What is the risk involved in a historical film? To begin with, the need for documentation, reconstruction, and scenario building. And then, how to narrate the plot and allow benefit from scrupulous research. And although no fiction aspires to be documentary, it is clear that the added value of a credible film set is to be appreciated.
However, most historical films make decisions based on showmanship rather than storytelling. We tell you which are the three films with the biggest errors when showing a specific stage or time.
Braveheart by Mel Gibson
Braveheart it is considered one of the greatest achievements in historical re-enactment… although it is riddled with errors. The sublimated biography of William Wallace that Gibson brought to the screen is a mixture of historical errors and screenwriting conveniences.
To begin with, the real historical figure was not a peasant, but a member of a noble family. The disparity may seem minor until it is clear that Gibson bases his character’s effectiveness on the personal journey he undertakes.
Gibson also made the mistake of dressing his characters in kilts. This despite the fact that the plot takes place in the thirteenth century and the traditional garment was not used until the seventeenth. There are also errors in the language, the famous body makeup and even in the way of showing villages and towns.
300 by Zack Snyder
Of course, historical confusion and errors are unintentional. Snyder only stuck to the most popular version of the epic sacrifice of the Spartans. But in reality, historical sources have always made it clear that the myth is an exaggeration.
The critical point, of course, is the number of fighters who faced King Xerxes I. But despite the Spartan myth, Leonidas’ men were joined by 700 Thespians. In fact, according to various sources, the number of soldiers who accompanied the Spartan King reached 7,000 at its peak.
Pocahontas, by Eric Goldberg and Mike Gabriel
Here the “historical errors” are actually convenient script twists to suit the story to a romantic one. The real Pocahontas was eleven years old when she met John Smith, who kidnapped her to exercise political control over her father, head of the Powhamans. The little girl was abused and became a hostage of considerable importance to the British. And of course, there was no love affair with her captor.
In fact, it wasn’t Smith that she fell in love with but a tobacco planter named John Rolfe. Their story became famous when he proposed to her. Soon after, the two became the first legal union between a Native American and a white.