Film
The California Reich
A 1975 documentary that traces American fascism from its ideological roots through the 1930s and beyond, examining how Nazi ideology took hold in fringe communities across the United States. Unsettling and essential viewing—not a comfortable history lesson, but a necessary one. For anyone who thinks it couldn't happen here.
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The Wave2015
Modern dramatisation of how easily ordinary people adopt authoritarian thinking. Follows a high school experiment that spirals into something dangerous, showing the psychological mechanics of fascism in real time.
But It's didactic—the message is never subtle, and some find the pacing heavy-handed for what amounts to a cautionary tale.
Triumph of the Will1935
Leni Riefenstahl's propagandist masterpiece is essential context for understanding how effectively fascism was packaged and sold. Disturbing to watch precisely because it's so cinematically powerful.
But It's propaganda, deliberately designed to persuade. Watching it is uncomfortable, and that discomfort doesn't resolve into catharsis.
The Architecture of Doom1989
Explores how the Nazi regime used architecture, urban planning, and aesthetics as instruments of ideology. Gorgeously shot and intellectually rigorous, it reveals fascism as a total aesthetic system, not just politics.
But Abstract and academic in places. If you want narrative drive and emotional beats, this prioritises ideas over conventional documentary structure.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The California Reich
More like this (3)
Shoah1985
Claude Lanzmann's nine-hour masterpiece interviews survivors, perpetrators, and witnesses without showing archival footage. The absence of images makes the testimony more immediate and unbearable in the best way.
But Nine hours. Even split across days, it demands commitment. The refusal to show footage will frustrate viewers expecting visual evidence.
The Act of Killing2012
Asks Indonesian death-squad leaders to dramatise their own killings. Extraordinarily original: watching perpetrators confront their actions through performance creates something no traditional documentary can achieve.
But Morally queasy—you're complicit in entertainment that trivialises atrocity. Some find the approach exploitative rather than clarifying.
Hannah Arendt2012
Dramatises the political theorist's coverage of the Eichmann trial and her concept of the banality of evil. Intellectually bracing, with Barbara Sukowa delivering a career-best performance as Arendt thinking out loud.
But Dialogue-heavy and abstract. If you prefer action to argument, watching philosophers debate will feel static.
People
Directing
- Keith CritchlowDirector
- Walter F. ParkesDirector