How to Evaluate aHistorical Feature Film

Some (confusing) criteria historians use in evaluation

• accuracy of detail

• use of original documents and interviews

• consulting with a professional historian

• type/nationality/looks of actors

• appropriate music

• “poetical and metaphorical” use of historical details: Robert Rosenstone: anachronisms and “displaced facts” are ok, as long as the film’s interpretation “rings true” as a result (Example: Born on the 4th of July, where events shown as happening at University of Syracuse actually happened at several other universities.)

Historical film that presents history without anachronism: The Return of Martin Guerre

• A film about an impostor who takes place of a husband who goes to war. The film takes place in a 16th-century French village.

• Natalie Zemon Davis, a professional historian of France, consulted on the film. Her book was the basis for the film.

• But: Natalie Zemon Davis was criticized for her book anyway, because both the book and the movie speculated about the motives behind the wife’s acceptance of her fake husband--her critic argued that Davis produced an unverifiable “feminist” interpretation

Historical film that aroused protests of French historians despite its historical veracity: Danton (dir. Andrzei Wajda, 1983)

• A film about the French Revolution, where Danton’s execution during the Terror is used as a metaphor for communist repressions in Eastern Europe

• French historians attacked the film as a misinterpretation of the history of the French Revolution

• But: Andrzei Wajda was more interested in communism in Poland than in revolutionary France

Historical film comedy that does not try to be factual yet was lauded for authenticity: The Front (dir. Woody Allen, 1976)

• A film about blacklisted screenwriters in 1950s United States where Woody Allen plays a gambler who submits screenplays written by his blacklisted friends.

• Nobody expected a comedy to be realistic

• But: Woody Allen used many actors who were blacklisted during the 1950s so his film is often used by historians teaching McCarthyism

Art Spiegelman, Maus (1973-1991)

Art Spiegelman, Maus (1973-1991)

Art Spiegelman, Maus (1973-1991)