Period Piece Film Recommendations

The Remains of the Day (1993).

Merchant-Ivory Productions teamed up with Mike Nichols to make a nearly flawless film based on Kazuo Ishiguro's Nobel Prize winning novel about an emotionally unavailable butler during the rise of Hitler.

The acting is impeccable- Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson have off the charts chemistry. James Fox, Hugh Grant, Michael Lonsdale, Peter Vaughan, and Christopher Reeve round out the unassailable cast in most of their finest film performances.

And to top it off, the film features the music of Franz Schubert.

They ARE Period Piece Film Recommendations!

Angel directed by Francois Ozon, based on the novel by (not that) Elizabeth Taylor, starring Romola Garai, Michael Fassbender, Sam Neill and Charlotte Rampling.

People tend to hate it but it’s great, as is the book.

Jill Learns About Periods is my favorite period piece film.

NIGHT AND DAYS (1975) aka "the Polish Gone With the Wind". The complete TV version runs for over 10 hours but the Oscar-nominated, 3-hour long film version is perfectly fine too. The actress playing the lead character gives an amazing, larger-than-life performance, portraying her character over the span of 50+ years (from 1863 to WWI). I'm not sure if the novel (published in the 30s) was ever translated into English.

The music is great too. This waltz, composed for the film, is just fabulous.

The Age of Innocence

Love, love, love Michelle Pfeiffer.

Sorry, OP.

There just aren't that many "period" pieces available, outside of menstrual fetish porn.

Fanny and Alexander

r8 you took the words right out of my mouth.

"Stage Beauty" (2004). The trailer explains everything. I just wish they'd used Fenton's music, and not a temp track.

I enjoyed Fellini Satyricon, but your mileage may vary.

Angels and Insects (1995)

Spicy Victorian drama with young Mark Rylance. I haven't read the novel...

Little Voice

Anything by Merchant/Ivory.

"Barry Lyndon" is superb.

"They Shoot Horses, Don't They?" is a powerful Depression era drama set among the down and outs in a dance marathon. The novel by Horace McCoy is even better.

"The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" is a weird but fun one. Its fantasy elements might disqualify it for some.

The Cotton Club entranced me when I saw it in the movie theater at age 15. Fabulous movie.

r16 They Shoot Horses, Don't They? might be THE most depressing novel I have ever read.

Let's not forget what is possibly the finest period picture of all time: The Gorgeous Hussy, starring our very own Joan!

The Heiress, with DL faves Olivia and Monty--

Is Jane Campion's "The Portrait of a Lady" worth watching?

Little Women-- the 90s version with Wynona Ryder and Kirsten Dunst was beautifully acted and very authentic in its depiction of period details.

I just saw Tess and enjoyed it a lot.

Impromptu. Mandy Patinkin, Judy Davis, Bernadette Peters, Julian Sands, Emma Thompson, Hugh Grant. Don't need many more reasons than those.

All This & Heaven, too, starring Bette Davis & Charles Boyer, a tale of love, scandal & murder set in 1840's France, based (loosely) on a true story. Soapy, but, enjoyable.

The Piano (1993)

Holly Hunter, Harvey Keitel, Anna Paquin, and Sam Neill

Directed by Jane Campion

1840s’

[quote] I just saw Tess and enjoyed it a lot.

Speaking of which, Polanski’s Macbeth is excellent. The opening scene is one of the best in film history.

I can't believe I'm going to be the one who mentions Dangerous Liaisons.

What, are all the distinguished movie aficionados out at the clubs tonight?

And while I'm thinking about it, what about Anne of the Thousand Days?

[quote]Fanny and Alexander

Also, "Cries and Whispers."

Geneviève Bujold when she was young and beautiful.

Valmont by Milos Forman!

The Leopard

Speaking of The Heiress. I have tried to find that damned movie so I can watch it and it is impossible to find. Yes I could order it from Amazon, but I have no way to play it since I don't have a DVD player.

"Orlando" with Tilda Swinton, based on the novel by Virginia Woolf.

Which period was Orlando set in, R36?

Oh!! Watch Farewell My Queen. It's about a servant girl who has a crush on Marie Antoinette at the beginning of the French Revolution. Another French history movie is Desiree with Marlon Brando as Napoleon and Jean Simmons as Desiree his first love. Michael Rennie is also in it. Thoroughly enjoyable if somewhat dated.

A Room with a View (1985)

The splendid Merchant Ivory adaptation of E.M. Forster's fun and charming novel.

Helena Bonham Carter, Julian Sands, Denholm Elliott, Daniel Day Lewis, Rupert Graves, Judi Dench , Simon Callow, and Maggie Smith

Oh!! Watch Farewell My Concubine. It’s about Douzi, a boy with feminine features, abandoned by his prostitute mother to an all-boys Peking opera troupe supervised by Master Guan. Thoroughly enjoyable if with somewhat dated concepts about gender.

A Hazard of Hearts. Helena Bonham Carter in an early role. Diana Rigg, Edward Fox, Christopher Plummer. Regency England. An adaptation of Barbara Cartland.

Boogie Nights The Talented Mr Ripley Dazed and Confused The Last Emperor Sense and Sensibility

Were bodices ripped, R41?

[quote] Valmont by Milos Forman!

Aka not-so-dangerous liaisons.

The French Lieutenant's Woman.

12 Years A Slave

Amadeus

The Pianist

Schindler's List

Cold Mountain

The Last Voyage Of Demeter

Ever After

12 Years a Slave

The Flowers Of War

Empire Of The Sun

The House of Mirth, directed by the recently departed Terence Davies who should have been properly recognized during the Oscars in memoriam.

In addition to The Heiress, Wyler does a masterful job in Wuthering Heights with Olivier and Oberon at their most beautiful, and with The Little Foxes.

Children of Paradise is an enchanting 1830s Paris theatrical demimonde.

Smiles of a Summer Night is lighter Bergman fare set in the late 19th century.

My favorite versions of Dickens are Lean's Great Expectations and Oliver Twist, and Cukor's David Copperfield.

Gone With the Wind

Si Versailles m'était conté

Orphuls La Ronde and The Earrings of Madame de...

The Passion of Joan of Arc

Ohhh, I just love that movie set during world war 2. What’s it called again?

R4 lol

Walter D. Edmonds adaptations: The Farmer Takes A Wife (Janet Gaynor, Henry Fonda), Drums Along the Mohawk (Claudette Colbert, Henry Fonda), Chad Hanna (Henry Fonda, Dorothy Lamour, Linda Darnell)

Carrie.

A Passage to India. YES!!!! Wonderful period piece. And since we're talking India, watch Gandhi, with Sir Ben Kingsley. Brilliant movie.

American Civil War ? Glory is excellent.

A Royal Affair

Yes r43! In a carriage after being kidnapped by a scoundrel Lord. Rescued by a gallant highway man (cameo by Garth Hunt). Said Lord later killed in a (pretty authentic looking) fencing duel. Also stately homes with secret doors and underground passages.

LAWRENCE OF ARABIA

^ R61, great pick 💯 - best seen in a theater if you can find it playing in a revival house. Spectacular and Omar Sharif, mother of God, one of the handsomest men who ever lived.

Sharif, so beautiful.....

“Letter from an Unknown Woman”

Enchanted April

Doctor Zhivago!

Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, Rod Steiger, Tom Courteney, Geraldine Chaplin, Sir Ralph Richardson, and Alec Guinness!

Directed by David Lean

Music by Maurice Jarre

Based on the great novel by Boris Pasternak

Perennial DL favorite GOSFORD PARK.

Another vote for Enchanted April: in the 1920s, four woman take a villa in Italy for the month of April. Based on the book "The Enchanted April" by Elizabeth von Arnim.

I love how the women all start as basically strangers, two of whom have faltering marriages, and how the stay in Italy changes them.

Von Arnim led an interesting life.

Polly Walker is fantastic in "Enchanted April." I remember thinking she would have a great film career, which didn't happen, but she's had better luck in television.

The Claim (2000)

The Favorite

Poor Things

War and Peace (1966)

VVitch (2015)

Elizabeth

Dangerous Liaisons

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

The Elephant Man

R22 Yes.

Yes, "Witch" is a great one: dark story, brilliantly told.

"Aguirre, The Wrath of God," about the conquistadores, is also fantastic.

The Others is also a great period horror film.

The Others would make a good double bill with The Innocents.

Raise the Red Lantern

Little House On The Prairie on Cozy-tv daily

Sense and Sensibility.

Repo man Discussion of life and values in mid 80’s America under Regan and Reaganism. This is one of my favorite moves. The characters search for meaning as they watch post war values of honesty and respect for one another die with a painful whimper. This occurs as they participate in the destruction of that culture They are compelled to willingly participate and watch with humor and horror in equal measure.

Another vote for RAISE THE RED LANTERN. And for IMPROMPTU, which is a wonderful romp with a fab Judy Davis and a devilish Bernadette Peters.

MAURICE

HOWARDS END, the pinnacle of Merchant-Ivory film. One reason why Hopkins and Thompson are so good together in REMAINS OF THE DAY is that they developed wonderful chemistry in this film.

RETURN OF THE SOLDIER - from a Rebecca West novel - is fun to watch just for the cast: Glenda Jackson, Alan Bates, Julie Christie, and Ann-Margret who holds her own quite well.

Someone above asked about PORTRAIT OF A LADY. It's not good. Kidman is too cold an actress for the lead, Malkovich is such an obvious creep that the heroine seems dim witted, and Mary Louise Parker gives what is probably the worst performance of her career. OTOH, Barbara Hershey is excellent.

The Wyler WUTHERING HEIGHTS is fine except for Merle Oberon, who is just too prissy for Cathy. There's a 1970 version with Timothy Dalton and Anna Calder-Marshall which has a decent enough first half (and nice location cinematography). I found Calder-Marshall a much better Cathy.

The Innocents with Deborah Kerr and Sir Michael Redgrave

"The Go-Between" (1971)

Les Roseaux sauvages

Bump to the Merchant Ivory fans, OP, R40, and others. I particularly like A Room With A View. It's got it all: a young, fresh Helena Bonham Carter before she was anywhere close to lowering herself to doing movies with Johnny Depp; Helena's (Lucy Honeychurch's) queeny, geeky innamorato Daniel Day Lewis; the tasty Julian Sands at his most alluring peak; two of our favorite dames: Maggie Smith - never better than here as the tiresome Aunt Charlotte, and the great Judi Dench; gorgeous Florence plus Italian & English countryside scenery; naked men cavorting in (and out of!) the local swimming hole; lots of funny situations and clever dialogue ... I could go on. It's a good one.

Colonel Redl with the sexy Klaus Maria Brandauer

I agree that Oberon wasn't the best choice for Wuthering Heights, R80. since she was also a decade too old to be playing a teenager. I'm wondering who'd have been a better choice. Maureen O'Hara? Ida Lupino? Vivien Leigh? Anne Shirley? Valerie Hobson? Margaret Lockwood? Olivia de Havilland?

^Me, goddamnit!!!

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

Directed by Sidney Lumet

Based on the novel by Agatha Christie; adapted for the screen by Paul Dehn

Music by Richard Rodney Bennett

Albert Finney stars as Hercule Poirot, with a who's who of talent: Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam, Ingrid Bergman, Jacqueline Bisset, Jean Pierre Cassel, Sean Connery, Sir John Gielgud, Wendy Hiller, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Rachel Roberts, Richard Widmark, and Michael York

Das Boot (1982) is a German Film about a WW2 submarine patrol. I saw this as a 14yo in a theater and I was on the edge of my seat, as was everyone else in the theater. It was very suspenseful. 98% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Brideshead Revisted (1981) PBS mini-series with Jeremy Irons and Anthony Andrews. based on book by Evelyn Waugh. It stays true to the book.

Moll Flanders (1996) Starring Robin Wright, Morgan Freeman , and Stockard Channing. It is loosely based on the 18th century novel by Daniel Defoe. The critics didn't seem to like this movie, 46% on Rotten Tomatoes, but the audience did at 72%. I liked it.

Death on the Nile (1978)

Directed by John Guillermin

Based on the novel by Agatha Christie; Adapted for the screen by Anthony Shaffer

Music by Nino Rota

Peter Ustinov is Hercule Poirot and leads another star-studded cast consisting of Harry Andrews, Jane Birkin, Lois Chiles, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, John Hurt, Olivia Hussey, Saeed Jaffrey, George Kennedy, Angela Lansbury, Simon McCorkindale, David Niven, Maggie Smith, Sam Wanamaker, and Jack Warden

Nixon (1995)

Oliver Stone's epic is a Shakespearean opera, not a film

Anthony Hopkins, Joan Allen, James Woods, J.T. Walsh, Paul Sorvino, Mary Steenburgen, Powers Boothe, Ed Harris, David Hyde Pierce, David Paymer, E.G. Marshall, Bob Hoskins, Sam Waterston, Kevin Dunn, Tony Goldwyn, Saul Rubinek, James Karen, Edward Herrmann, Madeline Kahn, Brian Bedford, Annabeth Gish, Dan Hedaya, George Plimpton, and Larry Hagman

R50/86, I think either Leigh or O'Hara would have worked, though Leigh was doing Scarlett at the time so she wouldn't have been available. Olivier would have loved it though.

The Madness of King George (1994)

Directed by Nicholas Hytner

Based on the play and adapted for the screen by Alan Bennett

Music by George Handel

Starring Nigel Hawthorne, Helen Mirren, Ian Holm, Amanda Donahoe, Rupert Graves, Geoffrey Palmer, Julian Wadham, Jim Carter, and Rupert Everett

I thought of a couple of more period drams; both star Rufus Sewell. The Last King (2003), a 4 episode mini-series with Sewell and Helen McCrory. Dangerous Beauty (1998) About the Venetian courtesan and poet, Veronica Franco (Catherine McCormack). Rufus Sewell plays her love interest.

Lady Chatterly’s Lover

I enjoyed the 2022 version on Netflix. The liver is hot, the scenery is beautiful and the costumes are lovely.

^lover

Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)

Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner

Based on Robert Massie's epic nonfiction book.

Starring Michael Jayston, Janet Suzman, Tom Baker, Jack Hawkins, Timothy West, Michael Redgrave, Eric Porter, Irene Worth, Harry Andrews, Maurice Denham, John McEnery, Roy Dotrice, John Wood, Ian Holm, Michel Bryant, Brian Cox, Julian Glover, Steven Berkoff, and SIR LAURENCE OLIVIER

I didn’t know they had movies about periods?

R22, it was nice to look at but it’s a slog of a film. Kidman just cries and cries and cries. And it’s just depressing.

Sense and Sensibilty with Matthew Macfadyen and Keira Knightley.

A Bridge Too Far (1977)

Directed by Richard Attenborough

Music by John Addison

Starring Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Seann Connery, Edward Fox, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Hardy Kruger, Laurence Olivier, Ryan O'Neal, Robert Redford, Maximilian Schell, and Liv Ullman

[quote] Sense and Sensibilty with Matthew Macfadyen and Keira Knightley.

They weren't in Sense and Sensibility. They were in Pride and Prejudice.

Peter Weir's Gallipoli to reinforce the homoeroticism of Lawrence of Arabia

Charles Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby (2002) with Charlie Hunnam, Jamie Bell, Tom Courtenay, Nathan Lane, Jim Broadbent, Anne Hathaway, Edward Fox, Juliet Stevenson, Barry Humphries, Timothy Spall, Alan Cumming, and Christopher Plummer

Forever Amber. Flawed film but I've always liked it. And the costumes are great

Love these suggestions! Keep them coming!

If your looking at Depression era/bootleggers movies, Bonnie & Clyde with Warren BEatty and Faye Dunaway is a classic. Still brilliant. And Road to PErdition with Tom Hanks and Daniel Craig. I think this was Paul Newman's final movie and he was brilliant too. Roaring 20's ? Check out Cotton Club. Or "Mobsters" with Anthony Quinn, Christian Slater, F.Murray Abraham.

Thank you r102, I had a brain blip.

Evil Under the Sun with Maggie Smith, Roddy McDowell and Sylvia Miles (!) is fabulous.

Blade Runner - 1980's neo noir (a lot of Art Deco) set in 2019. Amazing sense of period even if the period is schizoid.

1973's Soylent Green, set in 2022, feels closer to home.

The Great Gatsby (Robert Redford) Paper Moon (outstanding black and white photography) L.A. Confidential Belfast

For R35

The recent Emma (with Anya Taylor-Joy) was good. Well acted, good pacing, pretty (people, costumes, sets).

R79, Repo Man! It was formative for my group of friends in college, I had the soundtrack and still tell people who eat while standing "it'll taste better if you sit down" (which upon googling I realize was actually "put it on a plate, it'll taste better").

A period movie or period piece is defined as a movie that takes place in a past historical period. Repo Man is not a period piece, strictly speaking.

I know people make fun of RYAN'S DAUGHTER, but I have a soft spot for it. You just have to put up with the vacuous Christopher Jones (whose voice is thankfully dubbed) and John Mills' annoying character. Robert Mitchum is much better IMO than the critics have said. It's too long for its slender plot but I find it very watchable. It also works better on a smaller screen.

R113, I've just put you in my will. You have my gratitude forever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apollo 13. Just rewatched it last night. The excitement of the Apollo space program, the sense of a changing country no longer enamored of moon missions; the tension once the mission goes wrong. The two-and-a-half hours fly by (no pun intended).

Nicholas & Alexandra -- the ruination and termination of the Russian Romanov dynasty.

R120 that's one of my all time favorites. I thought they did a good job of portraying the seeming paralysis of Nicholas and the delusions of Alexandria. Their world was literally falling apart, and they refused to face reality. I think watching this along with Dr. Zhivago is a good way to reflect on RUssian history. Two very compelling stories with different but complimentary perspectives.

The Right Stuff!!

Wings of the Dove

My Brilliant Career.

Here's the trailer.

Anything with Helena Bonham Carter.

And honestly, Spielberg's Lincoln with Daniel Day Lewis was a excellent historical film.

Babette's Feast

42 The movie about Jackie Robinson with Chadwick Boseman and Harrison Ford. Excellent movie.

[quote]Wings of the Dove

Good choice! This was so well done. Allison Elliot's Millie, the American heiress, broke my heart.

[quote]And honestly, Spielberg's Lincoln with Daniel Day Lewis was a excellent historical film.

I loved this film!

I know this may be controversial, but I really enjoyed "Troy" with Brad Pitt and Orlando BLoom, Eric Bana, Sean Bean, and Peter O'Toole.

The 1979 CBS TV movie Helter Skelter based on Vincent Bugliosi's book about the Charles Manson murders was spine chilling the first time I saw it as a young teen. But I have never been able to find it to watch it again. I wanted to see it after Quentin Tarantino's movie came out with Brad Pitt and Leonardo Di Caprio, but it was no where. It was really good too. Steven Railsback looked almost exactly like Manson. Scary. If anyone here can find It I will give you my first born puppy.

Here you go. Presuming this is the one since Railsback plays Manson, though you must have seen a rerun in '79.

R133 Thanks! This is exactly the one. I'll watch it tomorrow. Right now it's too close to bed time. Not a movie I want to fall asleep with.