The Hollywood Historical Film

A comprehensive analysis of the historical film a popular and controversial genre that s been with us since the early days of cinema and Hollywood s unique ability to reshape our viewpoints while it sensually recreates the past.

• Provides a complete guide to the unique characteristics of historical film, distinguishing among sub-genres such as historical epics, war films, biographies, topical films, and meta-historic works like Nixon and JFK
• Offers detailed analyses of groundbreaking films such as Spartacus, Schindler s List, and United 93
• Examines the dual role of the historical film to entertain and educate, with its tendency to arouse critical and popular controversy
• Stimulates discussion about Hollywood s power to persuade and reshape our views of the past