C. / Favorite Period Dramas
Including both films and mini series.
I keep adding more films every month so come often and don't forget to comment please !
I keep adding more films every month so come often and don't forget to comment please !
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- DirectorJames IvoryStarsMaggie SmithHelena Bonham CarterDenholm ElliottLucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter) shares a brief romance with George Emerson in Florence. Yet as she tries to move on with her life and look for marriage elsewhere, can she truly forget the events of that summer?My favorite film of all time ! Everything is perfect. A true masterpiece.
- StarsDaniela Denby-AsheRichard ArmitageTim Pigott-SmithNorth and South is a four-part adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's love story of Margaret Hale, a middle-class southerner who is forced to move to the northern town of Milton.My Favorite mini serie of all time ! Richard Armitage is definitively one of the best actor on earth.
- StarsColin FirthJennifer EhleSusannah HarkerWhile the arrival of wealthy gentlemen sends her marriage-minded mother into a frenzy, willful and opinionated Elizabeth Bennet matches wits with haughty Mr. Darcy.The Best version ever made of the Jane Austen's famous novel. Colin Firth IS Mr Darcy.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsAudrey HepburnRex HarrisonStanley HollowayIn 1910s London, snobbish phonetics professor Henry Higgins agrees to a wager that he can make crude flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, presentable in high society.Wonderful story, wonderful actors, wonderful soundtrack !
- StarsRuth WilsonToby StephensLorraine AshbourneA young governess falls in love with her brooding and complex master. However, his dark past may destroy their relationship forever.Best version of Charlotte Bronte novel. Toby Stephens is perfect in Mr Rochester.
PLEASE DO NOT WATCH THE 2011 VERSION. This is a disaster ! - CreatorJulian FellowesStarsHugh BonnevillePhyllis LoganElizabeth McGovernA chronicle of the lives of the British aristocratic Crawley family and their servants in the early twentieth century.Written by the great Julian Fellowes. Can't wait for the season two !
- DirectorTom HooperStarsColin FirthGeoffrey RushHelena Bonham CarterThe story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.Colin Firth at his best !
- DirectorNikolaj ArcelStarsAlicia VikanderMads MikkelsenMikkel Boe FølsgaardA young queen, who is married to an insane king, falls secretly in love with her physician - and together they start a revolution that changes a nation forever.Mads Mikkelsen kicks ass !!!
- DirectorJean CocteauRené ClémentStarsJean MaraisJosette DayMila ParélyA beautiful young woman takes her father's place as the prisoner of a mysterious beast, who wishes to marry her.A masterpiece !
- DirectorRobert AltmanStarsMaggie SmithRyan PhillippeMichael GambonSet in the 1930s, a group of pretentious rich and famous get together for a weekend of relaxation at a hunting resort. But when a murder occurs, each one of these interesting characters becomes a suspect.One of the best films I've seen. A great cast and a wonderful screenplay written by Julian Fellowes, a genius !
- DirectorMel GibsonStarsMel GibsonSophie MarceauPatrick McGoohanScottish warrior William Wallace leads his countrymen in a rebellion to free his homeland from the tyranny of King Edward I of England.An AMAZING story ! I usually don't really like Mel Gibson, but I have to admit I was astonished !
- DirectorMax OphülsStarsJoan FontaineLouis JourdanMady ChristiansA pianist about to flee from a duel receives a letter from a woman he cannot remember, who may hold the key to his downfall.Get out your tissues !
- DirectorShekhar KapurStarsCate BlanchettLiz GilesRod CulbertsonThe early years of the reign of Elizabeth I of England and her difficult task of learning what is necessary to be a monarch.
- DirectorJane CampionStarsHolly HunterHarvey KeitelSam NeillIn the mid-19th century a mute woman is sent to New Zealand along with her young daughter and prized piano for an arranged marriage to a farmer, but is soon lusted after by a farm worker.
- DirectorAndy TennantStarsDrew BarrymoreAnjelica HustonDougray ScottThe Brothers Grimm arrive at the home of a wealthy Grande Dame who speaks of the many legends surrounding the fable of the cinder girl before telling the "true" story of her ancestor.I really liked the way they recreated the Cinderella story. A very good romantic drama !
- DirectorJohn HoughStarsDiana RiggEdward FoxHelena Bonham CarterWhen compulsive gambler Sir Giles Staverley (Christopher Plummer) has lost his estate and all of his money playing dice, he realizes that he only has one thing left of value: his daughter Serena (Helena Bonham Carter). In a final game, he stakes his daughter's hand in marriage, convinced that this time he will not lose. Unfortunately, however, he does lose; to the evil Lord Harry Wrotham (Edward Fox). Unable to return home and tell his daughter that he has lost her in a game of dice, Sir Giles kills himself there and then. Lord Justin Vulcan (Marcus Gilbert), who has witnessed the events, takes pity on Serena Staverley, although they have never met. He challenges Lord Harry Wrotham to a game of dice in which the winner takes Staverley Court and Miss Serena. Lord Justin Vulcan wins and is simply pleased that he has saved someone from the nasty Wrotham, he thinks no more about the event. One evening, however, Vulcan's friend Lord Peter Gillingham (Robert Addie) insists upon them going to Staverley Court to take a look at Vulcan's "prize". When arriving there, Vulcan finds Serena Staverley more beautiful than he ever imagined.
- DirectorFrancis Ford CoppolaStarsGary OldmanWinona RyderAnthony HopkinsThe centuries old vampire Count Dracula comes to England to seduce his barrister Jonathan Harker's fiancée Mina Murray and inflict havoc in the foreign land.Gary Oldman is the perfect Dracula !
- DirectorVictor FlemingGeorge CukorSam WoodStarsClark GableVivien LeighThomas MitchellA sheltered and manipulative Southern belle and a roguish profiteer face off in a turbulent romance as the society around them crumbles with the end of slavery and is rebuilt during the Civil War and Reconstruction periods.A classic !
- DirectorAndy TennantStarsJodie FosterChow Yun-FatBai LingThe story of the romance between the King of Siam and widowed British schoolteacher, Anna Leonowens, during the 1860s.Such a beautiful film !
- StarsDominic CooperCharity WakefieldHattie MorahanThe sisters Eleanor and Marianne Dashwood try to find love and security in the 1800's. These two sisters coudn't be more different. Where Eleanor is calm and always acts proper Marianne is passionate and usally forgets herself.My favorite version. I didn't like Hugh Grant in the 1995 version.
- DirectorOliver ParkerStarsRupert EverettColin FirthFrances O'ConnorIn 1890s London, two friends use the same pseudonym ("Ernest") for their on-the-sly activities. Hilarity ensues.Colin Firth and Rupert Everett are simply brilliant !
- DirectorJoe WrightStarsKeira KnightleyMatthew MacfadyenBrenda BlethynSparks fly when spirited Elizabeth Bennet meets single, rich, and proud Mr. Darcy. But Mr. Darcy reluctantly finds himself falling in love with a woman beneath his class. Can each overcome their own pride and prejudice?A good version too. Keira Knightley is an amazing actress.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsGlenn CloseJohn MalkovichMichelle PfeifferA scheming widow and her manipulative ex-lover make a bet regarding the corruption of a recently married woman.
- CreatorBill GallagherStarsOlivia HallinanSarah LancashireJulia SawalhaAn adaptation of Flora Thompson's autobiographical novel "Lark Rise To Candleford", set in 19 century Oxfordshire, in which a young girl moves to the local market town to begin an apprenticeship as a postmistress.Great, great, great, great ! I only wish the BBC would do a fifth season...
- CreatorBill GallagherSarah BartonSarah BrownStarsJoanna VanderhamEmun ElliottStephen WightThe story of a young woman who works in a department store and gets caught up in the charms of the modern world.LOVE IT, LOVE IT !
- StarsMatthew RhysAnna Maxwell MartinMatthew GoodeElizabeth and Darcy, now six years married, are preparing for their annual ball when festivities are brought to an abrupt halt. An adaptation of PD James's homage to Pride and Prejudice.
- DirectorMarshall HerskovitzStarsCatherine McCormackRufus SewellOliver PlattA Venetian courtesan becomes a hero to her city, but later becomes the target of an inquisition by the Church for witchcraft.A moving true story.
- StarsVittoria PucciniJane AlexanderAlessandro PreziosiThe series follows the lives of star-crossed lovers Elisa Scalzi, an honest but poor woman, and Count Fabrizio Ristori. Their love is hindered by a conspiracy led by Lucrezia, a noblewoman who also fell in love with Fabrizio.A wonderful italian serie. Sometimes, it is TOO romantic but I love the actors so much !
- StarsMegan FollowsColleen DewhurstRichard FarnsworthAn orphan girl, sent to an elderly brother and sister by mistake, charms her new home and community with her fiery spirit and imagination.
- DirectorJohn MaddenStarsGwyneth PaltrowJoseph FiennesGeoffrey RushThe world's greatest ever playwright, William Shakespeare, is young, out of ideas and short of cash, but meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays.I didn't like Joseph Fiennes, I thought he was overacting, but all the other actors were great !
- DirectorJustin ChadwickStarsNatalie PortmanScarlett JohanssonEric BanaTwo sisters contend for the affection of King Henry VIII.
- DirectorNick CassavetesStarsGena RowlandsJames GarnerRachel McAdamsAn elderly man reads to a woman with dementia the story of two young lovers whose romance is threatened by the difference in their respective social classes.A must see, definitively.
- StarsGemma ArtertonEddie RedmayneRuth JonesThe story of Tess Durbeyfield, a low-born country girl whose family find they have noble connections.Polanski's adaptation of Tess is nothing compared to this one !
- DirectorEdward ZwickStarsBrad PittAnthony HopkinsAidan QuinnIn the early 1900s, three brothers and their father living in the remote wilderness of Montana are affected by betrayal, history, love, nature, and war.A good melodrama. Brad Pitt and Julia Ormond are excellent.
- DirectorPhilippe de BrocaStarsDaniel AuteuilFabrice LuchiniVincent PerezThe Comte de Gonzague schemes against his cousin, the Duc de Nevers, even though he is the Duke's heir and will inherit his estates. The Count has kept secret the existence of the Duke's bastard, recently born. When the Duke learns of his child, he journeys to wed the mother, a baron's daughter, in her father's isolated chateau. The occupants of the castle are surprised and murdered by the Count and his men. The only ones to escape are the Duke's friend, the skilled swordsman Lagardère, and the infant, a girl, now the rightful heiress to the Duke's vast fortune. The Count believes the pair to have drowned, when in fact they have been concealed by a travelling troupe of Italian players. Twenty years pass. The Count has discovered that the two survive and seeks to have them slain. But Lagardère gains the confidence of the Count, and employment as his bookkeeper, through his clever disguise as a hunch-back...A good film of cape et d'epee, especially the amazing ending !
- DirectorSaul DibbStarsKeira KnightleyRalph FiennesDominic CooperA chronicle of the life of 18th-century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who was revered for her extravagant political and personal life.
- StarsToby StephensTara FitzgeraldRupert GravesAn adaptation of Anne Bronte's novel; a young widow takes her son and moves to Yorkshire.
- StarsElisabeth Dermot WalshLiam CunninghamEleanor MethvenAfter a casual fling with an actor, a 1930s Irish woman becomes pregnant and avoids the stigma of raising a bastard child by marrying a boring older man.I thought it looks very much like Pride & Prejudice, but still this is a must-see.
- StarsIan McShaneMatthew MacfadyenEddie RedmayneSet against a backdrop of war, religious strife and power struggles which tears lives and families apart.
- DirectorTrevor NunnStarsHelena Bonham CarterCary ElwesJohn WoodThe story of Lady Jane Grey, who was Queen of England for only nine days.Helena Bonham-Carter is fantastic !
- DirectorJean-Marc ValléeStarsEmily BluntRupert FriendPaul BettanyA dramatization of the turbulent first years of Queen Victoria's rule, and her enduring romance with Prince Albert.
- StarsJemima RooperMorven ChristieAlex KingstonAmanda, an ardent Jane Austen fan, lives in present day London with her boyfriend Michael, until she finds she's swapped places with Austen's fictional creation Elizabeth Bennet.I know this is not exactly a period drama but more than half of this mini serie takes place in Pride & Prejudice, so I put it there. Anyway, watch IT !
- StarsElaine CassidySally HawkinsImelda StauntonIn Victorian England, Sue, a young thief, participates in a scam to defraud a rich heiress by becoming her maid. Things take an unexpected turn and Sue's plan goes horribly wrong.Amazing plot, well done.
- DirectorJean-Pierre JeunetStarsAudrey TautouGaspard UllielJodie FosterTells the story of a young woman's relentless search for her fiancé, who has disappeared from the trenches of the Somme during World War One.
- DirectorAlbert LewinStarsGeorge SandersHurd HatfieldDonna ReedA corrupt young man somehow keeps his youthful beauty, but a special painting gradually reveals his inner ugliness to all.The best version according to me. The one with Ben Barnes was fine but quite weird...
- DirectorJohn CurranStarsNaomi WattsEdward NortonLiev SchreiberDr Walter gets married to the beautiful Kitty but soon finds out that she is cheating on him. Battling his way through problems, he heads to China to fight a dreaded disease spread in a small village.
- DirectorJohn MaddenStarsJudi DenchBilly ConnollyGeoffrey PalmerWhen Queen Victoria's husband Prince Albert dies, she finds solace in her trusted servant, Mr. John Brown, but their relationship also brings scandal and turmoil.
- CreatorSue BirtwistleSusie ConklinStarsJudi DenchImelda StauntonJulia McKenzieIn the 1840s, Cranford is ruled by the ladies. They adore good gossip, and romance and change is in the air, as the unwelcome grasp of the Industrial Revolution rapidly approaches their beloved rural market-town.Loved the actors so much !
- DirectorJon JonesStarsGeraldine JamesMichael JuddJulia DeardenA young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart.JJ Feild looks exactly like the son-in-law that every mother would like to have haha !
- DirectorNikita MikhalkovStarsJulia OrmondOleg MenshikovAleksey PetrenkoAt the turn of the century, a young Russian cadet falls in love with an American beauty, endangering his career and even their lives.Unknown but damn good !
- DirectorFrançois OzonStarsRomola GaraiSam NeillLucy RussellThe rise and fall of a young eccentric British writer, in the early 20th century.For Romola Garai.
- StarsDiahann CarrollMario Van PeeblesSam NeillThis epic television miniseries explores the complicated relationship of Thomas Jefferson and slave Sally Hemings, who conducted a 38-year, ocean-spanning love affair that produced children, grandchildren, and lots of controversy.I really liked this one
- DirectorJames CameronStarsLeonardo DiCaprioKate WinsletBilly ZaneA seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.Not a masterpiece, but at least a must see.
- StarsAneurin BarnardRebecca FergusonAmanda HaleThree different, yet equally relentless women vie for the throne in 15th-century England.
- DirectorStefan SchwartzStarsAlice EvansDaniel LapaineSophia MylesA group of Irish noblemen kidnap girls in order to marry into their fortune and avoid becoming priests or soldiers.
- DirectorHenry KosterStarsOlivia de HavillandRichard BurtonAudrey DaltonA young man plots revenge against the woman he believes murdered his cousin, but his plans are shaken when he comes face to face with the enigmatic beauty.
- StarsPaolo SegantiAnna SafroncikAlessandra BarzaghiTwenty years have passed and many things have changed in Rivombrosa and in Europe. Napoleon's Army has swept into Italy and Piedmont, with its promise of freedom, equality and brotherhood. However, military occupation also delivers poverty, insecurity and oppression. In Rivombrosa and the surrounding villages, a group of masked outlaws wages guerrilla warfare against the French, hurting the occupiers in manpower and treasure. Nobles and farmers alike whisper the name of the their leader in fear. Though summer casts its golden hues on Rivombrosa, the prevailing mood couldn't be darker.
- StarsAdriana OzoresAmaia SalamancaYon GonzálezA family-owned hotel in the fictional coastal Spanish town of Cantaloa in 1905: love, blackmail, jealousies, crime, comedy, and plots and counter-plots all involving the hotel's owners, guests, detectives, and residential employees.
- DirectorErnst MarischkaStarsRomy SchneiderKarlheinz BöhmMagda SchneiderIn the first of a trilogy of movies about Elisabeth "Sissi" of Austria, the vibrant young princess catches the eye of her sister's fiancé, Emperor Franz Josef.Cheesy but still a must see !
- DirectorFrançois OzonStarsPierre NineyPaula BeerErnst StötznerIn the aftermath of WWI, a young German who grieves the death of her fiancé in France meets a mysterious Frenchman who visits the fiancé's grave to lay flowers.
- DirectorJulian JarroldStarsSarah GadonBel PowleyEmily WatsonOn V.E. Day in 1945, as peace extends across Europe, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret are allowed out to join the celebrations. It is a night full of excitement, danger and the first flutters of romance.
- DirectorJames KentStarsAlicia VikanderKit HaringtonTaron EgertonA British woman recalls coming of age during World War I - a story of young love, the futility of war, and how to make sense of the darkest times.
- DirectorJohn CrowleyStarsSaoirse RonanEmory CohenDomhnall GleesonAn Irish immigrant lands in 1950s Brooklyn, where she quickly falls into a romance with a local. When her past catches up with her, however, she must choose between two countries and the lives that exist within.
- DirectorThomas VinterbergStarsCarey MulliganMatthias SchoenaertsMichael SheenIn Victorian England, the independent and headstrong Bathsheba Everdene attracts three very different suitors: Gabriel Oak, a sheep farmer; Frank Troy, a reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood, a prosperous and mature bachelor.
- CreatorPeter MorganStarsClaire FoyOlivia ColmanImelda StauntonFollows the political rivalries and romances of Queen Elizabeth II's reign and the events that shaped Britain for the second half of the 20th century.
- CreatorDebbie HorsfieldStarsAidan TurnerEleanor TomlinsonJack FarthingRoss Poldark returns home after the American Revolutionary War and rebuilds his life with a new business venture, making new enemies and finding a new love where he least expects it.
- StarsPaula EchevarríaMiguel Ángel SilvestreAitana Sánchez-GijónA feel-good, compelling Spanish story of a fashion house in Madrid in the late 50's, which is scene to money, fashion, drama, entanglements, love, jealousies, plots, counter-plots involving its owners, customers and residential employees.
- CreatorAndrew DaviesKate BrookeStarsRon CookJeremy PivenTom Goodman-HillCenters on the real-life story of the flamboyant and visionary American founder of Selfridge's, London's department store.