Great World History Movies Needed

Cleopatra (1963) with Liz Taylor is IMO one of the most historically correct movies Hollywood has produced, but 4 hours long so maybe not school appropriate. It shows both ancient Roman and Egyptian culture.

El Cid (1961) shows well the meeting between Christian and Islamic culture in medieval Spain, but again very long (3 hours).

Lawrence of Arabia (1962) is another great one, which fulfills all your criteria but long, 4 hours or so.

Seven Years in Tibet (1997) is a favourite of mine and not as long as the previous suggestions. Tells the story the relationship between the Austrian adventurer Heinrich Harrer and Dalai Lama (they're still friends to this day).

Kurosawa's samurai movies are perhaps the best portrayals of feudal Japan on film.

Maybe The Message (1976) with Antony Quinn would be interesting as well, a portrayal of the prophet Muhammed's life and times which is made according to Islamic practice and does not show the face Muhammed himself. Still, the movie pulls it off.

Read this list for more ideas:

http://www.vernonjohns.org/snuffy1186/movies.html

Movies outside of Hollywood would be appreciated.

Edited by Mughaal - 08-Dec-2007 at 05:07

I have always liked The Longest Day too, even with the "all Hollywood cast."

Edited by pikeshot1600 - 27-Nov-2007 at 15:15

Hello AP

^^ "I, Claudius" is an excellent program.  I cannot, of the top of my head,  think of another program that does such a good job of showing the interworking of the Imperial family.  (I do not have HBO, so I have not seen this Rome series that seems to be considered quite good) 

Edited by Justinian - 28-Nov-2007 at 01:30

The holy grail and the life of brian, not strictly history but im sure the students would forgive you.

Edited by Mughaal - 08-Dec-2007 at 05:09

Gandhi

Hi, what a great idea! There ain't anything better to get world history in kids' head then movies. You have certainly the most extensive list on imdb.com

The following list are only foreign movies (I guess for American ones you can handle yourself):
Italy
1900 by Bertolucci (the story of two brothers over most of 20th century Italy, Italians love these years sweeping film see also the very successful made for TV The best of Youth about the generation that was 20 in 1968, and We all loved each other so much about post war Italy and the economic miracle)
A Spedial day by Ettore Scola (about a gay man a woman in Mussolini's Italy)
Hands over the city by Francesco Rosi (very reenactment-ish, very realistic, of the same see Lucky Luciano about post-WWII mafia and Salvatore Giuliano about post-war Sicily)
The Leopard by Lucchino Visconti (about the twilling of the ancient world by the Italian unification, because "everything has to change for everything to remain the same", same director Senso, Death in Venice, The Damned)
Rome open city by Rosselini (along with Paesa it is the most realistic of all neo-realistic movies, see also The bicycle thief)
The Profession of arms by Olmi (a brilliant account of the life of a Renaissance fighter)
The UK
Sea of sand (very realistic, about the war in the desert)
Bloody Sunday (about N. Ireland, see of the same director about the same subject: Omagh)
Culloden by Peter Watkins (originally set for the BBC but soon became a classic, a "reportage" on the battlefield of Culloden where the last anglo-scot conflict ended, with interviews of the soldiers and of the generals, amazing!, of the same see The Bomb aka the war game, about the consequences of an atomic bombing of the UK and the visually perfect account of the life of the greatest norwegian painter, Edvard Munch, it's 3 hours long though)
The Draughtman's contract by Greenaway (a enthousiasming depiction of the 18th cent English aristocracy's lifestyle)
Elephant by Alan Clarke (a shockingly realistic account of the civil war in N. Ireland in the 1980's)
You also have the great TV serie called the Blackadder (the second season is set in the Elizabethan age along with Elizabeth which just had a sequel, Shakespear in Love,)
France
The Grand illusion by Jean Renoir (a cheerful and sound account of the social consequences of WWI set in a POW camp, of the same see La Marseillaise about the French Revolution)
The Army of Shadows by JP Melville (my favorite movie, an anti-epic account of the resistance)
The Safe conduct by Tavernier (the film about WWII France is barely OK but the director shot several others much more successful such as Captain Conan about WWI, Let Joy Reign Suprem about 18th c French aristocracy the very rich one as well as the very poor one)
Queen Margot (a very entertaining account of the Religion wars in 16th  France)
317th platoon by Schoendorffer (a patrol lost in the jungle and attacked by the Vietminh, but this time the soldiers are French)
The return of Martin Guerre (about the life in a small medieval French village, also with G�rard Depardieu: Cyrano about a 17th c soldier and novelist, Germinal about 19th c social struggle in the mines, The Last Metro about the German occupation of Paris)
The 18th c has inspired several film but they are rarely good: Marie Antoinette, Dangerous Liaison, Valmont, Beaumarchais, Ridicule
Germany
Lili Marleen by Fassbinder (set during WWII, see also from the same director about the same period and its consequences Veronica Voss, The mariage of Maria Brown, The Four Seasons Merchant and about other subjects: the third generation about the terrorist wave of the 1970s)
The Fall by Oliver Hirschbiegel (about the last days of Hitler, an excellent reenactment)
Portugal
No or the vain glory of command by Olivera (a rather slow but quite brilliant overview of Portuguese history from the Roman conquest to the decolonisation war fought in Angola, of the same see Val Abraham about 19th cent bourgeoisie and The Fifth Empire about a madman who happened to be the King of Portugal, be careful the latter is not to be shown in class it is waaaaay too long)
Captains of April (about the 1974 coup against the dictatorship)
Spain
Land and freedom by Ken Loach (about the Spanish civil war, of the same the wind that shakes the barley about the Irish struggle for independence).
El Lobo (a thriller about ETA super grass)
The Netherlands
Soldier of Orange by Verhoeven (a good account of Dutch resistance, of the same on the same subject see also The Black Book and on the social condition of 19th cent. Amsterdam Katty Tippel, actually my favorite of the three)
Russia
Alexandre Nievski by Eisenstein (an epic account of the life of the medieval Russian leader's struggle against the Germans, of the same see the reenactment of the soviet historiography with October, Battleship Potemkine and the Strike)
Andrey Rubliev by Tarkosvski (about the Russian master icon-painter in the 15th century, of the same see Ivan's Youth about the rear during WWII, on the same subject see the Cranes were flying, the soldier's star and the Ballad of a soldier)
The Russian Ark (an amazing journey through Russian history without leaving the Hermitage)
Austria
The Third Man by Carol Reed (English movie about post-war Vienna, an absolute classic, see also Billy Wilder's view on post-war Berlin with the brilliant Foreign Affair, see also Howard Hawk's I was a male war bride).
China
Several films give a very bad idea of what was Chinese history (Hero, the House of Flying daggers are as bad as Once upon a time ih the West would be to represent US 19th century). I've never seen Farewell my concubine but I assume it is better than those.
The Demons on my doorstep (a brilliant and touching account of the life in a small village during the Japanese occupation, which unfortunately ends with 30 minutes of intense maoist propaganda)
Japan
Goyokin by Hideo Gosha, Harakiri by Kobayashi and Taboo by Oshima all give refreshingly new image of the samurai world.
Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence and The Bridge of the River Kwai relate the dramatic conditions in the Japanese POW camps during WWII.
Korea
Brotherhood (about the Korean War)
The President's last bang (about the end of the dictatorship)
Algeria
The Battle of Algier by Pontecorvo (wonderful account of the 1957 struggle between Algierian nationalists and French paratroopers for the heart and mind of a people, the same also shoot a film about the concentration camps titled kapo and another about the slaves' struggle for liberty in the West Indies)
Brazil
Aguierre the wrath of God by W Herzog about the conquistadores (about the same subject see also the Mission)
Israel
Kippour by Amos Gitai (about the 1973 war, Gitai also shot Kedma about the creation of Israel and Kaddosh about the life of orthodox Jews in the 1980s in Jerusalem)

And a few US ones:
Sergeant York
The Path of Glory by Kubrik (of the same see Barry Lyndon, Dr Strangelove, Spartacus and Full metal Jacket



Edited by Maharbbal - 30-Nov-2007 at 01:19

Bridge over the river kwai and the great escape, for pow films.