Movie Genre: History
Historical fiction and period films where the story takes place in the 19th century or earlier. The titles are in on particular order. See also the Biography genre
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1.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
(1999)
Lovers' lives are complicated by city law, feuding faerie royalty, and... love. (116 mins.)
Director: Michael Hoffman
2.
Amazing Grace
(2006)
The idealist William Wilberforce maneuvers his way through Parliament, endeavoring to end the British transatlantic slave trade. (118 mins.)
Director: Michael Apted
3.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
(2000)
Two warriors in pursuit of a stolen sword and a notorious fugitive are led to an impetuous, physically skilled, adolescent nobleman's daughter, who is at a crossroads in her life. (120 mins.)
Director: Ang Lee
4.
Far and Away
(1992)
A young man leaves Ireland with his landlord's daughter after some trouble with her father, and they... (140 mins.)
Director: Ron Howard
5.
Gangs of New York
(2002)
In 1863, Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points area of New York City seeking revenge against Bill the Butcher, his father's killer. (167 mins.)
Director: Martin Scorsese
6.
Germinal
(1993)
In mid-nineteenth-century northern France, a coal mining town's workers are exploited by the mine's owner. One day, they decide to go on strike, and the authorities repress them. (160 mins.)
Director: Claude Berri
7.
Girl with a Pearl Earring
(2003)
A young peasant maid working in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer becomes his talented assistant and the model for one of his most famous works. (100 mins.)
Director: Peter Webber
8.
Gladiator
(2000)
When a Roman general is betrayed and his family murdered by an emperor's corrupt son, he comes to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge. (155 mins.)
Director: Ridley Scott
9.
Glory
(1989)
Robert Gould Shaw leads the US Civil War's first all-black volunteer company, fighting prejudices of both his own Union army and the Confederates. (122 mins.)
Director: Edward Zwick
10.
Hamlet
(1996)
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, returns home to find his father murdered and his mother remarrying the murderer, his uncle. Meanwhile, war is brewing. (242 mins.)
Director: Kenneth Branagh
11.
Les Misérables
(1998)
Jean Valjean, a Frenchman imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a police officer named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives... (134 mins.)
Director: Bille August
12.
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
(2003)
During the Napoleonic Wars, a brash British captain pushes his ship and crew to their limits in pursuit of a formidable French war vessel around South America. (138 mins.)
Director: Peter Weir
13.
Moulin Rouge!
(2001)
A poet falls for a beautiful courtesan whom a jealous duke covets in this stylish musical, with music drawn from familiar 20th century sources. (127 mins.)
Director: Baz Luhrmann
14.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
(2003)
Blacksmith Will Turner teams up with eccentric pirate "Captain" Jack Sparrow to save his love, the governor's daughter, from Jack's former pirate allies, who are now undead. (143 mins.)
Director: Gore Verbinski
15.
Plunkett & Macleane
(1999)
Will Plunkett and Captain James Macleane, two men from different ends of the social spectrum in 18th-century England... (99 mins.)
Director: Jake Scott
16.
Ravenous
(1999)
In a remote military outpost in the 19th Century, Captain John Boyd and his regiment embark on a rescue mission which takes a dark turn when they are ambushed by a sadistic cannibal. (101 mins.)
Director: Antonia Bird
17.
Shakespeare in Love
(1998)
A young Shakespeare, out of ideas and short of cash, meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays. (123 mins.)
Director: John Madden
18.
The Advocate
(1993)
In medieval France, young lawyer Richard Courtois leaves Paris for the simpler life in the country. However... (112 mins.)
Director: Leslie Megahey
19.
The Color Purple
(1985)
A black Southern woman struggles to find her identity after suffering years of abuse from her father and others over 40 years. (154 mins.)
Director: Steven Spielberg
20.
The Illusionist
(2006)
In turn-of-the-century Vienna, a magician uses his abilities to secure the love of a woman far above his social standing. (110 mins.)
Director: Neil Burger
21.
The King and I
(1956)
A widow accepts a job as a live-in governess to the King of Siam's children. (133 mins.)
Director: Walter Lang
22.
The Last Samurai
(2003)
An American military advisor embraces the Samurai culture he was hired to destroy after he is captured in battle. (154 mins.)
Director: Edward Zwick
23.
The Last of the Mohicans
(1992)
Three trappers protect a British Colonel's daughters in the midst of the French and Indian War. (112 mins.)
Director: Michael Mann
24.
The Merchant of Venice
(2004)
In 16th century Venice, when a merchant must default on a large loan from an abused Jewish moneylender for a friend with romantic ambitions, the bitterly vengeful creditor demands a gruesome payment instead. (131 mins.)
Director: Michael Radford
25.
The Other Boleyn Girl
(2008)
Two sisters contend for the affection of King Henry VIII. (115 mins.)
Director: Justin Chadwick
26.
The Red Violin
(1998)
A perfect red-colored violin inspires passion, making its way through three centuries over several owners and countries, eventually ending up at an auction where it may find a new owner. (130 mins.)
Director: François Girard
27.
Tombstone
(1993)
A successful lawman's plans to retire anonymously in Tombstone, Arizona, are disrupted by the kind of outlaws he was famous for eliminating. (130 mins.)
Director: George P. Cosmatos
28.
Vatel
(2000)
In 1671, with war brewing with Holland, a penniless prince invites Louis XIV to three days of festivities at a chateau in Chantilly... (103 mins.)
Director: Roland Joffé
29.
Restoration
(1995)
The exiled royal physician to King Charles II devotes himself to helping Londoners suffering from the plague, and in the process falls in love with an equally poor woman. (117 mins.)
Director: Michael Hoffman
30.
Dangerous Liaisons
(1988)
A scheming widow and her manipulative ex-lover make a bet regarding the corruption of a recently married woman. (119 mins.)
Director: Stephen Frears
31.
Anonymous
(2011)
The theory that it was in fact Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford, who penned Shakespeare's plays. Set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I and the Essex rebellion against her. (130 mins.)
Director: Roland Emmerich