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How Green Was My Valley poster

Movies that feel likeHow Green Was My Valley (1941)

Huw Morgan, the academically inclined youngest son in a proud family of Welsh coal miners, witnesses the tumultuous events of his young life during a period of rapid social change. At the dawn of the 20th-century, a miners' strike divides the Morgans: the sons demand improvements, and the father doesn't want to rock the boat.

If you loved How Green Was My Valley, the closest films we have are The Grapes of Wrath (1940), The Last Laugh (1924) and Late Spring (1949). All three share How Green Was My Valley's contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Hamlet (1948).

🍅 93% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. John Fordcontemplative
10 of 12 streaming nowHBO Max · Criterion Channel · Fandor

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See it on the Mood Map

If How Green Was My Valley hit the spot, these will too

The Grapes of Wrath poster
The Grapes of Wrath
1940 · dir. John Ford
🍅 100%★ 8.1drama

The same hand behind both of them: John Ford

Tom Joad returns to his home after a jail sentence to find his family kicked out of their farm due to foreclosure. He catches up with them on his Uncle’s farm, and joins them the next day as they head for California and a new life... Hopefully.

The Last Laugh poster
The Last Laugh
1924 · dir. F. W. Murnau
🍅 100%★ 8drama

Common ground in both: black and white and gossip

An aging doorman, after being fired from his prestigious job at a luxurious hotel, is forced to face the scorn of his friends, neighbours and society.

Late Spring poster
Late Spring
1949 · dir. Yasujirō Ozu
🍅 100%★ 8.2dramaMax

Common ground: black and white

Noriko is perfectly happy living at home with her widowed father, Shukichi, and has no plans to marry -- that is, until her aunt Masa convinces Shukichi that unless he marries off his 27-year-old daughter soon, she will likely remain alone for the rest of her life. When Noriko resists Masa's matchmaking, Shukichi is forced to deceive his daughter and sacrifice his own happiness to do what he believes is right.

Germany, Year Zero poster
Germany, Year Zero
1948 · dir. Roberto Rossellini
🍅 96%★ 7.8dramaMax

Contemplative drama in both cases

In the ruins of post-WWII Berlin, a twelve-year-old boy is left to his own devices in order to help provide for his family.

Drunken Angel poster
Drunken Angel
1948 · dir. Akira Kurosawa
🍅 94%★ 7.6drama

Drama built on stillness, twice over

In postwar Tokyo, a blunt, alcohol-soaked doctor diagnoses a swaggering young yakuza with tuberculosis, forging an uneasy bond that’s tested when the gangster’s ruthless former boss returns and drags him back toward the swampy underworld he can’t escape.

Hamlet poster
Hamlet
1948 · dir. Laurence Olivier
🍅 96%★ 7.5dramaMax

Contemplative drama, and it commits to that

Winner of four Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor, Sir Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet continues to be the most compelling version of Shakespeare’s beloved tragedy. Olivier is at his most inspired—both as director and as the melancholy Dane himself—as he breathes new life into the words of one of the world’s greatest dramatists.

Ordet poster
Ordet
1955 · dir. Carl Theodor Dreyer
🍅 100%★ 8.2drama

Drama in the same key

The three sons of devout Danish farmer Morten have widely disparate religious beliefs. Youngest son Anders shares his father's religion, but eldest son Mikkel has lost his faith, while middle child Johannes has become delusional and proclaims that he is Jesus Christ himself. When Mikkel's wife, Inger goes into a difficult childbirth, everyone's beliefs are put to the test.

Sansho the Bailiff poster
Sansho the Bailiff
1954 · dir. Kenji Mizoguchi
🍅 100%★ 8.3drama

The same drama instincts

In 11th-century feudal Japan, following the exile of an idealistic governor, his wife and children are separated by slave traders; the children, Zushio and Anju, are sold into brutal servitude under the cruel bailiff Sansho.

She Wore a Yellow Ribbon poster
She Wore a Yellow Ribbon
1949 · dir. John Ford
🍅 91%★ 7.2drama · western

John Ford working the same nerve twice

The difference: Sits closer to western than How Green Was My Valley does

On the eve of retirement, Captain Nathan Brittles takes out a last patrol to stop an impending massive Indian attack. Encumbered by women who must be evacuated, Brittles finds his mission imperiled.

An Autumn Afternoon poster
An Autumn Afternoon
1962 · dir. Yasujirō Ozu
🍅 95%★ 8dramaMax

Both keep coming back to the same thing: family relationships

The difference: 21 years apart, and the 1960s show

Widower Shuhei Hirayama's caretaker is his 24-year-old daughter, Michiko. Gradually, he comes to realize that Michiko should not be obliged to look after him for the rest of his life, so he arranges a marriage for her.

Umberto D. poster
Umberto D.
1952 · dir. Vittorio De Sica
🍅 98%★ 8.1dramaMax

Drama approached the same way

When elderly pensioner Umberto Domenico Ferrari returns to his boarding house from a protest calling for a hike in old-age pensions, his landlady demands her 15,000-lire rent by the end of the month or he and his small dog will be turned out onto the street. Unable to get the money in time, Umberto fakes illness to get sent to a hospital, giving his beloved dog to the landlady's pregnant and abandoned maid for temporary safekeeping.

Through a Glass Darkly poster
Through a Glass Darkly
1961 · dir. Ingmar Bergman
🍅 100%★ 7.9dramaMax

Both are drama through and through

Karin hopes to recover from her recent stay at a mental hospital by spending the summer at her family's cottage on a tiny island. Her husband, Martin, cares for her but is frustrated by her physical withdrawal. Her younger brother, Minus, is confused by Karin's vulnerability and his own budding sexuality. Their father, David, cannot overcome his haughty remoteness. Beset by visions, Karin descends further into madness.

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The best-reviewed films that share How Green Was My Valley’s defining feeling.