The still young king of England, intending to tax the english church, is sent off to war by the bishops to enforce the (doubtful) claim to France. The King, thus sure of devine blessing for his cause, wages war on the French all too proud in overpowing strength. After the Battle of Agincourt, the French King has to yield his daughter as a peace offering. In a bitter satire, this political marriage is then portrayed as the happy ending joining the two recent lovers.
After the death of his father the young cooper 'Dennis Cooper' goes to town where he has to pass several adventures. The town and the whole kingdom is threatened by a terrible monster called 'Jabberwocky'. Will Dennis make his fortune? Is anyone brave enough to defeat the monster? A medieval tale with Pythonesque humour.
Paris, 1786: a woman in court. The Crown murdered her father for his views about the poor, now Jeanne wants her home and good name back. She believes all can be set right if she can talk to the Queen, whose House Minister rebuffs her. With the help of a courtside gigolo, she learns to use what others desire to get what she wants. She needs a patron: with forged letters, she convinces Cardinal de Rohan she is the Queen's confidante and can help him regain royal favor. Jeanne conspires to have the Cardinal purchase a fabulous diamond necklace for the Queen. He delivers it to Jeanne for Marie Antoinette. If the scheme breaks down, what then? Might this affair spark revolution?
Father Gabriel ascends the mountains of Brazil to bring christianity to the natives. He is successful and brings about a golden age among them. Mendoza, a slaver, kills his brother in a fit of rage, and only Fr. Gabriel's guidance prevents his suicide. Gabriel brings Mendoza to work at his mission with the natives, and Mendoza finds peace and asks to become a priest. The church , under pressure, cedes the land to the Portuguese which will allow slavers in again. Mendoza breaks his vows and organizes the natives to resist while Gabriel warns him to help them as a priest.
A dashing officer of the guard and romantic poet, Cyrano de Bergerac falls in love with his cousin Roxane without her knowing. His one fault in his life, he feels, is his large nose and although it may have been a forming influence in his rapier-sharp wit, he believes that Roxane will reject him. He resorts to writing letters to her on behalf of one of his cadets, Christian, who is also in love with Roxane but just doesn't know how to tell her. She falls for the poetic charm of the letters but believes that they were written by Christian.
"Once upon a time..." A half-ruined merchant lives in the country with his son Ludovic and his three daughters. Two of the daughters, Felicie and Adelaide, are real shrews, selfish, pretentious, evil. They exploit the third daughter, Belle, as a servant. One day, the merchant get lost in the forest and enters a strange castle. He picks up a rose for Beauty, what makes the castle's owner appear. He is a monster, half-human (body) and half-beast (paws, head), and he has magic powers. He sentenced the merchant to death, unless one of his daughters replaces him. Beauty sacrifices herself for her father and go to the castle. She will discover that the Beast is not so wild and inhuman than it looks.
The death of King Henry VIII throws his kingdom into chaos because of succession disputes. His weak son Edward, is on his deathbed. Anxious to keep England true to the Reformation, a scheming minister John Dudley marries off his son, Guildford to Lady Jane Grey, whom he places on the throne after Edward dies. At first hostile to each other, Guildford and Jane fall in love. But they cannot withstand the course of power which will lead to their ultimate downfall.
British and French troops do battle in colonial America, with aid from various native American war parties. The British troops enlist the help of local colonial militia men, who are reluctant to leave their homes undefended. A budding romance between a British officer's daughter and an independent man who was reared as a Mohawk complicates things for the British officer, as the adopted Mohawk pursues his own agenda despite the wrath of different people on both sides of the conflict.
When notorious pirate Henry Morgan is made governor of Jamaica, he enlists the help of some of his former partners in ridding the Carribean of Buccaneers. When one of them apparently abducts the previous governor's pretty daughter and joins up with the rebels, things are set for a fight.
During the French Revolution, a mysterious English nobleman known only as The Scarlet Pimpernel (a humble wayside flower), snatches French aristos from the jaws of the guillotine, while posing as the foppish Sir Percy Blakeney in society. Percy falls for and marries the beautiful actress Marguerite St. Just, but she is involved with Chauvelin and Robespierre, and Percy's marriage to her may endanger the Pimpernel's plans to save the little Dauphin.
The night of August 24, 1572, is known as the Massacre of St. Bartholomew. In France a religious war is raging. In order to impose peace a forced wedding is arranged between Margot de Valois, sister of the immature Catholic King Charles IX, and the Hugenot King Henri of Navarre. Catherine of Medici maintains her behind-the-scenes power by ordering assaults, poisonings, and instigations to incest.
The story of Elizabeth's ascendency to the throne, the plot of the movie is full of palace intrigues, attempted assassinations and executions. The movie starts with England divided by faith, Protestant vs. Catholic. The queen, Mary Tudor has no heir and her Catholic supporters fear the succession of her half-sister Elizabeth, a Protestant. They convince the queen to have Elizabeth arrested and put in the Tower of London but the queen hesitates and eventually refuses to sign her death warrant. It is announced that the queen is pregnant but it turns out to be a tumor and she dies of it a while later. Her Catholic supporters are forced to give the throne to Elizabeth. Elizabeth's first few years are shaky as she is not versed with the art of realpolitik and "rules from the heart instead of the mind". There is also the question of her succession as she is yet unmarried and her death without heir would mean the throne falling back into Catholic hands. She has many suitors but she eventually rejects them all. And aided by Sir Francis Walsingham she manages to kill all her enemies and ascends the throne as the "Virgin Queen".
Geoffrey Rush (as Philip Henslowe), Tom Wilkinson (as Hugh Fennyman), Judi Dench (as Queen Elizabeth),
People in a small German village in the last valley to remain untouched by the devastating Thirty Years' War try to exist in peace with a group of soldiers occupying the valley.
In 14th-century England, a young monk breaks his vow of chastity and flees the wrath of his bishop and fellow monks. A fugitive priest, he then witnesses the murder of a traveling performer--and subsequently, the mourning of actor by his fellow troupe members. He eventually becomes initiated into the troupe as a player, replacing the murdered man. They travel from town to town performing their standard morality play. They arrive in a town where a boy has been killed and a young deaf-mute girl has been imprisoned for the crime--sentenced to death for witchcraft and murder. Discarding the expected bible stories, the actors stage a performance based on the crime. Through the performance of the play, they discover that the townspeople know the young woman did not, in fact, commit the murder. The stage becomes a place where vital human truth is told. Thus, simultaneously, the fugitive priest comes to terms with his own crime and makes a powerful sacrifice, thereby redeeming himself.
Fanfan, a lazy young man from Paris escapes from a forced marriage to the daughter of farmer and joins the army after Adeline promised him a glorious career in the French Army. After singing the contract, he finds out that Adeline is the daughter of his sergant. In spite of this he tries to make the "promised faith" of him true, but he is caught when he tries to intorduce himself to Louis XV's daughter Henriette, who he shall marry due to his promised faith. He is sentenced to death, but Adeline convinces Louis XV that he shall be free. But Louis XV hasn't done this for free. So he tries to kidnapp Adeline. Fanfan chases the kidnappers, but he has no sucess in this, but he captures the military enemies supreme command. For this he receives the thanks of Louis XV. He promotes him and he's allowed to marry one of his daughters, Adeline, who has been adopted by Louis XV.
Ambientato nella metà del '700 e basato su personaggi realmente esistiti, il film racconta la storia di due leggendari banditi di strada. Plunkett é povero disgraziato di infima estrazione sociale, Mcleane invece é un aristocratico squattrinato e con pochi scrupoli. Incontratisi per caso, i due decidono di mettersi in "affari" insieme per racimolare i soldi che gli permetteranno di partire per l'America. Grazie alle informazioni raccolte dal "bandito-gentiluomo", i due rapinano la carrozza di un alto magistrato, che è in compagnia della avvenente nipote. Macleane si innamora della ragazza e questo rischia di mettere in crisi le scorribande dei due. Alla fine i due riescono a mettere a segno l'ultima, congrua, rapina, vendicandosi anche del perfido capo delle guardie. La bellissima ragazza, ricambiando l'amore di Macleane, si unisce a loro e parte per il nuovo mondo.
Pirates of the Caribbean is a sweeping action-adventure story set in an era when villainous pirates scavenged the Caribbean seas. This roller coaster tale teams a young man, Will Turner, with an unlikely ally in rogue pirate Jack Sparrow. Together, they must battle a band of the world's most treacherous pirates, led by the cursed Captain Barbossa, in order to save Elizabeth, the love of Will's life, as well as recover the lost treasure that Jack seeks. Against improbable odds, they race towards a thrilling, climactic confrontation on the mysterious Isla de Muerta. Clashing their swords in fiece mortal combat, Will and Jack attempt to recapture The Black Pearl ship, save the British navy, and relinquish a fortune in forbidden treasure thereby lifting the curse of the Pirates of the Caribbean.
Robin Hood is an old man when he returns with his best friend Little John to England after the Crusades. Maid Marian has entered a nunnery, King Richard is a raving lunatic, his Brother John a moron, and the age of great adventure has seemed to have passed Robin by. But when The Sheriff of Nottingham once again threatens Sherwood, Robin gathers his faithful men, and band of peasants to fight oppression.
It's 1860s Manhattan. The crime-plagued city is run by corrupt politicians of the Tammany Hall era, and gang warfare between the powerful Manhattan Irish gangs escalates into deadly draft riots. Against this backdrop, a young man (DiCaprio) teams up with a pickpocket (Diaz) to seek vengeance against the man (Day-Lewis) who killed his father.
Big budget account of Christopher Columbus' discovery of the Americas. Released in 1992 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the discovery. Shows the disastrous affects the Europeans had on the original inhabitants, and Columbus' struggle to civilise the new world.
After a mysterious death in a Benedictine Abbey, 1327, the monks are convinced that the apocalypse is coming. With the Abbey to play host to a council on the Franciscan's Order's belief that the Church should rid itself of wealth, William of Baskerville, a respected Franciscan monk, is asked to assist in determining the cause of the untimely death. Alas, more deaths occur as the investigation draws closer to uncovering the secret the Abbey wants hidden, and there is finally no stopping the Holy Inquisition from taking an active hand in the process. William and his young novice must race against time to prove the innocence of the unjustly accused, and avoid the wrath of Holy Inquisitor Bernardo Gui.
Young lovers Hero and Claudio are to be married in one week. To pass the time, they conspire with Don Pedro to set a "lover's trap" for Benedick, an arrogant confirmed bachelor, and Beatrice, his favorite sparring partner. Meanwhile, the evil Don Jon conspires to break up the wedding by accusing Hero of infidelity. In the end, though, it all turns out to be "much ado about nothing."
Philipe Gastone, a thief, escapes from the dungeon at Aquila, sparking a manhunt. He is nearly captured when Captain Navarre befriends him. Navarre has been hunted by the Bishop's men for two years, ever since he escaped with the Lady Isabeau who the Bishop has lusted after. Navarre and Isabeau have a curse that the Bishop has placed on them that causes Navarre to be a wolf during the night and Isabeau to be a hawk during the day. Navarre insists that Philipe help him re-enter the city to help him kill the heavily guarded Bishop.
Dantes is imprisoned on the island prison of Chateau D'lf for 13 years, where he plots revenge against those who betrayed him. He escapes and proceeds to transform himself into the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo as part of his plan to exact revenge.
During the late 19th century, famed monster hunter Dr. Gabriel Van Helsing (Jackman) heads to Eastern Europe to battle with Count Dracula (Roxburgh), the Wolf Man (Kemp), and Frankenstein's Monster (Hensley). By his side is the ravishing Anna (Beckinsale), a member of a family committed to ridding the world of evil.
1799: Ichabod Crane is a constable from New York who is most concerned with all the new scientific gadgets that will allow him to do his job better. However, he is quite squeamish about his latest assignment: traveling to the town of Sleepy Hollow, where there have been a series of murders involving people whose heads have been cut off. The locals believe it is the work of the legendary Headless Horseman. Ichabod does not believe this, but with the help of the fair Katrina Van Tassle and the young son of one of the victims, he uncovers some very interesting evidence that would suggest otherwise.
Set during the grand, sweeping Napoleonic age, an officer in the French army insults another officer and sets off a life-long emnity. The two officers, D'Hubert and Feraud, cross swords time and time again in an attempt to achieve justice and preserve their honor.
In 1674, "reformed" pirate Sir Henry Morgan is a high official in Jamaica, but Edward Maynard hopes to win a large reward by proving Morgan still dabbles in piracy. Maynard goes undercover as ship's surgeon with a Morgan henchman...who's been supplanted by notorious Blackbeard himself. Also on the ship is Edwina Mansfield, seemingly a damsel in distress, to whom there's much more than meets the eye.
The Bounty sails from Britain for Tahiti to obtain a cargo of breadfruit plants. Captain Bligh is in charge and he over-zealously enforces discipline by various methods, his favorite being flogging. Bligh cuts rations and works his men so hard that even first mate Fletcher Christian finds him hard to comprehend. In Tahiti, Christian and good friend midshipman Byam become involved with native women Maimiti and Tehanni. Tahiti is paradise compared to life on the Bounty under Bligh. When the Bounty is loaded and sets sail to return, the harsh treatment by their Captain is too much for the crew and Christian leads a mutiny. They set Bligh and his supporters adrift on a boat and return the Bounty to Tahiti. What they did not count on is the Captain's return.
In this unhistorical account, Capt. William Kidd is already a clever, ruthless pirate when, in 1699, he tricks the king into commissioning him as escort for a treasure ship from India. He enlists a crew of pardoned cutthroats...and Orange Povey, whom Kidd once abandoned on a reef and hoped never to see again. Of course, Kidd's intentions are treacherous. But there's more to gunner Adam Mercy than meets the eye.
A few decades after the destruction of the Inca empire, a Spanish expedition leaves the mountains of Peru and goes down the Amazon river in search of gold and wealth. Soon, they come across great difficulties and Don Aguirres, a ruthless man who cares only about riches, becomes their leader. But will his quest lead them to "the golden city", or to certain destruction?
Einar and Eric are two Viking half-brothers. The former is a great warrior whilst the other is an ex-slave, but neither knows the true identity of the other. When the throne of Northumbria in Britain becomes free for the taking, the two brothers compete against one another for the prize, but they have very different motives - both involving the princess Morgana, however.
Based on the well-known English legend, Robin of Locksley is a noble who is forced to become an outlaw when Prince John the usurper tries to take the throne from his absent brother. He flees to Sherwood forest where he gathers together his Merry Men and is called Robin Hood. He begins to rob the rich and give back to the poor, the townsfolk that are heavily-taxed by the Sheriff of Nottingham. Meanwhile he still has to defend the throne, and woo his childhood love, Maid Marian.
Arab courtier Ahmad Ibn Fadlan is sent to the barbaric north as an emissary, because he fell in love with the wrong woman. In AD 922, this usually meant goodbye forever. Shortly after the party ran into exploring Vikings and befriended them, a young boy reaches the camp to call the warriors home: The Wendol, creatures of the Mist, have started attacking their homeland, killing and eating everyone in their way. The oracle forces a thirteenth warrior to accompany the Vikings, but this must not be a man from the north. Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, who quickly is nicknamed Eban, first does not feel comfortable with the strange men of the north, but when he finds out that the Wendol really exist, he bravely fights alongside the Vikings in a battle that can't be won.
A small group of teen girls in 1692 Salem, Massachusetts caught in an innocent conjuring of love potions to catch young men are forced to tell lies that Satan had invaded them and forced them to participate in the rites and are then forced to name those involved. Thrown into the mix are greedy preachers and other major landowners trying to steal others' land and one young woman (Ryder) infatuated with a married man (Day-Lewis) and determined to get rid of his innocent wife (Allen). Arthur Miller wrote the events and the subsequent trials where those who demanded thier innocence were executed, those who would not name names were incarcerated and tortured, and those who admitted their guilt were immediately freed as a parable of the Congressional Communist witch hunts led by Senator Joe McCarthy in 1950's America.
Antonio Salieri believes that Mozart's music is divine. He wishes he was himself as good a musician as Mozart so that he can praise the Lord through composing. But he can't understand why God favored Mozart, such a vulgar creature, to be his instrument. Salieri's envy has made him an enemy of God whose greatness was evident in Mozart. He is set to take revenge.
Daniel Auteuil .... Lagardère/Le bossu (The Hunchback)
Fabrice Luchini .... Gonzague
Vincent Perez .... Duke of Nevers
Marie Gillain .... Aurore
Yann Collette .... Peyrolles
Philippe Noiret .... Philippe d'Orléans
The Comte de Gonzague schemes against his cousin, the Duc de Nevers, even though he is the Duke's heir and will inherit his estates. The Count has kept secret the existence of the Duke's bastard, recently born. When the Duke learns of his child, he journeys to wed the mother, a baron's daughter, in her father's isolated chateau. The occupants of the castle are surprised and murdered by the Count and his men. The only ones to escape are the Duke's friend, the skilled swordsman Lagardère, and the infant, a girl, now the rightful heiress to the Duke's vast fortune. The Count believes the pair to have drowned, when in fact they have been concealed by a travelling troupe of Italian players. Twenty years pass. The Count has discovered that the two survive and seeks to have them slain. But Lagardère gains the confidence of the Count, and employment as his bookkeeper, through his clever disguise as a hunch-back...
Andreiv Rublev charts the life of the great icon painter through a turbulent period of 15th Century Russian history, a period marked by endless fighting between rival Princes and by Tatar invasions.
The focus of King Charles II is his court, his squabbling family and his glamorous mistresses - from the high-born and promiscuous Barbara Villiers through folk heroine and sex symbol of the day Nell Gwynne to the French spy Louise de Keroualle. It is an original take on a historical period written by award-winning screenwriter Adrian Hodges, whose credits include David Copperfield and The Lost World, which penetrates to the heart of the charismatic monarch who was deeply traumatised by the execution of his father.
Scarlett Johansson .... Griet
Colin Firth .... Johannes Vermeer
Tom Wilkinson .... Van Ruijven
This film was originally based off of a painting by the same name. Not much was known about this girl in the painting, except that she was a maid who lived in the house of the painter in 17th century Italy. This powerful film, which was adapted from a novel by author Tracy Chevalier by the same name, attempts to recreate this girl's life. Griet, played by Scarlett Johansson, is a maid in the house of painter Johannes Vermeer, played by British actor Colin Firth, who becomes swept away by the art that Vermeer creates. After Vermeer's comissioner, Van Ruijven, makes an agreement with him to paint Griet for his lustful pleasure, Griet must sneak behind Vermeer's mistress's back in order to be painted.
In 1547, Ivan IV (1530-1584), archduke of Moscow, crowns himself Tsar of Russia and sets about reclaiming lost Russian territory. In scenes of his coronation, his wedding to Anastasia, his campaign against the Tartars in Kazan, his illness when all think he will die, recovery, campaigns in the Baltic and Crimea, self-imposed exile in Alexandrov, and the petition of Muscovites that he return, his enemies among the boyars threaten his success. Chief among them are his aunt, who wants to advance the fortunes of her son, a simpleton, and Kurbsky, a warrior prince who wants both power and the hand of Anastasia. Ivan deftly plays to the people to consolidate his power.
Cast:
Richard E. Grant .... Sir Percy Blakeney
Elizabeth McGovern .... Marguerite Blakeney
Alice Evans .... Catherine Kennedy
Daniel Lapaine .... Garrett Byrne
Sophia Myles .... Anne Kennedy
Matthew Rhys .... Strang
A group of Irish noblemen kidnap girls in order to marry into their fortune and avoid becoming priests or soldiers.
Dirk Bogarde .... Sydney Carton
Dorothy Tutin .... Lucie Manette
Paul Guers .... Charles Darnay
Christopher Lee .... Marquis St. Evremonde
Rosalie Crutchley .... Therese Defarge
Marie Versini .... Marie Gabelle
British barrister Sydney Carton lives an insubstantial and unhappy life. He falls under the spell of Lucie Manette, but Lucie marries Charles Darnay. When Darnay goes to Paris to rescue an imprisoned family retainer, he becomes entangled in the snares of the brutal French Revolution and is himself jailed and condemned to the guillotine. But Sydney Carton, in love with a woman he cannot have, comes up with a daring plan to save her husband.