conscientious objector
21 movies and shows
Hacksaw Ridge
Fri, 07 Oct 2016
WWII American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss, who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people and becomes the first Conscientious Objector in American history to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor.
The Replacement Killers
Fri, 06 Feb 1998
Hired assassin John Lee is asked by Chinatown crime boss Terence Wei to murder the young son of policeman Stan Zedkov. Lee has the boy in his sights, but his conscience gets the better of him, and he spares the child's life. Afraid that Wei will take revenge on his family in China, Lee seeks out expert forger Meg Coburn to obtain the passport he needs to get out of the country, but a band of replacement killers is soon on his trail.
A Hidden Life
Tue, 27 Aug 2019
Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter faces the threat of execution for refusing to fight for the Nazis during World War II.
The Human Condition I: No Greater Love
Thu, 15 Jan 1959
After handing in a report on the treatment of Chinese colonial labor, Kaji is offered the post of labor chief at a large mining operation in Manchuria, which also grants him exemption from military service. He accepts, and moves to Manchuria with his newly-wed wife Michiko, but when he tries to put his ideas of more humane treatment into practice, he finds himself at odds with scheming officials, cruel foremen, and the military police.
Sergeant York
Sat, 27 Sep 1941
Alvin York a hillbilly sharpshooter transforms himself from ruffian to religious pacifist. He is then called to serve his country and despite deep religious and moral objections to fighting becomes one of the most celebrated American heroes of WWI.
The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity
Fri, 20 Nov 1959
Kaji is sent to the Japanese army labeled Red and is mistreated by the vets. Along his assignment, Kaji witnesses cruelties in the army and revolts against the abusive treatment against the recruit Obara. He also sees his friend Shinjô Ittôhei defecting to the Russian border, and he ends in the front to fight a lost battle against the Russian tanks division.
There Is No Evil
Thu, 22 Oct 2020
Set against the backdrop of Iran's strict and oppressive legal system, this anthology film tells the stories of four men who each face a moral crisis when having to deal with death penalties.
Carrington
Thu, 25 May 1995
Painter Dora Carrington develops an intimate but extremely complex bond with writer Lytton Strachey. Though Lytton is a homosexual, he is enchanted by the mysterious Dora and they begin a lifelong friendship that has strangely romantic undertones. Eventually, Lytton and Dora decide to live together, despite the fact that the latter has fallen in love with military man Ralph Partridge, whom she plans to marry.
Kangaroo
Thu, 24 Jul 1986
A mild-mannered English conscientious objector moves to what he feels will be the relative calm of Australia after World War I, but gets caught in the middle of violent battles between the rising trade unions and fascist groups.
Tutti giù per terra
Thu, 24 Apr 1997
Having just moved back in with his working-class parents, twentysomething on-and-off philosophy undergrad Walter navigates turn-of-the-millennium Turin and Gen-X ennui.
Field Punishment No.1
Tue, 22 Apr 2014
In 1916, the New Zealand Government secretly shipped 14 of the country's most outspoken conscientious objectors to the Western Front in an attempt to convert, silence, or quite possibly kill them. This is their story.
Men Who Won't Pick Up Guns 2: Breaking a Taboo
Thu, 09 Dec 2021
Ko Eun-young, a thirty, non-naitive Jeju Island woman with no experience in politics, runs for Jeju governor in the 2018 local elections. The bumpy ride Ko and her colleagues undergo during the election campaign moves and changes them.
The Pacifist Who Went to War
Tue, 01 Jan 2002
This documentary is the story of two Mennonite brothers from Manitoba who were forced to make a decision in 1939, as Canada joined World War II. In the face of 400 years of pacifist tradition, should they now go to war? Ted became a conscientious objector while his brother went into military service. Fifty years later, the town of Winkler dedicates its first war memorial and John begins to share his war experiences with Ted.
Objector
Thu, 21 Nov 2019
Like all Israeli youth, Atalya is obligated to become a soldier. Unlike most, she questions the practices of her country's military, and becomes determined to challenge this rite of passage. Despite her family's political disagreements and personal concerns, she refuses military duty and is imprisoned for her dissent. Her courage moves those around her to reconsider their own moral positions and personal power. OBJECTOR follows Atalya to prison and beyond, offering a unique window into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the perspective of a young woman who seeks truth and takes a stand for justice.
I Refuse to Kill: He Went to War with War
Invalid Date
At the risk of a 5-year prison term, Francesco Da Vinci struggles with his Virginia draft board to be recognized as a sincere conscientious objector to the Vietnam war.
Thou Shalt Not Kill
Tue, 05 Sep 1961
At the end of World War II, a French pacifist is arrested for refusing to fight. In prison, he befriends a German priest arrested for murder of a French Resistance fighter. They discuss morality, obedience, and religion.
Resistant
Mon, 20 Sep 2021
Documentary film about Arndt Pekurinen and the peace movement in the early 20th century. Pekurinen spoke out for pacifism, conscientious objection and peace, and received support for his actions around the world. However, his worldview collided with the nationalist and militaristic atmosphere of the era in Finland. He was considered a troublemaker, a traitor, and a caricature of masculinity. The film is a universal and timeless account of a man persecuted for his opinions. At the same time, it is a description of the weak tolerance of young independent Finland towards dissidents. Pekurinen was executed during the Continuation War by his compatriots on November 5, 1941.
Camilo: The Long Road to Disobedience
Thu, 24 Apr 2008
The award-winning filmmaker Peter Lilienthal is dedicated to this extremely poignant documentary of U.S. military policy and the living conditions of former resistance fighters in Latin America.
Owen Wingrave
Mon, 01 Jan 2001
Margaret Williams directs this 2001 production of adaptation of Benjamin Britten's television opera based on a short story by Henry James. Performers featured include Gerald Finley, Peter Savidge and Josephine Barstow. The conductor is Kent Nagano. As pertinent now as then, OWEN WINGRAVE was composed by Benjamin Britten at the height of the Vietnam War. The opera poses the question: Is pacifism an act of cowardice? Or rather a desire to escape from the spiral of war and create world peace? To what extent do we determine our own futures? Should we let past events inform the decisions we make? Britten’s characters grapple with timeless issues in this gripping psychodrama.
Room 708, A Letter from a Private
Thu, 01 Jan 2004
A documentary about the 8-day sit-in struggle by GANG Cheolmin, a 22 year-old private in the South Korean army who declared his objection to military service on November 21, 2003 in order to stop the South Korean government from sending troops to Iraq, and the peace groups supporting him.