you’re here.
4. Raging Bull
It is a boxing movie, but there is so much more to this than that. Raging Bull is the story of Jake La Motta, a great boxer, but a horrible person. With some anger problems and being a womanizer, there wasn’t much for viewers to like in his character. Really, this one is about being a good person to those around you. Raging Bull shows how he lost everything because of the way he acts, and that its a hard road to redemption.
3. American History X
When I was talking earlier about some of these movies being brutal, I basically thought about this one and the #1. American History X is about two brothers who are involved in a neo-Nazi gang in their town that terrorizes African Americans. The older brother is arrested when he kills some of them at his house. I bet you can all guess what the point of X was, which is don’t be racist, but the way that it’s told is why I put it on the list.
2. Schindler’s List
Before seeing the #1 this weekend, I would have had Schindler’s List top this list for sure. It’s about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman during the holocaust who employed Jewish people at his factory. He saves 2,000 from death by getting the Nazi’s to let him take some workers for his ammunition factory. But none of the bullets or guns ever worked. While some would think its about the same message as American History X, its actually about being good to the less fortunate, and standing up for what is right.
1. Requiem For a Dream
Again, the brutal thing I was talking about earlier, applies to this one. With a wonderful score, great acting, editing, and story this is one of the greatest movies of all time to me. Requiem is about 4 people who each have a drug addiction. Diet pills, cocaine and heroin are just some samples of what they are doing. By the end, they are all withered away from this, and its not too pretty. I won’t go too much into it, but some of the images just makes your stomach drop, and really no one could ever take drugs after watching it. It is NC-17, but there’s not too much more shown in this than there is in R rated movies. Watch it, and the next few days this will be all you’re thinking about.
