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Films with theme "Circus films", sorted by rating

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Apoorva Sagodharargal, 2h30
Directed by Srinivasa Rao Singeetham
Genres Comedy, Action
Themes Circus films, Films about families
Actors Gautami, Kamal Haasan, Sreevidya, Rupini, Nagesh, Aachi Manorama

Sethupathy (Kamal Haasan) is an honest and upright police officer. When he arrests four bigwigs Dharmaraj (Nagesh), Francis Anbarasu (Delhi Ganesh), Nallasivam (Nasser) and Satyamoorthy (Jaishankar), they escape justice easily and return to take revenge. They kill him and poison his wife (Srividya). She escapes and gives birth to twins with the help of another woman Muniyamma (Manorama) but the babies are separated and each woman believes that the other is dead because of the events happening next to birth. One of the twins, Raja (Kamal Haasan) grows up as a mechanic with Muniyamma, while the other twin, Appu (Kamal Haasan), a dwarf, grows up in the circus with his mother.
The Elephant Man, 2h4
Directed by David Lynch
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Biography, Horror, Historical
Themes Circus films, Medical-themed films, Films about disabilities
Actors Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Freddie Jones

London Hospital surgeon Frederick Treves finds John Merrick in a Victorian freak show in London's East End, where he is kept by Mr. Bytes. His head is always hooded, and his "owner," who views him as retarded, is paid by Treves to bring him to the hospital for exams. He shows Merrick to his colleagues and highlights his monstrous skull, which forces him to sleep with his head on his knees, since if he were to lie down, he would asphyxiate. On Merrick’s return he is beaten so hard by Bytes that an apprentice calls Treves to bring him back to hospital. When Bytes accuses Treves of likewise exploiting Merrick for his own ends, he vows to do what he can to help Merrick.
The Circus
The Circus (1928)
, 1h10
Directed by Charlie Chaplin
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Comedy, Comedy-drama, Romance
Themes Circus films
Actors Al Ernest Garcia, Charlie Chaplin, Merna Kennedy, George Davis, Henry Bergman, Tiny Sandford

At a circus midway, the penniless and hungry Tramp (Chaplin) is mistaken for a condemnable pickpocket and chased by both the police and the real crook (the latter having stashed a stolen wallet and watch in the Tramp's pocket to avoid detection). Running away, the Tramp stumbles into the middle of a performance and unknowingly becomes the hit of the show.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, 1h11
Directed by Robert Wiene
Origin German
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantastic, Horror, Crime
Themes Circus films, Medical-themed films, Psychologie, Serial killer films, Films about psychiatry, Films set in psychiatric hospitals
Actors Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Lil Dagover, Hans Heinrich von Twardowski, Friedrich Feher, Rudolf Klein-Rogge

As Francis (Friedrich Feher) sits on a bench with an older man who complains that spirits have driven him away from his family and home, a dazed woman named Jane (Lil Dagover) passes them. Francis explains she is his "fiancée" and that they have suffered a great ordeal. Most of the rest of the film is a flashback of Francis' story, which takes place in Holstenwall, a shadowy village of twisted buildings and spiraling streets. Francis and his friend Alan (Hans Heinrich von Twardowski), who are good-naturedly competing for Jane's affections, plan to visit the town fair. Meanwhile, a mysterious man named Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss) seeks a permit from the rude town clerk to present a spectacle at the fair, which features a somnambulist named Cesare (Conrad Veidt). The clerk mocks and berates Dr. Caligari, but ultimately approves the permit. That night, the clerk is found stabbed to death in his bed.
La Strada
La Strada (1954)
, 1h55
Directed by Federico Fellini
Origin Italie
Genres Drama
Themes Circus films, Transport films, Films about automobiles, Road movies
Actors Anthony Quinn, Giulietta Masina, Richard Basehart, Aldo Silvani, Marcella Rovena, Livia Venturini

Gelsomina (Giulietta Masina), a credulous young woman, learns that her sister Rosa has died since going on the road with the strongman Zampanò (Anthony Quinn). Now the same man has returned a year later to ask her mother if Gelsomina will take Rosa's place. The mother accepts 10,000 lire, and her daughter departs the same day.
Big Fish
Big Fish (2003)
, 2h5
Directed by Tim Burton
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Science fiction, Fantastic, Comedy-drama, Fantasy, Adventure
Themes Films about animals, Circus films, Films about families, Wolves in film, Mise en scène d'un poisson, Werewolves in film, Political films
Actors Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Alison Lohman

At his son's wedding party, Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) tells the same tall tale he's told many times over the years: on the day Will (Billy Crudup) was born, he was out catching an enormous uncatchable fish, using his wedding ring as bait. Will is annoyed, explaining to his wife Joséphine (Marion Cotillard) that because his father lives in a fantasy world and has never told the straight truth about anything, he felt unable to trust him. He is troubled to think that he might have a similarly difficult relationship with his future children. Will's relationship with his father becomes so strained that they do not talk for three years. But when his father's health starts to fail from cancer, Will and the now pregnant Joséphine return to his hometown in Alabama to visit. On the plane, Will recalls his father's tale of how he braved a swamp as a child after he was dared by a few other children. He meets a witch (Helena Bonham Carter). She shows Don Price and another boy how they were going to die. They run away, frightened. When the witch shows Edward his death in her glass eye, he accepts it without fear. With this knowledge, Edward knew there were no odds he could not face.
Wings of Desire, 2h8
Directed by Wim Wenders
Origin German
Genres Drama, Fantastic, Fantasy, Romance
Themes Circus films, Films about religion, Films about angels, Political films, Films about Jews and Judaism
Actors Bruno Ganz, Solveig Dommartin, Otto Sander, Curt Bois, Peter Falk, Nick Cave

Set in contemporary West Berlin (at the time still enclosed by the Berlin Wall), Wings of Desire follows two angels, Damiel and Cassiel, as they roam the city, unseen and unheard by its human inhabitants, observing and listening to the diverse thoughts of Berliners: a pregnant woman in an ambulance on the way to the hospital, a painter struggling to find inspiration, a broken man who thinks his girlfriend no longer loves him. Their raison d'être is, as Cassiel says, to "assemble, testify, preserve" reality. In addition to the story of two angels, the film is also a meditation on Berlin's past, present, and future. Damiel and Cassiel have always existed as angels; they existed in Berlin before it was a city, and before there were even any humans.
Mera Naam Joker, 4h15
Directed by Raj Kapoor
Genres Drama, Romance
Themes Circus films
Actors Simi Garewal, Manoj Kumar, Rishi Kapoor, Dharmendra, Dara Singh, Padmini Ramachandran

Mera Naam Joker is the story of Raju, considered the best circus clown ever. Ever since Raju's father died in an accident during his performance, Raju's mother had been repulsed by the circus. As luck would have it, Raju had a natural affinity towards the circus world. The film traces Raju's journey from his childhood to the day of his last performance.
Freaks
Freaks (1932)
, 1h4
Directed by Tod Browning
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Fantastic, Horror
Themes Circus films, Medical-themed films, Films about disabilities
Actors Wallace Ford, Edgar Allan Woolf, Leila Hyams, Olga Baclanova, Roscoe Ates, Harry Earles

The film opens with a sideshow barker drawing customers to visit the sideshow. A woman looks into a box to view a hidden occupant and screams. The barker explains that the horror in the box was once a beautiful and talented trapeze artist. The central story is of this conniving trapeze artist Cleopatra, who seduces and marries sideshow midget Hans after learning of his large inheritance. Cleopatra conspires with circus strongman Hercules to kill Hans and inherit his wealth. At their wedding reception, Cleopatra begins poisoning Hans' wine. Oblivious, the other "freaks" announce that they accept Cleopatra in spite of her being a "normal" outsider: they hold an initiation ceremony in which they pass a massive goblet of wine around the table while chanting, "We accept her, we accept her. One of us, one of us. Gooba-gobble, gooba-gobble". The ceremony frightens the drunken Cleopatra, who accidentally reveals that she has been having an affair with Hercules. She mocks the freaks, tosses the wine in their faces and drives them away. The humiliated Hans realizes that he's been played for a fool and rejects Cleopatra's attempts to apologize, but then he falls ill from the poison.
He Who Gets Slapped, 1h11
Directed by Victor Sjöström
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror, Romance
Themes Circus films, Films based on plays
Actors Lon Chaney, Norma Shearer, John Gilbert, Tully Marshall, Marc McDermott, Ford Sterling

Paul Beaumont (Lon Chaney) is a scientist who labored for years alone to prove his radical theories on the origin of mankind. Baron Regnard (Marc McDermott) becomes his patron, enabling him to do research while living in his mansion. One day, Beaumont announces to his beloved wife Marie and the Baron that he has proved all his theories and is ready to present them before the Academy of the Sciences. He leaves the arrangements to the Baron. However, after Beaumont goes to sleep, Marie steals his key, opens the safe containing his papers, and gives them to the baron. It is clear that Marie and the Baron are lovers.
The Unknown, 1h5
Directed by Tod Browning
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Horror, Romance
Themes Circus films
Actors Lon Chaney, Norman Kerry, Joan Crawford, Nick De Ruiz, John George, Frank Lanning

Alonzo the Armless is a circus freak who uses his feet to toss knives and fire a rifle at his partner, Nanon. However, he is an impostor and fugitive. He has arms, but keeps them tightly bound to his torso, a secret known only to his friend Cojo, a midget. Alonzo's left hand has a double thumb, which would identify him as the perpetrator of various crimes.
Nightmare Alley, 1h51
Directed by Edmund Goulding
Origin USA
Genres Drama, Thriller, Noir, Crime
Themes Circus films, Films about magic and magicians, Escroquerie
Actors Tyrone Power, Coleen Gray, Joan Blondell, Helen Walker, Mike Mazurki, Ian Keith

The movie follows the rise and fall of a con man—a story that begins and ends at a seedy traveling carnival. Fascinated by everything there, including a grotesque geek, Stanton "Stan" Carlisle (Tyrone Power) works with "Mademoiselle Zeena" (Joan Blondell) and her alcoholic husband, Pete (Ian Keith). Once a top-billed act, Zeena and Pete used an ingenious code to make it appear that she had extraordinary mental powers, until her (unspecified) misdeeds drove Pete to drink and reduced them to working in a third-rate outfit. Stanton learns that many people want to buy the code from Zeena for a lot of money but she won't sell; she is saving it as a nest egg. He tries to romance Zeena into teaching it to him but she remains faithful to her husband and even hopes to send him to a detox clinic for alcoholics.
La Vie en Rose, 2h15
Directed by Olivier Dahan
Origin France
Genres Drama, Biography, Musical theatre, Musical, Romance
Themes Circus films, Medical-themed films, Films about music and musicians, Musical films, Films about disabilities, La cécité
Actors Marion Cotillard, Gérard Depardieu, Sylvie Testud, Pascal Greggory, Emmanuelle Seigner, Jean-Pierre Martins

The film is structured as a largely non-linear series of key events from the life of Édith Piaf. The film begins with elements from her childhood, and at the end with the events prior to and surrounding her death, poignantly juxtaposed by a performance of her song, "Non, je ne regrette rien".