Changing History
Historical films are very popular nowadays, as is shown by the success of films about the Spartans, King Arthur, or Shakespeare, just to mention a few. Nevertheless, creators of such films are often criticised when they stray from proven historical facts: critics simply cannot wait to pounce upon every liberty taken as well as every accidental mistake. Taking both of these sides into account creates a paradox that should not exist. Films are a form of entertainment and art, not education or documentation. Therefore, film creators should be given artistic license when portraying historical people and events.
First of all, making alterations of varying degrees to historical events can serve a very important purpose: bringing these events closer to the audience. Simplifying certain events or modifying certain characters are just two examples of making history more understandable, and therefore more enjoyable for an audience far removed from past events. Another tactic employed by filmmakers to achieve this is the addition of fictional characters, often protagonists, and through these characters, adding concurrent fictional storylines, most often a romantic subplot, to an existing historical event. A good example of this tactic is the 2006 Hungarian film Szabadság, Szerelem (known as Children of Glory in English) directed by Krisztina Goda. While this film is mostly faithful to the true history of the 1956 revolution, the true gravity of the situation is shown through the struggles of a fictional couple. They act as a sort of focusing lens between the audience and history, bringing the audience closer to a momentous event in the history of a nation. When the audience feels the connection, it becomes easier for the film to evoke powerful feelings of pride, sorrow, or joy; or to send a strong message or express a certain opinion concerning the historical event in question.
Furthermore, films are, ultimately, a form of mass entertainment. As such, historical accurateness can become a secondary concern for artists working in the aptly named film industry. Filmmakers have to maintain the precarious balance between truth and accurateness, and fiction and visuals, especially in films where history serves as a backdrop of legends, such as Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy (2004), Zack Snyder’s infamous 300 (2006), or any film adaptation of the legend of Robin Hood. All the while, the creators of these films must also take financial matters into account: audiences may not be willing to pay to see a film adaptation of their school history textbook; or rather, they are more likely to be willing to see it with more gore, nudity, and explosions. It is not a coincidence, then, that of the films mentioned here, 300, which is only very loosely based on historical events, was the most financially successful, earning $210 592 590 gross profit only in the USA a few months after its initial release, with its budget of an estimated $65 000 000.
Finally, a more practical argument for using artistic license is that the further back we go in history, the less we know about a certain era, and so it becomes increasingly difficult so show events happening in that era. The gaps in our knowledge need to be filled with something; for instance, we know a lot about ancient Greece, but we certainly do not know everything, and the things we do know may not be enough for the purpose of a film, especially since films usually show more than what we can learn from history books and museums. Therefore, if the choices are to either never make films based on historical events in ancient Greece or to take a few liberties when portraying the age’s people, clothing, buildings, and so on, then the latter is preferable.
In conclusion, it is not difficult to see that without the use of some artistic license, films based on historical events could easily lose their message, become unentertaining, unprofitable, and generally not as popular as they are today.
Bibliography
Gunning, T. (2005). From the Making Sense of Evidence series on History
Matters: The U.S. Survey on the Web. Retrieved from
http://historymatters.gmu.edu
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