Movies Similar to John A.: Birth of a Country

Les Misérables(1978)

In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

The Somme(2005)

Drama-documentary recounting the events of the 1st July 1916 and the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front during the First World War. Told through the letters and journals of soldiers who were there.

Dear Prudence(2008)

Prudence MacIntyre, the 'New York home tips' TV show presenter, is sent on holiday, by studio boss Jeffrey Symcox, to a secluded lodge in Tassajero, Wyoming. The lodge was built on the last remnant of Indian land preserved by the Andrews family. Her celebrity status and sassy charm help her quickly get acquainted with local notables, including French heir Jean Phillipe Andrews, his land trust lawyer Doug Craig and police detective Eddie Duncan. Pru is with lodge caretaker Ruth Vigil when she discovers her estranged son JR is missing from his home after leaving a message. Pru finds blood, and although it's not JR's, insists he must have been murdered. After her research assistant, a computer whiz with a minor criminal record, joins her, they soon get in danger snooping ahead of the incredulous authorities to discover several linked crimes.

A Long Time Till Dawn(1953)

Just out of prison Joe Harris looks to restart his life. His wife Barbie has moved and the one man who can tell him where refuses to do so. Enraged, Joe beats the old man senseless and runs away to his father's home, where he also finds his wife. A police detective comes around about the beating (which will soon to become a murder) and Joe insists he's innocent. Joe tells his wife and father he's a changed man and he's only a suspect because of his prior conviction. Barbie and Fred struggle with their desire to believe Joe's plea versus their fear he'll never change.

If I Don't Come Home: Letters from D-Day(2014)

A partly dramatised account of the lives of four Allied servicemen ahead of D-Day, the programme told their story through their final letters home before the assault.

The Thieving Headmistress(2006)

A Headmistress steals from her own school. As a young girl Colleen McCabe asks a priest in confessional "What is sin?" Thirty years later she is found out for practising it. An ex-nun,she leaves the convent because she becomes disillusioned with spiritual matters and goes into teaching, being appointed headmistress of the John Rigby School in London. Along with a small coterie of chosen staff members to act as her spies,she misappropriates half a million pounds from school funds which she spends on luxury goods and a trip on the Orient Express. Meanwhile the school suffers,having to use ancient text books and pupils as cleaners. She is tried,although admitted to hospital for depression on the trial day, and sentenced to five years in jail, later reduced to four. The film alternates dramatized scenes of Colleen's misbehaviour with interviews with those who knew her.

Parent's Night(2001)

When a new pupil arrives at a comprehensive school, he decides to take his video camera to film the bullies at work.

Soft Targets(1982)

Stephen Poliakoff's parody of the spy-thriller genre. A Russian diplomat becomes convinced that he is at the centre of a Foreign Office plot.

The Visitor(1999)

Four 20-somethings are coasting through life in a fashionable part of London. A misunderstanding leads to the introduction of a stranger into their home, who starts to take control...

The Dance(1999)

When a widowed father meets a new dance partner, his children react badly. Are they just missing their mother, or is there another reason for their reaction?

Unconditional Love(2003)

A young criminal kidnaps a couple's young son and then blackmails them into committing his crime instead of asking for a ransom.

Beecham(1990)

1990 TV adaptation of a 1979 biographical play by Ned Sherrin & Caryl Brahms, based on the life of conductor and impresario Sir Thomas Beecham. With Timothy West as Beecham.

Brendan Smyth: Betrayal of Trust(2011)

The true story of the notorious paedophile priest Brendan Smyth, and how one family in Belfast, aided by journalist Chris Moore, uncovered the true extent of the clerical abuse scandal.

La Passion(1978)

The Bridge(2008)

A group of German boys is ordered to protect a small bridge in their home village during the waning months of the second world war. Truckloads of defeated, cynical Wehrmacht soldiers flee the approaching American troops, but the boys, full of enthusiasm for the "blood and honor" Nazi ideology, stay to defend the useless bridge.

Bitter Heaven(2014)

Hugo reluctantly follows his parents following their transfer to Mayotte. With slums, heat and being white and rich when the majority is black and poor, he struggles to adapt. But he does, thanks to a local girl with whom he falls in love.

You Are Not an Orphan(1963)

The film is a touching story about an Uzbek family who gave shelter to 14 kids evacuated during the World War II while their own child was at the battlefronts.

My Beautiful Daughter(2004)

After a swimming accident in which her mother died and she herself nearly drowned, Gilda's mental development stopped at the level of a nine-year-old child.

The Colt(2005)

During the heat of battle in the midst of the Civil War, a beguilingly innocent colt is born to Union Jim Rabb's beloved mare. Refusing the orders to shoot it, lest it prove a hindrance, Rabb keeps the colt as a consolation in these desperate times-a symbol of hope that leads the men of the First Cavalry on a journey of self-discovery and newfound brotherhood.

The Return(2003)

A former alcoholic returns home after ten years in prison for the murder of her husband. As her recollection of the murder returns, things take a different turn.