Can films be a useful historical source?

Yes, the viewer feels what it was like at the time of the film, and the costumes, scenery, weapons and vehicles must be realistic.

The cinema affects the way we see the past in many different ways; some good, some bad. Some good points are that movie directors make sure that the film is as accurate as possible, so as to have the correct sort of atmosphere added to the movie. Lots of money is put into this, which can ensure even more accuracy, by being able to re-construct the actual objects that were used in that point in history. Making it more realistic and believable is very good to add to a movie, because one thing Hollywood aims for is to put the audience in the ‘willing suspension of disbelief’, i.e. putting the viewer in the character’s – not only shoes- but feet, because it takes you that much more closer to the real story, and that specific happening will stick in your head much longer if you are able to identify with a specific character.

The bad points are that the story controls the history, which can lead to quite a few problems- because lots of money is put into the movie, other places, people, organizations…that could use money don’t get the chance to. Movies often focus on making the story line the most powerful possible, and sometimes lose the real historical facts. Other things that movies often do is romanticize the story, and add fictional characters to facts. 

Claire O'Loughlin

Cinemas help people to understand what these events are like. Producers pay a lot of money to get all the facts accurate and to reconstruct the atmosphere of the time. Films can entertain us, and of course because we are being entertained then we remember facts about the times that the film portrayed to us. Films can simplify the story so we can understand it. Because films always have a story to go along with the event then the viewers can really get into the story and feel like they are really there with the people.

There are very many bad points of cinemas presenting the history. When it comes to films, the film doesn’t focus as much on history as it does on the story. Sometimes this confuses the truth and people come away from the film think they know the right thing, however they don’t. In some films they only show the good parts of events, this can be encouraging but also, some of these event are not happy and shouldn’t be taken lightly. And often they cause the viewer to take the side of the “good” characters.   When it comes to war, tragedies (even if they are portrayed in films) all the people or happenings need to be taken into account. Especially in films because people usually forget that when they are being entertained.

The story controls the history and that’s bad. If the story is not interesting then the history of that time becomes boring.  The truth is less important than the story. It has to be interesting because then none would see it. It has to have more story than information. Love has to be present if not….well…it wouldn’t be ok.