Fictional films tell true historical stories... Film and History is a compelling and unique overview of the cinema and its relationship with history, ranging from the ancient world to the modern day. This is the first book of its kind to offer such a broad historical and theoretical portrayal of the rapidly-growing sub field of history and film. Rosenstone introduces the varieties, types and traditions of historical films made worldwide and sets this against the changing ways in which historians and other public critics debate the portrayal of history in modern film.

Fictional films tell true historical stories... Film and History is a compelling and unique overview of the cinema and its relationship with history, ranging from the ancient world to the modern day. This is the first book of its kind to offer such a broad historical and theoretical portrayal of the rapidly-growing sub field of history and film. Rosenstone introduces the varieties, types and traditions of historical films made worldwide and sets this against the changing ways in which historians and other public critics debate the portrayal of history in modern film.

Bordwell scrutinizes the theories of style launched by various film historians and celebrates a century of cinema. The author examines the contributions of many directors and shows how film scholars have explained stylistic continuity and change.

With more than 250 images, new information on international cinema—especially Polish, Chinese, Russian, Canadian, and Iranian filmmakers—an expanded section on African-American filmmakers, updated discussions of new works by major American directors, and a new section on the rise of comic book movies and computer generated special effects, this is the most up to date resource for film history courses in the twenty-first century.

The ability to view recorded moving pictures has had a major impact on human culture since the development of the necessary technologies over a century ago. For most of this time people have gone to the movies to be entertained and perhaps edified, but in the meantime television, the videocassette recorder (VCR), the digital versatile disk (DVD) player, the personal computer (desktop and laptop), the internet and other technologies have made watching moving pictures possible at home, in the classroom and just about anywhere else. Today, moving images are everywhere in our culture. Every day, moving picture cameras record millions of hours of activity, human and otherwise, all over the world: your cell phone makes a little video of your friends at a party; the surveillance camera at the bank keeps on eye on customers; journalists’ shoulder-carried cameras record the latest from the war zone; and across the world film artists work on all kinds of movies, from low-budget independent projects to the next big-budget Hollywood blockbuster. Moving pictures have had a great influence on human culture, and this book focuses on using moving images as historical evidence. Studying history means examining evidence from the past to understand, interpret and present what has happened in different times and places. We talk and write about what we have learned, hoping to establish credibility both for what we have determined to be the facts and for whatever meaning or significance we may attach to our reconstruction of the past. Studying history is a scientific process, involving a fairly set methodology. We tend to favor written sources, and we have tended to favor writing as a means of presenting our views of the past. But historians also use all kinds of other documents and artifacts in their work of interpreting the past, including moving pictures.

This important volume addresses a number of central topics concerning how history is depicted in film. In the preface, the volume editors emphasize the importance of using film in teaching history: students will see historical films, and if they are not taught critical viewing, they will be inclined simply to accept what they see as fact. Authors of the individual chapters then explore the portrayal of history--and the uses of history--in specific films and film genres. Robert Rosenstone's "In Praise of the Biopic" considers such films as Reds, They Died with Their Boots On, Little Big Man, Seabiscuit, Cinderella Man, and The Grapes of Wrath. In his chapter, Geoff Pingree focuses on the big questions posed in Jay Rosenblatt's 1998 film Human Remains. Richard Francaviglia's chapter on films about the Middle East is especially timely in the post-9/11 world. One chapter, by Daniel A. Nathan, Peter Berg, and Erin Klemyk, is devoted to a single film: Martin Scorsese's urban history The Gangs of New York, which the authors see as a way of exploring complex themes of the immigrant experience. Finally, Robert Brent Toplin addresses the paradox of using an art form (film) to present history. Among other themes, he considers the impact of Patton and Platoon on military decisions and interpretations, and of Birth of a Nation and Glory on race relations. The cumulative effect is to increase the reader's understanding of the medium of film in portraying history and to stimulate the imagination as to how it can and how it should not be used. Students and teachers of history and cinema will benefit deeply from this informative and thoughtful discussion.

Historical film has been an important genre since the earliest silent films. The French Revolution, the American Civil War, the conquest of the New World, World War II--all have been repeatedly represented in film. But how do we distinguish between fictionalized spectacle and authentic historical representation? Writing History in Film sets out the narratological, semiological, rhetorical, and philosophical bases for understanding how film can function as a form of historical interpretation and representation. With case studies and an interdisciplinary approach, William Guynn examines the key issues facing film students and scholars, historians, and anyone interested in how we see our historical past.