CompassionSpace.com

The number 1 source of information for the global compassion movement!

The ideas on this web site are to be considered the intellectual property of W. David Hoisington, Ph. D., unless another author is cited.  Please cite the author, date and website when using this information in other documents.  
We
Need
Your
Help

Movies with a Compassionate Message

© 2011 - Compassion Information Institute. All rights reserved.

A link to your compassion related website can go here.
A link to your compassion related website can go here.
Title: Pay It Forward
Year: 2000
Stars: Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment
Comments: One could argue that this movie is more about altruism than compassion, but that depends upon your perspective.  What is nice is that it offers a simple way, something everyone can do, to begin the compassionate journey of "passing in on". It is a beginners first step to living compassionately.
Title: Resurrection
Year: 1980
Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Sam Shepherd, Robert Blossom, Eva LeGallienne
Comments: An interesting look at empathy, or "taking in/giving back" practice. There is no other movie that presents a message quite like this.  The possible link between advanced empathy and developed compassion can be pondered after watching this film.  How far can we develop our compassion? 
Title: Joshua
Year: 2001, 2002
Stars: Tony Goldwyn, F. Murray Abraham
Comments: A strong Christian flavor to this but it doesn't detract from the message of how a strongly compassionate being might appear in today's world.  How this might be perceived in modern times is well presented and can easily be translated across communities and faiths.
Title: Patch Adams
Year: 1998
Comments: A look at one doctor's attempts to bring compassion into the profession.  This is based upon a true story which makes it a bit more compelling.  There is a bit of an emphasis on humor, but the message of compassion still comes through. 
Title: Children of Heaven
Year: 1999
Comments: I have not experienced another movie that has evoked such compassion for its characters and their lives. If I were given the choice of only one compassion movie, this would be that movie.  It is subtitled, but the compasion it evokes crosses all cultural boundaries. It is truly a heavenly story of family. It is a universal story of love and overcoming obstacles - a triumph of the human spirit.
Title: Simon Birch
Year: 1998
Staring: Ian Michael Smith, Joeseph Mazzello, Ashley Judd, Jim Carey
A boy believes that he has been called by God for a purpose to do something good in the world. He demonstrates heroic compassion for others throughout the movie.  It is a deeply moving story of facing obstacles, and yet remaining true to a calling of strong compassion. Courage is often a part of strong compassion and this movie illustrates that.
Title: Provoked
Year: 2006 
Staring: Aishwarya Rai, Miranda Richardson, Naveen Andrews, Nandita Das, Robbie Coltrane
Although the reviews of this movie by the critics were not favorable, and perhaps it is weak in places as a movie,  but it is added here because it is strong in many places as a message of compassionate behavior.  In addition it is a true story (note the dates of the court case).  Several characters in the movie demonstrate compassion in difficult situations "against bullies" and against cultural views about oppression of women.  The message at the end of the movie is important for us to pass on to all young men.  It may not be great cinema, and the heroine's initial actions can be questioned, but it does show how when a few people reach out with compassion they can make a difference.  If you see suffering in society you can speak out against it.
WARNING - violent content in the movie below
Others movies with a compassion message include:
"Lobster Tail".   "Blind Side", "The Secret Garden" and "Father Damien: Molokai".
The movie "Hurricane" is a true story similar to the above but dealing with a black American fighter who was too good to remain in the ring and was framed and sent to prison.
The movies listed here speak directly to compassion.  If you have a movie that you think could be added to the list then contact us.
If you have found a movie that is not represented here then use the "contact us" button to send it and it will be added.
While Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List illuminated the previously little-known story of a German businessman who saved hundreds of Jews from the concentration camps during WWII, there were many such heroes who defied the Nazis to save countless Jews from a similar fate–-chief among them the 12 diplomats whose efforts are documented in this riveting documentary from award-winning filmmaker Michael King and Producer Joyce D. Mandell.

The film traces the journey of Stephanie Nyombayire, a young Rwandan anti-genocide activist who teams up with Sir Martin Gilbert, the renowned Holocaust historian, to travel across 15 countries and three continents interviewing survivors and descendants of the diplomats who rescued tens of thousands of Jews from the unspeakable horrors of the Nazi death camps. While Nyombayire embarks upon this quest in an effort to uncover potential solutions for the ongoing genocide in Darfur and elsewhere, what emerges from their journey is a testament to the ways in which the inherent good in the human spirit can trump institutional evil.

Title: The Rescuers 
Year: 2010 
The next movie, like the one above, looks at the idea of advanced states of empathy - of "listening deeply".  What would that mean to someone who had such a gift?
Title: Powder
Year: 1995
Comments:  This movie has many different messages in it about compassion (or lack of it)  in Western civilization.  It also speaks to "being different" and how society often has difficulty in embracing certain types of uniqueness. The message of mutuality in the compassion experience is expressed here in several scenes.  One can also ponder on the necessity to pair empathy development with mature wisdom.
Stars: Mary Steenburgen, Jeff Goldblum
aaaaaaaaaaaaiii