The Most Inspiring Movies That I've Ever Seen

This Italian film, directed by and starring Roberto Benigni is set at the beginning of WWII. An Italian Jew, Guido, and his non-Jewish wife, along with their son are captured by the Nazis and taken to a concentration camp. Guido, ever the humorist, tries to keep things light for his son, who doesn't understand what has happened. Throughout their ordeal, Guido has his son convinced that the experience of the concentration camp is merely a game in which, at the end, they will win a tank. It is a touching demonstration of the human spirit in the face of inhuman horrors.

This movie demonstrates the tooth-and-nail fight that was put up by Alice Paul and others in order to gain women their right to vote. There are several aspects to the women's suffrage movement that weren't covered in school history books, such as Paul and her supporters being thrown in jail, going on hunger strikes, and having feeding tubes forced through their nostrils. It is a brutal, but tenacious in spirit and it demonstrates the strength of the women that fought for equal voting rights and the price that they paid.

Regardless of your views on pornography, this film is about testing the limits of the First Amendment. Larry Flynt, founder of Hustler Magazine, was a warrior against an American government that had a difficult time reconciling freedom of speech with individual values and standards. This film depicts Flynt's struggle through the American legal system and his battle against those that would rather forfeit the rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution of the United States than be uncomfortable with the idea of someone else exercising those same rights.

Few stood against many and even a god-king bled. Though extremely bloody, the spirit of this movie is not lost in the gore. King Leonidas of Sparta and his 300 men take on the entire Persian army (led by King Xerxes) which consists of millions. Although their numbers are few, the damage that they cause to the Persian army is massive. It's a sort of David-and-Goliath tale that conveys the message to movie-goers that anything is possible and that the end is sometimes not nearly as important as the means.

This Mel Gibson classic covers the life and raw passion of Scotsman, William Wallace, who forms an army to fight against the English for control of Scotland. His army is composed of commoners, but their drive and tenacity make them a force to be reckoned with. When Mr. Wallace becomes a martyr to the cause, the message is clear: Freedom is something worth dying for.

An HBO Documentary, Paradise Lost introduces you to three teeenage boys accused and then convicted of triple homicide in a small Arkansas town. As the film takes you through their court proceedings, it is easy to see that there is no evidence against the boys, save for the confession of one (who is mentally handicapped and whose interrogation was mostly off-record) and the fact that they wear a lot of black clothing, listen to heavy metal, and one practices Wicca. As the trials drag on, you're convinced that they will be found not guilty, as there is nothing tangible or even plausible against them . . . yet, the jury reads "Guilty" aloud to a self-righteous courtroom. It is appalling to discover that this sort of thing can happen in modern day America and the injustice stirs within viewers a need to get involved and to make a change.