Historical Accuracy In Films

Historical Accuracy in Films

Historically accurate movies that are also captivating have an immense burden to meet. To capture the essence of the time through a personal story that captivates movie executives who regularly make movies with Steven Seagall and Bruce Willis seems an almost insurmountable task. But difficulties in sales aside, there are two crucial elements for movies about history to be the most effective they can be. These elements are historical accuracy in a personal story, and a sense of hope.

Historical accuracy does not mean trying to encompass everything that happened in a particular time period. Rather, it requires a story that highlights key elements of the period involved while containing nothing that could never have happened in the time. For example, for slavery, the key elements certainly include slave family life, slave work, master-slave relations, the master's family life, and the financial situation in which slavery exists. Each of these general categories can be broken down further; for example, slave family life would include living quarters, families being separated, families coming together, and the essential problem of creating a personal identity in an inhuman institution. But again, the historical veracity of an historical film does not mean the film must represent everyone throughout that time period. Such a film would be pretty boring. Also, an attempt to represent the "average" slave life would probably result in a banal story. So t...

Historical Accuracy In Films

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