Movies like La Guillotine : Une histoire française (2017)

The Untold History Of The United States (2012)

Oliver Stone charts the history of the United States from the Second World War to the present.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound (2019)

The history of cinematic sound, told by legendary sound designers and visionary filmmakers.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

Shoah (1985)

Director Claude Lanzmann spent 11 years on this sprawling documentary about the Holocaust, conducting his own interviews and refusing to use a single frame of archival footage. Dividing Holocaust witnesses into three categories – survivors, bystanders, and perpetrators – Lanzmann presents testimonies from survivors of the Chelmno concentration camp, an Auschwitz escapee, and witnesses of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, as well as a chilling report of gas chambers from an SS officer at Treblinka.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

Visions of Light (1992)

Cameramen and women discuss the craft and art of cinematography and of the "DP" (the director of photography), illustrating their points with clips from 100 films, from Birth of a Nation to Do the Right Thing. Themes: the DP tells people where to look; changes in movies (the arrival of sound, color, and wide screens) required creative responses from DPs; and, these artisans constantly invent new equipment and try new things, with wonderful results. The narration takes us through the identifiable studio styles of the 30s, the emergence of noir, the New York look, and the impact of Europeans. Citizen Kane, The Conformist, and Gordon Willis get special attention.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

The Unknown Known (2013)

Former United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld discusses his career in Washington D.C. from his days as a congressman in the early 1960s to planning the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

9/11: Inside the President's War Room (2021)

Experience the events of September 11, 2001 through the eyes of President Bush and his closest advisors as they personally detail the crucial hours and key decisions from that historic day.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

The Mystery of D.B. Cooper (2020)

This documentary brings to life the stories of four people believed by their family and friends to be “DB Cooper,” a man who hijacked a 727 flying out of Seattle and jumped from the plane over the wilds of Washington State with a parachute and $200,000, never to be heard from again.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

Los Angeles Plays Itself (2004)

From its distinctive neighborhoods to its architectural homes, Los Angeles has been the backdrop to countless movies. In this dazzling work, Andersen takes viewers on a whirlwind tour through the metropolis' real and cinematic history, investigating the myriad stories and legends that have come to define it, and meticulously, judiciously revealing the real city that lives beneath.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

Inside Deep Throat (2005)

In 1972, a seemingly typical shoestring budget pornographic film was made in a Florida hotel: "Deep Throat," starring Linda Lovelace. This film would surpass the wildest expectation of everyone involved to become one of the most successful independent films of all time. It caught the public imagination which met the spirit of the times, even as the self-appointed guardians of public morality struggled to suppress it, and created, for a brief moment, a possible future where sexuality in film had a bold artistic potential. This film covers the story of the making of this controversial film, its stunning success, its hysterical opposition along with its dark side of mob influence and allegations of the on set mistreatment of the film's star.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

The Princess (2022)

Decades after her untimely death, Princess Diana continues to evoke mystery, glamour, and the quintessential modern fairy tale gone wrong. As a symbol of both the widening fissures weakening the British monarchy and the destructive machinery of the press, the Princess of Wales navigated an unparalleled rise to fame and the corrosive challenges that came alongside it. Crafted entirely from immersive archival footage and free from the distraction of retrospective voices, this hypnotic and audaciously revealing documentary takes a distinctive formal approach, allowing the story of the People’s Princess to unfold before us like never before.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)

Documentary about the art of film editing. Clips are shown from many groundbreaking films with innovative editing styles.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

Red Army (2015)

A documentary highlighting the Soviet Union's legendary and enigmatic hockey training culture and world-dominating team through the eyes of the team's Captain Slava Fetisov, following his shift from hockey star and celebrated national hero to political enemy.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

The War Room (1993)

A behind-the-scenes documentary about the Clinton for President campaign, focusing on the adventures of spin doctors James Carville and George Stephanopoulos.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

Cover-Up (2025)

He's devoted his career to uncovering stories the powerful want buried. From My Lai to Abu Ghraib, dig into the life's work of journalist Seymour Hersh.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

Night and Fog (1956)

Filmmaker Alain Resnais documents the atrocities behind the walls of Hitler's concentration camps.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

I Called Him Morgan (2016)

Part jazz history, part true-crime tale, Kasper Collin’s new documentary employs extensive archival footage and new interviews to tell the tragic story of the magnificently talented trumpeter Lee Morgan and his common-law wife Helen, who murdered him in a New York bar in 1972.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary & history

Come See Me in the Good Light (2025)

In an intimate and joyful story of love in the face of loss, celebrated poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley find strength—and unexpected hilarity—in what might be their final year together.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

Fuck (2006)

A documentary on the expletive's origin, why it offends some people so deeply, and what can be gained from its use.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (2000)

A compilation of over 30 years of private home movie footage shot by Lithuanian-American avant-garde director Jonas Mekas, assembled by Mekas "purely by chance", without concern for chronological order.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

My Mom Jayne (2025)

Through deeply personal interviews with her siblings and an examination of the photographs, letters, and belongings left behind, Mariska assembles a new portrait of her mother Jayne Mansfield, an extraordinary and complex woman.

Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both documentary

La guillotine, une invention bien française (2021)

Forty years after the abolition of the death penalty in France, voted on September 18, 1981, the guillotine remains in the collective imagination as the instrument of the death sentence. This machine, developed during the Revolution to render justice more equal, was presented as progress. Over time, opinion has been divided on the subject of the death penalty, the guillotine becoming the object of man's cruelty, a remnant of an archaic way of dispensing justice and fuelling the many debates around the death penalty and its abolition.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history

The Guillotine (1996)

The Guillotine examines the fascinating and bizarre history of the "national razor" that started out strictly for execution and then became a source of entertainment and amusement. In Scotland they called it "the Maiden," in England "the Halifax Gibbet," and in France "the Machine," "the Widow," and "the Guillotine." It existed for hundreds of years, but found its home in France during the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror when nearly 20,000 men, women and children died beneath its blade. Through dramatic reenactments and archival documentation of famous executions, the program explores the early technology of the guillotine and its bloodstained career throughout Europe.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history

The French Revolution (2005)

On July 14, 1789, a mob of angry Parisians stormed the Bastille and seized the King's military stores. A decade of idealism, war, murder, and carnage followed, bringing about the end of feudalism and the rise of equality and a new world order. The French Revolution is a definitive feature-length documentary that encapsulates this heady (and often headless) period in Western civilization. With dramatic reenactments, illustrations, and paintings from the era, plus revealing accounts from journals and expert commentary from historians, The French Revolution vividly unfurls in a maelstrom of violence, discontent, and fundamental change. King Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette, Maximilien Robespierre, and Napoleon Bonaparte lead a cast of thousands in this essential program from THE HISTORY CHANNEL®. Narrated by Edward Herrmann (The Aviator, Gilmore Girls), The French Revolution explores the legacy that--now more than ever--stands as both a warning and a guidepost to a new millennium

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history

Vraies gueules d'assassins (2022)

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both documentary & history

A Tale of Two Cities (1958)

Set against the conditions leading up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, French doctor Alexandre Manette serves an 18-year imprisonment in the Bastille in Paris, followed by his release to live in London with the daughter he has never met.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history

Reign of Terror (1949)

The French Revolution, 1794. The Marquis de Lafayette asks Charles D'Aubigny to infiltrate the Jacobin Party to overthrow Maximilian Robespierre, who, after gaining supreme power and establishing a reign of terror ruled by death, now intends to become the dictator of France.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history

The Married Couple of the Year Two (1971)

Nicolas Philibert goes to America after killing a French aristocrat. On his return he tries to divorce his wife, Charlotte, but when he sees others trying to woo her his own interest is rekindled.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history

Danton (1983)

Danton and Robespierre were close friends and fought together in the French Revolution, but by 1793 Robespierre was France's ruler, determined to wipe out opposition with a series of mass executions that became known as the Reign of Terror. Danton, well known as a spokesman of the people, had been living in relative solitude in the French countryside, but he returned to Paris to challenge Robespierre's violent rule and call for the people to demand their rights. Robespierre, however, could not accept such a challenge, even from a friend and colleague, and he blocked out a plan for the capture and execution of Danton and his allies.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history

Danton (1921)

At the height of Reign of Terror Maximilien Robespierre orchestrates the trial and execution of several of his fellow leading French revolutionaries including Georges Danton.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history

The French Revolution (1989)

A history of the French Revolution beginning from the decision of the king to convene the Etats-Generaux in 1789 in order to deal with France's debt problem. Part one spans the event until August 10, 1792 (when the King Louis XVI lost all authority and was imprisoned). Part two carries the story through the end of the terror in 1794.

Why it matches: Similar story and style · both history