Indeed, filmmakers’ freedom can give them an opportunity to explore issues of character and psychology that historians sometimes avoid. Like a novel, a film can offer an interpretation of the past. History is not simply an accumulation of objective facts it is also an attempt to interpret facts. Still, if analyzed critically, films can provide a valuable window onto the past. Also, films tend to "personalize" history by using individual characters to illustrate larger social processes and conflicts. For one thing, popular films tend to be formulaic they draw upon a series of conventions, stereotypes, and stock characters to tell a story.
Feature films rely on a variety of techniques that tend to distort historical realities. Feature films are a form of art and entertainment, and screenwriters frequently take license with historical facts in order to enhance a movie’s appeal and drama.
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Of course, no one goes to a movie expecting a history lesson. Further, films frequently blur the line between fact and fiction and avoid complex ideas that cannot be presented visually. Because moviemakers are not held to the same standards as historians, historical films often contain inaccuracies and anachronisms. Nevertheless, movies remain a controversial source of historical evidence. Films set in the past provide a vivid record of history: of the "look," the clothing, the atmosphere, and the mood of past eras. Many of our most memorable images of the past come from movies.