I Love Historical Dramas

When I go to a cemetery and see an old gravestone, I can’t help but imagine the people there long ago, dressed in mourning attire and black veils.

When I go to Gettysburg, I think about how only 156 years ago, right there on that same dirt, our country was at war with each other and brothers were shooting brothers.

These are not thoughts indicative of a weirdo.

They are the ponderings of a history-buff.

I like ‘seeing’ history in my mind. I like hearing it. Tasting it. Touching it… It’s incredibly fascinating to me. I love bring enveloped in another time.

Consequentley, it’s no surprise that all my favorite movies have one thing in common: They are all ‘period dramas’ (or historical dramas). Now these are in no particular order, but these are some of my favorites…

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Pompeii (2014)

Spoiler alert.

Everyone dies.

All jokes aside, the event that took place on August 24th, 79 A.D. was utterly horrifying. That was the day of one of Mt. Vesuvius worst eruptions, if not THE worst. This eruption buried the city of Pompeii in ash and killed thousands of people. This movie is based in the time of that natural disaster, and in it, we follow the love story of Milo and Cassia as the event unfolds.

Milo, the last of his people, is captured and sold into slavery and is used for sport as a Gladiator. He eventually finds himself being taken To Pompeii, and along the way meets Cassia – the governors daughter. They have a quick bonding moment when he snaps her horses’ neck and the rest is history.

There is no sex in this movie; probably because there is no time for it. LOL They are running for their lives. (Anyone else annoyed by sex scenes in movies? I don’t want to see that mess and I don’t think its necessary at all really…)

This is one of the worst natural disasters in all of human history. The ‘way’ in which these people died was horrible, and the body voids the victims left behind in the solidified ash (that we discovered by filling with plaster) show the true magnitude of the event. Children were clinging to their mothers screaming, dog writhing in the streets from the heat…. it was jacked up. This film, although perhaps not crazy historically accurate – puts you in the center of the panic and that helps us to better understand the human emotions people were feeling thousands of years ago.

Pride & Prejudice (2005)

Embarrased by our families: The movie. Lol

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. Not even going to lie.

Pride and Prejudice is a classic story written by Jane Austen that was published in 1813. It is about an extremely proud and wealthy man (Mr. Darcy) that falls in love with a woman from a poor and ridiculous acting family (Elizabeth Bennet). Each of these characters struggle to overcome their pride and prejudice (what do you know lol) against each other as more drama unfolds… crazy drama like him busting up her sisters relationship. Lol

This is the kind of movie that makes me want to slam my fists on the table & scream at the t.v. “WHYYYYY??? WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING??!!?” One of the most cringey parts in the movie is when Elizabeth is caught snooping around Darcys house.

In this clip, we see Mr. Darcy telling his friend Mr. Bingley that he thinks Elizabeth is barely tolerable (ugly). Later on, Elizabeth calls him out and walks away like a boss.

One of my favorite things about this film is that you get a sense of how far removed we have become from mannerisms such as standing when a lady enters the room, skin to skin contact not being very common, bowing to the other person when finished with a conversation, etc… These were the good times folks. Lol

Another thing I admire about it is there is a lot of SHADE in this movie. Lol. Darcy and Elizabeth both are utter buttholes to each other.

In this scene, everything goes to crap. Elizabeth finds out that Mr. Darcy intentionally broke up her sisters relationship. Darcy just CANT EVEN DEAL with life anymore and proposes to Elizabeth while simultaneously insulting her. Lizzy then proceeds to call him out, and brings up another incident she’s heard gossip about. This tips Darcy over the edge and things get uncomfortably awkward. It’s heavy, but also romantic at the same time. Lol. I like to call this scene, “Darcy get rekt”

Titanic (1997)

My great grandmother was born in 1914 – when the wreck of the Titanic still had bodies on the sea bed.

This event didn’t happen that long ago folks.

Making a movie about one of the worst maritime disasters in human history was no easy feat. Not only because of the technicalities, but because of how much research has been done on this ship and the stories about it. People are very invested emotionally in this disaster, myself included. People will argue about historical accuracy, but come on now… WERE YOU THERE?

A lot of people aren’t into the love story aspect, but here is my take on it: A lot of times, the best way to take people through a historical event, is to tell it through a story using emotions modern people understand. A fictitious love story in the midst of a real event is one of the easiest and best ways to do this (in my opinion anyway).

Titanic has a way of immersing you in the tragedy on a personal level. I don’t know how they do it, but they did a good job of it.

I personally think dying in a shipwreck is the worst way to go. What a horrific end.

Harold Lowe was the name of this officer that took his lifeboat back. I’m glad they included some of his perspective in the movie. My what that poor man must’ve dealt with the rest of his life…

The Passion of the Christ (2004)

I was going to say this wasn’t a love story, but I would be wrong.

I do also classify this as a historical drama because it is a true story. Whether you believe in the divinity of Jesus or not, I don’t think anyone can reasonably deny that Jesus existed and was crucified. This is the story of 1 mans mission to save the souls of men and it is a beautiful movie.

Of course, not much is known about the every day life of Jesus. Due to this, Mel Gibson had to take some artistic license, and I think this scene is awesome, just because we are so used to seeing Jesus acting like some sort of unapproachable figure in film history… But here, he is joking around with his mother, with a sense of humor. It brings the humanity of Jesus to the screen, and I think that’s a great touch this movie has, because I believe He was fully God and fully man. Oftentimes, even as believers, we tend to forget that He was a man just like us at one time. In this scene, we see Jesus followed in Joseph’s footsteps & learned carpentry & apparantly invented the modern dining table. LOL

But then we see the divinity of Jesus more in this next clip…

Mel Gibson, although he has his own demons, is an awesome director.

Another reason I love this is because it has SO MUCH MORE historical contact than any other Jesus film that came before it. In this film, Jesus has Jewish features, olive skin, dark eyes, etc… and he speaks Aramaic! I was so tired of seeing British, blonde hair, blue-eyed Jesus’s. It was so unrealistic (although ‘Jesus of Nazareth (1977)’ was pretty awesome too I’ll admit). He is attractive, but not so attractive that he stands out from the rest of the crowd… The Bible states that there was no beauty in him that we should desire him; meaning, he blended in. I don’t think this meant he was ugly (lol) – but rather that we would not be able to pick him out from the crowd at first glance.

The movie also is full of cool details that may or may not have happened…. Such as this scene below (read caption):

This story is so old, but it is known by so many people. I think this movie shocked a lot of people when they saw it. To many, the cross is an offense. This movie makes us see that the cross exists because of our wrongdoing.

The Crucible (1992)

I’ve mentioned this one before in another post, but I don’t care. Lol

The Crucible is set in the midst of the Salem Witch Trials. Abigail Williams has an affair with the much older John Proctor. Proctor realizes his wrongdoing and tells her to back off and forget they ever touched. What do you think Abigail does? Does she…

• A: Pray to God for forgiveness and move on with her life
• B: Secretly tells a group of friends about her and Proctor’s escapades and they take a blood oath
• C: Dances naked in the woods and drinks the blood of a chicken in order to convince the powers of darkness to make John love her
• D: Relocates to a new city

Lock in your answers.

If you chose C, you’re correct! Lol

After the naked dancing, things snowball and in order to cover this deed up, she and her group of friends start lying and accusing other people in the village of being witches in order to save their own butts. Things eventually escalate and John is accused of being a witch. My favorite part in the whole film is when Abigail pretends that she sees a spirit in the courtroom flying around and John calls her a whore. When asked how he knows she is a whore, he admits his own whoredoms and all the crap hits the fan.

There are many other dramas I could touch on (Ones like Jane Eyre, Braveheart, Master and Commander, etc), but these are my top ones personally. I think dramas that are based in a previous time in history help give us a glimpse of where we came from, how far we have come, and where we are heading.