Movies Like The Lovers and the Despot (2016)

The Lovers and the Despot is a 2016 documentary, history film from Ross Adam with a MovieMagicScore of 6.9/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Corman's World and Chuck Norris vs Communism.

Documentary History

Corman's World

2011

A chronicle of the long career of American filmmaker Roger Corman, the most tenacious and ingenious low-budget producer and director in the US film industry, a pioneer of independent filmmaking and discoverer of new talent.

7.1

MagicScore

Chuck Norris vs Communism

2015

In late eighties, in Ceausescu's Romania, a black market VHS bootlegger and a courageous female translator brought the magic of Western films to the Romanian people and sowed the seeds of a revolution.

7.1

MagicScore

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood

2003

The chronicle of the mind-blowing journey that was Hollywood during the seventies; the true and gripping story of the last golden age of American cinema, an exalted celebration of creativity and experimentation; but also of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll: a turbulent and dark tale of ambition, envy, betrayal, hatred and self-destruction.

7.1

MagicScore

Trespassing Bergman

2013

In the sixties, Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007) built a house on the remote island of Fårö, located in the Baltic Sea, and left Stockholm to live there. When he died, the house was preserved. A group of very special film buffs, came from all over the world, travel to Fårö in search of the genius and his legacy. (An abridged version of Bergman's Video, 2012.)

6.6

MagicScore

Burden of Dreams

1982

The Amazon rain forest, 1979. The crew of Fitzcarraldo (1982), a film directed by German director Werner Herzog, soon finds itself with problems related to casting, tribal struggles and accidents, among many other setbacks; but nothing compared to dragging a huge steamboat up a mountain, while Herzog embraces the path of a certain madness to make his vision come true.

7.5

MagicScore

The Eyes of Orson Welles

2018

A poetic journey into the visual world of the legendary filmmaker and actor Orson Welles (1915-85) that reveals a new portrait of a unique genius, both of his life and of his monumental work: through his own eyes, drawn by his own hand, painted with his own brush.

7.0

MagicScore

Magician: The Astonishing Life and Work of Orson Welles

2014

The extraordinary life of Orson Welles (1915-85), an enigma of Hollywood, an irreducible independent creator: a musical prodigy, an excellent painter, a master of theater and radio, a modern Shakespeare, a magician who was always searching for a new trick to surprise his audience, a romantic and legendary figure who lived only for cinema.

6.5

MagicScore

A. K.

1985

An intimate chronicle of the shooting of Ran (1985), a film directed by the legendary Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa.

6.3

MagicScore

Curtiz

2019

Hollywood, 1942. The US government pressures Hungarian-born film director Michael Curtiz, who is about to finish shooting Casablanca, to accentuate the film's propaganda message in order to sway public opinion in favor of the country's intervention in the European war.

5.8

MagicScore

#10

How Strange to be Named Federico

2013

On the 20th anniversary of Federico Fellini's death, Ettore Scola, a devoted admirer of the incomparable maestro, commemorates the lesser-known aspects of his personality, employing interviews, photographs, behind-the-scenes footage as well as his drawings and film clips.

7.2

MagicScore

#11

Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks

2019

The fantastic story of how an ancient martial art, Chinese kung fu, conquered the world through the hundreds of films that were produced in Hong Kong over the decades, transformed Western action cinema and inspired the birth of cultural movements such as blaxploitation, hip hop music, parkour and Wakaliwood cinema.

6.7

MagicScore

#12

Cobweb

2023

In the 1970s, Director Kim is obsessed by the desire to re-shoot the ending of his completed film Cobweb, but chaos and turmoil grip the set with interference from the censorship authorities, and the complaints of actors and producers who can't understand the re-written ending. Will Kim be able to find a way through this chaos to fulfill his artistic ambitions and complete his masterpiece?

6.6

MagicScore

#13

Porn to Be Free

2016

Italy, 1970. An increasing legion of harmless warriors begins a peaceful struggle for sexual freedom through pornography, shaking and shocking religious authorities and conservative political institutions. They are ironic, happy, crazy. They are dreamers, defenders of definitive communion between body and soul. But they were censored and humiliated. They were mistreated and arrested for demanding loud a new cultural renaissance.

5.6

MagicScore

#14

Little Girl Blue

2023

In 2016, French writer and photographer Carole Achache took her own life. After Carole's death, her daughter Mona Achache, a film director, discovers thousands of photos, letters and recordings that Carole left behind, but these buried secrets make her disappearance even more of an enigma. Through the power of filmmaking and the beauty of incarnation with the help of actress Marion Cotillard, the director brings her mother back to life to retrace her journey and find out who she really was.

6.2

MagicScore

#15

Propaganda

2013

An anti-western propaganda film about the influences of American visual and consumption culture on the rest of the world, as told from a North Korean perspective.

8.1

MagicScore

#16

The Last King of Scotland

2006

Young Scottish doctor, Nicholas Garrigan decides it's time for an adventure after he finishes his formal education, so he decides to try his luck in Uganda, and arrives during the downfall of President Obote. General Idi Amin comes to power and asks Garrigan to become his personal doctor.

7.4

MagicScore

#17

Under the Sun

2015

Over the course of one year, this film follows the life of an ordinary Pyongyang family whose daughter was chosen to take part in Day of the Shining Star (Kim Jong-il's birthday) celebration. While North Korean government wanted a propaganda film, the director kept on filming between the scripted scenes. The ritualized explosions of color and joy contrast sharply with pale everyday reality, which is not particularly terrible, but rather quite surreal.

7.2

MagicScore

#18

Pulgasari

1985

In feudal Korea, a group of starving villagers grow weary of the orders handed down to them by their controlling king and set out to use a deadly monster under their control to push his armies back.

5.5

MagicScore

#19

The Extraordinary Voyage

2011

An account of the extraordinary life of film pioneer Georges Méliès (1861-1938) and the amazing story of the copy in color of his masterpiece A Trip to the Moon (1902), unexpectedly found in Spain and restored thanks to the heroic efforts of a group of true cinema lovers.

7.8

MagicScore

#20

Django & Django: Sergio Corbucci Unchained

2021

A tribute to Italian filmmaker Sergio Corbucci (1926-90), presented by American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.

7.0

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like The Lovers and the Despot?

The top films similar to The Lovers and the Despot by MovieMagicScore are Corman's World (7.1), Chuck Norris vs Communism (7.1), Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (7.1). Each shares documentary/history themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is The Lovers and the Despot worth watching?

The Lovers and the Despot holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.9/10 from 30 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is The Lovers and the Despot?

The Lovers and the Despot (2016) is a documentary, history film directed by Ross Adam, starring Paul Courtenay Hyu, Yuna Shin, Choi Eun-hee.

Where can I find more recommendations like The Lovers and the Despot?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more documentary recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Corman's World Movies like Chuck Norris vs Communism Movies like Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood Movies like Trespassing Bergman Movies like Burden of Dreams Movies like The Eyes of Orson Welles

About movies like The Lovers and the Despot

This ranked list pairs The Lovers and the Despot (2016), a documentary and history film from Ross Adam, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Paul Courtenay Hyu take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

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