History in Technicolour

Napoleon

Ridley Scott's long awaited latest epic; a 'character study' of one of the most influential figures of European history, who reshaped a continent. It has been accompanied

Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan's biography of J Robert Oppenheimer is visually stunning, rich, ambitious...also quite long. Did it engage you, was it thought provoking, present a conv

The Great Escape

Released in 1863 The Great Escape has got to be one of the definitive tales of derring-do, the ultimate escapism, in the 'film is fun' genre. What role would you have had

Chariots of Fire

I remember back in 1981 this film was a sensation; we were all running around on beaches in slo-mo. Has it stood the test of time, though, and is it any more than a bit o

Bright Star

Jane Campion's Bright Star was released in 2009 and featured on the lives of Fanny Browne and John Keats in the last years of Keat's life. Abbie Cornish and Ben Wishaw do

Gladiator

Ridley Scott's classic - is it, and were you entertained or did it unleash hell? Has it stood the test of time? And how well does the revenge format work? This and much m

The Lost King

The Lost King follows the remarkable story of Ricardian Phillipa Langley, whose steely determination and persistence led to the discovery of the body of Richard III and p

Lagaan

The evil British oppressor Captain Russell - twiddly 'tache and all - forces the poor hapless (and stonkingly rich) Raja to impose the traditional tax, Lagaan threefold o

In Cold Blood

The 1967 film noir adaptation of Truman Capote's famous book, In Cold Blood tells of the gruesome story of the murders of the Clutter family. It used a quasi document sty

The Favourite

This 2018 film directed by Yorgos Lanthimos is a glorious tragi-comedy about the lives of three women - Queen Anne, Sarah Churchill and Abigail Hill. It travels the full

Rob Roy

Rob Roy is a 1995 film telling a story of a Highland clan chief Rob Roy McGregor played by Liam Neeson; Jessica :Lange, John Hurt, Tim Roth, Brian Cox are superb. The bes

Cromwell

Cromwell was a 1970 film starring Richard Harris as the eponymous, and Alec Guiness as Charles I. Massive in scale and ambition, in its attempt to present Oliver as a dem

Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette is the 2006 film directed by Sophia Coppola. It took a highly stylised and sumptuous approach, with modern music – though nailing the cake thing. Recepti

The Duellists

The Duellists is Ridley Scott’s first feature film, in 1977. It describes a vicious feud of honour between two officers over the course of the Napoleonic wars Hosted on A

Zulu

The 1964 Epic Zulu, first major role for Michael Caine was super popular - I saw it in my youth for sure. So how well has it worn? Is it a great drama, and in the light o

Kingdom of Heaven

Ridley Scott's 2005 historical epic came soon after the massive success of Gladiator, and consciously aimed to repeat it's success. It didn't manage it, but the Director'

Monty Python

Monty Python produced two deeply researched dramas analysing the reign of the great British Hero King Arthur, and the religious leader, Brian. How accurate are they, and

Land and Freedom

The 1995 film about the Spanish Civil war, directed by Ken Loach and heavily influenced by Orwell's Homage to Catalonia. The film sees the war through the eyes of an Engl

49th Parallel

A 1941 Powell and Pressburger film designed to persuade the American people of the need to join the war against the Nazis. "Goebbels considered himself an expert on propa

Peterloo

The massacre at St Peters Field in 1819 was a key date in the story of the development of democracy in Britain. Mike Lee's film sets out to restore that sense of outrage