Final Post

Coming into this class, I did not know what to expect. I knew we were going to watch history films, but I did not think we would watch films from one hundred years ago. I think it is interesting how these history films we have watched has shown what the medieval era was like.

The one movie that comes to mind is The Vikings (1958). Before this movie, I did not know much about Vikings and their history, but this film gave me a good image. I think this movie presented the history of vikings very well. It showed their savage and aggressive personalities.

The Sorceress (1987) also presented the middle ages well. This film gave the image of how women were treated in the middle ages. I think this film did a good job because Elda was a healer to everyone, but the Friar did not believe she was doing the right thing. She was treated like she was less powerful than the men in that time. That’s how life was back in the middle ages. Women did not have much authority of things, and I think this film presented that image well.

There were also some movies that did not present an accurate representation of the middle ages. Court Jester (1955) didn’t have many fighting scenes in it, and, to me, that doesn’t seem what the middle ages were like. This film was more about the comedy and entertainment, not about presenting an accurate image of the Middle Ages. A Knight’s Tale (2001) is another movie that didn’t present the middle ages very well. This movie had many modern things incorporated into it. It had music that was very modern, and had humor that was modern as well. Even though these two films weren’t completely accurate about the middle ages, most of the films we watched were accurate. A lot of the films gave me a good image at how people lived in that era. The films definitely helped me get a better understanding on the middle ages and how things were back then.  

 

Favorite Movies in Class

In class, we have watched eleven movies so far, and there have been some that I really have liked. The Sword in the Stone (1963) has probably been my favorite so far. I liked it because it was a children’s movie, and because it was animated. To me, animated films make the movie a lot more entertaining and a lot more fun to watch. Being a children’s movie made it easy to follow. I think that some of the movies we have watched have been confusing to me because I don’t have very much info about the times the movies were made. But this movie made it a lot more simple because it was a children’s movie. I also liked how the film had talking animals because I think that spiced things up a bit

 

Court Jester (1955) was another movie that I really liked. I liked this one because it had a lot of humor incorporated into it. Comedies are very fun to watch, and they make it easier to watch. I also liked how it was a musical. I think the songs made the film humorous because some of the songs were so funny. Hubert Hawkins was a very funny characters, and he spiced up the movie a lot. He was the one that made the movie so funny.

 

The Vikings (1958) was one of my other favorites. The thing I liked about this movie was the storyline. I really liked how they incorporated a romance because I think that brightens up the plot. I also liked how the director showed us how the vikings actually lived. They were savages and you could tell by the activities they did. The part where they caught the wife cheating, and the husband would throw three knives at her head to see if she was guilty or not. I thought that scene was interesting because it truly shows how savage they are.

 

These three films are my favorites from the movies we have watched so far. I am excited to keep watching and see if I love any other films.

How to Train Your Dragon Critique

For my double feature paper, I decided to compare The Sword in the Stone (1963) and How to Train Your Dragon (2010). Both of these movies are children’s movies, which made them fun to watch. How to Train Your Dragon (2010) is directed by Dean DeBlois and is about a boy named Hiccup who is a son of a viking. Hiccup lives with all the vikings and they fight and kill dragons. Hiccup is a particularly small boy, so when it comes to killing the dragons, his dad doesn’t let him because he will get hurt. Hiccup then stumbles upon a very dangerous Dragon, Night Fury, and surprisingly, Night Fury doesn’t kill Hiccup. After that, Hiccup knew he had a special power because he knew if it were anyone else, the dragon would’ve killed him. Hiccup learns to train dragons and be gentle with them. Everyone in their village is so amazed, but thinks they still need to kill the dragons. Hiccup teaches the vikings that the dragons are nice, and that they shouldn’t kill them anymore.

 

How to Train Your Dragon (2010) didn’t really create a very good image of the middle ages. The thing I thought that didn’t create a good image was the dialogue. I think the director wanted to connect the characters to present day, so they didn’t talk like the middle ages. One example comes to mind. When Hiccup is talking about himself, he jokingly says “I am way too muscular for them, They don’t know what to do with all of this” *as he is flexing his arms*. To me, that isn’t something someone would’ve said in the medieval era. Throughout the movie, the characters would just say some lines that were pretty modern which didn’t give a good image of the middle ages.

Other than the dialogue, there was some things that gave a good image of the middle ages. They had vikings and swords. The costumes weren’t very accurate, but you could tell they were vikings. You could definitely tell that the director did some research of vikings and has most of the right elements. Overall, I really liked this movie and I recommend watching it because it is humorous, adventurous, and has some parts that tug at your heart.

Court Jester (1955) and The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) Comparison

To me, I think most of the films we have watched in class have been very similar, but they also have their differences. In this blog I chose to compare the two movies The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Court Jester (1955). I think that these movies were more similar than different to each other. A similarity I noticed was they both incorporated a romance in the movie. In Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), Sir Robin boils up a romance with Maid Marian, and that makes the movie a little more interesting because it doesn’t have only one plot. The romance spices the storyline up a little bit. That is also what happens in Court Jester (1955) too. Hubert Hawkins has a little romance with Maid Jean and Princess Gwendolyn. Both of those women were in a little competition for Hubert. That really spiced things up and made it a little more interesting.

 

Another similarity between these movies is that they both have lots of color incorporated into their set and costumes. In both movies, the characters wore costumes that were either bright green, red, or blue. It seemed a little too much at first, but as the movie went on, it kind of grew on me because I thought it made the movie a little more fun.

 

Another similarity between these movies is the use of shadows. In Court Jester (1955), you see Maid Jean hitting someone on the head through a shadow, you don’t actually see her doing it. The same thing happens in Adventures of Robin Hood (1938). There was a scene where you see a shadow of people fighting. I think that is a cool effect the director’s used because it gives you a different look and feel of the fight scene.

A difference that I noticed in these two movies was the humor. In Court Jester (1955), there was a lot of funny jokes and tongue twisters included, and it made it a little more entertaining. In Adventures of Robin Hood (1938), there wasn’t much humor that was included. The humor in Court Jester (1955) made it a little more easier to watch because I watch lots of comedy movies, so it was nice to get a little touch of the present in Court Jester (1955).

First Week of Hollywood History

Coming into this class, I did not really know what to expect. I thought we were going to watch movies that were from fifty years ago, not movies that were produced over one hundred years ago. Watching La Passion de Jeanne d’Arc / The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) was very interesting. It was definitely not like a movie I have seen before. I never have seen a silent movie, and it was not what I expected. I thought it was a movie where there was actually no sound, so when I saw that The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) had some music, I was pretty relieved. Overall, I think that movie was pretty good, but it was kind of hard to follow because if you missed a couple of the dialogue, you could get lost. I was also confused because if they had a separate screen for the dialogue, then why don’t they just say it? They acted like they were talking, and they had the dialogue, but they did not actually speak it. I guess I was confused as to why they just didn’t speak the dialogue. I just think that shows how much movies can change as time goes on. Because even just watching a movie seven years later, it was a lot different. Watching The Crusades (1935) was easier to watch than The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) because it was not a silent film, which makes it easier to follow. I am excited to see how the technology and acting gets better as we start to get closer to the present day movies. The acting in these two movies are not bad, but compared to the actors we have today, they are not that good. The action scenes are not near as good as the ones we have in movies today. It is fun to see what movies were like one hundred years ago, and I am excited to watch more, and see how they get better.