There is probably no more amusing film in the Age of Totalitarianism than Fellini’s Amarcord. It certainly appears to have inspired numerous subsequent films on the subject, including Lina Wertmuller’s Seven Beauties and Roberto Begnini’s Life is Beautiful.

But, Fellini’s influence extends far beyond Italy. Such movies like Burnt By the Sun, Brazil and Underground seem to have borrowed a page or two from Amarcord.

Not all such movies are whimsical. Some directors choose to paint a very dystopian view of totalitarianism. Michael Radford offers his version of Orwell’s classic 1984, but seemed to come up short of the original. There was also Truffaut’s adaptation of Fahrenheit 451 that also seemed to fall short of Bradbury’s original story.

In a cinematic world increasingly dominated by CGI, some of the early dystopic sci-fi movies continue to stand out like George Lucas’ THX 1138 and Logan’s Run. Another classic is Blade Runner which presents a bleak futuristic corporate world with replicants used to represent the oppressive environment. But, Metropolis remains the standard by which all such movies are judged.

Still, I prefer those films which don’t take the idea of totalitarianism too seriously, like Alan Rudolph’s Trouble in Mind, A Boy and His Dog, and Woody Allen’s farce, Sleeper.

Here is a list that includes other favorites as well,

Mubis in an Age of Totalitarianism