On Remembrance Day, we take the time to remember those who perished during the war (since 1914) and thank the veterans and those currently deployed in peacekeeping missions. I have a tradition where I watch films on WWI or WWII during Remembrance Week or on Remembrance Day. It’s my way of remembering what those before us went through and how far we’ve come. So here’s a compilation of movies, TV movies, TV series and mini-series on WWI and WWII:

The Great War / WWI (1914-1918)

• 37 Days(2014)
• A Midnight Clear(1992)
• A Very Long Engagement/ Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles (2004)
• Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story(2000)
• Atonement(2007)
• Birdsong (2012)
• Camille Claudel, 1915(2013)
• Carrington(1995)
• Ceux de 14(2014)
• The Crimson Field(2014)
• Doctor Zhivago(2002)
• Downton AbbeyS2 (2011)
• Flyboys(2006)
• In Love and War(1996)
• ITV’s Mr SelfridgeS2 (2013-2014)
• Out of Africa(1985)
• Parade’s End(Miniseries: 2012)
• Passchendaele(2008)
• Sunshine(1999)
• Testament of Youth(2015)
• The Officer’s Ward(2001)
• The Red Baron(2008)
• The Trench(1991)
• The Village S1 (2013)
• The Wind and the Lion (1975)
• War Horse(2011)
• When Love Is Not Enough – The Lois Wilson Story(2010)

WWII (1939-1946)

• 24 Turns / 二十四道拐(2015)
• Age of Heroes(2011)
• Agent Carter(2015)
• Amar en tiempos revueltos(2005)
• (2002)
• Angel of the Skies(2013)
• Angela’s Ashes(1999)
• Anne Frank: The Whole Story(2001)
• Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning(2008)
• Anonyma – Eine Frau in Berlin(2008)
• The Aryan Couple(2004)
• ARD’s Luis Trenker – Der Schmale Grat Der Wahrheit/ Trenker and Riefenstahl – A Fine Line Between Truth And Guilt (2015)
• As Far As My Feet Will Carry Me/ So weit die Füße tragen (2001)
• Au Revoir Les Enfants(1987)
• Australia (2008)
• Battle Ground(2013)
• Before the Fall(2004)
• Beneath Hill 60(2010)
• Black Book (Zwartboek)(2006)
• Bomb Girls – Facing The Enemy(2014)
• Bomb Girls(2012-2013)
• Charlotte Gray(2001)
• City of Life and Death / Nanjing! Nanjing!(2009)
• Closing The Ring(2007)
• Conspiracy(2011)
• Dad’s Army(2016)
• Das Boot(1981)
• Days of Glory / Indigene(2006)
• Defiance(2008)
• BBC’s The Diary of Anne Frank(2009)
• Diplomatie/ Diplomacy (2014)
• Downfall (Der Untergang)(2008)
• Dresden
• Elser/ 13 Minutes (2015)
• Enemy at the Gates(2001)
• Enigma(2001)
• Eva(2010)
• Everyman’s War(2009)
• Faceless/ Sorstalanság (2005)
• Female Agents / Les Femmes de l’Ombre(2008)
• Flags of Our Fathers(2006)
• Flame & Citron(2008)
• Fleming(2014)
• Francofonia(2015)
• Generation War(2014)
• Glorious 39(2009)
• Goodnight, Mister Tom(1998)
• Hart’s War(2002)
• Hitler: The Rise of Evil(2003 – miniseries)
• ITV’s Home Fires(2015)
• Ike: Countdown to D-Day(2004)
• Inglorious Basterds(2009)
• Into The Storm(2009)
• Into The White (2011)
• Jakob The Liar(1999)
• John Rabe / City of War: The Story of John Rabe(2009)
• Katyn(2007)
• Kokoda(2006)
• La Rafle(2010)
• Land Girls(2009)
• Last Letters from Monte Rosa(2010)
• Leningrad(2009)
• Little Boy(2015)
• Lore(2012) –
• Love in a Cold Climate(2001)
• March of Millions / Die Fluege(2007)
• Murder on the Home Front(2013)
• My Best Enemy(2011)
• My Way / Mai Wei(2009)
• Our World War(2014)
• OutlanderS1 (2014-Present)
• Paradise Road(1997)
• Phoenix(2014)
• Pour Une Femme / For A Woman(2013)
• Red Tails(2012)
• Resistance Movement(2013)
• Restless(2012)
• Return to the Hiding Place(2011)
• Rosenstrasse(2003)
• Saints and Soldiers(2003)
• Schindler’s List(1993)
• Shanghai(2010)
• Shining Through(1992)
• Silent Night(2002)
• Sisters of War(2010)
• Son of Saul/ Saul fia (2015)
• Sophie Scholl: The Final Days(2005)
• Spies of Warsaw(2013)
• Spoils of War(2009)
• Stalingrad(2013)
• Suite Française(2015)
• Sunshine(1999)
• A Tale of Three Cities(2015)
• The Army of Crime / L’armee du crime(2009
• The Book Thief(2013)
• The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas(2008)
• The Children of Huang Shi
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe(2005)
• The Devil’s Arithmetic(1999)
• The Edge of Love(2008)
• The English Patient(1996)
• The Flowers of War(2011)
• The Great Raid(2005)
• The Grey Zone / La Zonga Gris(2001)
• The Hiding Place(1975)
• The Imitation Game (2014)
• The Last Train / Der Letzte Zug(2006)
• The Magic of Ordinary Days(2005)
• The Monuments Men(2014)
• The Notebook(2004)
• The Notebook/ A Nagy füzet (2013)
• The Pacific(2010)
• The Pianist (2002)
• The Railway Man(2013)
• The Secret of Crickley Hall(2013)
• The Thin Red Line(1998)
• The Vancouver Asahi (2014)
• Unbroken(2014)
• Upstairs, Downstairs S2 (2012)
• Valkyrie(2008)
• Violette(2013)
• Walking With The Enemy(2013)
• Water Horse(2007)
• Waterloo Bridge (1940)
• Windtalkers(2002)
• Winter in Wartime/ Oorlogswinter (2008)
• Wunderkinder(2011)
• Zelary(2003)
• CBC’s X CompanyS1-2 (2015-Present)

I conclude that should more WWI and WWII films be made, I would like to see more diversity. Let us not forget that those of different ethnic backgrounds fought/served side by side. Today there are plenty of actors and background actors of ‘visible minority’ so there’s no excuse to not include them in scenes. There are also plenty of stories from veterans and non-veterans who have shared their experiences (Canada’s The Memory Project is a good source). So movie directors/producers/writers, go and make a film on how ethnicity played a role during the wartime.