There is hardly anything “real” in cinema, for a simple reason: the mechanics of history and fiction are like science and magic.
You can’t invoke one without disrupting the other.
FOUR FILMS THAT TAKE A SOLID LOOK AT A HISTORICAL CONTEXT:
1. ” A Bridge Too Far” by Sir Richard Attenborough (1977).
The veterans of The Real Killing War are on set, quibbling over every line: “I never said that.” Or: “Someone did say that, but it was the sergeant who said it, not me.”
Almost all the characters in the film existed, from the general to the lowest orderly.
One of the actors, Dirk Bogarde, took part in the fights re-enacted here.
His comment? “If I had known in advance what awaited me, I would really have preferred to be somewhere else, you know!”
It is still unclear whether he was talking about the Battle of Arnhem, or the filming.
Perhaps the most historically accurate reel in the history of cinema (despite one or two very minor anachronisms) considering that it traces a specific, limited event: Operation Market Garden conceived by Montgomery and launched by Eisenhower in 1944.
(see also ” Tora! Tora! Tora! “, which boasts of being a Japanese-American co-production)
(and when Americans and Japanese meet I might as well tell you that it goes boom, well no it makes sparks, well I mean it’s explosive, sorry forget it I’m running to write a tweet of apology and resign from some position as an act of contrition)
(Short)
2. “ Master and Commander ” by Peter Weir (2003)
Or how to cleverly romanticize historical realism. Take a good look at the first scene of the film, based on the novels by Patrick O’Brian . Not much to complain about. Here we are.
The story, patched together, resembles from a distance that of a real sailor named Thomas Cochrane ; the ships in the film have however travelled backwards in time, from 1812 to 1805, from the Wars of Independence to Napoleon (no doubt so that the bad guy is French: it is 2003 and Chirac has just refused to go and beat up an Iraqi).
3. ” The Last Emperor ” by Bernardo Bertolucci (1987)
Filming in the Forbidden City, in itself, is an extraordinary event. How beautiful it is! The film is constantly haunted by a slight boredom, precisely because it insists on aligning all the facts that have punctuated this strange existence, that of Pu Yi.
The eternal paradox of realistic fiction: it must be embellished to work.
The Internet highlights some venial sins:
“Puyi was crowned at the age of two, not three. It was in 1912 that the functions of eunuchs in the Forbidden City were abolished – the film presents this fact as after the end of the Empire. Yoshiko Kawashima was not the mistress of Masahiko Amakasu, as suggested in the film, but that of Hayao Tada, Puyi’s chief military advisor. Masahiko Amakasu did not commit suicide by shooting himself, but with poison. The film does not address the Manchu Restoration of 1917, nor the role of Zaifeng (Puyi’s father), which was much more important.”
This lymphatic masterpiece nonetheless remains a fine introduction to complex facts.
4. ” Danton ” by And… ndrz… jkz… kzzz… Andrzej Wajda (1983)
Not for accuracy, but for atmosphere. Paris is plunged into chaos. Men confront each other with speeches and they know that each word can lead to death. Depardieu as Danton: it was written. Tonton Truculent was born for the role. We recall less often the excellence of Wojciech Pszoniak , embodying this Robespierre-oyster whose historical texts have indeed left the impression.
A textbook case: the film evokes the Terror of 1793 as much as Poland in 1982. The Polish government of the time financed 10% of it and did not appreciate the result – always a good sign.
Wajda betrays Mitterrand and Jack Lang, who also put their hands in their pockets, by clearly showing the French Revolution as a filthy massacre between hypocrites.
You will notice that this point of view, then very contested, has gained ground since then!
“No thanks George, I hate anything that still has a head.”
Finally, let us mention ” Letters from Iwo Jima ” and the miniseries ” Band of Brothers ” .
A whole section of cinema evokes with poetry, claimed inaccuracy, but accuracy, the culture and history of a country, like Italian neorealism as a whole, the films of Emir Kusturica for Bosnia/Serbia, or those of Theo Angelopoulos for the Greece of the colonels…
One could argue that Claude Sautet ‘s films are an excellent X-ray of France in a specific, bygone era!
And here are other films that seem “authentic”, but are not:
1. ” Apocalypto “
Anything about the Mayans and the Incas. Cheerfully and confusingly mixes contradictory historical periods. Presents locals suffering from what seems to be smallpox, which did not exist in America since the Europeans had not yet arrived. The list of Gibson’s fantasy deliriums would be too long to list!
Good film though, despite or thanks to its nonchalance.
2. ” Marie-Antoinette “
An extremely condescending sentence , manufactured to reinforce clichés about France and stroke the Anglo-Saxon public in the right direction. If Sofia Coppola had adopted the same point of view about an American like, say, Mary Todd or, well, Jackie Kennedy … she would have taken a volley of green wood in her country.
The historian Jean Tulard uses the expression “gross errors” when this thing comes out, while saluting a debauchery of candy wigs and powder, especially in the eyes.
A specialist in the Shortened Queen, Evelyne Lever , worked with the filmmaker for a while before diplomatically admitting that “Sofia has her own vision of the character; we don’t do the same job.”
Another historian’s cry from the heart: “Marie-Antoinette did not spend her time drinking champagne and eating cakes!”
3. ” The Untouchables ” (Brian de Palma, 1987)
And first of all, Al Capone didn’t kill one guy with a baseball bat: he killed two guys that day with baseball bats.
Frank Nitti was not defeated by Kevin Costner ‘s blow-dry , as he committed suicide by shooting himself twice through the hat while aiming for the head. The third bullet was the lucky one.
It’s a lesson: in life, you have to persevere.
4. ” Amadeus “
The portrait is seductive, partly true (Mozart had a taste for scatology!).
But the character and his mannerisms are invented by the brilliant actor Tom Hulce .
Salieri , an esteemed musician, was not jealous of Mozart, but delighted to hear his music; nor was he the touchy chaste, or virgin, that the film portrays, since he was married and a father!
Furthermore, he had nothing to do with his colleague’s death, even though he allegedly made a remark to that effect when he was suffering from senile dementia later on.
5. ” Braveheart “
There’s no way the Scots, at this point in history, would have been wearing kilts and carrying sticks, basically. Not to mention their blue warrior paint. They would have actually been wearing the same attire as the English across the way; medieval armour, helmets and weapons.
Gibson depicts Picts, and doesn’t care.
It’s a bit like the GIGN fighting dinosaurs, but OK.
Princess Isabelle played by Sophie Marceau “does” indeed exist… except that she is twelve years old at that time and has never set foot outside France, much less flirted with a crude warlord.
Out of competition: ” 300 “.
Some viewers will have to understand one day: this film illustrates the highly fanciful version of the battle given by the narrator, Dilios – and not the battle itself!
Hence the monsters, a Xerxes who has just won Eurovision, etc.
“This is Abdo”
Note: budding historians will jump on me: don’t hesitate, but please keep in mind that I am drawing up a non-exhaustive list of a good dozen films here and do not have time to write four pages on each one!