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Over time, movies set in the past, particularly before the 20th century, have gained a certain reputation. Usually they are big costume period pieces featuring fancy foreign accents, poofy dresses, wigs and some sort of saccharine love story set in a depressing time period. The exception might be the Western genre, where the foreign accents are replaced with drawls and the love story is replaced with a tale of revenge. Despite this obvious formula, period pieces are almost always expected to be great films, or at least decent films with good acting. Why has this become the default prediction? It could be because these films feature a time when history was taking place and it gets audiences to appreciate how much the world has changed. Or, because period dramas usually win a lot of awards early on in the year (another occurrence that has become typical in its own right).
Take filmmaker Amma Asante’s “Belle,” in selected theaters currently, for example. The true story behind the film is actually interesting on its own; it centers around an illegitimate mixed race girl born into a respectable white family, with her deceased father’s money left to her, while her white best friend has no inheritance. The two girls, played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Sarah Gadon, are impressive in the movie, but the tone and direction of it leave viewers feeling like they watched a TV drama on BBC more along the lines of “Downton Abbey.” This also was the case with Tom Hooper’s 2010 film “The King’s Speech” and Steven Spielberg’s 2012 film “Lincoln,” films that were both popular with award shows, and yet quickly overlooked in longevity.
Spielberg is a director who has received criticism for his trademark whimsical feel to lead audiences in, with history-based features like “Lincoln” and “War Horse.” As did Michael Bay with his blockbuster epic “Pearl Harbor,” and even a number of war epics from the old Hollywood era with John Wayne that feel a little dated now. Lighthearted period pieces aren’t necessarily a bad thing in filmmaking, but after a while they can get dull pretty fast. “Belle” could have been a breakthrough for Asante and Mbatha-Raw (and maybe even still could be), but perhaps a different genre or tone would have reaped faster results. What needs to be changed in order for period pieces to be exciting again the same way classics like “Gone with the Wind,” “Doctor Zhivago,” “The Color Purple” and “Titanic” were is hard to say. A small break from the genre might be all it takes, but until then we’ll have to wait and see.
mbianco@durangoherald.com. Megan Bianco is a movie reviewer and also contributes other entertainment related features and articles.
