20 movies for cultural anthropology students
by mogari | created - 11 Oct 2010 | updated - 06 Sep 2012 | PublicAny of these movies are great introductions to important topics in anthropology. I tried to keep documentaries to a minimum (both documentaries on this list are largely image driven with no narration or dialogue)
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1. Baraka (1992)
Not Rated | 96 min | Documentary
A collection of expertly photographed scenes of human life and religion.
Director: Ron Fricke | Star: Patrick Disanto
Votes: 40,974 | Gross: $1.33M
technology, environment, visual anthropology (multiple)
2. Babies (2010)
PG | 79 min | Documentary
A look at one year in the life of four babies from around the world, from Mongolia to Namibia to San Francisco to Tokyo.
Director: Thomas Balmès | Stars: Bayar, Hattie, Mari, Tarererua
Votes: 7,438 | Gross: $7.29M
rituals of childhood, parenthood, socialization/enculturation (multiple)
3. City of God (2002)
R | 130 min | Crime, Drama
In the slums of Rio, two kids' paths diverge as one struggles to become a photographer and the other a kingpin.
Directors: Fernando Meirelles, Kátia Lund | Stars: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Matheus Nachtergaele, Phellipe Haagensen
Votes: 800,681 | Gross: $7.56M
race, poverty, violence, youth (Brazil)
4. Night on Earth (1991)
R | 129 min | Comedy, Drama
An anthology of 5 different cab drivers in 5 American and European cities and their remarkable fares on the same eventful night.
Director: Jim Jarmusch | Stars: Winona Ryder, Gena Rowlands, Lisanne Falk, Alan Randolph Scott
Votes: 65,977 | Gross: $2.02M
inter-cultural communication, immigration, humor, mobility (multiple)
5. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001)
R | 172 min | Drama
The telling of an Inuit legend of an evil spirit causing strife in the community and one warrior's endurance and battle of its menace.
Director: Zacharias Kunuk | Stars: Natar Ungalaaq, Sylvia Ivalu, Peter-Henry Arnatsiaq, Lucy Tulugarjuk
Votes: 6,860 | Gross: $3.79M
religion/shamanism, marriage/kinship, arctic culture/language (Canada/Inuit)
6. The Crazy Stranger (1997)
Unrated | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Music
A man is looking for a singer he had heard on cassette. He finds much more.
Director: Tony Gatlif | Stars: Romain Duris, Rona Hartner, Izidor Serban, Ovidiu Balan
Votes: 8,368 | Gross: $0.67M
love, death, music, gypsies (France/Romania)
7. Avatar (2009)
PG-13 | 162 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez
Votes: 1,386,036 | Gross: $760.51M
colonialism, indigenous peoples, identification/embodiment, virtuality (Sci-fi/US)
8. Water (I) (2005)
PG-13 | 117 min | Drama
Set in colonial India against Gandhi's rise to power, it's the story of 8-year-old Chuyia, who is widowed and sent to a home to live in penitence; once there, Chuyia's feisty presence deeply affects the lives of the other residents.
Director: Deepa Mehta | Stars: Lisa Ray, John Abraham, Seema Biswas, Sarala Kariyawasam
Votes: 15,357 | Gross: $3.22M
gender, widowhood, inter-generational relationships (India)
9. Do the Right Thing (1989)
R | 120 min | Comedy, Drama
On the hottest day of the year on a street in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, everyone's hate and bigotry smolders and builds until it explodes into violence.
Director: Spike Lee | Stars: Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson
Votes: 112,373 | Gross: $27.55M
urban culture, race/ethnicity, violence, romance, economy (USA)
10. The Visitor (I) (2007)
PG-13 | 104 min | Drama
A college professor travels to New York City to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his apartment.
Director: Tom McCarthy | Stars: Richard Jenkins, Haaz Sleiman, Danai Gurira, Hiam Abbass
Votes: 44,522 | Gross: $9.42M
immigration, music, family, inter-cultural communication (USA)
11. The Class (2008)
PG-13 | 128 min | Drama
Teacher and novelist François Bégaudeau plays a version of himself as he negotiates a year with his racially mixed students from a tough Parisian neighborhood.
Director: Laurent Cantet | Stars: François Bégaudeau, Agame Malembo-Emene, Angélica Sancio, Arthur Fogel
Votes: 36,406 | Gross: $3.77M
education, immigration, multiethnic communication, children (France)
12. Devil's Playground (2002)
77 min | Documentary
Amish teenagers experience and embrace the modern world as a rite-of-passage before deciding which life they will choose.
Director: Lucy Walker | Stars: Velda Bontrager, Mark Bontrager, Dewayne Chupp, Dylan Cole
Votes: 2,703
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