#458 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Friday September 16)
Good morning,
Many of the Musings have been far too serious this week. Here’s one on the entertainment front.
MOVIES EVOKING AN ERA
I have been thinking of movies that are so immersive of an era that one can almost “feel” the environment. But it’s not enough that the scenery and cinematography are excellent. There must be a compelling story. Again, my criteria are that it is a great movie and is immersive and evocative of a period—not just about a period. Don’t even tell me The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur or (perish the thought) Titanic, all of which are of a time but do not place us in that time. Here are a few of my favorites. I welcome suggestions of others:
PRE-20th CENTURY HISTORICAL—CIVIL WAR PERIOD
There are few eras that offer so many different views of the time as the Civil War period—the ravages of slavery, the terror of war, and the home front.
12 Years a Slave. While one can never say a movie does justice to the slavery experience or the holocaust, this one is unrelenting in the debasement, violence, and inhumanity, inflicted on a freeman (or so he thought).
Little Women. Greta Gerwig’s version. A brilliant depiction of the monumental novel.
Glory. The story of the 54th Massachusetts (all-Black) regiment commanded by Robert Gould Shaw
Lincoln. The 50s and 60s, but a different century. These people from sepia daguerreotypes were real people confronting complex problems in another era. And they lived in color!
OTHER PRE-20TH CENTURY HISTORICAL
The Wind and the Lion. The British empire at its most excessive and colonial in the 19th century.
A Room With a View. Traveling to Florence in the 19th century…
The French Lieutenant’s Woman. Early Meryl Streep (yes, I know, part of the movie is in a more current time)
Sense and Sensibility. 18th century England with Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman. You can pick your favorite actors. For me, Rickman is one of the best, with a wide array of talents in such diverse movies as the Harry Potter films, Galaxy Quest, Love Actually, Die Hard, and Sweeney Todd.
A Man for All Seasons. Sir Thomas More and Henry VIII. Tudor England portrayed in the 1960s…
Amadeus. A fictionalized time of Mozart in Vienna in the 18th century, with the incomparable F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce.
The Favourite. Queen Anne in a different light. Olivia Coleman is great, as are her suitors.
Amistad. Early 19th century America in a classic Spielberg telling of “Old Man Eloquent,” John Quincy Adams, defending the mutineers on the slave ship Amistad. A true, gripping, story of adventure, politics, history and the power of law to conquer seemingly impossible odds.
1883. Actually a series on Paramount+. This is a realistic, non-glamorous depiction of the way west. It is a story of hardscrabble pioneers, settlers looking for a better life, immigrants trying to find a place “out West,” and interaction with Native Americans who are neither savages nor elevated to unrealistic nobility (indeed, acts of genocide and misdirected violence tell their own story). You can almost feel moving across the dry, vacant, unfriendly Great Plains, the hardship, and the bravery.
EARLY 20th CENTURY
Eight Men Out. While about the infamous “Black Sox” scandal, there are few recreations of the 1910s quite like this. Although try Boardwalk Empire for some of the same folks, albeit a decade later.
Boardwalk Empire. A TV series that captures the sight, sounds, mood and crime of Atlantic City in the 1920s.
The Untouchables. Eliott Ness’s Chicago.
Gallipoli. The story of Churchill’s great World War I travesty, told from the perspective of the Australians who fought.
All Quiet on the Western Front. A 1930s movie (a style not for everyone), less than 20 years after World War I.
WORLD WAR II ERA
Darkest Hour. Because there has to be a Churchill movie and this one has the feel of the era.
Schindler’s List (of course). Has there ever been a movie of such scope, humanity, pathos, and impact, as this one? From the first frames to the reunion in Israel, Spielberg’s masterpiece. While his supernatural and blockbuster efforts define him for some, it is his histories that draw me in. Spielberg is the master of this genre—with Lincoln, Amistad, Schindler’s List, West Side Story, Bridge of Spies, and Saving Private Ryan.
Dunkirk. I pick this more for execution than for historical accuracy or perspective. Precious little in this movie about the stakes against the Nazis, the potential impact of failure, and the remarkable efforts of ordinary citizens.
The King’s Speech. Apropos to Elizabeth’s recent death. Her father’s struggles to represent Britain in complex times and overcome his own speech impediment and insecurities.
The Pianist
The Imitation Game. I’m a sucker for this great film. Great story of the British code-cracking enterprise that may just have won the war.
The Longest Day. Produced that that far past the actual “D Day.” Some performances are hammy but the movie evokes both D Day and the era the film was made.
A League of Their Own. Wartime America, seen through the prism of filling a void in American sports entertainment.
OTHER TWENTIETH CENTURY
The Right Stuff. The 50s and 60s in all their mid-century glory, all with the backdrop of the space program.
Gandhi. The story of the great man from his youth near the turn of the century, through Indian independence, and Gandhi’s attempts to stem Hindu-Muslim violence and the enmity between Pakistan and India.
The Irishman. Mid-century mobsters post-WWII
Argo. The era of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.
Apollo XIII. 1970s space program and America on the edge.
Raise the Red Lantern and The Last Emperor. China early in the century.
Enemies: A Love Story. This is an interesting, quirky, movie that takes place in late-40s New York.
Bugsy. 1940s and 50s Las Vegas. Warren Beatty and Annette Bening in a classic.
Goodfellas. A true story evocative of an era. Great performances in a nearly-perfect film.
42. Baseball at the time of Jackie Robinson.
The Departed. 1980s gritty Boston
L.A. Confidential. 1950s Los Angeles, before becoming a megacity, a rich mecca of possibility and a palette for lawlessness.
Please feel free to share your “immersive” period pieces.
Have a great day,
Glenn
From the archives: