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In all honesty, the definition of a “period movie” is pretty broad and far-reaching. If you get a little more specific, there are historical dramas which are usually inspired by real events, or biopics that just so happen to be set a long time ago, or a movie that’s based on a real period in history but has some – or all – characters who are important to the story be fictional.
Regarding the latter, if you go back far enough, details can get murky, what with photography and film being relatively recent inventions in the overall span of human history. Anyway, for present purposes, anything that’s directly based on history or inspired by history in some way can be featured here. If what happens in the film took place ages ago, then here, it’s a period movie. Spanning from the 18th century to World War II, here's a collection of period movies that are essentially perfect.
10 'The Age of Innocence' (1993)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Image via Columbia Pictures There are so many great Martin Scorsese movies set long ago, but of the bunch, the one that feels most distinctly like a period film is The Age of Innocence. It’s set in New York City – Scorsese’s favorite location – throughout the final decades of the 19th century, and tells the story of a well-off man torn between two women.
In fairness, they're also well-off; all the main characters of The Age of Innocence are pretty rich. But the central theme is one that’s universal and transcends wealth/class; it’s a film about the highs and lows of love, also dealing with regret and unflinchingly exploring the consequences of choices made over a long period of time. It’s something different, by Scorsese’s standards, but he nailed making this kind of film, and the three leads – Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Winona Ryder – are all superb.
The Age of Innocence
Release Date October 1, 1993
Director Martin Scorsese
Actors Daniel Day-Lewis, Michelle Pfeiffer, Winona Ryder
Run Time 139 minutes
9 'Titanic' (1997)
Director: James Cameron
Image via 20th Century Fox Is it cheating a bit to call Titanic a period movie, given the story starts around the same point in time the film was released before flashing back more than eight decades? Hopefully not, considering a great deal of the movie is set during 1912, and it’s also such a long movie that the length of time spent in 1912 exceeds the runtime of the majority of movies in their entirety.
The framing device also helps highlight the tragedy of the titular ship’s sinking on a more personal level, with Jack and Rose being the focus and also being fictional, while various other side characters are based on real people who were on the Titanic when it sank. Some might call Titanic cheesy (it can be trendy to have a level of snark towards things that did very well financially), but it’s big, grand, and sweeping in an undeniably effective way, and it struck a chord with many for good reason.
8 'The Piano' (1993)
Director: Jane Campion
Image via BAC Films With a great cast that includes Holly Hunter and Anna Paquin (both of whom won Oscars) alongside Harvey Keitel and Sam Neill, The Piano is centered around romance and conflict long ago, like a good many period movies. It’s set around the middle of the 19th century, and follows a mute woman and her daughter traveling to New Zealand after the former’s sold into marriage to a frontiersman who lives there.
Complications ensue when she begins to fall properly in love with another man, but it’s one of those films where breaking down the plot in such simple terms makes it sound less significant than it is. The Piano is successful as a romantic drama, but it also does so much more, benefiting from a striking score, beautiful cinematography, and a real sense of authenticity, doing what all great period movies should do: effectively transporting viewers back to a point in time that's long gone.
7 'The Last of the Mohicans' (1992)
Director: Michael Mann
Image via 20th Century Fox Like with Martin Scorsese and The Age of Innocence, it’s a tad surprising to see The Last of the Mohicans within the filmography of Michael Mann. When it comes to sleek, oftentimes modern-feeling crime thrillers, Mann’s the man. But, with The Last of the Mohicans, he showed he also had what it took to make an impressive, stirring, and action-packed historical epic.
Well, The Last of the Mohicans is almost an epic in the traditional sense. It goes big and has a lot going on, but the runtime hovers around two hours when it probably could’ve justified a Heat-esque runtime. But what the film ended up being is still pretty much perfect, feeling epic regardless of how long it actually is. The final act in particular is spectacular, and The Last of the Mohicans looks and sounds immense; probably timeless, too.
6 'Little Women' (2019)
Director: Greta Gerwig
Image via Sony Pictures Little Women is partly set during the American Civil War (and shortly after), with the original novel not exactly being a “period story,” given it was first published just a few years after that conflict had ended. But, when it comes to adapting the story on screen, those films can be considered period movies, given how long ago that time in history now is. 2019’s Little Women, in fact, came out exactly 150 years after the second volume of the original novel was published (the first volume came out in 1868).
Narratively, Little Womenis a coming-of-age story centering on four sisters dealing with some things young people growing up have always had to contend with, plus some other things that do prove more dramatic. It’s a sobering reminder of how times may have changed, but some life experiences remain universal. Of all the Little Women film adaptations, it’s arguable that this 2019 one – directed by Greta Gerwig – is the closest to perfect.
5 'Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India' (2001)
Director: Ashutosh Gowariker
Image via SET Pictures If you think cricket is kind of boring, that’s more than understandable. But if you think it’s entirely incapable of being made exciting, then you probably haven’t watched Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India. A film honestly has to be pretty great to earn a “Once Upon a Time in” title, given how great West, America, Hollywood, and Anatolia are… but India joins the prestigious club of great “Once Upon” movies.
It's set right near the end of the 18th century, with a narrative that centers on a group of desperate villagers banding together to become cricket experts, as a British commander who’s been taxing them harshly presents a wager that means they won’t have to pay if they can win a game of cricket. If they lose, they have to pay double. It’s a full-on epic, kind of like Seven Samurai in structure and length, but with cricket instead of sword fighting. It’s honestly just as exciting, too.
4 'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' (2019)
Director: Céline Sciamma
Perhaps there’s a little risk in declaring something from the 2010s perfect, given one can only assume something of that age will stand the test of time. But, as the years go on, it seems unlikely that Portrait of a Lady on Fire will feel in any way diminished in terms of impact. It’s slow, eerie, romantic, and wholly unique; there’s not a great deal else to compare it to.
Perhaps a little like The Piano, the plot (centering on a female painter and another young woman slowly falling in love) sounds simple, and admittedly is on paper, but there’s much more going on beneath the surface. Even if you can’t quite put a finger on what that quality is, Portrait of a Lady on Fire lingers and even haunts the mind long after it’s over, which is appropriate for a movie that’s eventually about one character looking back into the past, unable to escape the memories of what once was.
3 'Schindler's List' (1993)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Image via Universal Pictures There are a decent number of Steven Spielberg movies that can be considered among the greatest of all time, but perhaps his biggest and best achievement as a filmmaker is Schindler’s List. It doesn’t go back quite as far in time as some of the aforementioned period movies, but nevertheless goes back far enough, taking place during World War II and centering on the Holocaust.
It’s technically a war movie, but is more about that particularly horrific event that took place during the war, all the while showing how Oskar Schindler saved over 1000 lives by using his considerable fortune amassed as an industrialist. Schindler’s List finds hints of hope in a time that was largely lacking in it, not shying away from the horrors of the time in question but also highlighting one act of heroism that did ultimately save many lives.
2 'Barry Lyndon' (1975)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Image via Warner Bros. Barry Lyndon is the cool person’s choice for the title of best Stanley Kubrick movie, but the cool kids – though lacking the time – might have a point here. Barry Lyndon is a pretty phenomenal epic with a unique blend of dark humor, class-related drama, and tragedy, all with some impressive set pieces and a true dedication to making everything look and sound beautiful.
Narratively, Barry Lyndon is about a man striving to elevate his position within society back in the 18th century, stopping at nothing, even if it means making countless enemies and putting himself in danger. It feels grand and covers a great deal of time, which helps ensure the 185-minute runtime passes by surprisingly fast, even with sequences throughout that do take their time. It’s a patient film, but it’s always going somewhere at its own pace, and in its own way.
1 'Amadeus' (1984)
Director: Miloš Forman
Image via Orion Pictures It dodges historical accuracy to some extent, sure, but Amadeus is nonetheless a phenomenal period movie that could also qualify as a loose biopic about two composers from the 18th century: Antonio Salieri and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The latter is, of course, more well-known, and the film plays into this, largely being about the intense jealousy the former feels at Mozart’s immense success.
Amadeus is a full-on epic and an incredibly entertaining one, feeling authentic when it comes to capturing a time and place, but getting more adventurous narratively with the central conflict that’s likely exaggerated for dramatic effect. But what drama it allows; perhaps one of the most riveting in cinematic history that’s not physical necessarily, in the way you'd expect more standard conflicts to be. Amadeus is more a battle of wits as well as an in-depth exploration of jealousy, and the madness that can come with it when it grows out of control.
NEXT: Movies From the 2000s That Are Perfect From Start to Finish
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