Great Period films
Great costume dramas (both full length features as well as TV series) from the last 30 years.
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- CreatorDouglas HeyesStarsKirstie AlleyGeorg Stanford BrownDavid CarradineTwo friends, one northern and one southern, struggle to maintain their friendship as events build towards the American Civil War.Fabulous Civil wartime saga. Great costumes, filmed on location, (in the majestic Charleston area where I lived for 8 wonderful years) and wonderful all-star cast that includes performances by Patrick Swayze, Genie Francis, Kirstie Alley, David Carradine, Lesley-Anne Down, and James Read with cameos by Hal Holbrook, Morgan Fairchild, Liz Taylor, Gene Kelly, Robert Guillame, Robert Mitchum, and Johnny Cash!
- StarsDaniela Denby-AsheRichard ArmitageTim Pigott-SmithNorth and South is a four-part adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's love story of Margaret Hale, a middle-class southerner who is forced to move to the northern town of Milton.Actually I came across this accidentally while searching for the American civil war series (seen above). This film was produced by the BBC and based on a novel by Elizabeth Gaskell. It follows the story of Margaret Hale (Daniela Denby-Ashe), a young woman from southern England who has to move to the North after her father decides to leave the clergy. The family struggles to adjust itself to the industrial town's customs and the story explores the issues of class and gender, as Margaret's sympathy for the town mill workers conflicts with her growing attraction to John Thornton (Richard Armitage).
- DirectorDouglas McGrathStarsGwyneth PaltrowJames CosmoGreta ScacchiWhile matchmaking for friends and neighbours, a young 19th Century Englishwoman nearly misses her own chance at love.Gwenyth Paltrow stars as the delightful titular character, a Georgian-Regency era, slightly spoiled (but well-meaning) matchmaker who delights in arranging the personal lives of those around her in her rural English community. Fans of Jane Austen (or fans of "Clueless" which was a loosely adapted version of the Austen novel by this name) will enjoy this film.
- DirectorPeter MedakStarsHugh DancyMichael RichardsEileen AtkinsA gentle orphan discovers life and love in an indifferent adult world.This one starred Hugh Dancy (as the adult DC) Michael Richards (as Micawber), and Sally Field (as dear Aunt Betsey Trotwood). The BBC did an earlier adaptation in 1999 which was also very good (starring a young, pre-Hogwarts Daniel Radcliffe as young Davy) but for some reason, I like this one better.
- StarsAnna Maxwell MartinCarey MulliganDenis LawsonA suspenseful tale about the injustices of the 19th Century English legal system."Bleak" is right! This was a great series but a truly dark tone for Dickens. I walked away from this series feeling as though I'd been run through the wringer, very emotional and very well done by BBC video and Masterpiece.
- StarsDavid SuchetMatthew MacfadyenCillian MurphyAugustus Melmotte is a European-born city financier whose background is as mysterious as his business. Only weeks after his arrival in London, he announced a new venture and promises instant fortune.This mini-series was based on the little known Anthony Trollope novel about the manners of "polite society" and lives of several impoverished aristocrats being uprooted by the nouveau riche. It took me a while to withstand Shirley Jackson's voice (Lord bless her) but the performances were entertaining overall. Screenplay by Andrew Davies.
- StarsFrancesca AnnisJustine WaddellBill PatersonThe daughter of a country doctor copes with an unwanted stepmother, an impetuous stepsister, burdensome secrets, the town gossips, and the tug on her own heartstrings for a man who thinks of her only as a friend.Based on the novel (by the same title) by Elizabeth Gaskell, screenplay by Andrew Davies.
- StarsJodhi MayEdward FoxAmanda RootSet in Victorian London, Gwendolen Harleth is drawn to Daniel Deronda, a selfless and intelligent gentleman of unknown parentage, but her own desperate need for financial security may destroy her chance at happiness.adapted from the novel by George Eliot, screenplay by Andrew Davies.
- StarsOliver DimsdaleChristina ColeLaura FraserLouis Trevelyan's refusal to trust his wife Emily destroys their marriage.This one wasn't quite what I was expecting, but as the title suggests, the man character is blinded by his own pride--then again, so is his wife--which ultimately leads to his downfall. Great story, another great screenplay adaptation (from an Anthony Trollope novel) by Andrew Davies. That man is a genius!
- CreatorDominic MinghellaStarsJames BowersAlex KingstonDaniel CraigStory of a woman who merely wished to be a loving wife, but always had to live the life of crime.based on the novel by Daniel Defoe, screenplay adapted by Andrew Davies. This was my first introduction back in the late 90s to Alex Kingston who plays the titular role. There was another (feature length) production developed that year staring Robin Wright and Morgan Freeman but this one is funnier, raunchier, BETTER!
- StarsColin FirthJennifer EhleSusannah HarkerWhile the arrival of wealthy gentlemen sends her marriage-minded mother into a frenzy, willful and opinionated Elizabeth Bennet matches wits with haughty Mr. Darcy.You know my list would not be complete without a few more Jane Austen mentions particularly this gorgeous BBC series with screenplay adapted by the amazingly talented Andrew Davies. This is actually the series that first made me admire Davies and fall in love with Colin Firth! Anyone can tell you, Pride and Prejudice--beloved Regency tome--has been retold, revised, and revamped several times over but this BBC production IMHO is by far the best interpretation. Please don't even mention to me that 2005 attempt with Keira Knightley, YUCK!
- StarsRachael StirlingKeeley HawesJodhi MayThe story of Nan Astley who falls in love with three different women on her journey to stardom and happiness in 1887 Victorian England.based on the novel by Sarah Waters, screenplay adapted by Andrew Davies
- StarsMatthew MacfadyenClaire FoyTom CourtenayThe Dorrits are a family whose life revolves around the Marshalsea, a debtor's prison. Amy Dorrit's kind nature brings the family into contact with a wide swath of English society, from the poorest to the richest, and back again.based on the novel by Charles Dickens, screenplay by Andrew Davies.
- DirectorAng LeeStarsEmma ThompsonKate WinsletJames FleetRich Mr. Dashwood dies, leaving his second wife and her three daughters poor by the rules of inheritance. The two eldest daughters are the title opposites.screenplay adapted by Emma Thompson who also stars (as Elinor Dashwood) alongside a very young Kate Winslet (as Marianne Dashwood), Hugh Grant (as Edward), and Alan Rickman (as Col. Brandon).
- CreatorSue BirtwistleSusie ConklinStarsJudi DenchImelda StauntonJulia McKenzieIn the 1840s, Cranford is ruled by the ladies. They adore good gossip, and romance and change is in the air, as the unwelcome grasp of the Industrial Revolution rapidly approaches their beloved rural market-town.Mini-series based on novels by Elizabeth Gaskell and starring a largely female cast that includes Dame Judi Dench, Imelda Staunton, Julia McKenzie, and Julia Sawalha.
- CreatorBill GallagherStarsOlivia HallinanSarah LancashireJulia SawalhaAn adaptation of Flora Thompson's autobiographical novel "Lark Rise To Candleford", set in 19 century Oxfordshire, in which a young girl moves to the local market town to begin an apprenticeship as a postmistress.TV series, adapted by the BBC from Flora Thompson's trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels about the English countryside, published between 1939 and 1943. Funny, sweet, poingnant, and very entertaining.
- DirectorHarry HookStarsJean-Marc BarrMiranda RichardsonRichard E. GrantIn 1813, Capitaine Jacques St. Ives, a Hussar in the Napoleonic wars, is captured and sent to a Scottish prison camp. He's a swashbuckler, so the prison's commander, Major Farquar Bolingbroke Chevening, asks for lessons in communicating with women. Both men have their eyes on the lovely Flora, who resides with her aunt, the iconoclastic and well-traveled Miss Susan Emily Gilcrist. By chance, living close to the camp is Jacques's grandfather and brother, whom Jacques believes died years before. Jacques decides to escape, find his relatives, and win the hand of Flora; Major Chevening and an unforeseen enemy stand in his way. Can Miss Gilcrist contrive to make everything work out?Film based on a short story by Robert Louis Stevenson, I stumbled across this film (which was televised in the UK as "All for Love") several years ago at a video store that was going out of business and had this DVD in the clearance bin. Best $4 bucks I ever spent. It's light and sweet--very funny performances by Richard E. Grant and Miranda Richardson. Also stars Jean-Marc Barr and Anna Friel.
- DirectorDouglas McGrathStarsCharlie HunnamJamie BellChristopher PlummerA young, compassionate man struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his cold-heartedly grasping uncle.Film based on the novel by Charles Dickens, starring Charlie Hunnam (of whom I'd never heard before this film nor since), Romola Garai, Jim Broadbent, Anne Hathaway, and a VERY menacing Christopher Plummer. Definitely worth a watch if you catch it on DVD.
- DirectorJean-Marc ValléeStarsEmily BluntRupert FriendPaul BettanyA dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.The accuracies of the historical details are slightly skewed for dramatic effect but absolutely superb performances by Rupert Friend, Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson (as always) and Emily Blunt (in the title role).
- StarsJohn SessionsBenjamin WhitrowRon CookA ribald and rowdy romp through the mansions and taverns of Georgian England. Henry Fielding's fallen hero bed-hops his way out of a good home and almost into a hangman's noose, via a series of misadventures and misunderstandings.Hubba hubba, Max Beesley is sexy in this one! Wonder what he's been up to lately. . .
- DirectorWilliam NicholsonStarsSophie MarceauStephen DillaneDominique BelcourtA governess agrees to bear a child to help her father.Admittedly, this is not the best period film I've ever seen but for some strange reason, I like it very much. Starring Sophie Marceau and Stephen Dillane it is the story about a surrogacy arrangement between an wealthy but childless English landowner a beautiful but impoverished governess (aren't they always pretty but poor?) who agrees to bear his child in order to clear her father's debt. The movie is sweet but perhaps a little too sexy for the kiddies (as Marceau's movies tend to be).
- DirectorPhilip HaasStarsMark RylanceKristin Scott ThomasPatsy KensitIn the 1800s a naturalist marries into a family of British country gentry.Another one that may be a little too sexy for the kiddies. I saw this the first time several years ago on late-night cable. Great performances by Mark Rylance, Kristin Scott Thomas, and Patsy Kensit. I enjoyed it enough to check out the works of A. S. Byatt (who wrote the original novel) at my local library.
- DirectorMarshall HerskovitzStarsCatherine McCormackRufus SewellOliver PlattA Venetian courtesan becomes a hero to her city, but later becomes the target of an inquisition by the Church for witchcraft.
- DirectorRichard EyreStarsBilly CrudupClaire DanesRupert EverettA female theatre dresser creates a stir and sparks a revolution in seventeenth century London theatre by playing Desdemona in Othello. But what will become of the male actor she once worked for and eventually replaced?
- DirectorTrevor NunnStarsHelena Bonham CarterRichard E. GrantImogen StubbsShakespeare's comedy of gender confusion, in which a girl disguises herself as a man to be near the count she adores, only to be pursued by the woman he loves.Even those who don't appreciate Shakespeare's genius as much as I do can appreciate this film. Yes, it is done in the original Shakespearean language but the performances are so well executed by all the players that you tend not to notice after the first 20 minutes. An excellent interpretation of my favorite work by the Bard.
- DirectorJohn MaddenStarsGwyneth PaltrowJoseph FiennesGeoffrey RushThe world's greatest ever playwright, William Shakespeare, is young, out of ideas and short of cash, but meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays.
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsEileen AtkinsKate BeckinsaleSheila BurrellA recently orphaned young woman goes to live with eccentric relatives in Sussex, where she sets about improving their gloomy lives.
- StarsCarla GuginoAlison ElliottMira SorvinoFour American girls go to England to find husbands.
- CreatorJulian FellowesStarsHugh BonnevillePhyllis LoganElizabeth McGovernA chronicle of the lives of the British aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the early twentieth century.
- DirectorJames LapineStarsJudy DavisHugh GrantMandy PatinkinIn 1830s France, pianist/composer Frédéric Chopin is pursued romantically by the determined, individualistic woman who uses the name George Sand.As a film lover who is also a musician, my list would not be complete without these next few titles. . .
- DirectorBernard RoseStarsGary OldmanJeroen KrabbéIsabella RosselliniThe life and death of the legendary Ludwig van Beethoven. Besides all the work he is known for, the composer once wrote a famous love letter to a nameless beloved, and the movie tries to find out who this beloved was--not easy, as Beethoven has had many women in his life.
- DirectorMilos FormanStarsF. Murray AbrahamTom HulceElizabeth BerridgeThe life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsHolly HunterHarvey KeitelSam NeillIn the mid-19th century a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.
- StarsJemima RooperMorven ChristieAlex KingstonAmanda, an ardent Jane Austen fan, lives in present day London with her boyfriend Michael, until she finds she's swapped places with Austen's fictional creation Elizabeth Bennet.Lastly, I had to include this one although I suppose some may argue that it isn't a "Period Piece" in it's truest form. The idea of getting lost in Pride & Prejudice (my favorite period film and novel) is paradise to me. Regency manners? Check! Empire-waist gowns? You betcha! A romantic dalliance with the sexy yet aloof Mr. Darcy? Thank you, I'll take two!