Movies depicting History

[aronnax]

I just watched the Other Boleyn Girl, and my god... I know movies like to take some historical liberty but that movie was seriously evil in terms of Historical depiction. The plot and the dialoge sucked too but lets just focus on the History bit.

Anyway, I just got to thinking, are there any good history-depiction movies that are somewhat true to fact? Somewhere along the lines of Elizabeth and Braveheart.

Anyone? Any suggestions?

 

[privatehudson]

Anyway, I just got to thinking, are there any good history-depiction movies that are somewhat true to fact? Somewhere along the lines of Elizabeth and Braveheart.

You're kidding right?

http://medievalscotland.org/scotbiblio/bravehearterrors.shtml


http://www.historicallyinaccuratetv.com/inaccurate/Movies/films/braveheart.html

The best thing that can be said about the movie is that its not a documentary, but you certainly can't say its "somewhat true to fact".

My favourite little "quirk" that Gibson and co allowed themselves is to suggest that Wallace made Isabella pregnant. Its commonly thought that Isabella was born in 1295. By the rationale of the movie at the time she met and slept with Wallace she was 8 years old. The son, Edward III wasn't born until 1312 by which time Wallace had been dead for 7 years.

Braveheart reminds me of Tombstone or the Young Guns films. If you want to be entertained watch them, if you want to know what happened ignore everything you saw in the movie and go read a book.

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

The historical drama, Rome, is mostly accurate in its depiction of the period between 50 BC to 31 BC. It's not a movie but a serial, and ran for 2 years. The show takes some liberties with history, for dramatic effect, but overall, the characters are surprisingly true to their historical personalities.

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

My favourite little "quirk" that Gibson and co allowed themselves is to suggest that Wallace made Isabella pregnant.

Mine is that the Battle of Sterling Bridge has no bridge at all.

 

[silver 2039]

I Claudius is pretty good, though not sure how accurate.

 

[Dachs]

My favourite little "quirk" that Gibson and co allowed themselves is to suggest that Wallace made Isabella pregnant. Its commonly thought that Isabella was born in 1295. By the rationale of the movie at the time she met and slept with Wallace she was 8 years old. The son, Edward III wasn't born until 1312 by which time Wallace had been dead for 7 years.

Edward II totally should have been played by Terry Jones, just so he could make him like Prince Herbert.

I Claudius is pretty good, though not sure how accurate.

Graves liked to rely on the more lurid details in Suetonius and Tacitus, especially as regards Augustus and his family, but otherwise is reasonably accurate. I don't know how well the movie would have followed history, though.

 

[privatehudson]

Mine is that the Battle of Sterling Bridge has no bridge at all

True but if memory serves they referred to it only as Stirling (if at all) to get around that.

 

[Dachs]

True but if memory serves they referred to it only as Stirling (if at all) to get around that.

That's like Alexander omitting the Battle of Issos.

 

[privatehudson]

Not quite, they depict the battle as such and refer to it, they just change the terrain, action and then change the name to suit the first two.

So uhmm not really depicting the battle that much... err moving on.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

The historical drama, Rome, is mostly accurate in its depiction of the period between 50 BC to 31 BC. It's not a movie but a serial, and ran for 2 years. The show takes some liberties with history, for dramatic effect, but overall, the characters are surprisingly true to their historical personalities.

Rome was a crappy depiction of real history. There is NO dramatic effect that could have justified their elimination of Octavian's FIRST marriage -- the one that produced his daughter Julia, who begat Agrippina, who begat Caligula and Agrippinilla, who begat Nero... without this first marriage (to Scribonia, not Livia), the Julio-Claudian Emperors are wiped out after Tiberius. I can't imagine how they would have dealt with this nonsense if the series had continued.

I Claudius is pretty good, though not sure how accurate.

I, Claudius is extremely faithful to Graves' novel, which was taken from many of the more lurid and "soapish" elements of Tacitus and Suetonius. Who can say just how many of the Imperial Family really died due to Livia's machinations? How many of those deaths were simply coincidences that she quickly used to her advantage?

The best historical movie I can think of for now is Paradise Road, which is about a group of women POWs in World War II. In real history these women formed a choir in which they used their voices to depict instruments, instead of singing words. The movie is a faithful re-creation of this, and Glenn Close plays the part of the woman who started the choir.

 

[Slobadog]

I think "Gettysburg" is more accurate than Braveheart.

 

[silver 2039]

Oh there's Glory about the Mass. 54th. Also I recall hearing that the depiction of the Battle of Guagemela in Alexander was fairly accurate.

 

[Dachs]

Also I recall hearing that the depiction of the Battle of Guagemela in Alexander was fairly accurate.

Not really. I suppose it's reasonable as far as films go, what with the device of opening the syntagma to allow the chariots through, and such, but it overestimates the number of men involved in the engagement somewhat, and doesn't pay much attention to tactics; the display of Darayavahus abandoning his men also probably isn't wholly accurate, for he had proved himself in battle before, and this was after all his last chance to save his empire, so he probably attempted to rally his broken army.

Also there was more than one engagement in the war. Issos was more tactically interesting IMHO....

 

[Agent327]

Braveheart reminds me of Tombstone or the Young Guns films. If you want to be entertained watch them, if you want to know what happened ignore everything you saw in the movie and go read a book.

Usually the way to get to know history.

Pearl Harbor seems to be a love story, if you only saw the movie, as was the story of the Titanic. U 573 (?I may have the number wrong) has the Americans capture the Enigma device instead of the British (it's an American movie), Troy has Achilles avenging his '"friend" (no hint of any intimate relation there, God forbid), etc.

As for Mel Gibson: The Passion of the Christ actually stays pretty close to the Book (but that's no hisory book).

 

[Cutlass]

Shindler's List?

 

[Azale]

The Patriot makes me cringe every time I think about it...

 

[Sharwood]

Shindler's List?

Schindler's List is fairly accurate. Let's face it, all movies have to take some historical liberties. The Last Samurai is a fair depiction of the period, but it combines about three different wars together and replaces France with America - just like any good American would do, I guess.

The most historically accurate film I can think of off the top of my head is Sink the Bismarck, but I haven't watched it in several years, even though I have it sitting on my table to watch when I get to it.

 

[Slobadog]

"The New World" seems more accurate than "Pocahontas". Well "The New World" still keeps the Pocahontas/John Smith love story myth but "The New World" presents the love story in a more realistic way than "Pocahontas" did.

 

[Annex]

Does anyone know how accurate the Band of Brothers miniseries is?

I know they interviewed some members of Easy Company but im not sure how much liberty they took with things overall.

 

[Plotinus]

Troy has Achilles avenging his '"friend" (no hint of any intimate relation there, God forbid)

There's no hint of it in the Iliad either... it was later tradition which suggested that Achilles and Patroclus were lovers. But even so, the Trojan War is legendary material, whatever historical events may lay behind it, so I don't see why a film-maker shouldn't take whatever liberties he wants with that one.

I'm still reeling from the suggestion that Braveheart is some kind of touchstone of historical accuracy. I'm glad that got picked up on.