3 days Ago 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..
