Movies like The Awakening 1989

If you like "The Awakening" you are looking for allegory movies about / with deportation, occupation and stalinism themes of Drama and History genre shot in Soviet Union.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps: 1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below). 2. Look for them in the presented list.
The Awakening (1989)
 7.0
 51
The Awakening (1989)
Original name: Äratus
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 109 min.
Story: A first film made of the 1949 March deportation of Estonian people to Siberia by Soviet Secret Police NKVD. During couple of days and nights nearly 21 thousand people, mostly women and children, were under top secret taken from their homes to railway stations and locked into animal wagons to take a trip of thousands of kilometers to a far, poor, unfriendly and cold land where they were mostly used as cheap (free) labor. The movie presents the events symbolist, as in the leading roles are recognizable the characters from bible Jesus, Satan and Judas. That makes the film top artistic but unrealistic, very slow and difficult to follow. Though in general not bad produced, the acting is time to time too theatrical and unfortunately we have rather another medium-level artistic film here than a worth-to-watch history film.
Style: allegory
Plot: deportation, occupation, stalinism
Time: 1940s
Place: siberia, baltics

Movie in categories

Most similar movies to The Awakening

The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out serious, captivating, realistic and disturbing films with plots about world war two, communism, politics, stalinism, nazi, wartime life and family relations mostly in Drama, History and Romance genres. Some movies like The Awakening: In the Crosswind (2014), The War Between Us (1995), Not Reconciled (1965), Jani gal (2007), Hotel Meina (2007). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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In the Crosswind (2014)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Estonia
Duration: 90 min.
Story: June 14, 1941, 3 a.m. Over 40000 people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are deported by Soviets to Siberia. Among them is a philosophy student Erna, a happily married mother of a little girl. Separated from her husband Erna and her daughter are ...
Style: realistic, serious, atmospheric, bleak, black and white ...
Plot: stalinism, deportation, world war two, hunger, ethnic cleansing, wartime life, getting home, life is a bitch, family in danger, separation from family, family relations, danger ...
Time: year 1941, 1940s, 1950s, 20th century
Place: siberia, soviet union, baltics, europe, russia ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
95%
The War Between Us (1995)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Canada
Duration: 93 min.
Story: In World War II British Columbia, Canada, a Japanese immigrant family has to endure the racist Canadian policy of being interned and their property confiscated as "enemy aliens". At the same time, a white Canadian family has to deal with ...
Style: independent film, serious, realistic, disturbing, bleak ...
Plot: world war two, racism, deportation, war, society, wartime life, immigrant, political oppression, ice hockey, suicide by drowning, concentration camp, bathhouse ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century
Place: canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
76%
 6.3
 804
Not Reconciled (1965)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: West Germany
Duration: 55 min.
Story: Not Reconciled, the title of the Straubs’ first feature-length film, is engraved on their work like an inscription. It is a story about the continuity and collapse of history, the power of suppression, and the terror of reconciliation; loyalty, ...
Plot: melancholy, family relations, father son relationship, flash forward, flashback, nazism
Time: 1940s, 1950s
Place: germany
⇓ similarity ⇓
60%
 7.9
 214
Jani gal (2007)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Iraq, Iran
Duration: 100 min.
Story: An Iraqi Kurdish man is released from jail. He has been arrested by mistake when he went to find a midwife to help his pregnant wife, years ago. As he has been arrested during a demonstration the authorities thought he is one of the opposition group ...
Plot: kurd, politics, racism, oppression, demonstration
Time: 1940s, 1950s
Place: kurdistan, iraq
⇓ similarity ⇓
56%
Movie in collections
politics movies
4449
communism movies
716
nazi movies
1414
 6.2
 126
Hotel Meina (2007)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Italy, France, Serbia
Duration: 115 min.
Story: How will the Germans react to the armistice of the 8th of September 1943, due to which Italy betrays them and sides with the allied forces? This is the distressing questions that a group of 16 Italian - Greek Jews evacuated at The Meina Hotel ask ...
Plot: world war two, holocaust, nazi occupation, hotel, refugee, truce, nazi, war crime, mass murder
Time: 1940s
Place: italy
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
 7.0
 93
Sour Grape (1974)
Genre: Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 76 min.
Story: Two years after receiving news of his father’s death in WWII a young boy continues to wait for trains from the front. The boy lives with his crippled uncle rather than with his mother, who has remarried and has another child. Then one day the ...
Plot: world war two, father son relationship, soldier
Time: 1940s
Place: armenia
⇓ similarity ⇓
48%
The Feasts of Valtasar, or The Night with Stalin (1989)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 88 min.
Story: A dance troupe from the autonomous region of Abkhazia in western Georgia perform for Stalin, Lavrentiy Beria, Abkhaz leader Nestor Lakoba, and other high-ranking party officials in the Black Sea coastal town of Gagra.
Plot: perestroika, totalitarian regime, josef stalin, town, stalinism, dictator
Place: ussr, soviet union, caucasus, georgia
⇓ similarity ⇓
48%
 6.9
 882
General Nil (2009)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Poland
Duration: 125 min.
Story: Generał Nil is a Polish historical film, based on the life of general Emil August Fieldorf, pseudonym "Nil". The film was directed by Ryszard Bugajski and was released in 2009.
Style: serious, captivating, exciting, suspenseful
Plot: world war two, army general, trial, secret service, imprisonment, moral dilemma, communism, arrest, assassination, interrogation, prison, death sentence ...
Time: 1940s, 1950s
Place: poland, ussr, siberia
⇓ similarity ⇓
45%
Movie in collections
 6.9
 568
Reunion (1989)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: France, West Germany, UK
Duration: 110 min.
Story: Two young boys from very different backgrounds become friends in 1933 Stuttgart. However, they don't realize how different they are until much later as one is the son of a well-to-do Jewish doctor and the other the son of a German aristocrat. ...
Style: independent film, serious, realistic, disturbing, thought provoking
Plot: world war two, anti semitism, friendship, nazi, friendship between boys, against humanity, confined, society, youth, coming of age, religions or cults, homecoming ...
Time: 1940s, year 1989, 1930s
Place: europe, germany
⇓ similarity ⇓
44%
Saturday Fiction (2019)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: China
Duration: 126 min.
Story: An actress working undercover for the Allies in 1941 Shanghai discovers the Japanese plan to attack Pearl Harbor.
Style: disturbing, tense, captivating, independent film
Plot: undercover, spy, female secret agent, working undercover, wartime, female spy, undercover agent, secret agent, government agent, prospector, reconnaissance, female protagonist ...
Time: 1940s
Place: shanghai
⇓ similarity ⇓
40%
 7.1
 125
Betrayal (1993)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: France, Switzerland, Spain, Romania
Duration: 103 min.
Story: After the war, in Bucharest, a young Romanian poet arrested for having written an article denouncing Stalinist crimes, will save his life by accepting to become a hostage of the regime.
Plot: romanian revolution, communism, artist, totalitarian regime, agent, family relations, death of friend, democracy, anti communist, port, police inspector, poetry ...
Time: 1940s, 60s
Place: romania, paris france
⇓ similarity ⇓
40%
Eternal Winter (2018)
Genre: Drama, History, Romance
Country: Hungary
Duration: 110 min.
Story: The true story of an unlikely romance in a Soviet labor camp.
Style: beautiful
Plot: world war two, stalinism, world war, landscape, gulag, coal mine, christmas, train, romantic relationship, wolf attack, communism, survival ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century
Place: soviet union
⇓ similarity ⇓
39%
 6.7
 158
The Magnate (1987)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Poland
Duration: 171 min.
Story: This Polish historical drama film traces the fascinating saga of a wealthy, princely Polish dynasty in years 1900-1935.
Style: family saga
Plot: renaissance, dynasty, monarchy, nazism, female nudity, nazi, man in a wheelchair, wheelchair bound, cheating wife, communism, sexually frustrated woman, sexually dissatisfied wife ...
Time: 1940s, 1910s, 1930s, pre world war two, 1920s ...
Place: poland, eastern europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
38%
 7.6
 139
Triangle (1967)
Genre: Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 84 min.
Story: The movie tells the life story and friendship of five blacksmiths in town of Leninakan during the war and the years preceding it - as told by the son of one of the blacksmiths.
Audience: kids
Plot: soldier, friendship, world war two, friend, town
Time: 1940s
Place: armenia, caucasus, soviet union
⇓ similarity ⇓
37%
The Chronicles of Melanie (2016)
Genre: Biography, Drama, History
Country: Latvia, Czech Republic, Finland
Duration: 120 min.
Story: The 14th of June 1941, Soviet-occupied Latvia: Without warning, the authorities break into the house of Melanie and her husband Aleksandr and force them to leave everything behind. Together with more than 15 000 Latvians, Melanie and her son get ...
Style: rough, suspense, disturbing, bleak, black and white
Plot: deportation, world war two, gulag, survival, labor camp, grief, cruelty, politics, political prisoner, life is a bitch, mother son relationship, post soviet ...
Time: 1940s, year 1957, 1950s, year 1941
Place: latvia, soviet union, russia, siberia
⇓ similarity ⇓
37%
 4.5
 231
Trust (1976)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Finland, Soviet Union
Duration: 95 min.
Story: Film is based on the facts of history about the declaration of independence of the Republic of Finland from Russia. The Grand Duchy of Finland was an autonomous part of the Russian Empire until 1917, when the Russian revolution caused the fall of ...
Plot: lenin, international relations, helsinki, finland, assassination, new year's eve, world war one, revolution, bourgeoisie, socialist, socialism, communism, nationalism ...
Time: year 1917, 1900s, 1890s, 1910s
Place: soviet union, germany, finland, st. petersburg russia, helsinki finland ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
35%
Beyond Friendship (2006)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: France, UK, Italy, Greece, Israel, USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story: A tale of friendship between two men, one Jewish and the other Arab, as the state of Israel is being created.
Style: captivating, disturbing, serious, realistic, inspirational ...
Plot: rebellion, friendship, military, battles, rivalry, danger, state affairs, rebelliousness, politics, political unrest, wartime life, conflict ...
Time: 1940s
Place: israel, palestine, jerusalem, middle east, greece ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
33%
 7.5
 191
Mother (1990)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Soviet Union, Italy
Duration: 200 min.
Story: The social ferment in late 19th century Russia which led to the 1917 Russian Revolution is movingly portrayed in this lengthy historical drama, which is very faithful to the 1907 novel The Mother by the celebrated Marxist writer Maxim Gorky ...
Plot: oedipus complex, protest, russian empire, political activist, socialist, publishing, forced suicide, demonstration, worker, communist, communism, murder of mother ...
Place: soviet union, ussr, russia, siberia
⇓ similarity ⇓
32%
Movie in collections
A City of Sadness (1989)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Taiwan
Duration: 157 min.
Story: Soon after Japan relinquishes control of Taiwan in 1945, the Lin brothers face hardships from the changing culture. Bar owner Wen-heung (Chen Sown-yung), the eldest brother, falls foul of local gangsters, Wen-sun disappears, and Wen-leung, scarred ...
Style: realistic, saga, sad, black and white, aesthetic ...
Plot: mute or deaf, family relations, family life, political unrest, wartime life, siblings relations, family tradition, black market, family in danger, family problems, state affairs, society ...
Time: 1940s, year 1989, 20th century
Place: taiwan, china
⇓ similarity ⇓
32%
The Final Solution: The Wannsee Conference (1984)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Austria, West Germany
Duration: 85 min.
Story: A real time recreation of the 1942 Wannsee Conference, in which leading SS and Nazi Party officals gathered to discuss the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question". Led by SS-General Reinhard Heydrich, the Wannsee Conference was the ...
Style: contemplative, bleak, disturbing, thought provoking, captivating ...
Plot: world war two, holocaust, nazi, world war, nazi germany, war, anti semitism, genocide, racism, international relations, nazi concentration camp, politics ...
Time: year 1942, 1940s
Place: germany, berlin germany, europe, palestine, warsaw poland
⇓ similarity ⇓
31%
Zhena Stalina (2006)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Russia
Duration: 176 min.
Story: A historical drama about the tragic fate of Nadezhda Alliluyeva, a woman who remained in the shadow of her husband Joseph Stalin. In 1918, 16-year-old Nadezhda married 38-year-old Joseph Stalin, a close friend of the Alliluyev family. The love of ...
Style: thought provoking, captivating
Plot: josef stalin, older man younger woman relationship, stalinism, husband wife relationship, wartime, historical character, historical figure, tragic love, male female relationship, relationships, love story, love affair ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
31%
Encore, Once More Encore! (1992)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: Russia
Duration: 96 min.
Story: A drama set at the end of the Forties and the beginning of the Fifties. In a distant garrison town, life proceeds at a measured past. The officers drink and debauch, while the soldiers serve. Meanwhile accidentally unleashed human emotions are ...
Plot: winter, soviet army, love, stalinism, military officer, military uniform
Time: 1940s, post world war two
⇓ similarity ⇓
31%
Cantata de Chile (1976)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Cuba
Duration: 119 min.
Story: The story of the Santa María School massacre of miners in 1907.
Style: allegory
Plot: latin american history, massacre, exploitation, strike, school, post colonialism, history of chile, racism, mass murder, colonialism, class struggle, miner ...
Time: 1900s
Place: south america, chile
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
Movie in collections
 6.9
 897
Newsfront (1978)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Australia
Duration: 110 min.
Story: Surprisingly adventurous saga of an intrepid group of cinematographers and reporters who risk life and limb to capture footage of breaking news for the movie-going public.
Style: serious, realistic, period piece, independent film, period drama
Plot: journalism, female nudity, reflection, filmmaking, world war two, brother brother relationship, news reporter, contests and competitions, politics, state affairs, artists and showbiz, media ...
Time: 1940s, year 1978, 1950s, 50s, year 1949 ...
Place: australia, sydney australia
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
 7.3
 3K
The Sun (2005)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Russia, Italy, Switzerland, France
Duration: 110 min.
Story: The Sun (Russian: Сóлнце, Solntse) is a 2005 Russian biographical film depicting Japanese Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito) during the final days of World War II. The film is the third drama in director Aleksandr Sokurov's trilogy, which included ...
Style: disturbing, thought provoking, serious, captivating, slow cinema ...
Plot: world war two, emperor, politics, leadership, military, wartime life, state affairs, society, head of state, war, totalitarianism, defeat ...
Time: 1940s, 20th century, year 1945
Place: japan, soviet union, tokyo, asia
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
Wife of a Spy (2020)
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Japan
Duration: 115 min.
Story: It’s 1940, and the population of Japan is divided over its entry into World War II. Satoko, the wife of a fabric merchant, is devoted to her husband but is beginning to suspect he’s up to something. Soon she allows herself to be drawn into a ...
Style: captivating, suspense, disturbing, psychological
Plot: japanese wife, spy, world war two, murder, male female relationship, occupation, wartime, social problems, female protagonist, family relations, lifestyle, war ...
Time: 1940s
Place: japan
⇓ similarity ⇓
30%
My Friend Ivan Lapshin (1985)
Genre: Drama
Country: Soviet Union
Duration: 100 min.
Story: Russian provincial town in the middle of the 1930s Stalin's Great Purge. Ivan Lapshin, the head of the local police, does what he has to do. And he does it well.
Style: slow cinema, aesthetic, spiritual
Plot: stalinism, psychedelia, spy, underground, spirituality, police officer, interrogation, winter, chief of police, siege, suicide attempt, raid ...
Time: year 1985, 1930s
Place: soviet union, ussr, siberia, russia
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
Seven Songs from the Tundra (2000)
Genre: Drama, History
Country: Finland
Duration: 90 min.
Story: Finland's submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2000
Plot: indigenous people, kolkhoz, marriage, soldier, communism, fishing, ritual, russian soldier, ideology, parent child relationship, socialism, winter ...
Time: 20th century
Place: soviet union, siberia
⇓ similarity ⇓
28%
 5.0
 350
Siberian Exile (2013)
Genre: Drama, History, Romance, War
Country: Poland, Russia
Duration: 125 min.
Story: An epic tale of Poles, Ukrainians, Jews who are deported to Russia. Their fate is shown from the perspective of a young boy Staszek, who goes to Siberia with his family and neighbors from a small village in the eastern Polish borderlands. Together ...
Style: psychological, thought provoking, touching, suspense, rough
Plot: fall in love, cruelty, amnesty, jewish family, hard labor, world war two, death of mother, death of wife, getting home, stupidity, suppression, cold weather ...
Time: 1940s
Place: siberia, poland
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
 6.2
 43
Faneflukt (1975)
Genre: Drama, Romance
Country: Norway
Duration: 97 min.
Story: 1941, Norway. The young kitchen maid Liv and the German officer Franz meet in the military camp where Liv works. They develop a friendship and decides to flee to Sweden.
Plot: world war two, desertion, father, love, escape, occupation, nazi, young
Time: 1940s
⇓ similarity ⇓
27%
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