Life has its different challenges for different people of different identities and backgrounds. This is one of the reasons why it's best to have many individual voices out in the filmmaking world, all making movies about different people experiencing various things. For every unique perspective, fictional life, or character journey captured on-screen, cinema itself is enriched. But at the same time, we have to face the reality that male-centered stories dominated the film industry for much of its history, with recent years being a little more diverse, when looking at directors.

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The male-dominated history of film isn't automatically a bad thing, so long as we continue to change and diversify into the future. Because after all, these films already exist, and many of the best still offer empathetic looks at the pressures of masculinity in ways that are eye-opening and important. Many are recent too, showing there's still room for these stories in a more diverse industry. The following 10 films all explore the difficulties of "being a man" in ways that are more sympathetic than critical, each offering insight into things like repressed emotions, struggles to fit in, and the consequences of trying to be someone you're not.

'Beau Travail' (1999)

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Image Via Pyramide Distribution

Beau Travail is one of (surprisingly many) male-focused films directed by a female director. In this movie's case, the director is Claire Denis, with the film centering on a group of soldiers training in the desert, only to find their lives upended by a new recruit who causes one of the head soldiers, Galoup, to question his identity and feelings.

It takes a unique approach to its look at a group of hyper-masculine men, and what happens when one starts to wonder if he has feelings for another. Things don't go the way you might expect, with the film seemingly being downbeat... even if it ends with an inexplicable (and cathartic) dance scene. It leaves a great deal up to interpretation, though at its simplest, clearly is about the consequences of rejecting one's feelings in the pursuit of being a "stereotypical man."

'The Hurt Locker' (2008)

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Kathryn Bigelow provides another example of a female-directed film that explores ideas surrounding masculinity with The Hurt Locker. This acclaimed war film depicts the life of a bomb-defusing squad during the Iraq War, and the high-pressure, consistently tense situations they're placed in because of their profession.

It may not outright condemn its main characters, but it does suggest there's a certain adrenaline rush to dangerous situations during a war that might attract certain men to be a part of an army. It contrasts this with the "tedium" of civilian life, showing how some men are inextricably drawn to dangerous situations, with the film offering no easy answers as to why this happens, or how it could be fixed.

'Paddleton' (2019)

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Image via Netflix

Paddleton depicts the friendship between two otherwise lonely men, who become close because they're neighbors and don't have many other people in their lives. This bond deepens - and becomes tested - when one of the men is diagnosed with a terminal illness and decides he doesn't want to live anymore.

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Paddleton is a film that shows the benefits - both for men and people in general - of expressing your emotions openly and honestly. Of course, it does take unusual circumstances for the characters to do so here, but it leads to greater understanding and a stronger friendship between two men, even if said friendship is destined to end on a bittersweet note, sooner rather than later.

'Happy Together' (1997)

Leslie Cheung and Tony Leung in Happy Together

Wong Kar-wai is a filmmaker who's perhaps best known for films like the evocative In The Mood For Love and the amazing Chungking Express. Happy Together is a film that's perhaps not as well known, but deserves to be, with its powerful (and very sad) story about a gay couple who take an oversea trip together in the hopes it'll make them feel closer, but find the opposite happens.

It's far from the only gay-themed romance to look at masculinity, and some of the difficulties that come with being a same-sex couple, but does so in a particularly honest and impactful way. It's a hard film to forget, and it does an amazing job at having two characters consistently clash and be at odds, yet still feel sympathetic throughout.

'12 Angry Men' (1957)

The cast of 12 Angry Men looking in the same direction.

It's no surprise, really, that 12 Angry Men takes a firm look at masculinity. The story takes place in real-time, and centers on an all-male jury (as was the norm many decades ago) who need to discuss whether a young man is truly guilty of the murder he's been accused of committing.

There's one character who's outwardly heroic, and one who's a clear antagonist, with everyone else being somewhere in between. In this way, it's honest about exploring the arrogance, confidence, and sometimes lack of understanding that men - particularly those with some power given to them - may exhibit. It may be set a while ago, and show an outdated version of the criminal justice system, but what it has to say about male human nature still rings true.

'Thunder Road' (2018)

Thunder Road - 2018

Thunder Road is about a police officer facing many crises in his life, leading to an extended breakdown that happens throughout the film. Following a divorce, the death of his mother, and the general stresses of his job, it's safe to say that Officer Jim Arnaud is struggling.

It's the movie's honesty about those struggles that makes Thunder Road so emotionally resonant (while also being quite funny at times). It shows the consequences of bottling in emotions, and holds the view that to heal, sometimes you need to be honest, and let difficult emotions out safely, and in a way that won't harm yourself or others.

'The Rider' (2017)

The Rider (2017)

In The Rider - one of the best westerns in recent years - Chloé Zhao paints a sympathetic portrait of a modern cowboy. Brady is a young man who was once a promising rodeo rider, yet a near-fatal injury causes him to restructure his life, and come to terms with being someone other than the man he once thought he'd be.

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Its approach to the western genre is refreshingly modern and heartfelt, to the point where it doesn't even feel like a western in the traditional sense. It aims to develop and further the genre, whilst also showing a personal journey about developing and growing as a person, exploring masculinity in a calm, emotional, and very empathetic manner.

'Stand by Me' (1986)

Stand By Me

Stand by Me is a classic coming-of-age movie that focuses on four young friends, and a particularly eventful (and often dark) journey they take to find the body of a stranger who's allegedly been killed in an area some distance from their rural homes.

It focuses on masculinity, and how the dominant idea of just what that is impacts boys as well as men. It's an honest and sometimes hard-hitting movie about growing up as a young man, as a result, and the kind of movie where the ideas explored - and the way they're explored - remain timeless.

'mid90s' (2018)

Stevie and his friends sitting down in 'Mid90s' (2018)

mid90s is another coming-of-age movie about boys on the cusp of teenagehood, though it takes a look at the highs and lows of that period of one's life in a way that balances comedy and drama. It was directed by Jonah Hill, who himself was in his early teenage years in the mid-1990s, meaning the film feels remarkably honest and true to life.

It's a film that's unafraid to show the way young boys often act and talk, even if some of those things might be confronting to see on-screen. It looks at the messy process of growing up as a young man, warts and all, and by setting it in the past, urges those in the present and future to learn from any difficulties or mistakes that defined the young men of that generation.

'Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence' (1983)

Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence - 1983

Boasting one of David Bowie's very best performances, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence is an unusual but highly affecting war film. It centers on a prisoner-of-war camp run by Japanese forces during World War 2, and what the arrival of a new prisoner - a Major played by Bowie - does to all those within the prison.

With a cast of only male characters, and set during a war that was mostly fought by men, Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence can't help but explore masculinity. It's the way it does it that makes it stand out, with its homoerotic undercurrents and a very intense look at what happens when feelings that aren't considered traditionally manly are suppressed. It's a bold and sometimes difficult film, but an utterly compelling one.

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