Hollywood clearly enjoys a little of history, whether it is an epic movie from the 1950s or a revisionist tale from more recent times. The year 2022 was no exception, offering audiences a chance to travel back in time thanks to anything from Hollywood celebrities to Viking revenge.
It’s crucial to know which movies you can trust because a Hollywood history lesson may be a slippery slope of inaccuracies, artistic license, and outright fabrications. Some of these top movies of 2022 increased their stature as must-see movies due to their respect to historical fact, while others chose to forgo the truth in favor of a compelling narrative.
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‘All Quiet on the Western Front’
All Quiet on the Western Front, a gritty war movie from Netflix, is at its best when it captures the misery that was the Western Front. It is one of the most realistic versions of Erich Maria Remarque’s World War I classic. Although the story’s principal characters are made up, Remarque’s aggressive anti-war sentiment is rooted in harsh, true-to-life events of the front lines that he had witnessed while serving in the military.
The push for an armistice led by Matthias Erzberger (Daniel Brühl), which did materialize, added a further dimension of realism to the movie. In the end, it succeeds because it is exactly what Remarque intended it to be: a clear exposition of the human cost of war and a total debunking of any attempt to romanticize it.
‘Amsterdam’
Amsterdam is a signature David O. Russell film with a top-notch cast and a tone that quickly combines comedy with suspense surrounding espionage. It focuses on a plot to bring fascism to power in 1930s America and how the operation was thwarted by an unlikely trio of WWI friends in this extraordinary true story known as the “Business Plot.”
Even though the opening caption of the movie joyously proclaims that “a lot of stuff truly happened,” it ignores the fact that a lot of it didn’t, at least not in the way that was portrayed. While Amsterdam may be a colorful and entertaining journey, it is not at all accurate due to artistic license and commitment to a lighthearted tone.
‘Blonde’
Blonde was always intended to be a heavily dramatized look at the life of Marilyn Monroe (Ana De Armas) rather than a sincere biopic, with a focus more on speculation and conspiracy theories than actual events. It offers an intriguing, though unsupported, glimpse into the personal life of one of Hollywood’s biggest performers and is based on Joyce Carol Oates’ fictional novel of the same name.
Many of the relationships seen in the movie were based on true stories or at least rumors, although some seemed to be made up, and others didn’t capture the depth of her relationships. Blonde is a visually appealing, skillfully provocative, and well-acted film, but it falls short of thoroughly examining Monroe.
‘Elvis’
The grandiose biopic directed by Baz Lurhmann is rife with sparkle and glamour, as is his style. However, Elvis does a fair job of adhering to the truth while still relying on imaginative interpretation to condense Elvis Presley’s entire narrative into three hours, at least in terms of dramatized biopics.
Not everything in the movie is based on actuality, although many of the scenes that highlighted significant junctures in Presley’s career were at least loosely accurate. Additionally, Austin Butler’s portrayal of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll gave an insightful look at the person behind the music and the range of challenges both personally and professionally that he faces.
‘Emancipation’
Emancipation deserves praise for portraying Gordon’s, a.k.a. Whipped Peter, freedom from slavery in a fairly authentic manner, even though adopting the tone of a historical action thriller may be incorrect. Peter (Will Smith) escapes from a Louisiana plantation after being so severely lashed that it took him two months to recuperate. He evades slavers and their bloodhounds for 10 days until coming across Union soldiers.
Much of what happened in the movie is based on historical accounts, including many quotes from Peter about his escape. While there are a few minor instances of artistic license used in the plot, Emancipation is mainly an accurate account of reality and when it needs to be, it is a challenging viewing experience.
‘RRR’
RRR, a thrilling hit of adventure and excitement, has amassed a cult following of millions and has been one of cinema’s great success stories of 2022. It may not come as a shock that the three-hour epic chronicling two of India’s most well-known revolutionaries is a tad overdone given its outrageous, fun-loving fabulousness.
While this is understandable when we watch a tiger shrink in response to a man’s growls, viewers may find it upsetting to learn that Komaram Bheem (N. T. Rama Rao Jr.) and Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan Teja) never actually met. However, this unabashed celebration of friendship shows that a show can be inspiring rather than that trying to be historically accurate is a stupid undertaking.
Operation Mincemeat
As seen in Operation Mincemeat, a WWII play by John Madden, the truth is frequently stranger than fiction. The story revolves around two British intelligence agents who, in 1943, devised a scheme to have a dead body, decked out in an officer’s uniform, wash up on the Spanish coast with fictitious documents about an allied invasion of Greece rather than their real target, Sicily.
Despite how unlikely the mission seemed, it truly took place, and many of the facts depicted in the film were true. Little else was fictitious, including the presence of future James Bond creator Ian Fleming as a key player in the miracle storyline, even though the love subplot was.
‘The Northman’
Robert Eggers has established himself as a filmmaker who enjoys fusing fantasy and reality, yet his settings have always been rooted in a commitment to historical realism. The Norse legend of Prince Amleth, which subsequently served as the model for Hamlet, was reimagined by The Northman in a similar manner as he tries to exact revenge on his father and protect his mother from his nefarious uncle.
For the purpose of creating a mythic story that touts historical authenticity as one of its greatest virtues, the production and writing of the movie involved collaboration with specialists on the setting. Even the construction of the ships and many of the sets was historically accurate.
“The Woman King”
The Woman King, a captivating historical epic that features Viola Davis in all her splendor, has received positive reviews and is expected to take center stage at the Oscars. That doesn’t mean it was true, though, as the majority of the movie, at best, cherry-picks historical events to create a compelling plot.
In reality, the Agoje and the Kingdom of Dahomey were more villain than hero, mercilessly conquering neighboring African states and enslaving their citizens, many of whom were later sold into the Atlantic slave trade, exploiting their military might. The representation of the Agoje as adamant opponents of slavery is a stretch, as their defense against the French conquerors didn’t take place until years after King Ghezo’s (John Boyega) rule. However, the Agoje’s strength, battle prowess, and eventual position against the slave trade are all real.
‘Till’
Till, one of the most stirring movies to be released in 2022, centers on Mamie Till-Mobley (Danielle Deadwyler), a mother who fights for justice for her 14-year-old son Emmett Till (Jalyn Hall), who was murdered in Mississippi in 1955. The picture finds a lot of its emotional strength in its foundation in real facts, in addition to Deadwyler’s outstanding performance.
Till is the most scathing and accurate portrayal of racism in America to have ever appeared on television. It is based on the 2004 documentary The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till and a biography of the case written by Simeon Wright, Emmett Till’s cousin. Till is not only one of the best movies of the year, but also one of the most significant and historically accurate. Its story of Mamie Till-Mobley’s unwavering courage and the eventual lack of justice she discovered is as impactful as it is contemporary.
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