Movies Like Some Kind of Shadow Machines Were Passing by

If you liked Some Kind of Shadow Machines Were Passing by (1990), a movie directed by Alexander Kluge, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
Immortal Beloved (1994)
★ 7.1/10
A chronicle of the life of infamous classical composer Ludwig van Beethoven and his painful struggle with hearing loss. Following Beethoven's death in 1827, his assistant, Schindler, searches for an elusive woman…
2
Enemy at the Gates (2001)
★ 7.4/10
A Russian and a German sniper play a game of cat-and-mouse during the Battle of Stalingrad in WWII.
3
Stalingrad (1993)
★ 7.3/10
A German Platoon is explored through the brutal fighting of the Battle of Stalingrad. After half of their number is wiped out and they're placed under the command of a sadistic captain, the platoon lieutenant leads his…
4
Fences (2016)
★ 6.9/10
In 1950s Pittsburgh, a frustrated African-American father struggles with the constraints of poverty, racism, and his own inner demons as he tries to raise a family.
5
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
★ 7.7/10
It's the hope that sustains the spirit of every GI: the dream of the day when he will finally return home. For three WWII veterans, the day has arrived. But for each man, the dream is about to become a nightmare.
6
Seven Years in Tibet (1997)
★ 7.2/10
Austrian mountaineer Heinrich Harrer journeys to the Himalayas without his family to head an expedition in 1939. But when World War II breaks out, the arrogant Harrer falls into Allied forces' hands as a prisoner of…
7
The Cameraman (1928)
★ 7.8/10
A photographer takes up newsreel shooting to impress a secretary.
8
Dog Soldiers (2002)
★ 6.7/10
A band of soldiers is dispatched to war games deep in the woods. When they stumble across a rival team slaughtered in camp, they realize they're not alone.
9
The Charge of the Light Brigade (1968)
★ 6.2/10
During the Crimean War between Britain and Russia in the 1850s, a British cavalry division, led by the overbearing Lord Cardigan, engages in an infamously reckless strategic debacle against a Russian artillery battery.
10
Cold Mountain (2003)
★ 6.9/10
In this classic story of love and devotion set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, a wounded Confederate soldier named W.P. Inman deserts his unit and travels across the South, aiming to return to his young…
11
Black Snake Moan (2006)
★ 6.8/10
A God-fearing bluesman takes to a wild young woman who, as a victim of childhood sexual abuse, is looking everywhere for love, but never quite finding it.
12
Waterloo Bridge (1940)
★ 7.5/10
On the eve of World War II, a British officer revisits Waterloo Bridge and recalls the young man he was at the beginning of World War I and the young ballerina he met just before he left for the front.
13
The Last Samurai (2003)
★ 7.6/10
Nathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to destroy the…
14
The Railway Man (2013)
★ 6.8/10
A victim from World War II's "Death Railway" sets out to find those responsible for his torture. A true story.
15
Civil War (2024)
★ 6.8/10
In the near future, a group of war journalists attempt to survive while reporting the truth as the United States stands on the brink of civil war.
16
War Horse (2011)
★ 7.3/10
On the brink of the First World War, Albert's beloved horse Joey is sold to the Cavalry by his father. Against the backdrop of the Great War, Joey begins an odyssey full of danger, joy, and sorrow, and he transforms…
17
Fiddler on the Roof (1971)
★ 7.7/10
In a pre-revolutionary Russia, a poor Jewish milkman struggles with the challenges of a changing world as his daughters fall in love and antisemitism grows.
18
Testament of Youth (2015)
★ 7.2/10
Testament of Youth is a powerful story of love, war and remembrance, based on the First World War memoir by Vera Brittain, which has become the classic testimony of that war from a woman’s point of view. A searing…
19
Schindler's List (1993)
★ 8.6/10
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
20
Captain Corelli's Mandolin (2001)
★ 5.9/10
When a fisherman leaves to fight with the Greek army during World War II, his fiancée falls in love with the local Italian commander.