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Although I saw Master and Commander: Far Side of the World when it was in theaters, I saw it again last night on DVD. I have to say, this is one of the best historical movies that I think I’ve seen. The storyline was intelligent and compelling; the script was tight and echoed the way I would conceive of communications being during the early 19th Century; and the cinematography, costumes, and props were all convincing. Russell Crowe made a great performance in this film and I hope he reprises the role of Aubrey if there are any sequels in the future.
I know it was not meant to be historical as it was made at the time it was happening, But I love The Grapes of Wrath. I think now it can be considered historical since it has been over 65 years since it was made and the dust bowl era is certainly a very interesting aspect of American history.
I think that basically any movie can be considered “historical” from the standpoint that a) it is about an historical episode in history, or b) in that it depicts society at some time other than our own, or c) it depicts how a past society viewed the world at any time. Confusing? Let me explain:An example of the first kind of movie would be “Gone with the Wind”. An example of the second type would be “To Kill a Mockingbird”, where we see rough Americana society in the South in the 1950s/60s. An example of the third type of movie would be “Bladerunner”, or any of the original “Star Trek” shows (ok, a TV series rather than a movie). These last few show how society in the past conceived the future; Bladerunner is almost comical where it uses an old 1980s monitor for a futuristic screen, and Star Trek offered a somewhat utopian view of futuristic earth affairs and so forth….perhaps having Kirk fall in love with any attractive alien was a reflection of the sexual revolution of the 1960s….
On a writers forum we had a debate as to what is a historical novel, or whether a conteporary novel could be considered historical if it is about an historical episode and some time had passed since it was written. I said yes and some said no. The debate rages on.
What about “The Thin Red Line” by Terrence Malick or the French movie “The 317th Platoon” (La 317e Section) a 1965 French war film directed by Pierre Schoendoerffer ?http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x33axi_la-317eme-section About the The Schindler list, I saw it few time after I came back from Rwanda in 1994, my feeling at the time was that movie expressed too much “Hollywood sensibilities”, I mean “overacting”. Reality is much more worse
.”All Quiet on the Western Front” original black and white version–banned in German by Hitler so itmust have been goodA Bridge too Far was good also–minor classic.
Do you have any other ideas @babbage ?
