FILM AND HISTORY ASSIGNMENT... DUE October 23

Watch a movie (a feature film) that is set in the past. Take notes as you watch the film. Write a formal essay of 3-4 pages regarding the history portrayed in that movie.  This essay must be typed (and double-spaced), carefully written, and thoughtful in its comments.

Pay special attention to the way the film treats the history. Use our textbook to give you ideas about how history is conceived in different ways. You should also cite other sources. The number and type is up to you.
Critique the way the filmmakers presented and used the historical context as a background (or foreground) for the action in the movie.

**Use quotes and scene descriptions from the movie to illustrate your arguments**

This film review is a critique essay. Follow these guidelines while preparing this essay:

1. In one paragraph, summarize the premise and plot of the movie briefly in your paper.  In what

time period does the film take place? What civilization or part of the world is the film portraying? If you turn this paper into a description of the film, there will be dire consequences!

2. Following the summary paragraph, there are various ways to approach your critique:

A.  Is the film historically accurate? Are the “facts” about historical events correct?  Or do the filmmakers play with cause and effect, the actual historical order of events?  Is the film anachronistic? Are there things like costumes and technologies that actually didn’t exist in that era (or place)?

B. Is the movie an allegory about the filmmaker’s own time? Can you detect elements of the time that the movie was made in the message of the movie? Films made about same historical subject will differ substantially if one is made in 2014 and one in 1950.

C. Would the film be useful in a history class? If so, consider ways of incorporating this film into the teaching of a social studies class.

D. What is the central message or purpose of the movie? What central theme was the director trying to convey?

E. Analyze the film within its genre. Is it a gangster film? If so, how does it stack up to others?

You may also come up with your own approach to the film. In fact, I encourage you to present an original way of viewing the film you choose. While you watch the movie, be ready to stop the action and start the writing if a brilliant idea comes to mind.

A Short List of Suggested Films:

Ancient

300 (2006)

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966)

Alexander (2004)

Ben Hur (1959)

The Egyptian (1954)

Gladiator (2000)

The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)

HBO: Rome (2005-2007)

Ifigeneia (1977)

King of Kings (1961)

Land of the Pharaohs (1955)

Jesus of Nazareth (1977)

The Mummy (1999)

The Robe (1953)

Spartacus (1960)

The Ten Commandments (1956)

Troy (2004)

16th Century
Elizabeth (1998)
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2005)
The Return of Martin Guerre (198x)
Queen Margot (1994)
Aguirre: Wrath of God (1972)
Apocalypto (2006)

17th Century
The Three Musketeers (1993)
The Last Valley (1971)
Seven Samurai (1954)

18th Century
The Madness of King George (1994)
Dangerous Liaisons (1988)
Amadeus
Mutiny on the Bounty
The Mission (1986)

19th Century
Master and Commander (2003)
Out of Africa
Mountains of the Moon Zulu! (1964)
Zulu Dawn (1979)
The Deceivers (1988)
Anna and the King (2000)
Jose Rizal (1998)

20th Century
Apocalypse Now

The African Queen
Ghost and the Darkness
A Passage to India (1985)
Gandhi (1982)
Seven Years in Tibet
The Last Emperor (1987)
M*A*S*H!
The Quiet American
Painted Veil

Motorcycle Diaries !
Evita!
Dr. Zhivago (1965) 

Asia

Jing ke ci qin wang (The Emperor and the Assassin 1999)

Kakushi-toride no san-akunin (The Hidden Fortress 1958)

Miyamoto Musashi (Samurai I of the Samurai Trilogy 1954)

Ran (1985)

Shi mian mai fu (House of Flying Daggers 2004)

Ying xiong (Hero 2002)