Films about the Middle Ages are nothing more than an attempt to look into the past. Despite the fact that historical pictures are far from always realistic, the lifestyle and general idea of the past eras, as a rule, are conveyed fairly truthfully.
Europe
Very often the Middle Ages, especially the European, are associated with the Inquisition, so it is quite understandable why so many films raise this topic. One of the best pictures of this kind is the work of the French director Jean-Jacques Annaud "The Name of the Rose". Despite the fact that the film was shot back in 1986, this detective of the fourteenth century still looks with great interest today.
Luc Besson's film "Jeanne d'Arc", judging by the fees and opinions of critics, is difficult to rank as masterpieces, but there is an opinion that the low assessment of English-speaking experts was due to the fact that the British in this film were shown in a particularly negative light, and this could not but affect the general opinion.
"Robin Hood" by Ridley Scott with Russell Crowe in the title role, did not pass by connoisseurs of films about the Middle Ages, and became one of the best adaptations of the life of the "Prince of Thieves". True, it is worth noting that the filmmakers completely abandoned the folk legends about Robin Hood, creating a plot completely independent of legends.
America
Apocalypse, a 2006 film directed by Mel Gibson, captures the lives of the American people before the arrival of the conquistadors. It is curious that all the actors are representatives of Indian blood, and for many of them it was even a film debut.
"Apocalypse" raises topics that are relevant to our days: this is the destruction of the surrounding world, and corruption, and excessive consumption of the planet's resources.
But the film "New World", starring Colin Farrell, already tells about the events that take place after the arrival of Europeans to the American continent. This melodrama tells the story of the love between the Indian princess Pocahontas and the European explorer John Smith, amid the enmity between the Indian tribes and the British.
Asia
The best films about the Japanese Middle Ages were made in the last century, and one of them is "Kagemusha: The Shadow of the Warrior". The film is largely based on real historical events and tells about a thief who was sentenced to death, but due to the fact that he looked like two peas in a pod like the recently deceased local ruler, he had a different fate.
But a truly cult film about medieval Japan is considered to be "Seven Samurai" - a picture that was filmed back in 1954 by the famous director Akira Kurosawa. The film turned out to be so expressive that it seems that the director himself witnessed these events, and he tells about seven soldiers who protect the peasants from the raids of robbers during the civil war of the sixteenth century.
