Best Period Movies Of The 90s

The 90s really were a time to be alive! At least if you’re really into period piece movies. There were a few directors kicking about in very good form, and some stellar acting performances. Spielberg directed two massive hits in Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan during the 90s alone. Don’t sniff at the 90s – with period movies like Braveheart, The Shawshank Redemption and dare I say; Titanic.

Schindler’s List (1993 – Steven Spielberg)

What to say about Schindler’s List: Devastating, soul-crushing and life-affirming at the same time. It’s based on the novel: Schindler’s Ark, by Thomas Keneally. Set during WW2, it tells the story of Jewish refugees that survived the Holocaust. Liam Neeson’s Oskar Schindler – an ethnic German from then-Czechoslovakia, is an opportunist, seeking his fortune and perhaps an identity when he arrives in Krakow. He acquires an enamelware factory by bribing Nazi officials and employs Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley) to administrate and exploit his contacts in the Jewish business community.

Initially, Schindler shows little empathy for the Jewish workers beneath him, regarding them as little more than cheap labour. But he witnesses the liquidation of the Krakow ghetto under the direction of Amon Goth (Ralph Fiennes) and the massacre of thousands of Jews. After this, Schindler changes.

In the time that follows, Schindler protects his workforce, paying a sequence of bribes at the expense of his own fortune. He saves them from otherwise certain death at the Auschwitz extermination camp and runs out of money at the time Germany surrenders. Schindler flees with nothing of the fortune he came for but having saved over a thousand lives. Goth’s handling of lives at Plaszow is terrifying – shooting workers at random. Schindler’s actions then, are all the more striking – acting in defiance at times while carefully maintaining his relationships with individuals like Goth. Before Schindler flees, saying farewell to the people he had protected, it dawns on him, he could have sacrificed even more of his material possessions to save lives – and he breaks down.

Verdict

One history professor; Omer Bartov, stated the humanisation of Schindler is “banal” and perhaps out of character. Keneally writes of a more flawed hero as the movie reflects little of his whoring and drinking. We get a misleading image of Schindler. That said, the depiction of the atrocities committed are accurate, omitting some of the worse atrocities. But in this way, Spielberg holds our attention. We as the watcher, observe terrible acts plainly. Spielberg takes some liberties in his interpretation of Keneally’s text, but if we believe Schindler’s heroism against the terrible atrocities that undoubtedly took place, then it’s quite a story. Its transcendent beauty and redemptive power is incredible. Liam Neeson’s anguish, guilt and empathy is utterly compelling and the score by John Williams is heartbreaking.

Everyone must watch this. 9/10

The Shawshank Redemption (1994 – Frank Darabont)

Adapted from Stephen King’s Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, this is one of those period piece movies that’s sure to move you if you’re not dead inside – like Warden Norton (Bob Gunton).

It tells the story of bank manager; Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins), as he struggles for hope amidst back-to-back life sentences for the murder of his wife and her lover. Upon the beginning of his sentence, Dufresne quickly forms a friendship with fellow lifer: Ellis “Red” Redding (Morgan Freeman) – convicted for murder. He helps him acquire smuggled contraband, including a Rita Hayworth poster. In 1949, two years into his sentence, Dufresne helps Captain Hadley legally protect his inheritance from taxation. In return, his prison mates enjoy ice cold beers while on duty, tarring a roof. It seems for a moment, Dufresne attains a sense of normality. Subsequently, Warden Norton sends him to work in the neglected prison library with the elderly; Brooks Hatlen. But this is just a cover for helping prison staff with financial matters as he goes on to launder money for Norton.

In exchange for his work, Norton offers to send his letters appealing for improved supplies for the library and after receiving a donation including a vinyl copy of The Marriage of Figaro, he plays it over the public address system to the whole prison. The prisoners momentarily acquire a sense of beauty that transcends the mundane prison slog. Of course, Hadley gives him a good smack and he ends up in solitary confinement for his troubles.

Dufresne as Facilitator – Red as Observer

Dufresne states to an embittered Red, hope keeps him going. This is a big theme of this period flick and indeed many period piece movies. He dares to hope for a life after prison – despite facing back to back sentences. He risks the greatest disappointment by staking his hope on some kind of freedom and cuts a quiet and even somewhat stoic figure at the beginning. But he becomes more desperate with the passing of years. Red states he’s completely ‘institutionalised’ – lifers who are granted parole can’t function in the normal world. Their lives and identities are invested in their sentences. When Brookes is released as an elderly man in the 1950s, he enters a different world in which he has no purpose or structure, and is totally lonely. Nothing captures this better than Thomas Newman’s score, which is delicate, human and heartbreaking.

Darabont cleverly captures the sense of disorientation and how Red mourns lost years. Time passes and he only occasionally acknowledges it through narration. He’s released 30 years after the beginning of Dufresne’s sentence and follows the same path as Brookes. He must overcome his attachment to his past self – that is afraid to hope and snuffs out any trace of it. We never get an insight into Dufresne’s mind as we do with Red and when Dufresne gets in trouble and presumably reduces his chances of parole, providing a sense of normality to the lives of fellow inmates, it’s Red that interprets his motivations. Dufresne often moves with grace and ease – he acts with quiet but assured purpose. Ultimately it’s Dufresne that paves the way for Red’s redemption.

Verdict

Warden Norton wields their feelings of guilt as a tool of control. But ultimately, the real battle takes place in the minds of the inmates. To forgive the past and be freed of sorrow, to have the courage to be free of attachments. Perhaps we’re all prone to getting stuck in prisons of fear, but there is always a hope we can break free and find new identities. That’s a pretty touching story with a timeless message amongst other period piece movies – can’t fault it.

9/10

Saving Private Ryan (1998 – Steven Spielberg)

What is the value of a life? That is the question this period piece movie asks time and time again. What would justify the sacrifice of a life? Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) lands on Omaha Beach with his company and they enter total chaos. The mind cannot make sense of the slaughter ( – this is a very graphic movie). What is important under these circumstances?

The General of the Army: George C. Marshall, charges Captain Miller with the objective of saving Private James Ryan with a small detachment – it’s seems a futile mission. Throughout the movie, soldiers of the detachment watch their brothers fall and question how many of their brothers are worth the life of Ryan. Miller rationalises the pursuit of his missions by saying that by sacrificing one life, he can save ’10 times’ as many. But this just seems to be an attempt to carve out a moral purpose.

In fact, it isn’t clear at any stage, the soldiers are in any solidarity. Their desperate questioning culminates in a finding there is no transcendent cause worth fighting for – that only their lives matter. They know they miss home and regard their families with such tenderness. Wade speaks of his regret, pretending ‘to be asleep’ when his Mother would come home from work early, just hoping to find out about his day. Chaos snatches away the material world and their lives. Because of this, they feel such affection for their families and loved ones. Captain Miller is responsible for their lives and Hanks delivers a brilliant performance. He is believably reserved, but vulnerable and empathetic. His responsibility takes a great toll on him and yet, he is met with an undercurrent of unspoken solidarity that is frequently touching.

Verdict

Captain Miller continues to perform his duties in spite of the fact he continually exposes his men to great danger. Any rationalisation of this is arguably a pretence. He takes his men to dangerous places where their actions to save each other, measures them. They dismiss the idea of their brotherhood, but we undeniably feel it. This is a great strength of the movie – its theme arises naturally and is not overstated.

Some have described the script as unoriginal and uninspired, and some scenes as over-sentimental. The script does perhaps harken back to older movies but its impact drives home like few period piece movies that have preceded it. Its at times, delicate poignancy amidst visceral combat makes it special.

8/10

Want more? Check out some of the best period movies set in the Middle Ages.