History repeats itself. We've all heard this before. The wars, the social and cultural turmoil, the heightened international tension and a growing sense of American jingoism; any and all of these things can be found in the annals of world history. Doesn't it stand to reason, then, that if the situations are the same, artistic interpretation of said situations would be the same? Of course there are some films whose themes work with today's global situation, but it's usually coincidental that these themes still hold relevance. But what about those filmmakers who saw the world's vicious cycle and built themes they knew would still be relevant decades on? Filmmakers like Charles Chaplin and Orson Welles are one of a kind. We may never see another Stanley Kubrick again! But before we begin it would be prudent to establish just what qualifies as a "classic." To go deep in to the topic would require an entire essay all its own so I'll just say I only examined films released prior to the '90s. You can tear me a new one in the comments about classics of the '90s and '00s if you so choose.