Historical film

A film set in a past period and shaped by historical people, events, or conditions. It may dramatize documented events or invent stories within a historical setting.

Historical accuracy: The degree to which a representation accords with evidence about the past. It measures how closely a film’s details and events match historical evidence.
The Birth of a Nation: D. W. Griffith’s 1915 silent film depicting the American Civil War and Reconstruction through racist propaganda. Its historical claims and racist viewpoint shaped controversies over cinematic history.
Documentary film: A nonfiction film that presents or interprets aspects of the actual world. Historical films dramatize the past, while documentaries generally claim nonfiction status.
Collective memory: Shared representations of the past through which groups understand their history and identity. Popular films can make particular images of the past widely familiar.
Historical fiction: Fictional storytelling set in a real past period, often incorporating actual people, places, or events. Historical films often adapt this broader mode across screen genres.
The Passion of Joan of Arc: Carl Theodor Dreyer’s 1928 silent film depicting the trial and execution of Joan of Arc. It turns a fifteenth-century trial into an intensely subjective historical drama.
Biographical film: A film dramatizing the life of a real person. Some historical films center one life; many do not tell a biography.
Historical revisionism: The reinterpretation of established historical accounts using new evidence or perspectives. Films can challenge inherited accounts or reproduce older interpretations.
Period film: A film whose story and production evoke a particular historical era. Its period setting may matter more than historical events or real figures.
Lawrence of Arabia: David Lean’s 1962 epic film about T. E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt during World War I. Its sweeping form helped define the modern historical epic.

Linked from 27 pages