movies/tv Historical movies.

[Concord 1,982]

Hello!

 

This is one of those rare occurrences, that i'll be creating a thread, so please, do take some time, because this is important to me.

 

I have been given an assignment at school, to present a speech on a certain topic. The topic would be: Do Historical movies help people understand history better? So that would be the question, that i'm asking your opinions on.

 

I'd love if you could use some certain examples and facts (For example, certain movies, certain newscast), but any help, thoughts, are welcome!

 

Note: I'm only gathering various information and intel. From most of the opinions, if i even get any, i'll be able to make my speech somewhat more interesting and colourful, so thank you in advance!

Edited February 5, 2013 by Thereisnospoon303

[~Chaotic Eddie~ 479]

I think it'd depend on the movie. I think it'd help to explain what's going on, but most of them don't really explain the historical context of the movie.

[Lady Erin 29]

Well the point of a film or media in general is more designed around entertaining the viewer and not always used to accurately portray what actually happened in the events in question.

 

This is why that a lot of films try to put small warps in history to keep it entertaining but at the sacrifice of some historical accuracy.

Since most movies often go by their own set of fictional characters that often don't have anything relevance to what actually happened during an event that plays out on the screen, directors have the freedom to put their own twist on how the events could have actually been carried out but still with the same result that we all know today.

But if the movie is more documentary based, constantly talking about dates and facts and not centred around the life of this character that never actually exsisted, then it is safe to safe that it is a pretty reliable source of secondary information.

 

A good example of a movie that is historically inaccurate would be "300" but yet it definitely provides in the entertainment department. Such inaccuracies as:

-Sparta was a city in Greece, not a country.

-In the battle of Thermopylae the Spartans were accompanied by other
Greeks with their forces numbering between 6,000-7,000, not 300.

-The 300 "sire units" died rather instantly with no glorious blood bath, as the thousands of Greeks were no longer there to hold the line.

-They talked about the elements of "freedom" which were in fact absent in actual history, as Spartans were the biggest slave holders in that area.

 

And don't even get me started on the persian side of things.

 

So really don't always trust in what large, big budget, Hollywood movies tell you! As most likely it's not what your textbook will tell you. Stick to factual means of information like a textbook.

 

Hope that helped a little


 

[Derpyroo 14]

if its anything mel Gibson has done then no, i believe that Saving Private Ryan gives the closest representation of the D-Day landings we could imagine

[Inactive01 5,299]

Yes and no. The movie provides an insight into what might have happened and also shows that the movie producers believed about the history. At the same token, the producers could also skew a lot of the facts to make the movie more interesting. A perfect example would be "Amadeus" or "The Pianist". A 1950s movie of Oliver Cromwell's life is another great example.

[Derpyroo 14]

Yes and no. The movie provides an insight into what might have happened and also shows that the movie producers believed about the history. At the same token, the producers could also skew a lot of the facts to make the movie more interesting. A perfect example would be "Amadeus" or "The Pianist". A 1950s movie of Oliver Cromwell's life is another great example.

I agree The Pianist  is an amazing piece of film and Amadeus is compelling, i dont think that movie makers will ever totally get the true story of historical events

[Fluttershy4life 151]

I've seen a lot of movies based off historical events, and you probably should know when it comes to history and movies I kind of go insane about accuracy! It seems like a lot of the main plots of what happened usually are correct but some things aren't always accurate or certain details just get on my nerves. Like a lot of movies about the last imperial family of russia they make the 4 princesses have zero personality when each girl was very complex and real in their own ways. 

If you are looking for something that'd teach you the outer picture of what happened then I'd say yes, historical movies do help. As for details and stuff, I recommend hitting the books

[Guest]

The Lives of Others is a great historical movie about East Germany and the Stasi. Well worth a watch.

[Street Light 757]

it depends :3

i think they help develop a bit of context, buuuut a lot of what is shown is usually dramatized or altered in a way. so it's always good to do a bit of personal research ^~^

[Clawdeen 21,949]

With this being 11 years old I assume you got what data you wanted so I’m just going to comment what I think on historical films.

They’re a snooze fest for me. 

Attractive vampires>>>>>>my countries history.

 

[Avery 486]

I don’t enjoy movies in general but movies especially based from history is often portrayed as overly glorified or romanticized by the protagonist POV. Not a huge fan of it.

[Iforgotmybrain 7,226]

It depends. I think generally historical movies fall into two categories. First, there's the historical movies that just straight up make things up, these generally aren't great for helping people understand history better, often they do the opposite. Best example being Enemy at the Gates which is the source of a lot of misconceptions people have of the Soviet Army such as them sending troops out to fight without guns which is simply not true.

Gods and Generals is another example, being boring and blatant Lost-Cause Confederate propaganda. Or Red Tails, which while I appreciate for shining more light on the Black airmen, has a mountain of historical inaccuracies when it comes to the actual aerial combat that occurred in WW2. Most historical movies fall in line with Red Tails where there's just a lot of historical inaccuracies for whatever reason. Rather than being intentionally malicious like Enemy at the Gates or Gods and Generals. If the movie and story itself is good enough I can overlook the inaccuracies, such as with Inglourious Basterds, which doesn't take itself super duper seriously anyway. But they shouldn't be taken as genuine representations of the time period or as substitutes for properly learning about a specific time period or subject.

I much prefer the second category of more accurate and realistic historical movies, and I do think they help people understand history better. Come and See is a prime example. A Soviet anti-war movie, completely grounded in reality as it showcases just how horrible it was to simply exist around the Eastern front. Downfall was a very accurate portrayal of the final days of Nazi Germany. Oppenheimer was also relatively accurate, it does take some liberties but I was surprised at how well represented everything was overall. Schindler's List, goes without saying. Saving Private Ryan is also quite good especially for how big of a movie it was. Just a few examples, there are a lot of good (and mostly accurate) historical films that are beneficial to those who watch them.

I think the biggest issue for your average viewer is telling the first category apart from the second Which you really can't do unless you research online or have a decent level of knowledge about the subject the movie is about.

Edited July 16 by Iforgotmybrain
Typo

[ZiggWheelsManning 13,418]

A pony that watched Michael Bay's Pearl Harbor (2001) with so many Blockbuster Video rents, not kidding on that  Lay waste on all historical inaccuracies you catch.  

[Dreambiscuit 11,340]

In my opinion movies can and do make me understand history better, but any responsible audience has to discern for itself what’s accurate and what isn’t. Hollywood loves to take creative liberties and re-write history according to what it’s trying to promote.

Trying to name specific movies for historical accuracy is a complex task, and honestly I’m not sure I can offer any specific titles that are truly 100% accurate.

‘Schindler’s List’ (1993)  is a strong example of historic accuracy, although in many cases the reality was probably even worse than the movie portrayed. War movies like ‘Midway’ (2019) show a lot of accurate material but not enough of it. So I wouldn’t call it a perfect representation. ‘Tora, Tora, Tora’ (1970) covers a lot of details about Pearl Harbor and seems to make an effort to keep it accurate, or at least a thorough portrayal of events, where ‘Pearl Harbor’ (2001) was such a mess of directorial gimmickry it was difficult to understand what they were trying to say. ‘The Man Who Never Was’ (1956) is a pretty close presentation of the British ruse to mislead the Nazis into acting on false information; it gives the circumstances and their outcome according to well-known history. ‘Enigma’ (2001) was a detailed story about the breaking of the Enigma code in WW2, and stuck to the facts without diluting them with unnecessary modern opinion, which is what made ‘The Imitation Game’ such a failure. ‘Fat Man and Little Boy’ (1989) is another good example of historical record related to J. Robert Oppenheimer’s story, and goes into the Manhattan Project in far greater detail, whereas the movie ‘Oppenheimer’ (2023) is more about character development, with many gratuitous scenes added merely to sell tickets. Lots of historical movies can cover basic facts, with the ultimate interpretation of those facts left to the viewer. ‘Spartacus’ (1960) tells a historic story but omits or alters many of the facts, like the fact that Spartacus actually did escape to freedom from Rome but kept coming back to fight, which is what brought him to an end. In the movie he just wanted to get out of the country and never return, but never made it. ‘The Passion of the Christ’ (2004) is an accurate depiction of the facts but takes a minor liberty (the crows on the thief’s cross) and added some scary thematic elements in a literal context. But at least it covers the historical information. So, all in all, movies can inspire the viewer to do more research on their own, or compare with similar respectable movies on a subject, but I believe they absolutely can teach history, even if they only kick-start inspiration.