legoline | Period Drama: Rec Offered and Recs Seeked

Watching the first season of The Tudors this morning I remembered a film I caught on the telly the other night, Stage Beauty. The film basically picks up the plot where Shakespeare in Love left the audience, and tells the story of an actor who was trained to play women on stage, and suddenly finds his life without meaning when women are given permission to perform in theatre. The film is a bit cheesy in parts, but it is very entertaining with a wonderful cast and great performances thereof--particularly Billy Cudrup, who literally moved me to tears. It's a shame this film didn't get the attention Shakespeare in Love received. If you like period drama and the theatre, this film is definitely recommended.

Speaking of recs--I'm really, really in the mood for some good English period drama right now. I love movies like Elizabeth and Shakespeare in Love, or shows like The Tudors, and discovering Stage Beauty I just realised that there are probably many jewels of period drama I just haven't seen or heard of yet--or have seen but forgotten about. So, if you got any recs for period dramas PLEASE TELL ME :D (I've seen my share of Jane Austen adaptions, I'm more in the mood for period drama set before 1800 but if you got recs for good films/shows set past 1800 I wouldn't say no to those either :D )

I don't mind if the film/show takes liberties with the course of historical events, though the history buff in me rejoices about stuff that is "historically correct" (or as correct as history writing can get). In short - GOT RECS? :D

On a related note, I'd also be interested in recs for good books about the history of Britain. Nonfiction, please. Any pointers? :-)

Thank you in advance, guys :-)

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Last year I really enjoyed the 6 part mini-series "The Devil's Whore" about a woman during Oliver Cromwell's time. Andrea Riseborough was -as always- phenomenal:
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt1050057/

While you can only read so much new material about Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart, I still enjoyed reading "Gefahren der Ehe" which illustrated how one seeked power by marrying, while the other one secured her power by refusing to marry.
http://www.amazon.de/Die-Gefahren-Ehe-Elisabeth-England/dp/3458351213/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250859763&sr=8-1

Edited 2009-08-21 13:08 (UTC)

Oh, both look very good--thank you! I hope I can find episodes from "The Devil's Whore", I was really hoping to get recs for Cromwell's time :-)

Thank you!

(By the way, I love how I can always count on you for recs :D Also...I should finish season three of Deadwood, so I can return it to you *facepalm* Stupid exams. But it appears I got a bit of free time ahead, so I'll try to finish watching)

I've recently watched The Devil's Whore, about the British Civil War in 16something, and was more impressed than I had expected to be.

You're the second person to recommend it--it's definitely going on the list. Thanks!

have you heard of the "raj quartet" by paul scott? when i was a kid, i remember watching "the jewel in the crown" miniseries, based on that novel. i still remember it to this day. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086739/
i don't know how you view your films, but i get netflix here.

also, "bleak street" with gillian anderson. i have not seen them, but films based on elizabeth gaskell's novels have good reviews on netflix.

Ooooh, thanks, I might check those out! I really like Elizabeth Gaskell too...

See, as pretty as The Tudors is, it is so historically inaccurate, it makes me twitch. Severely.

Ah, I don't mind really. I know it's a television show *shrugs* Plus, after what Hollywood did to the Brothers Grimm...I just take it as an AU and am happy with it.

Off the top of my head, I can only think of the Kenneth Branagh "Much Ado About Nothing":
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107616/
or Rob Roy, if Scotland'll do: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114287/

Other things refuse to be remembered with titles... but I'm sure if you check IMDB for things like Shakespeare, Chaucer etc, you'll find more.

Edited 2009-08-21 14:41 (UTC)

Ooooh Rob Roy, been meaning to watch that...:D

Thanks for the help!

I believe there is a french movie called Queen Margo that was quite good.

Oh, thanks! Noted :-)

I own only a handful of DVDs but I have Stage Beauty. It was a beautiful movie and I totally cried during this one part.

Oh, absolutely. Billy Cudrup was amazing. It's such a pity the film didn't get more recognition.

(I'm also glad I'm not the only one who has seen it)

Edited 2009-08-23 21:15 (UTC)

When I lived in San Antonio my grandmother and I would go to the art house film theater and see movies that weren't playing anywhere else in San Antonio and this was one of them. :) We saw a lot of independent films this way but what baffled me is why wasn't this movie a wide release??? It was so good!

Oh, that's cool! (You lived in San Antonio? My Nan went there for holidays once--her best friend migrated to the US in the 50's--and she told me it was really pretty! :-) )

what baffled me is why wasn't this movie a wide release??? It was so good!

I know! It even had a cast that could easily have drawn people into the theatres (like Claire Danes or Rupert Everett). I liked "Shakespeare in Love" but personally I think "Stage Beauty" is the better film. I just loved how it didn't just go the "evil men won't let women perform on stage" route but that it also showed that where's winners there's also losers. And that the men didn't just cling to their right to be on stage out of spite.

99.9% of my family is in San Antonio. :)

I loved both "Shakespeare in Love" and "Stage Beauty" but I think Stage Beauty hit me harder where it counts.

Ooooh, that's really cool! :-)

think Stage Beauty hit me harder where it counts.
Very well said and also very true.

"Charles II: The Power & the Passion" mit Rufus Sewell. Sehr gut, obwohl ich diese Zeit gar nicht mag.

Kennst du die "Elizabeth I"-Verfilmung mit Helen Mirren und Jeremy Irons? Auch super, mal was über die ältere Elizabeth I.

Dann gibt es jede Menge Dokus von David Starkey und Simon Schama über British History bzw. die einzelnen Monarchen und Dynastien. Einfach mal googlen. "A History of Britain" von Schama ist genial!

Bücher:
Was lustiges (hatten wir als textbook im "British History"-Kurs an der Uni), "British History for Dummies" von Sean Lang.
Toll recherchierte Bio über Henry VIII, "The Autobiography of Henry VIII, with Notes by His Fool, Will Somers" von Margaret George.
Von derselben Autorin gibts auch was zu Mary Queen of Scots, "Mary Queen of Scotland and the Isles".
DIE Autorinnen schlechthin für britische Geschichte sind aber Antonia Fraser und Alison Weir. Antonia Fraser wird auch oft für TV-Dokus als Expertin interviewt.
Und falls du keine Angst vor einer genialen Romanreihe mit mittlerweile 32 Bänden hast, die das Leben einer ganzen Familiendynastie durch die britische Geschichte ab 1434 bis z.Zt. zum 1. Weltkrieg beschreibt und dabei sämtliche wichtigen historischen Ereignisse mit einflicht, dann ist Cynthia Harrod-Eagles und ihre Morland Dynasty Series was für dich. Ich habe davon jetzt die ersten 6 Bände gelesen, habe weitere 5 schon auf dem SUB und bin von jedem Band aufs Neue begeistert. :-)

Period Drama: Rec Offered and Recs Seeked

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